What did you do to / for your E53 today??

[PalmSpringsE534.6]

I used a bit of dental floss to get under the Terk antenna and get it loose. I was then easily able to get the remainder of the adhesive tape off my paint just by rubbing with my fingers. Cleaned it well and waxed the roof. All gone.

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by Purplecty

The rubber cover that goes over the wires to the antenna just needs to be set down with a dab of silicon or something as it doesn't tuck under the windshield gasket. The paint there is perfect. The angle of the picture may have caused it to look bad in that spot but there doesnt seem to be any issues there...

I'm sure it's fine, didn't mean to sound alarmist.

[timmyc]

Swapped out plugs to the NGK Ruthenium. Not sure what to expect. Getting ready to hop on the highway and open it up. No noticeable improvement in idle.

This car is newish to me a (a year this month) and I don't drive it much. The pics I posted here are from just one cylinder. I haven't ever seen this before. Loose plug? Even the coil pack was saturated. It always ran fine with no CEL. Your thoughts?

[Purplecty]

Usually that's a sign of bad inner valve cover gasket...

[EODguy]

Originally Posted by Purplecty

Usually that's a sign of bad inner valve cover gasket...

+1

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[timmyc]

Originally Posted by Purplecty

Usually that's a sign of bad inner valve cover gasket...

Just had those done a few months ago. That is likely the culprit. Must have leaked inside during the repair?

Totally forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder Purplecty

[Purplecty]

They should have been cleaned out during the repair. Clean it out really good and then check back in a month and see what it looks like. On the M62 with the plugs installed, I would spray brake cleaner in there and let it sit for a few mins and then blow it out into a wrag cuz it'll get messy and dry up the residual oil. You can also use a shop vac with a straw taped to the end to suck out all of the oil as well...

[timmyc]

Originally Posted by Purplecty

They should have been cleaned out during the repair.

I have a great indy shop but, that is where he tends to get a little lazy. After he did the gaskets, I still had a bunch of oil on the stiffening plate that was leaving oil wherever I went. I had to take it to the DIY carwash and pressure wash it myself. No leaks or drips now! For what he charges and being a certified BMW master tech, I'll take a little time to clean on my own.

[andrewwynn]

Originally Posted by snik

I'm beginning to wonder if I need wheel bearings. This thing still has a slight hum while rolling at 80+ mph.

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If the hum changes in left vs right curves very likely wheel bearing. You can't tell left from right side based on which curve makes it sound better because there are four zones of race that are involved (inner, outer, and top and bottom of each).

I've discovered that swapping between 255 and 235 tire will flip the race loading from inner top, outer bottom to outer top, inner bottom and can be a fantastic was to determine which wheel is at fault. It can be painfully difficult to determine which wheel is the cause.

That said, if the sound only is at speed,
You could just have a minor off balance that is finding a harmonic frequency of something

[timmyc]

Highway test went as expected. Runs great. And I actually did notice a smoother idle.

Did the cooling system overhaul 2 weeks ago. Nailed it, too! Only had to perform the initial bleed. Didn't even have to top it off!

I'm always amazed at how easy bimmers are to work on. It's like they are engineered to repair! I have worked on many, many cars in my day and I'll take a bimmer every time!