Hooptie or Honest Car, Part 2 - Of Tissues and Hedgehogs

"Just wear your damn mask..." (jimal) 01/10/2016 at 18:05 • Filed to: Hooptie or Honest Car, BMW

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In !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , we introduced you to our subject, a 2000 BMW 528i. Things have been a bit busy around here, but I was able to sneak away for a few minutes here and there the last few days to get a better look at our subject vehicle. Overall, the car is surprisingly clean and complete for a 16 year-old car with more than 172,000 miles on the clock.

The first step in the process was to put on a pair of rubber gloves, drag out the trash barrel, and clean out the interior.

The interior and trunk were filled with all sorts of gross items, and I just went ahead and assumed that these tissues were used. To my credit I didn’t wretch once as I cleaned out the interior and trunk, and once done I found a pretty solid interior, which just a little wear on the driver’s seat.

As luck would have it, so far the repairs have also been simple and not too expensive. After doing some research I guessed that the most likely issue with the non-operational heater blower motor was a faulty Final Stage Resistor ($34.79 from Rock Auto). Five minutes of awkward contorting in the passenger side footwell, the new FSU was installed and the blower motor resumed functioning. The air conditioning even works!

The radio fix was even easier, with a new fuse solving the problem of the dead radio. Powering up the radio did exposed common BMW issue, dead pixels. I’m still researching this issue to see if it is worth fixing.

The burnt out brake light is a trip to my local AutoZone away from being addressed. The biggest remaining issues, apart from the car just needing a good cleaning and detail, are the cam cover gasket ($22.79 from Rock Auto), which I’ll replace the next time I have more than 10 minutes to tinker.

And the missing driver side mirror cap.

So at the end of Part 2, I’ve got about $60 into this car. Next up is the valve cover, rinsing the previously leaked oil off the engine, and finding a local detailer to give this car the scrubbing it desperately needs.

DrJohannVegas > Just wear your damn mask... 01/10/2016 at 18:19

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The dead pixels may just be a bad ribbon connector solder joint (if it uses flat-flex ribbons with solder pads) or another contact-specific issue. Worth a first try, at least. Rest of it seems pretty solid, though. So, “Honest Car”.

Just wear your damn mask... > DrJohannVegas 01/10/2016 at 18:26

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I’m looking for the cheapest solution to this. Interestingly enough, there are no dead pixels in the instrument cluster.

DrJohannVegas > Just wear your damn mask... 01/10/2016 at 18:34

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Yea, everything I’ve seen says the ribbon cable contacts or the cable itself are/is kaput. I’d take it apart once, gently run a hot air gun over the contacts on the original cable once. I had a link here, but it was about cutting and rebuilding the cable. I’d bet that a quick touchup of the contacts is a good first option. This video shows the disassembly:

(Also, DON’T just rip the cable off the board. Oh god, the clenching.)

Then, worst case is a new cable, which appears to be about $35. Most of the kits are solderless install.

Just wear your damn mask... > DrJohannVegas 01/10/2016 at 18:41

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I tried watching this video, but I bailed out after 5 minutes or so. I’m not a BMW guy, so perhaps that is part of the problem, but every single BMW DIY video I’ve watched since I started working on this car is more ponderous than the next.

DrJohannVegas > Just wear your damn mask... 01/10/2016 at 18:42

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Wish I was in the area, I’d offer up some assistance on this one.

Edit: Ponderous is a good way to describe it, though.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > DrJohannVegas 01/10/2016 at 18:44

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Good find. I’ve done a few instrument clusters like this before. However, having tried touching up the old cable, it doesn’t really work.

DrJohannVegas > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 01/10/2016 at 18:47

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Yea, it’s usually one of the ribbon traces which has broken from vibration or flexing, but the ‘on the cheap’-est way to do it is to try the terminals first.

It also appears that the original cable may not be soldered in place, which is interesting, but perhaps not surprising. At that point, it’s likely the cable itself.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > DrJohannVegas 01/10/2016 at 18:50

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Exactly. I still try first before wasting money, but I’ve never had it work. But I’m sure there are plenty of people who are better than me at such a task.

boxrocket > Just wear your damn mask... 01/10/2016 at 19:10

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Came for the hedgehogs. Am disappoint.

Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief > Just wear your damn mask... 01/10/2016 at 19:44

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Being able to pair your phone with the car and stream music will cause few buyers to care if they can’t read the display for the CD player. If you have the factory 6-disk unit in the trunk you can pull that out and plug-and-play a Dice Mediabridge in which will offer bluetooth, a direct plug in for an iPhone (if you feel like running the cable for it; I didn’t bother with my old E39) and also accept memory cards filled with MP3s, will offer a place to plug in XM radio. If you run the wire to plug the phone it, the track info will show up on the dash, even. Might be a way of not dealing with the pixels at all and add in a bunch of functionality. $125. Just be sure you’ve got a 6-disk changer and see if you have DSP (digital sound processing) as you absolutely need the former, and you need an adapter of some kind for DSP as it’s got a different plug but the install is a snap from what I know. This won’t fix any pixels, but again, I think most people won’t care.

The M5 forum has a lot of E39 drivers on it scattered all over the country. When you find that you have a door leaking water into your rear passenger’s side foot well, they’ll let you know how your sunroof’s drain has become disconnected. Stuff like that. Very handy. Good spot to find a buyer as well. It’s a very wrench-friendly crowd.

Just wear your damn mask... > boxrocket 01/10/2016 at 19:49

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There is one in the second picture. I was setting up a old versus new shot when it started pouring out. I had all the windows and the sunroof open at the time, so that took precedent.

yamahog > Just wear your damn mask... 01/10/2016 at 21:56

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Annabelle is disappoint as well.

His Stigness > Just wear your damn mask... 01/11/2016 at 02:46

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Just fyi you need a special socket to get the VANOS solenoid out in order to replace the seal. I do not recommend using pliers to remove it as it's very expensive.

Just wear your damn mask... > His Stigness 01/11/2016 at 06:55

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Thanks for the head’s up. I don’t know that the cam cover came with a replacement seal for that. I’ll look around when I have it apart and work accordingly.

His Stigness > Just wear your damn mask... 01/11/2016 at 15:58

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Are you sure it’s the front timing cover that’s leaking? I work on these engines all day long with way more miles and I’ve never seen the timing cover leaking.

The valve cover, VANOS seal, oil filter housing, front crank seal, and oil pan all leak, all the time. I would clean the engine and check the leak again.

Just wear your damn mask... > His Stigness 01/11/2016 at 16:20

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Cam cover in my book is the valve cover on an OHC engine. Timing cover covers the belt or chain.

His Stigness > Just wear your damn mask... 01/11/2016 at 20:50

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Ah, I see. I never hear people say cam cover. The only one I hear other than valve cover is cylinder head cover and technically I don’t hear that, I read it in the German manuals.

finn's arm > DrJohannVegas 01/12/2016 at 16:19

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Is the secondary airpump still there?