I just bought this 550 in real nice condition. I have read allot and decided to do some preventative maintenance. Well a "simple" VCG replacement has turned into a teardown. Mainly because i wanted to hit all the areas that commonly leak, though they weren't on mine. I have been quite surprised how well the rubber has held up on all the consumable parts at this mileage. Everything is original including the belt! And that wasn't in bad condition either. I was surprised to find that i have an oil cooler. I thought USA cars didn't come with this. That AC bracket housing job is a tough one! Replacing the cooling system as well, just because or age and mileage.

 

LOL, good luck with your PM, its seems as though you have done this several times before?

 

I have a small side business where i work on Bimmers during the week. Although this is my first V8 and first E60 i have worked on, the many repairs on the earlier models makes me not afraid to tear into anything. I just got done swapping out the mechatronic unit as the trans was shifting harsh. Lucky the dealer paid for it. Since this car has everything i could want, i plan to keep it for a long time. I have a spare E39 528i as a commuter so i can afford to have the car sit and take my time. So that is nice. I can tell you that this car is many times harder to work on than anything else i have done. I love the ride of this car, i never though i could beat the ride of my E39 530 sport. This kills it.

 

Sweet man! I wish I have the knowledge and equipment to do stuff like this!

 

DAYUM!


dude, if i had this kind of knowledge....my beast would be even better....i would def buy a super charger and install it myself...

 

I sure wish I had this skill. I would never go to a shop except change my tires. GL

 

Well thanks for the kind words. I am a computer guy by trade and work a long weekend which allows me to do this during the week. The are mostly polar opposite so i enjoy working on bimmers. Kind of a mental release. And with all the computer requirements i guess that part isnt so far off. My recent addition is my ICOM adapters for BMW ISIS. Works awesome! Reprogrammed the whole car.

 

did you find the screw?





You sound mechanically savvy so you'll be fine. Keep us updated

 

Nice. Hope you had a coupon at harbor freight for that item as there was just a sale. I have 4 bimmers right now so doing investing in all the tools including setting up an ISIS server, but I rarely use it because my Software Service Station is much faster and much simpler to use. I used to feel like it was a mental release too. But now I found that doing nothing is a mental release. LOOOOOL

 

If you have gone that far you should take the engine entirely out. Coolant feed pipe, and rear coolant cover are common from what I've read and lower timing cover is also known to be weak with higher miles.