Hiya's,

Today i got more aquainted with INPA

I had some square alu section to hand, cut 2 slots at one end 1/4 inch deep, folded the piece out to make a L shape, marked with a hacksaw my sports heights along length, got me a solid but light measuring gauge

L shape lip goes under the bottom wheel lip centered and voila, a bit of holding and eyeballing trial n error to get near to perfect (still have 1 front new strut to put on so a few mm for this week if fine for me)

I now have my suspension almost to where my sports settings should be lol

If anyone needs air strut advice i'm quite a dab hand at settings heights now through inpa

Have Fun

Tony

Got around to installing the headlight today. Unfortunately I broke the driver's side clip when removing the bumper. Last time I broke the passenger's side so I replaced that one this time. While I had the bumper off I took the time to replace all the bulbs in each headlight. Very happy with the results, and no more burnt front lens!

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4809/...b16a8a45_b.jpgIMG_3100 by Al, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7898/...42f307a6_b.jpgIMG_3101 by Al, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4860/...a2627cba_b.jpgIMG_3102 by Al, on Flickr
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7883/...e5b5150b_b.jpgIMG_3104 by Al, on Flickr
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4853/...4c384ebf_b.jpgIMG_3107 by Al, on Flickr.

Since I just acquired my e53, I streamed the Rams theft from the Saints in the garage while tinkering with the e53. I rotated the wheels and scrubbed the inside of the wheels from years of caked-on brake dust. They didn't come out perfect, but much cleaner. I have warped front rotors, but wanted to inspect the brakes all around before ordering parts in case I needed pads. Pad are near new all around, so I'll just order the front rotors for now. Planning on conventional Brembo rotors as I've had good luck with them in the past.

Also pulled the stiffening plate and plastic splash guards from bottom of engine area. Everything was really grungy and oily. I wanted to determine where I might have any leaks so I can order gaskets and tackle that. Surprisingly, all the usual culprits appear clean/dry - OFHG and VCG both appear clean and dry. AFAICT, I have leakage from at least one of: rear main seal, right axle seal, oil pan gasket. I may have to clean everything up and try to re-evaluate in a couple weeks to see if I can be more certain of the culprit.

That stiffening plate has 6 bolts with loose nuts on top. That was a PITA compared to my e83 that has 4 bolts with captive nuts. While the nuts weren't terrible to access, everything was so grungy that I was NOT happy with BMW engineers over that. Going to have to haul that plate to the car wash to clean it up. Yuck!

Cleaned out the cabin filter intake that was full of leaves/debris. I know most people buy new filters, but I often just rinse them out with the hose, spray with general purpose cleaner and rinse. They don't get perfect, but if I needed perfect, I'd have an F15.

Will be ordering lots of parts/supplies in the morning so I can soon tackle some of the deferred maintenance items such as f&r diff fluid, TC fluid, AT fluid, brake fluid, coolant, and engine oil. I also have a stuck thermostat and am debating replacing the WP preventatively (I have no idea when/if it's been replaced).

AFAICT, this car has always been serviced at a dealership. I haven't found ANY aftermarket parts on it other than tires. Even the battery is genuine. That's a good thing, as we all know that many aftermarket parts don't function/last well. I'm not one to avoid aftermarket parts entirely, but there are many instances where it can be very costly to go cheap!

I have a headlight out, so I'll need to figure that issue out quickly, but then have a few non-essential items to tackle: headlights need sanded/cleared, stereo is messed-up, blower motor isn't working at all. This should keep be busy for a bit!

AM.

If you have a BMW Scanner like INPA or BMW Scanner 1.4 maybe start scanning modules and see if you can see any errors causing some of your problems. If not, on the headlights you can swap bulbs left to right first and if the problem remains, change ballasts. Only thing left is ignitors.

Bought another pair of 325/35R20's for the beast. I was just about to pony up for a new pair to the tune of $1118 and some change when I did a last ditch ebay search. There were no Pirelli P Zeros in the desired size with any meat left on them for the last 6 months. Well, late January must be when all the supercar/hypercar owners replace their tires in preparation for the upcoming year... found a few options and picked up the best two with matching tread. Around 7 or 8/32nds...

Tire 1

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/PkEAA...TZ/s-l1600.jpg

Tire 2

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/OjMAA...wg/s-l1600.jpg

Between a best offer being accepted and some ebay bucks I had available I scored the pair for $394.24!!! Color me pleased. ;) Not as good as the first pair I bought, but these have no plugs/patches either.

Now I can take the $700 savings and apply it to the Xpel wrap of the front bumper and side skirts... :rolleyes: I'm glad my wife likes the way the truck turned out because she's losing enthusiasm with every dollar. :D

It's a good thing asymmetrical tyres aren't also directional or you'd be trying to find a "left-side" tyre and a "right-side" tyre! :bustingup

I ordered a new air filter and cabin air filter, both of which were old when I bought the car 2.5 years ago. Must have overlooked them. I'm gonna be towing a lot thus summer, so I'm ordering parts for a cooling system overhaul and other PM work that has been overlooked. Looking forward to a weekend in the garage for that.

Some are! The tires on my buddy's 328xi have an outside and an inside! (Well I'm hoping those actually aren't asymmetrical then you could actually rotate them).

All asymmetrical tyres have an inside and outside but I think that's why they aren't usually directional as well - it would mean the manufacturers would have to make left and right pairs - something I don't think I've ever seen. :dunno:

Right you are sir. Would complicate an already difficult to find tire purchase. :yikes: And yes these do have an outside/inside.