Man where do I begin with this one. To bring you up to speed this is my 1998 BMW 540i 6 speed manual. It currently hides a DINAN supercharger under the hood along with several tasteful modifications which include but are not limited to the following: Racing Dynamic RGQ 19 inch rims, ST coil overs along with a comprehensive restoration of suspension, interior and exterior. Do I have your attention yet? We will go over the full restoration or shall I say restorations considering I have restored this car three total times and it isn't near completion.
IN THE BEGINNING
Now I think its time we go over the entire rebuild but for that we have to start at the beginning. This car started its life as a mostly stock BMW 540i. It boasted worn and leaking M sport I suspension, broken window regulators resulting in the windows being duct taped to the surrounding trim, and questionable body work and paint. Most importantly it was hiding a healthy portion of rust and carnage on its underside. Now you may be asking why the hell would you drive an hour to purchase an example like this and the answer is this. This car was never supposed to be mine, in fact I drove to Sioux City Iowa to help a friend of mine purchase this bundle of joy. To give a little backstory by this time in 2020 I had already had over 5 cars, some 540i's and all of them were German. With that said it was only fitting that I would tag along and give it a Gioum Score, please don't sue me Doug Demuro. Upon my initial findings I saw a neglected car that I believed could look brand new with just a little elbow grease. Not to mention I somehow completely ignored the globs of rust on the underside as I was to busy being mesmerized by the 6 speed manual and the v8 engine. Long story short we shook hands with the seller and so begun the voyage back to Omaha!
All right let me take you back to August 12th 2020 at approximately 8:45. Two excited teenagers are driving away in their new BMW, I guess I should say his as it sadly was not mine yet. We make a quick pit stop to refuel on the essential preservative packed and high in carbohydrate gas station snacks and prepare to hit the road. As I make a quick 360 around the car I quickly notice it rolling back and attempting to make me become one with the pavement. Great the E brake isn't working and aside from that the brake lights, reverse lights and turn signals are all illuminated with the car off. Now before another self proclaimed BMW expert like myself chimes in here, this is a January 1998 car meaning Pathway lights did not exist for this year e39. Instead these lights were illuminating due to a failed light control module. Upon further investigation I quickly realized there was a lack of dash illumination, interior lights or any control of the entire vehicles light functions. But hey at least the sunroof works right? As I push the sunroof button to ventilate in some air considering the air conditioning was not functioning I was greeted by a sound I could only describe as cracking your fingers in a silent room. Great now that's broken but I didn't care because my friend was now the owner of a Non Vanos 540i which I might add is arguably this cars best configuration.
SO IT BEGINS
All right I could bore you by mentioning every little thing this depreciated German rolling dumpster needed however lets move on. Less then 24 hours later as I began repairing this e39 for my friend the problems kept arising. From coolant leaks and overheating, to Freon blasting out of the hood and the alarm blaring whenever it felt necessary, this e39 was the gift that kept on giving. I formulated a check list of parts needed to bring this vehicle back up to speed and promptly shared it with the owner. Upon reading the short list I sent him he called me and said "Yas I don't know whether to shit or go blind." Because of this we made a new deal. I was without a car at the time so we negotiated that I could borrow it completely free of charge and he would supply the parts for repair. After an official fist bump sealing our agreement, I began restoring this beast. I replaced the coolant reservoir cap, remedied several mechanical faults and most importantly replaced and reprogrammed the Light Control Module. LET THERE BE LIGHHTTTTTTTTT!!
Next I rebuilt a set of Hella Pre-Facelift headlights with new adjusters and replaced those God awful chrome housing aftermarket units. I mean those headlights looked straight out of the fast and furious era parts catalog and I wasn't having it!
Much better! now it was time to start tackling some exhaust work. All right let me backup here.... Now like any young car guy I used to really enjoy obnoxiously loud cars. Pair that with the fact that I believed this car was fast at the time and 24hr access to a Sawzall. Wasting no time I rolled my trusty jack under the differential and lifted the car several inches off the ground. Did I mention that this jack has been around longer then I've roamed this earth? It still works to this day and I can honestly say that jack needs several hours of therapy to cope with what it's been through. It was here I noticed what I believed was just some surface rust, more on this later. With the exhaust now cut including the cat converters, it was now "fockin mint". With that done I continued restoring this car for the next several weeks. Now after some time had elapsed, it was clear the owner was growing impatient with my extended loan of the 540i. The day came where it was time to take it back until this happened.......
Now this ladies and gentlemen is a deployed airbag. How did this happen you may ask? I'll tell you how. A calm and short drive home from work was abruptly interrupted by a loud bang followed by smoke and the car shutting off. Great I've just been crashed into in a car that I do not own. After gathering myself I quickly look around and to my surprise there isn't another car in sight. I somehow was able to restart the car although the battery safety terminal was disconnected and limped it home. I called the owner and let him know what just occurred and he was in disbelief to say the least. "There is no way that just went off while you were driving" he said. To this I responded "Welcome to the Ultimate Driving Machine." Now I'd like to add that this occurrence was the biggest blessing or curse depending on how you look at it. After this fiasco paired with the increasing faults and maintenance costs the owner finally threw in the towel. After some quick negotiation we made a deal. "One aspen silver 1995 BMW 740il trade for a 1998 BMW 540i as is" the bill of sale read and it was history. I now assumed ownership of this 540i, SHIT!
I spent several more months restoring this car, see the progress below.
THIS IS WHAT THE START OF INSANITY LOOKS LIKE
All right its a few months after buying this car and it was time to tackle some long needed maintenance. Naturally I then took every dollar of my pay check and sent a ludicrous amount of money to FCPEuro.com
Now that is no diss to fcpeuro as it's one of the best parts supplier websites for German auto parts. No I'm not sponsored although I wish I was, c'mon FCP help a brother out! Anyways with this cars mileage just ticking over 125,000 miles it was time to overhaul the cooling system. I replaced the water pump with an updated metal impeller unit, refreshed the valve cover, replaced valve cover gaskets, manifold gaskets, ccv and gasket, valley pan gasket, knock sensors, upper and lower radiator hoses, expansion tank return hose, serpentine belts and of course the radiator. I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton but regardless I was so excited to get this service complete. A day later I turned the key and fired up the mighty M62B44. SHE'S ALLLLLIIIIVVVVE!
The car was finally running again and at this point final assembly was all that was left. This entire process was a breeze however it was unfortunately short lived. After all of this hard work and money the fan shroud introduced itself to the hood. This catastrophic failure not only gravely damaged the hood but managed to take out the entire cooling system with it, NO SURVIVORS. When I say the entire cooling system I'm referring to that brand new water pump, fan and clutch, radiator and lastly all the new hoses. Upon further investigation it became evident that my negligence to replace separated motor mounts allowed this to occur. Now for the 540i owners reading this, there are several ways the fan clutch can fail. One occurrence is of course motor mount failure, next is fan clutch locking which is typically accompanied with a loud constant roaring fan and lastly brittle and cracking fan blades. The point is if you haven't already replaced that fan and clutch WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Back to the drawing
board....
UPGRADE TIME!
Now there was no chance in hell I was going through that same experience again so electric fan conversion it was. I did some basic measuring and found an aluminum shroud that would both house a 16 inch fan and bolt up to the new radiator. After some simple wiring an inline fuse and ignition power wire from the ECU, we were ready to roll! For the first time in this cars life the engine bay actually looked presentable. However it was far from done because I'm a perfectionist or masochist if you will. With the cooling system done it was finally time to work on the cosmetics this car desperately needed. Be warned this is a lot of photos!
INITIAL INTERIOR UPDATES
INITIAL EXTERIOR UPDATES
At this point life is going great and the 540i is coming together everyday. I wasted no time in pulling a poor man's M5 power move and proceeded to attach an M bumper onto my sport package 540i. I continued making various changes throughout the next few weeks including new window regulators, exhaust installation and much more. I could for once see the light at the end of the tunnel.
THAT WAS UNTIL THIS HAPPENED...
After several months of restoring the 540i into a somewhat decent example it was backed into by a bicycle mount, Ugh damn Subaru drivers. I mean who the hell keeps a bicycle mount on their car year round, especially in the winter. Now this was a bigger ordeal then it seems. At first glance it looks like a simple front and rear door shell replacement. If you came to that same conclusion you are absolutely correct. A simple junkyard run was all it took to get new door shells for this car, but that wasn't the issue. The problem at hand is related to one of the largest scamming industries in this world, INSURANCE. Now I'd like to think of myself as a somewhat intellectual individual so of course I had an active full coverage policy on this vehicle. Regardless of this for those who are unaware a car like this is so worthless on paper or Blue Book that insurance will write it off as a total loss for something as simple as a cracked lower valance. With that in mind I knew it would be an absolute battle to get any fair value out of this car and save it from the scrapyard. After several weeks of shrewd negotiation to say the least, I got a something around $4700 and I got to keep the car. Now fortunately Nebraska is one of those states where when a vehicle reaches a certain age it doesn't get its title branded as salvage in the event of a total loss. With that said this car still retains a clean title, although in the event of a resale I'll happily share this post with a buyer for transparency. The satire to this whole scenario is I had new door shells bolted to this car before insurance even acknowledged my claim.
Now remember before when I mentioned my perfectionism? Yea so about that... I was so bothered by the different colored door shell I just installed on this e39. Keep in mind this car was originally Cosmos Schwarz 303 and the replacement door was Schwarz 668 or jet black. This color difference prompted me to take every dollar of that insurance money and respray the whole car. Now if you follow the market trend of 540i's from 2021 to now in 2023 not much has changed. In layman's terms I could have cut my losses here and sold the 540i allowing me to purchase a much nicer example combined with insurance money or even purchase an m5 with the combined cash, but I didn't. I've come to the realization that I seem to enjoy making things hard for myself and enjoying my own turmoil, ahem masochism. So naturally I sourced a body shop and off the 540i went to be resprayed.
IS THIS GUY F#@*NG CRAZY?
Your still reading? Great because now's the fun part. Below are some pictures from the 540i receiving a full respray. I Know it looks bad but just continue reading.
SEVERAL THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS LATER
You may be thinking the car pictured above is a completely different car but you would be incorrect. This is the same primered and rough example that this project began as. After receiving a complete respray in carbon black with a replacement trunk and hood, this car was sharp! I continued maintaining and restoring it. At this time I thought it was appropriate to fit it with some new wheels and settled with a brand new set of M parallel replicas. At this stage of this restoration I was excited and happy to see how far I had come. Now there was just one issue and that was rust. Unbeknownst to me the floorboard rust was hiding far more damage then was originally obvious under the factory undercoating. I drove the car throughout the rest of the summer and decided to tackle the rust repair over winter. Here are some pictures of just how bad it was.
THINGS WERE NOT LOOKING GOOD FOR THIS CHASSIS
Any mentally sane person would have threw in the towel and cut their losses at this point. If you haven't picked up on the way I operate oh don't you worry you will shortly. There was no way I was letting this E39 beat me so it was time to begin this massive repair. Step One was door and carpet removal. After all the last thing I wanted to do is start a fire in my parents garage. I also needed a top side view of the floorboards condition.
I wasted no time and seized the opportunity to take this legendary photograph. One day when I'm old and drier than a raisin I can show this photo to my grandchildren. "Now kids this is what insanity looks like." Alright onwards I went and removed the remainder of the interior components. Everything from the dashboard, seats, headliner and rear deck were completely stripped.
ALL RIGHT HERE GOES NOTHING
DRIVER SIDE REPAIR PROCESS
PASSENGER SIDE REPAIR PROCESS
At this stage the project was nearing completion. New metal was welded in, treated with POR-15 rust barrier and most importantly coated with a non rubberized undercoating. This is very important considering both factory and aftermarket undercoating tend to allow moisture to get trapped between the bare metal and itself. It was now time to reassemble the car and send it to the body shop to have the rocker panels resprayed.
WOW I ACTUALLY DID IT!
Covered with a thick layer of dust, cobwebs and welding ash the 540i rolled out of it's gravesite looking better then ever. It also wore a genuine pair of E39 spec M parallels to replace the replicas. All there was left to do was have the rocker panels resprayed along with the new rear M sport bumper and ride into the sunset. That's not an exaggeration when I first created a note file on this cars restoration I had "ride off into the sunset while listening to Cyndi Lauper" highlighted. Unfortunately this occurred next. Oh come on you've got to know by now that something was bound to go wrong...
Problem number? I lost count. It was a few weeks after the 540i was completed and it immediately thanked me for all my hard work by blowing a spring, yes you heard that right. The force from this spring was so powerful it broke the fender liner and punched a hole in the tire sidewall. I don't even know what to say about that so we're just gonna continue. Now it was of course time for a suspension overhaul which this car desperately needed anyways.
SUSPENSION REFRESH
Several hundred, excuse me a few thousand dollars later and this was the result. The 540i now had new ST Coil-Overs, upper and lower control arms, tie rod ends, wheel hubs, strut mounts, sway bar end links front/rear and much more. It was also a good time to replace the speed sensors. At this time I sourced another set of wheels for the car.
Introducing the extremely rare Racing Dynamic RGQ 19 inch rims.(APPARENTLY 1 OF 80 OR SO)
INTERIOR OVERHAUL PART 2. RIGHT?
All of that exterior, underside and suspension work would not be complete without an interior overhaul. The E39 received the following updates: New charcoal suede headliner including A, B, and C pillars, Charcoal suede rear deck with sunshade, Rear door cards with sunshades, front door cards and a new curtain airbag. The interior was further updated with OEM black M sport front and rear Dome lights and OEM black grab handles. Sourcing a set of black sun visors proved to be a daunting task but was also necessary. From here the car received a new sunroof with matching suede sunshade followed by a few last touches before finally lowering it to the ground for the first time in several months. Final suspension settings were dialed in and the car left the garage for its first test drive. Your not gonna believe this... It didn't end well
ACCIDENT SCENE MAY 14TH 2022
So there I was staring at my prized possession and seeing it wrecked once again. Let's go back to those racing dynamics. Now considering this was supposed to be a simple test drive, new tires were not yet mounted to the RGQ's. As a result the stretched and leaking rear tires did not hold up. After suffering an unexpected blowout, the vehicles tail spun out and directed me into a flashing traffic light. I was of course devastated and to make matters worse my younger sister was riding in the passenger seat. An intense feeling of anger paired with embarrassment and shame for putting her in danger were enough for me to Abandon the project. Fortunately speeding was not a factor here so we walked away unscathed. Looks like this was the end of the line for the 1998 540i.
JULY 13TH 2022 CAR LEAVES WITH ITS NEW OWNER
What can I say? After beginning to part the car out a friend of mine halted the process and offered to buy the car as is. At this point I needed the garage spot for my replacement vehicle the AUDI B5 S4 so the E39 had to go. I was glad to remove this burden from my life and put more focus into my new project car. I sold the racing dynamics to the new owner as well and it was finally looking like I was free from this financial burden once and for all. The car drove away with the door bungee corded shut and a box full of spare and original parts, a bittersweet moment to say the least. Interestingly enough my sister was so enraged with my decision to sell the car. She proceeded to give me the cold shoulder for the remaining of the afternoon. She repeatedly questioned how I could abandon something after putting so much time and effort into it.
ITS NOT OVER YET
Okay hear me out... I may or may not have bought the car back. Here's the process of its re-restoration.
RACING DYNAMICS RESTORATION
You don't want to know how much it cost to re-purchase these wheels so we will skip over this. The wheel with the shaved lip was repaired and each wheel received a fresh powder coat in Porsche Silver metallic.
AN E39 EMERGES FROM THE DEAD
Quite a bit of work ended up going into the car after it returned from the body shop. Many things were overlooked such as proper door alignment, jack pad spot welding and many other things I needed to correct. After a few hours of repairing these small issues, I was left with a very straight e39 ready for the next stage of revival. Next I mounted new tires on the racing dynamics and mounted them to the car. Extreme curiosity and excitement overcame me as I lowered the car to the ground and adjusted the ride height. After all I only ever saw this car on this wheel and suspension setup in the darkness briefly before the accident.
This was an unbelievable moment. The car I thought I'd never see again was now in one piece once again. The next step was to button everything up and continue restoring it. Did I mention this project will never finish? Meanwhile check out that newly wrapped M tech I wheel with tri-color stitching. The heated wheel will be missed.
DINAN SUPERCHARGER
Conclusion
If you've made it this far into this post I want to thank you for following along. This is where the 1998 BMW 540i's build is at currently. There will inevitably be a part two wrapping up the completion of this long project but until then I want to close this out by saying this. Throughout this process I have learned a tremendous amount about the BMW e39 chassis and can confidently say there isn't anything on it I couldn't rebuild. This restoration is a special one because it was my first major project car and it now belongs to my younger sister. It was her persistence and love for this car that influenced me to buy it back in the first place. Because of this her name is embedded onto the headliner fabric. One day when this project is complete, I will hand the keys and responsibility to her. This car started as a neglected junk yard example BMW and its now well on it's way to becoming a car that will stay in my family for Generations. Never give up on your dreams or 1990s BMWs, however you want to look at it. On second thought I wouldn't listen to me.
NOVEMBER 26TH 2023
For current and future build updates you can find this 540i here
E39 Headlight Restoration and other products are available in our Store
FOR ANYONE WHO CARES HERE'S A FULL BUILD SHEET (AT LEAST WHAT I CAN REMEMBER)
Underside Rust Restoration
Left rear floorboard replacement
Front and rear jack pad reinforcement
Right side full rocker panel replacement
Left side partial rocker panel replacement
Por-15 rust barrier and non-rubberized undercoating
Left front floor board partial reweld
Exterior Overhaul and replaced parts
Full respray in Carbonschwarz Metallic (416)
M tech front bumper Part No: 51112498507
M tech rear bumper Part No: 51122498489
M tech OEM exhaust Part No: 18101407970
Racing Dynamic RGQ 19x8.5 ET 13 and 19x9.5 ET 20 Part No: 124101985, 124101995
New door molding Part No: 82119403140
Illuminated Led door handles
M tech gloss black window trim GLANZSCHWARZ
OEM BMW Hood replacement from a (due to original hood full of body filler) Part No: 41618167798
OEM BMW Trunk replacement (due to original trunk full of body filler)Part No: 41628212602
Rear lip spoiler
Trunk release handle Part No: 51248168035
OEM BMW Driver side front left door shell (from accident No. 1) Part No: 41518216817
OEM BMW Passenger front right door shell (from accident No.2) Part No: 41518216818
Hella facelift led tail light retrofit (LCM Reprogram) Part No: 63216902529, 63216902530
Front and rear Roundels' Part No: 51148132375KT1
Chrome kidney grills
Windscreen replacement and front window seal
Gloss black facelift outer roof rail trim
Interior Overhaul and replaced parts
Charcoal suede headliner: A, B and C pillar including sunroof shade
Charcoal suede rear deck with electric rolling sun blind retrofit
Front door cards Part No: 51418212773, 51417140297
Rear door door cards with sunshade retrofit (including quarter window shades) Part No: 51428196625, 51427140027
Sunshade Part No:51167110205, 51167110206
Ski Bag delete for subwoofer
OEM Nokia subwoofer retrofit Part No: 65138360789
New sunroof cassette Part No: 54128250048
Vapor barriers replaced and resealed in all four doors
Front Vapor barrier Part No: 51487055929, 51487055930
Rear vapor barrier Part No: 51488159937, 51488159938
Bavsound speakers in front doors and rear deck Part No: SW.E38R.ALL
Technical Graphite interior trim Part No: 8196979
Eonon Headunit with I-Bus app
M tech 1 single stage wheel with tri color stitching Part No: 32342228671
Illuminated M shift knob
E60 short shifter Part No: 25117546373
M sport black housing overhead dome light Part No: 2269513
M sport black grab handles Part No: 51168245906, 51168245909, 51168245910
M sport black housing C pillar dome lights Part No: 2491509
M sport black housing vanity mirror light covers Part No: 63312269512
M sport black sun visors Part No: 51167892757, 51167892758
Front and rear OEM door handles with aftermarket orange illumination retrofit
Tec cupholder (BMW Logo Stamped)
Ambient lighting retrofit (subtle 5mm Led in door panel map pockets and door handle)
Engine and mechanical maintenance
Nissens radiator Part No: 60782A
New Graf metal impeller water pump Part No: W0133-1835161
URO aluminum water pump pulley Part No: 11511742045PRM
Valve cover gasket replacement
Febi Slave Cylinder (CDV deleted) Part No: FEB-10034
Valve cover respray
Bosch Knock sensors (both banks) Part No: 12141741648
Bavarian Autosport coil packs Part No: 5003
Nissens Auxiliary fan Part No: 85421
Aluminum electric fan shroud with 16 inch fan
Radiator lower rubber mounts Part No: 17111737704
Radiator upper rubber mounts Part No: 17111712911
Radiator upper bracket Part No: 17111740315
Alternator
Camshaft Position Sensor Meyle Part No: 3148990011
Facelift cabin air filter boxes and lid
Intake manifold gaskets
Valley pan Part No: 11141742042
Rear CCV and gasket
Throttle body gasket
Oil filter housing bushings
Hood struts
Washer nozzles (heated) Part No: 61668361042
Oil pan gasket
Coolant temp sensor Part No: 13621703993
Dinan supercharger kit
Dinan Supercharger bracket
Dinan Supercharger oil filter housing relocation bracket
Dinan Supercharger Coolant pipe relocation
Dinan Supercharger AC line
Dinan Supercharger lower bracket
Dinan Supercharger brace
Coding and Programming
Pathway lights, pull high beam stock after turning car off and the following lights illuminate: Low beams, high beams, fog lights, brake lights, tail lights, interior ambient lighting.
LCMII A retrofit coded to mileage and vin number (provisions changed for LED lights)
Window roll up function with key
Daytime running light disable (cars originally from Canada)
Suspension
Upper control arms front
Lower control arms front
Upper control arms rear
Tie rod ends L/R
Swaybar end links L/R
Front wheel hub and bearings L/R
Front and rear brake rotors
Front and rear brake pads and new retainer clips
Rear sway bar end links L/R
ST coilovers with new front and rear strut mounts
VIN: WBADE5323WBV94039
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