SCHLEPN | The E39 540itA Story

[DrLeadFoot]

Getting the trunk as silent as possible.  Some sound deadening, new OEM weather stripping, tailgate stops and a bunch of glue.  With that being said, a new tailgate is on the radar.  This one is a bit rusty and patched together. 

New grip strip to replace the corroded one.

[DrLeadFoot]

Oil change.  177,600 miles.

OEM filter and Castrol 0w-40.

[DrLeadFoot]

Let's jump to the beginning! 

I was all over the internet for a couple months searching for e39 wagon.  I6 or V8 just clean.  I found this 540it for $3700 in New Hampshire that the seller just did the timing chain & guides. I booked a plane ticket and let the older seller know in was coming and had cash.  He didn't believe that someone would fly halfway across the country for this wagon.  Some pics of his garage and first pics of the wagon after the drive to Syracuse, NY:

[DrLeadFoot]

It smelled liked mold, air suspension was deflating overnight, alignment was way off and tires were bad. Made it to Syracuse no problem.  Windows down the majority of the way.  The smell was BAD.

Stayed in this sweet late 1800s airbnb. 

[DrLeadFoot]

Made it home 6-23-18!  Air suspension was still leaking. 

[DrLeadFoot]

Got it on the lift after I got it home. Rear main seal was leaking, rear lower ball joint was half out, some weird catch can was hooked up and all the window seals were leaking.  Smelled so nasty.

[DrLeadFoot]

Operation de-mold!  Gallons of vinegar and scrubbing. 

Trans pulled, rear main seal and the other two rear seals replaced. 

New fuel purge valve. 

Popped in 72mm E60 hubs/bearings to dump the 74mm e39 hubs.

New Guibo and CSB new OEM BMW.

Rebuilt the stater while in was in there.

[DrLeadFoot]

New trans fluid and filter.  Redline ATF.

19" apex arc-8 et22 275 rears.

Rear sway bar links and bushings. 

New OEM BMW passenger side air bag and both expansion tanks.

KW coilovers and rear adjustable links & KW rear shocks.

Rear drivers side lower ball joint.

New diff output seals.

[DrLeadFoot]

Looking good!

[DrLeadFoot]

New inner door seals.

Patched in new brake lines.  New ATE brake fluid and braided brake lines.

[DrLeadFoot]

The car didn't come with rear shades but I found some shade door cards but had to new new OEM shades as the ones with the doors were ripped.

Started switching all the chrome window trim, inside & out to the black sport trim. With new interior & exterior weather stripping as well.

Air suspension troubleshooting headaches engaged. Had to get a new pump.  New pump was leaking so got a new, new pump.

New, used, front drives window regulator. 

Replaces some old hose clamps with the crimp style.  Got the winter tires/wheels ready to go. 

[DrLeadFoot]

New headlight lenses. 

Tailgate is rough.  Might try to buy a new one.

Scraped, primed and painted a bunch of rust.

New taillight seals.

[DrLeadFoot]

Crank case vent was making a horn noise.  Dug into it and found a bunch of sketchy stuff from a PO.  They tried to bypass the CCV and run it through the weird catch can I posted about earlier. One hose for that catch can was being pinched by the intake manifold. So weird.

Glad I was able to get into the top of the motor to replace all the brittle things.

[YoungCR]

Glad you replaced the torx bolts on the intake manifolds, I've had a few of those strip and they suck to cut out.

Man what is up with the tailgates on these cars, yours looked perfect. Is there just no primer inside them?

[suspenceful]

Awesome job bringing it back up to par. Looks like an awesome car now!

[Jdesign]

Nice Updates! Looks like you spent some time going through this thing. What the hell is that blue condom looking thing in a few of the last pictures?

Also, I want to see more "final" photos. Lets see the interior all put together and shinned up after that intense deep cleaning! Looks like you did a great job!

[DrLeadFoot]

Jdesign said:

Nice Updates! Looks like you spent some time going through this thing. What the hell is that blue condom looking thing in a few of the last pictures?

Also, I want to see more "final" photos. Lets see the interior all put together and shinned up after that intense deep cleaning! Looks like you did a great job!

  It was under the knife for about 3-4 months of hitting it hard.  Now just working out the smaller bugs from daily driving it but I think I'm almost to being 100%.  Sunroof rattle is next up. That condom thing was ziptied on there to block that hole.  So weird.  I'll get more final pics.  Thanks!! 

suspenceful said:

Awesome job bringing it back up to par. Looks like an awesome car now!

Thank you!

YoungCR said:

Glad you replaced the torx bolts on the intake manifolds, I've had a few of those strip and they suck to cut out.

Man what is up with the tailgates on these cars, yours looked perfect. Is there just no primer inside them? 

Thanks!  I wish they did a fiberglass tailgate like the  XJ Jeeps did.  Lighter and it doesn't rust!  Blunttech just quoted me $1650ish for a new tailgate.  It might be worth it!

[straight6pwr]

DrLeadFoot said:

Thanks!  I wish they did a fiberglass tailgate like the  XJ Jeeps did.  Lighter and it doesn't rust!  Blunttech just quoted me $1650ish for a new tailgate.  It might be worth it!  

BMW's first attempt at a tailgate on the e34 is an abomination. it seems their 2nd attempt isn't much better. why do i feel like those silly germans tried to engineer it from square one instead of studying some proven designs and learning a thing or two?

[ChrisO]

damn you got a lot done in 10 days, lookin good with the 19” arc8’s

edit: I see you brought it home in June now, still lookin good!

[DrLeadFoot]

ChrisO said:

damn you got a lot done in 10 days, lookin good with the 19” arc8’s

edit: I see you brought it home in June now, still lookin good!

Thanks!!  With real estate being busy I am delegating work to a friend/Master BMW Tech so I can't take all the credit but I am back seat driving the process as much as I can.