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  #51  
Old 01-27-2019, 08:57 AM
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I'm not happy with the cloudy lenses on my xenon headlights. I saw how I can buy new lenses for $315 A PIECE! That seems like a lot of dough for a piece of plastic. I watched the installation video for the lenses, and it made it appear that removing the current lenses without breaking them would be virtually impossible. Has anyone done that? If I could remove the current lenses, I could polish the inside which is where my cloudiness is coming from.

Another thought I had - what if I carefully dremeled the current lens off - just maybe 0.5" behind the front of the lens. I could then fully polish the inside of the lens and re-attach using epoxy. The repair shouldn't be visible once re-installed on the vehicle. Anyone tried something like that?

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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  #52  
Old 01-27-2019, 09:04 AM
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Just polish them! Very easy, make them look like new. Lot's of info online and on this site. Many different ways, but I just started with 4-500 grit wet sandpaper, worked my way up to 1200, than used 3M rubbing compound than polishing compound. I had all of this for my boat,but it's the same process. Look into it
Quote:
Originally Posted by Attacking Mid View Post
I'm not happy with the cloudy lenses on my xenon headlights. I saw how I can buy new lenses for $315 A PIECE! That seems like a lot of dough for a piece of plastic. I watched the installation video for the lenses, and it made it appear that removing the current lenses without breaking them would be virtually impossible. Has anyone done that? If I could remove the current lenses, I could polish the inside which is where my cloudiness is coming from.

Another thought I had - what if I carefully dremeled the current lens off - just maybe 0.5" behind the front of the lens. I could then fully polish the inside of the lens and re-attach using epoxy. The repair shouldn't be visible once re-installed on the vehicle. Anyone tried something like that?

AM.
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2003 4.6is
2005 E53 4.4
2003 E39 Msport(a REAL ONE!)
1959 Fiat 600
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  #53  
Old 01-27-2019, 09:19 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CapeX5 View Post
Just polish them!
I have polished them, but the inside of the lenses are fogged resulting in less than clear lenses.

AM.
__________________
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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  #54  
Old 01-28-2019, 09:38 AM
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Made pretty good progress yesterday. Stopped by Hazard Fraught for the impact wrench on our way home from church. With that and the 36mm impact socket borrowed from AZ, I managed to get the axle nut off. From there, the axle swap went about as smoothly as an axle swap can go. I removed the bottom two bolts holding the strut which allows just enough room (if you turn the steering in all the way) to slip the axle out. My axle went out just by hitting the end with my brass hammer.

I installed the new Bendix discs after finishing the axle swap. The old discs were stuck pretty good on the hubs, so I wire brushed the hubs, emory clothed them, then applied a smear of anti seize on the hub surface before intalling the new discs.

I mounted the xenon headlights back up with all new bulbs, but my right one still won't come on. More troubleshooting to do, so I still have the bumper off until I figure out the lighting issue.

Drove around for a while to warm up the front diff and then changed out that fluid as the sun was dipping behind Pikes Peak. I needed to get that changed so I could put the stiffener plate back on. Now that the stiffener plate is reinstalled, I can drive the vehicle without feeling guilty.

Transmission filter should arrive this week, so I still have the trans, TC, and rear diff fluids to change plus the motor oil after giving the Marvel Mystery Oil a little while to do its thing.

Water pump arriving this week also. Wanted to wait for it before doing the thermostat swap in case it looks like the pump is original. If it has been changed, I'll probably put the new pump on the shelf for future use. Also plan to swap out the leaking heater control valve and put a new oring on the temp sender in the lower hose all while I have the coolant drained.

Then it will be on to the less critical stuff: trailer hitch installation, figure out the radio situation, crossbar installation for bike racks. It's amazing how much work goes into getting an older BMW back in decent shape.

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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  #55  
Old 01-28-2019, 09:04 PM
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Well, after swapping every component from light to light, my right light still wouldn't shine. Puzzled, I opened it back up and notice this:

Name:  Headlight Broken Wire.jpg
Views: 358
Size:  205.0 KB

How in the world? Somehow that yellow wire was cleanly cut. I can't imagine what could have caused that, but nonetheless, a quick solder job and it was all restored.

The good news is the right light now works! The bad news is the left one now doesn't work. So, I swapped all the components one-by-one and nothing changed. The right one works, but the left one doesn't. About the only thing left is a blown bulb (or another wire failure!). Ran out of daylight and my fingers were done out in the cold. Hopefully I'll figure it out tomorrow.

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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  #56  
Old 01-29-2019, 01:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wpoll View Post
The resler iBus adapter (and iBus app) ONLY work on Anroid aftermarket head units..... So yeah, it"ll work, as long as the android unit you choose has a spare USB input that can be used for the iBus adapter.


Thanks overboost and wpoll !!
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  #57  
Old 01-30-2019, 09:37 PM
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Changed out both the rear differential and transfer case fluids today. Neither were as dark/nasty as I feared for 125K miles. In fact, the rear diff fluid was barely dark at all. The TC fluid was dark, but nothing nasty. I used Chevron Delo 75W-90 full synthetic in both differentials and Rock Oil TF0870 fluid in the TC. I will reset the transfer case adaptation along with the AT oil change counter using either ISTA or DIS once I've flushed out the AT (hopefully this weekend).

I then went back to war on my headlights when my left one failed to glow today. The components all seem to work, but I seem to have a poor connetion or something. I checked continuity on all the wires and they were good. The ground tab on the connection at the ignitor was pretty flattened. I pried it back up a bit with a small screwdriver and put it back in and it worked. Not declaring success just yet, but keeping my fingers crossed.

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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  #58  
Old 01-31-2019, 09:18 PM
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Drained the coolant, installed new Saleri water pump and Wahler thermostat. Both appeared to be original. Removed all tensioner and idler pulleys, popped off seals, currently soaking in diesel fuel to remove the caked grease. Ran out of daylight, so will let them soak and finish cleaning and re-greasing tomorrow. Both belts look good for now.

I bought a cooling system oring kit from the guy on ebay, so I'm changing the orings in the hoses that attach to the thermostat. I also replaced the oring in temp sensor in the bottom hose. I LOVE BMW quick-connect hoses, but the orings are vulnerable to flattening over time.

Date code on my ET is late 2012, so I'm not going to replace that at this time. Maybe in a few years. I think if you keep the ET at the minimum fill level (i.e., the top of the stick level with the top of the tank), and never run it more full than that, you shouldn't have any trouble with bursting ET's. I've had 2 burst on my e46, but looking back, I'm not sure that I understood at the time the importance of keeping the level at the minimum fill. An over-filled ET is an explosion just waiting to happen.

I've also been running 1.4 bar ET caps on my other BMW's. A recent thread on the X3 forum has me questioning the efficacy of that. I may hold off on changing the cap for now.

Oh, and I did turn on the lights twice today, and they are still working. That's a good sign, but I still won't re-install the bumper for a few more days to be sure they're working for good.

AM.
__________________
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)

Last edited by Attacking Mid; 01-31-2019 at 09:26 PM.
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  #59  
Old 01-31-2019, 10:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Attacking Mid View Post
Drained the coolant, installed new Saleri water pump and Wahler thermostat. Both appeared to be original. Removed all tensioner and idler pulleys, popped off seals, currently soaking in diesel fuel to remove the caked grease. Ran out of daylight, so will let them soak and finish cleaning and re-greasing tomorrow. Both belts look good for now.

I bought a cooling system oring kit from the guy on ebay, so I'm changing the orings in the hoses that attach to the thermostat. I also replaced the oring in temp sensor in the bottom hose. I LOVE BMW quick-connect hoses, but the orings are vulnerable to flattening over time.

Date code on my ET is late 2012, so I'm not going to replace that at this time. Maybe in a few years. I think if you keep the ET at the minimum fill level (i.e., the top of the stick level with the top of the tank), and never run it more full than that, you shouldn't have any trouble with bursting ET's. I've had 2 burst on my e46, but looking back, I'm not sure that I understood at the time the importance of keeping the level at the minimum fill. An over-filled ET is an explosion just waiting to happen.

I've also been running 1.4 bar ET caps on my other BMW's. A recent thread on the X3 forum has me questioning the efficacy of that. I may hold off on changing the cap for now.

Oh, and I did turn on the lights twice today, and they are still working. That's a good sign, but I still won't re-install the bumper for a few more days to be sure they're working for good.

AM.
Took about 220,000 miles before my ET cracked. Small leak. Not catastrophic. Had to replace the radiator before the tank.
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  #60  
Old 02-01-2019, 08:50 PM
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Finished up the cooling system repairs this afternoon.... re-packed the bearings in all the pulleys, installed the ebay heater control valve, filled her up with distilled water and ran it in the driveway until fully warm with heater on high. While waiting for the engine to warm up fully, I hooked up ISTA and checked codes... 18 faults! Most had to do with the lights since I've been messing with those this week. I did choose the VTG (transfer case) oil wear fault and went through the process of resetting that since I had just changed the fluid.

Only had 1 fault after resetting the TC... the AUC filter is disconnected since I haven't yet reinstalled the fan and shroud.

The other good news is that the lights came on just fine again. I'm gaining confidence that I have my light issues resolved. My left one is still foggy from that stupid Bulldog adhesion promoter I tried. I'm going to sand it thoroughly and re-clear coat. The right one is pretty clear, but I got some water staining on the inside of the lens. I'm going to see if I can get something in there to gently scrub the inside of the lens. That was a real boneheaded move to let water get in there while I was sanding the lens. Argggghhhhh!

Tomorrow I plan to do a trans fluid flush. I already warned my neighbor I'd be needing his help to turn the engine on/off. That will cost me at least a couple beers!

AM.
__________________
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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