It's official, I'm a BMW driver now

"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay) 07/18/2015 at 22:17 • Filed to: Cheap E39, Asshat Parking

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Changed out the radiator last night and I’ve been driving her around all day today without any signs of other cooling system maladies. Considering that it’s over 100 degrees here I’m going to call it fixed. Threw on some new tires to replace the horrible dry rotted ones that were installed and that’s it. I now have a running and driving 540i 6mt!

Anybody know a good way to spruce up peeling clear coat? That and the headlights are the only things holding her back from looking really good.

jkm7680 > Decay buys too many beaters 07/18/2015 at 22:21

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Turn in your turn signal stalk, then we can talk.

Decay buys too many beaters > jkm7680 07/18/2015 at 22:22

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I don’t think it has turn signals, every time I try to signal it simply adjusts the steering wheel position.

jkm7680 > Decay buys too many beaters 07/18/2015 at 22:24

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Oh, then you must have already relinquished the turn signal handle.

Shit wait, BMWs never came with turn signals.

PS9 > Decay buys too many beaters 07/18/2015 at 22:28

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-Entropic Force
-Decay

Hey...uhh, anyone else feel oppo is getting a bit run down? I think this place is starting to fall apart, but I can’t quite put my finger on why...

Decay buys too many beaters > jkm7680 07/18/2015 at 22:34

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Actually I think the BMW CCA removes all of them prior to sale then mails then to you if they wish to kick you out of the club. Kind of like a “you’re dead to me” type of thing...

jkm7680 > Decay buys too many beaters 07/18/2015 at 22:35

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God damn! Do they penalize you for taking up only one spot in the parking lot?

Decay buys too many beaters > PS9 07/18/2015 at 22:37

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Not sure myself, I took a few month break while work on picked up like crazy. Just getting back in to it now.

Decay buys too many beaters > jkm7680 07/18/2015 at 22:43

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Of course! You know everybody always posts funny pictures of BMW “asshat parking?” Well in the secret monthly BMW CCA meetings we look at pictures of BMWs parked like minivans and all those drivers get blacklisted, never to get a friendly BMW to BMW wave again.

Well, at least until they can prove their ability to park in a way that befits a BMW.

jkm7680 > Decay buys too many beaters 07/18/2015 at 22:47

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Amazing! There should be a Vice episode on that!

How about tailgating people with the highbeams on?

Corey CC97, MAZDA DPI IS STILL BAE JOESTACTIV JOESTACTIV JOESTACTIV JOESTACTIV VISIT FLORIDA RACING LIVES FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS > Decay buys too many beaters 07/18/2015 at 22:53

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Off to a good start from the looks of it.

Decay buys too many beaters > jkm7680 07/19/2015 at 00:11

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Believe it or not the cars do that all by themselves. Both BMW and Mercedes have radar guided cruise control. Mercedes uses a radar to detect the proximity of the cars in front and adjusts speed to keep that distance constant. BMW uses a radar to detect the proximity of the cars in front and adjust the intensity of the high-beams based on that distance. You think a BMW driver would actually go though the effort of pulling a stalk to communicate with other motorists? LOL

AM3R shamefully returns > Decay buys too many beaters 07/19/2015 at 00:55

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Looks great, some Depot headlights would make it look great. Throw on an M5 bumper while your at it. It's a slippery slope...

Decay buys too many beaters > AM3R shamefully returns 07/19/2015 at 01:10

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Musn’t mod the cheap daily, musn’t mod the cheap daily, musn’t mod the cheap daily...

Shit, I just bought a set of Depos.

AM3R shamefully returns > Decay buys too many beaters 07/19/2015 at 01:15

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Do it do do it do it do it do it do it

Decay buys too many beaters > AM3R shamefully returns 07/19/2015 at 01:26

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Dammit, that actually looks really good.

AM3R shamefully returns > Decay buys too many beaters 07/19/2015 at 01:45

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It really does, I purposely chose an E39 in a similar color with Depos just because I'm evil.

Decay buys too many beaters > AM3R shamefully returns 07/19/2015 at 01:53

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Grrr, maybe I’ll get that for myself as a present after fixing the dash and window motors...

AM3R shamefully returns > Decay buys too many beaters 07/19/2015 at 01:55

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Window motors aren't too bad.. I helped a friend DIY his and once you do one, it's really easy. Make sure you do it right though, we went at it with zip ties one day because we were really low on time and they ended up failing the first time we rolled the windows down lol.

Decay buys too many beaters > AM3R shamefully returns 07/19/2015 at 02:05

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Nice! Hadn’t even looked in to it yet, was too psyched about getting the mechanical bits (seemingly) sorted. Dash display is next on the list, then window motors. Also going to do the oil pan gasket during the next oil change, there’s a slow drip from a few of the pan bolts.

AM3R shamefully returns > Decay buys too many beaters 07/19/2015 at 02:12

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Solid list, nothing too bad but I bet after all that she'll run great! Enjoy it, really is a sweet ride.

Schaefft > Decay buys too many beaters 07/19/2015 at 05:53

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Niice, gotta love a clean E39.

Me and Mr. 4muddyfeet were about to pick up an incredibly cheap 535i auto this morning. As usual, the seller was an idiot and sold the car without telling us.

Schaefft > AM3R shamefully returns 07/19/2015 at 05:56

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Did both rear ones on mine, it really is a straight forward job, theres a step by step video on youtube that explains pretty much everything. Getting the door panel back on properly was a bit of a pain tho.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > jkm7680 07/19/2015 at 07:53

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It was special order option FBL. My Z4 has that option.

I suspect mine was slated to be exported from SC after production, but that didn’t happen.

And the BMWCCA hasn’t tried to remove them yet.

Decay buys too many beaters > Schaefft 07/19/2015 at 10:54

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Grrrr I hate that! Missed out on some serious good iron over the years due to it.

The car needs work and will probably never be a looker (lots of clear coat peel on the quarter panel, but she was cheap, drives great, and she’s all mine!

Decay buys too many beaters > Schaefft 07/19/2015 at 10:57

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They always are aren’t they? Never taken apart a BMW but on my more Japanese vehicles I never could finish an interior job without snapping at least one clip. I like to call them bastard clips.

Schaefft > Decay buys too many beaters 07/19/2015 at 12:27

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I planned to swap the cloth inserts (yes you could buy them with cloth interior here) with leather ones anyway and basically got the lifters for free, so I did both jobs at the same time.

RightFootDown > Decay buys too many beaters 07/20/2015 at 15:22

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Can’t tell what year you’ve got there but I have a brand new unpainted ACS style front lip in a box in my basement that I need gone. I was planning to install it on my 99 but sold the car before it came to reality. If you’re interested, and pay for shipping, it’s yours.

Decay buys too many beaters > RightFootDown 07/20/2015 at 16:12

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Sweet! Mines a 2000, pretty sure the 97s through 2000s are interchangeable. Shoot me an email dekay.labs@gmail.com.