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  #61  
Old 02-02-2019, 09:14 PM
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Flushed the coolant including opening the block drain. Went to fill it back up and discovered I had not enough antifreeze. I swore I had a couple gallons on hand, but I must have used it and not replaced. Arggghhhh!

Drained the transmission fluid, dropped the pan, changed the filter (Meistersatz), and refilled with 5.5 qts. of Maxlife ATF. I'll drive it a little bit and do another drain/fill which should remove about 75-80% of the old fluid. Will plan to do a drain/fill every 30K from here.

Pulled off my power steering reservoir, drained and flushed it thoroughly. Reinstalled and refilled with Maxlife ATF. Will plan to do a few drain/fills over the coming days to get most of the fluid refreshed. I had to remove the airbox to make room to work on the PS reservoirs, so I went ahead and sprayed down the MAF with cleaner while out. It looked clean, but... I was there.

I really need to remove the lenses on the lights and polish the inside, as there is fogging or etching in there. However, I created my own problem when I left the back cover off while sanding. Somehow I got contaminated water inside the light and it dried on the lens leaving these nasty stains (I'm embarassed to even post this):

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I don't want to mess with removing the lenses now. That will be a project for another day - I'll probably want to re-wire the inside of the lights at the same time, as I have the common problem of cracking wire insulation.

I had tried swishing water and then alcohol inside the lens, but those stains weren't coming off. Desperate times require desperate measures. Enter the inside lens cleaning tool (I'll have to get back to you with the BMW part number):

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With some patience, I was able to get in there with some water and scrub off the worst of the stains. I didn't get it perfect, but it is MUCH better now.

I let the lights dry in the sun most of the day, then I re-sanded the left lens, as I don't think I quite got all the damage removed from the Bulldog adhesion promoter (don't use that!). I got it all sanded but ran out of dayllight. Clear-coating will have to wait for tomorrow.

Neighbors walked over with beer later in the afternoon, so progress ground to a halt. To be continued...

AM.
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  #62  
Old 02-04-2019, 10:15 AM
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I re-cleared the left lens and it looks MUCH better. Unfortunately, when I put the lights back in, the right one, which had worked perfectly since repairing the severed wire, started flickering, hissing, and then went out. Clearly, my light woes are not yet solved.

I didn't feel like waiting for BMW to open on Monday to get coolant, so after a little research, I bought 6L of Pentosin Pentafrost. I'm sure it will work fine. I'm less sure if I want to keep it pure over the next few years, or not worry about blending with BMW coolant should the need arise to add. The other thought I'm kicking around is gradually switching all the BMW's over to Pentosin. It's about the same price and is more readily available than BMW coolant. Still thinking.

Reinstalled some of the extraneous stuff... fan, shroud, underbody plastic cowling, air intake duct. I'm getting really close to having her "done". Just have to get the lights sorted out, reinstall the front bumper, and she's ready to be a daily driver.

AM.
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E70 2010 3.0 M57 AT Titanium Silver with Black Leather
E53 2004 3.0 M54 AT Toledo Blue with Gray Leather
E83 2008 3.0 N52 AT Silver Gray Metallic with Black Vinyl
E46 1999 2.8 M52TU 5MT Black with Tan Leather 250K+ miles (Sold, but not forgotten)
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  #63  
Old 02-04-2019, 10:42 PM
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My latest headlight issue turns out to be a fried ballast. Apparently, when I was wet-sanding the headlight I got moisture inside the ballast. When I turned the lights on, I could hear a sizzling sound for maybe a minute or two, the light was flickering at that time, then it went quiet and the light went out.

After swapping ballasts to confirm the problem, I opened up the bad ballast and found significant moisture inside (the other one was dry inside). Ah well, nothing a $20 bill on ebay can't fix. Now I have to wait for the used ballast to arrive.

While I'm waiting, I need to drive it around a bit to blend the new and old trans fluid, then do another drain/fill.

I now have all my supplies to add a 20 amp circuit to my garage for my recently acquired MIG welder. Then I can manufacture the bumper mounts for the trailer hitch. Hope to get started on that whole project this week.

That's all for today.

AM.
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E70 2010 3.0 M57 AT Titanium Silver with Black Leather
E53 2004 3.0 M54 AT Toledo Blue with Gray Leather
E83 2008 3.0 N52 AT Silver Gray Metallic with Black Vinyl
E46 1999 2.8 M52TU 5MT Black with Tan Leather 250K+ miles (Sold, but not forgotten)
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  #64  
Old 02-06-2019, 04:27 PM
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Scored another Westfalia e53 trailer hitch. This one is complete down to every last piece of hardware! I also scored a pair of xenon headlights. They need the lenses sanded/cleared, but figured I better grab 'em while I could. This wasn't quite the steal I got a couple weeks ago, but as hard as these hitches are to find, and as much as they're going for on ebay (!) I figured it was worth grabbing a spare.

I got an alert from the local U-pull lot and planned to run down this afternoon later. Since snow was predicted to arrive at noon (it did!), I ran down first thing this morning.

I also nabbed a few odds/ends like the bolt covers for the engine beauty covers (mine were missing), one of the little lights in the bottom of the door (tab broken on my drivers side).

I was tempted to take the heated seats as they're the right color. Unfortunately, they're pretty worn. Decided it wasn't worth it.

AM.
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E70 2010 3.0 M57 AT Titanium Silver with Black Leather
E53 2004 3.0 M54 AT Toledo Blue with Gray Leather
E83 2008 3.0 N52 AT Silver Gray Metallic with Black Vinyl
E46 1999 2.8 M52TU 5MT Black with Tan Leather 250K+ miles (Sold, but not forgotten)
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  #65  
Old 02-06-2019, 04:40 PM
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Have you driven it with the Rock transfer case fluid yet? Any feedback?
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  #66  
Old 02-06-2019, 04:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bdc101 View Post
Have you driven it with the Rock transfer case fluid yet? Any feedback?
Only about 30 miles or so. I don't anticipate any trouble, but if I do, it is likely to be many miles down the road. It's not like it's going to blow up in a few miles.

Rock is a well-known oil company in Europe. They're relatively unknown here in the US only because they haven't done much exporting to us. I'm quite confident it will be just as good as the BMW or Ravenol products.

AM.
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E53 2004 3.0 M54 AT Toledo Blue with Gray Leather
E83 2008 3.0 N52 AT Silver Gray Metallic with Black Vinyl
E46 1999 2.8 M52TU 5MT Black with Tan Leather 250K+ miles (Sold, but not forgotten)
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  #67  
Old 02-08-2019, 08:11 PM
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Installed one of my OEM hitches today. So that I can sell one hitch complete, I still need to manufacture two of the bumper mount brackets and modify my bumper carrier to work.

Now I'm really going full redneck as both bumpers are off for a while!

I installed the junkyard headlights and they work like a champ. The lenses need refinished, but they're not nearly as bad as the ones that came on my vehicle. Before I can put the front bumper on, I'm waiting for the used ebay ballast to show up tomorrow. I'll install the original lights to make sure they're now fully functioning. Then I'll sell them and keep the "new" ones. I won't bother refinishing the new ones until spring when I'm ready to do some painting. I want to clearcoat the lights with 2K clear rather than spraycan clear for better longevity.

Had my college student son crawling around this morning in the garage attic trying to run romex for my welder 20 amp circuit. The good: my garage walls are insulated. The bad: my garage walls are insulated making it much more difficult to drop romex down the wall to mount an outlet. Hmmmmm.... conduit on the outside of the wall is looking more and more likely.

AM.
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E70 2010 3.0 M57 AT Titanium Silver with Black Leather
E53 2004 3.0 M54 AT Toledo Blue with Gray Leather
E83 2008 3.0 N52 AT Silver Gray Metallic with Black Vinyl
E46 1999 2.8 M52TU 5MT Black with Tan Leather 250K+ miles (Sold, but not forgotten)
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  #68  
Old 02-08-2019, 08:36 PM
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Wire fish will get it through. What I use to push romex or cat 6 through fiberglass insulation. Now if you have foam... outside conduit painted to match the house looks really good.
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  #69  
Old 02-08-2019, 09:07 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crystalworks View Post
Wire fish will get it through. What I use to push romex or cat 6 through fiberglass insulation. Now if you have foam... outside conduit painted to match the house looks really good.
Not something I own, but I see Hazard Fraught sells them really cheap. I may swing by and pick one up. I'd really prefer to have a clean & permanent circuit installation. Thanks for the idea.

AM.
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E53 2004 3.0 M54 AT Toledo Blue with Gray Leather
E83 2008 3.0 N52 AT Silver Gray Metallic with Black Vinyl
E46 1999 2.8 M52TU 5MT Black with Tan Leather 250K+ miles (Sold, but not forgotten)
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  #70  
Old 02-08-2019, 09:50 PM
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Yep, fish tape will have it done in no time.



You dont want conduit on the wall making it look like you dont know how to use a fish tape :P
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