Would that I had time to discuss - and nevertheless this will probably ramble on.

Here's where I am on all this stuff.

It's a 20 plus year old design. 4.0 M60 heads from back in the day will bolt onto an M62. But that's not real relevant; I'm just sayin'.

Engines are designed to run at an optimal temperature based on a lot of factors. No argument with BMW engineering - I've cruised past 100K mi with nary an issue. Which leads to the obvious question: Then why mess with it?

Because in a gasoline engine, operating temperature and tendency to knock are closely linked. Very closely linked. BMW can manage it via engine management systems that're a far cry from "back in the day." The DME already optimizes spark, and since I'm not real interested in the part-throttle cruise economy reasons for running at the high end of the range (yeah, I know, you're gonna want a reference here), I see no downside to dropping the running temp 25 degrees.

Upside? Remains to be seen. But I think it's relevant to this discussion just to point out that I think about and ultimately try stuff out on this car because of it's design, not in spite of. This is stuff I find interesting, and when I read in this forum all about suspension fault this and something else that, my inclination is to go take it apart, decrypt it, figure it out, and publish the findings. I think in another post I already committed to taking apart my air suspension components to develop a "here's how you can check the following components" post. And I will (sigh, there's that commitment again). Remember, I'm the guy who pulled the front end off his X5 and ran an aftermarket trans cooler - just because it was Saturday and there was one on the shelf down the street. Really.

So this whole temp thing boils down partly to experimentation. That, and I just don't think it's necessary to run at the high end of range when the lower end is in reach, but yet is in reach ONLY via the methods I mentioned above. If I could wander down the street and just buy something, then it's not nearly as interesting. And, I don't look at this so much as a "hey, you guys need to try this," so much as "Ok, here's what I did/know/discovered/fell into that can add to collective information. However useful, or not.

On my list of want-to-do stuff is modulating the PWM signal to vary the transmission's main line pressure to see if if I can firm up the shifting under various load conditions, but not all the time so it doesn't ever adapt. That'll probably drive you nuts in the "how can you justify that" sense, but I think it's fascinating, which is all I need. I already have the applicable wires tapped, but I probably won't get back to playing with it for another couple of months.

Last thing just for perspective here. I really do like this car, but it's not "important." It's functionality has no bearing on my daily routine or quality of life. It was not expensive to buy 4 years ago (ish), it still looks and drives great, and I take very good care of it. But in the end, it's metal and plastic, that's all. I hope I get at least several more years out of it before I move on to something else. In the meantime, this is a rolling hobby that I can drive to work, too.