1998 BMW 540i Service Hints & Tips

Notes to myself about servicing a 1998 BMW E39 540i M62 Automatic…

If you’ve never driven one of these, and you get the chance, jump at it. Although they are more than 10 years old, the styling has not dated and they pack more punch than most people will be able to handle and all for an incredibly reasonable price, under R70,000.

Small Print: Use any of this information at your own risk!

My dad bought his about 5 or 6 years ago for a bargain price because the catalytic converters where in need of replacing and BMW wanted around R30,000. After removing the cat’s and fitting a custom exhaust for about R4,000, the car was still running a little rough and consuming more fuel than expected.

I spent an afternoon servicing the car and then running through all the electrial connections and cleaning then by spraying them with pure alcohol. After letting them dry I reconnected everything and took the car for a test drive.

This car drives more like a go-cart than a large family saloon. The brakes are the best I’ve felt and when you punch the accelerator the car get’s up and goes and doesn’t stop pulling until you take your foot off the “fun pedal”.

Service Spares

Pricing as of 22nd July 2010

All prices are inclusive of VAT

Note: 8 plugs for V8 and 7 Litres of Oil

BMW quote R80.00 for the plugs, Bosch Quad Spark, but I’ve run the Bosch F7LDCR for more than 50,000km’s without hassles. BMW gave the oil to me for R70.oo /litre and the plugs for R25.00 each, after I told them that is what I had been quoted elsewhere.

General Service

I run K&N Air Filter so I cleaned and oiled it. The fuel filter I decided to replace with a Fram E63 for R120.00.

Tools Needed: 10mm socket for bolts holding the covers in place and for the nuts holding the coils in position. Plug spanner and socket extension to get the plugs out. Torque wrench if you want to torque your plugs in place. 28NM is equal to about 20 Foot/Pounds. Copper Slip, I put this on the plug threads and all bolt and nut threads to make removal for next service easier.

Brake Pad Servicing

I recently fitted Safeline [SAF.D4041] pads to my dad’s 540i because the price was reasonable R676.00 incl VAT in comparison to Ferodo for around R948.00 and BMW’s price of around R1300.00. He’s been highly complimentary of them.

Tools you’ll need to change your BMW’s brake pads:

• Jack, I don’t like the standard BMW jack, so I use a trolley jack
• Wheel spanner, it’s in your boot toolkit or next to your spare wheel
• Wheel nut key for your specific nut type i.e. the security nut to stop your flashy wheels from being swiped
• Large screwdriver or straight wheel spanner, helps push the brake piston back to get the new pads in
• 7mm Allen or Hex key, not a standard size so I suggest buying one and keeping it in your BMW toolkit
• Copper Slip, fantastic stuff for stopping brake pads from squealing/chattering

How to:

• Park the car on a level surface and chock the back wheels
• Open the brake fluid cap. This is a bit of a job. Open the bonnet/hood and remove the left (if you’re facing the car) air cleaner housing. It sits back left of the engine bay, you need to unclip the lid and remove it, then unclip the pipe from the cleaner and finally you can press th clip that holds the housing to the body. You should find the brake fluid reservoir under the housing. [If your brake pads are very low, you'll need to remove brake fluid before pusing the piston back or it will overflow.]
• Loosen the wheel nuts then jack the car up on the left side (from the driver seat perspective), making sure you had a sturdy jack point.
• Take off the wheel and push it under the car as an added safety if the car should fall off the jack.
• Remove the spring clip from the caliper
• Push the caliper open by wedging the screwdriver in between the pad and caliper. The more you can open the calipers now the easier the new pads will slide in later.
• Remove the 2 black plastic caps over the caliper bolts and remove the bolts with the 7mm hex key
• Remove the brake pad wear indicator, if fitted
• Remove both pads and fit the new ones once you have given the caliper and piston a clean. You can use Copper Slip on the piston and the caliper where it makes contact with the back of the pad. [Remember to keep the copper Slip away fro the disc and braking surface of the pads or your brakes won't grab the disc properly]
• Refit the 2 bolts after cleaning and rubbing the thread with Copper Slip
• Fit new brake pad wear indicator or cut off the old one and twist the ends together if you are not going to replace the indicator
• Replace bolt hole covers
• Re-fit the spring clip
• Replace tyre, Copper Slip the wheel nuts to stop them from seizing.
• Drop the side you

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=870704&page=2

Images

http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/mwong/oil_reset.jpg

http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/reset-plug/Reset.jpg

Buy a K&N air filter. It helps your engine breathe better, so performance and fuel efficiency should improve. They can be washed and re-oiled repeatedly so it’s great in helping reduce waste.

Resetting the Oil and Inspection Lights

Open the cap.
With the ignition off, put a wire between pins 7 and 19.
Turn the ignition to position 2, “run.” (Do not start the engine.)
After just a couple seconds, remove the jumper wire.
(If you wait eight to ten seconds, it will do an Inspection reset.)

On my E30 the lights reset without removing the wire, but on the E38 the wire has to come out.

Close the cap when you’re done.

BMW Model E39 built from 1996~2000 will have a port like the one shown below.

A Reset tool like a Peake R5 or R5-FCX is needed to reset the oil service or inspection service lights after required service.

1) If you have a reset tool then turn your car key to Position II but do not start the car.
2) Turn the cap counter clock wise on the Data Link Connector and insert the Reset Tool
3) Follow the instructions of your reset tool, different models may have different fuctions however they all create a short in PIN 7 to PIN 19 for a given amount of time.

OIL Service Reset requires pin 7 and 19 to be closed for 3+ seconds

INSPECTION Service Reset requires pin 7 and 19 to be closed for 10+ seconds

4) Once done, remove the reset tool and close the cap .
5) Your dash should light up with green lights at this point.
If the light did NOT reset after the above steps then you might be reseting Oil Service however an Inspection Service is needed.