Humour Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 (edited) New boots on the rear axle today. I've been nursing both tyres for nearly 2 years as both had screws in them in places where they couldn't be repaired. Looking at the wear on them I may have issues with the rear suspension geometry. I've had the tracking checked and done twice this year including reducing rear static camber, so I'm pretty confident it's not a tracking issue. Edited August 21 by Humour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 (edited) 13 hours ago, Humour said: New boots on the rear axle today. I've been nursing both tyres for nearly 2 years as both had screws in them in places where they couldn't be repaired. Looking at the wear on them I may have issues with the rear suspension geometry. I've had the tracking checked and done twice this year including reducing rear static camber, so I'm pretty confident it's not a tracking issue. If rest of tyre is close to wear bars (at least looks so in pictures), I wouldn't be to worried about wheel alignment, it's very common for inner edges to wear more on bmw's. If there's still decent thread left and only inner corners are gone bald, it's most likely your control arms (ball joints, bushings, floating/rose bushings) have too much movement in them, causing wheel to get into toe out position when driving, which destroys inner edges quickly. You can still get correct wheel alignment within specifications, but if there's too much movement in any of suspension components, when driving, due to rolling resistance, wheels getting pushed back out of their usual position, which results into toe out position. Edited August 22 by Ray112 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 (edited) 3 hours ago, Ray112 said: If rest of tyre is close to wear bars (at least looks so in pictures), I wouldn't be to worried about wheel alignment, it's very common for inner edges to wear more on bmw's. If there's still decent thread left and only inner corners are gone bald, it's most likely your control arms (ball joints, bushings, floating/rose bushings) have too much movement in them, causing wheel to get into toe out position when driving, which destroys inner edges quickly. You can still get correct wheel alignment within specifications, but if there's too much movement in any of suspension components, when driving, due to rolling resistance, wheels getting pushed back out of their usual position, which results into toe out position. @Ray112 Thanks. That's exactly what I was thinking regarding toe being due to worn bushes. The tyres are close to or on the wear markers. I bought them already used on a set of cleanish MV2's as mine were square with a random collection of tyres on each corner. The tyres were half worn 2 years ago, but all had even wear, so this is definitely caused by my car. The question is how significant is the wear and how concerned I should be about it, given all the other things I must spend money on my old hag. Im thinking to swap the wheels front to rear so to have the new tyres on the front axle and have the nearly worn out pair (but even wear) on the back as an experiment to see how quickly I notice this type of wear. One thing that I had not considered is both rears were loosing air so they were always running at suboptimal pressure (under inflated), which isikely a contributing factor to wear. I used to wait until the TPS triggered (usually a 10-15psi drop from optimal), to go pump them up. Edited August 22 by Humour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 Every time someone says edge wear is normal I refer them to my tyres, been on the rear for 3 years, cars hammered around bends most of the time, after ingesting a coach bolt in one I checked and it was 2.6mm inner and outer and 2.4 middle, dropped the pressure a couple of PSI after that. A well maintained and correctly tracked one of these will never edge wear. A shagged pressure gauge on the other hand... It read 4psi high. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 (edited) 3 hours ago, Gonzo said: Every time someone says edge wear is normal I refer them to my tyres, been on the rear for 3 years, cars hammered around bends most of the time, after ingesting a coach bolt in one I checked and it was 2.6mm inner and outer and 2.4 middle, dropped the pressure a couple of PSI after that. A well maintained and correctly tracked one of these will never edge wear. A shagged pressure gauge on the other hand... It read 4psi high. Thanks. Im trying to work on the "well maintained" part but it's been a mudslide of things to do and still struggling to get on top of a few things after spending a load on trying to fix. The big jobs are still pending too. It's a bit like the never ending story with mine. So if you were to target any parts at the rear end most likely to be a factor, which would they be? I know doing it all in one go is the best policy but I'm still fire fighting and don't have that flexibility yet. Edited August 22 by Humour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallman85 Posted August 22 Author Share Posted August 22 1 hour ago, Humour said: Thanks. Im trying to work on the "well maintained" part but it's been a mudlside of things to do and still struggling to get on top of a few things afy r some ending a load on trying to fix. The big jobs are still OE ding too. It's a bit like the never ending story with mine. So if you were to target any parts at the rear end most likely to be a factor, which would they be? I know doing it all in one go is the best policy but I'm still fire fighting and don't ha e that flexibility yet. These cars suffer from the Bridge-Syndrome! as regards to maintenance i mean…. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 43 minutes ago, Tallman85 said: These cars suffer from the Bridge-Syndrome! as regards to maintenance i mean…. A bit like that, or just neglected by previous owners. Definitely one of the most needy cars I've owned and I&ve had 4 Alfas and a few Fiat's too lmao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallman85 Posted August 22 Author Share Posted August 22 1 hour ago, Humour said: A bit like that, or just neglected by previous owners. Definitely one of the most needy cars I've owned and I&ve had 4 Alfas and a few Fiat's too lmao Same here. I had Peugeots, vw golfs, Mercedes, toyotas, opels…this is my first bmw and boy its needy! …plus i can confirm it was not built to withstand Mediterranean climate and its falling apart 😔🤬 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpannerHands Posted August 26 Share Posted August 26 On 22/08/2024 at 18:36, Humour said: Thanks. Im trying to work on the "well maintained" part but it's been a mudslide of things to do and still struggling to get on top of a few things after spending a load on trying to fix. The big jobs are still pending too. It's a bit like the never ending story with mine. So if you were to target any parts at the rear end most likely to be a factor, which would they be? I know doing it all in one go is the best policy but I'm still fire fighting and don't have that flexibility yet. I feel like we have had very similar experiences with endless jobs, every time I read you posts or comments I feel like you're speaking from my experience! The only thing I haven't touched is rear suspension (other than replacing the shock absorbers and top mounts). All of the rubber bushes are well past their best but I just can't face it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 (edited) Seeing as I'm getting older and more blind with each passing day, I decided to polish the Headlights today. The outcome was ok(ish). Used the Turtlewax Headlight Speed kit coz it's cheap and it did an OK job with the rear lights. A couple of observations. 1.) The supplied sand paper pad No1 and No2 I think are less abrasive than 1200 grit, so too much on the safe side imo. I had some 1200 grit and 400 grit around,.but felt the 400 would be too abrasive so only used the 1200 to wet sand with, which did a better job than the pad in the kit. Ideally an 800 grit and 1000 grit would be my choice if doing that again. 2.) The end result was difficult to judge because the process showed that the inside of both lenses have several water stains and other marks, plus dust which makes it difficult to judge how good the outer surface has been cleaned and polished. Anyway, from a distance they do look a touch cleaner, but up close the stuff on the inside if visible, hence the "ish". Given this and the common pvc jacket disintegration of the Internal wiring, the proper fix is to get a spare set of lights down the line and have them rebuilt with new wiring and new lenses. I can't see any other way of getting a long term solution in place. Some pics.... 1 and 2 the starting point. 3 and 4 wet sanded down, not polished. 5 - 8 I think are after polishing. 9 and 10 after ceramic coating and wiping down. Edited August 28 by Humour 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 23 hours ago, Humour said: Seeing as I'm getting older and more blind with each passing day, I decided to polish the Headlights today. The outcome was ok(ish). Used the Turtlewax Headlight Speed kit coz it's cheap and it did an OK job with the rear lights. A couple of observations. 1.) The supplied sand paper pad No1 and No2 I think are less abrasive than 1200 grit, so too much on the safe side imo. I had some 1200 grit and 400 grit around,.but felt the 400 would be too abrasive so only used the 1200 to wet sand with, which did a better job than the pad in the kit. Ideally an 800 grit and 1000 grit would be my choice if doing that again. 2.) The end result was difficult to judge because the process showed that the inside of both lenses have several water stains and other marks, plus dust which makes it difficult to judge how good the outer surface has been cleaned and polished. Anyway, from a distance they do look a touch cleaner, but up close the stuff on the inside if visible, hence the "ish". Given this and the common pvc jacket disintegration of the Internal wiring, the proper fix is to get a spare set of lights down the line and have them rebuilt with new wiring and new lenses. I can't see any other way of getting a long term solution in place. Some pics.... 1 and 2 the starting point. 3 and 4 wet sanded down, not polished. 5 - 8 I think are after polishing. 9 and 10 after ceramic coating and wiping down. I sanded my previous headlights with 600-1000 wet paper and then sprayed with clear coat lacquer. Out come was quite impressive. But then I felt bored, managed to get another set of quite poor condition headlights, cut them open, blacked out all silver parts (because I wanted to 😁) installed bi-led projectors, which are amazingly bright on road, replaced front lenses for brand new and I'm very happy with outcome. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tallman85 Posted August 29 Author Share Posted August 29 On 28/08/2024 at 19:49, Humour said: Seeing as I'm getting older and more blind with each passing day, I decided to polish the Headlights today. The outcome was ok(ish). Used the Turtlewax Headlight Speed kit coz it's cheap and it did an OK job with the rear lights. A couple of observations. 1.) The supplied sand paper pad No1 and No2 I think are less abrasive than 1200 grit, so too much on the safe side imo. I had some 1200 grit and 400 grit around,.but felt the 400 would be too abrasive so only used the 1200 to wet sand with, which did a better job than the pad in the kit. Ideally an 800 grit and 1000 grit would be my choice if doing that again. 2.) The end result was difficult to judge because the process showed that the inside of both lenses have several water stains and other marks, plus dust which makes it difficult to judge how good the outer surface has been cleaned and polished. Anyway, from a distance they do look a touch cleaner, but up close the stuff on the inside if visible, hence the "ish". Given this and the common pvc jacket disintegration of the Internal wiring, the proper fix is to get a spare set of lights down the line and have them rebuilt with new wiring and new lenses. I can't see any other way of getting a long term solution in place. Some pics.... 1 and 2 the starting point. 3 and 4 wet sanded down, not polished. 5 - 8 I think are after polishing. 9 and 10 after ceramic coating and wiping down. Well i did mine with 1000 wet by hand, 2000, 3000 wet by hand, then i polished with the buffer with meguiar polish. They come out nice but from the inside there are water stains, hence still not great! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 (edited) On 29/08/2024 at 18:47, Ray112 said: I sanded my previous headlights with 600-1000 wet paper and then sprayed with clear coat lacquer. Out come was quite impressive. But then I felt bored, managed to get another set of quite poor condition headlights, cut them open, blacked out all silver parts (because I wanted to 😁) installed bi-led projectors, which are amazingly bright on road, replaced front lenses for brand new and I'm very happy with outcome. @Ray112 as I said before in your thread, you did a great job. Making those tools was crucial as well. I dont recall, did you also rewire the lights internally or use the old OE wiring? If you still have your original refurbed lights, I may be interested if you are willing to sell. Edited August 30 by Humour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 On 29/08/2024 at 22:01, Humour said: @Ray112 as I said before in your thread, you did a great job. Making those tools was crucial as well. I dont recall, did you also rewire the lights internally or use the old OE wiring? If you still have your original refurbed lights, I may be interested if you are willing to sell. Old wiring mate, obvious tested every circuit before fitting them together and inspected wire condition visually for cracks etc, only cut of about 4 inches of dipped beam wires, because they were cracked from heat and I had more than plenty of wire from bi led projectors so just cut off what was spare /damaged and soldered together with heat shrinks on top. Biggest problem with those headlights are people who drive with big ass led bulbs in dipped beam and don't use dust caps (because there's no space to fit them back). They all claim that it doesn't cause any damage to headlights, but then again why engine bay is getting dusty in quite short time if it's such a clean place with no dust 🤣 Amount of crap inside headlight without dust cups is shocking, obviously it gets on inside of lens, on projector and so on. In those cases water stain marks are a lot more noticeable. Impossible to clean without opening completely. One of my project headlights has been used previously like that, it was dirty as hell inside. Since we don't know all history of our cars at this age, well possible that your headlights has been kept open at some point. Keep us updated how long meguiar polish will last before starting to fade? Have heard some good feedback about it so fingers crossed it will stop lenses for fading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humour Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 (edited) 5 hours ago, Ray112 said: 🤣 Since we don't know all history of our cars at this age, well possible that your headlights has been kept open at some point. Keep us updated how long meguiar polish will last before starting to fade? Have heard some good feedback about it so fingers crossed it will stop lenses for fading. Thanks for the feedback. I know for a fact someone had modded the lights before me because the dust caps have holes drilled out in them that were covered with gaffer tape, so very likely LED's were fitted or Hid or something. I'm not sure how LED's that typically draw less than a Halogen can overheat wires though? I was looking for replacement covers but they are extortionate money for a plastic cap. Nearly half way towards a used pair of headlights. Will keep you posted on the longevity. Turtle wax says about a year of protection by the ceramic wipes in the kit.i I'm thinking of doing them again though. I can see micro cracks when the lights are on at night which I suspect is because I didn't have the 600grit and didn't take enough material off. By the way, is the wiring only accessible once the lenses are out? Edited August 31 by Humour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 3 hours ago, Humour said: Thanks for the feedback. I know for a fact someone had nodded the lights before because the dust caps have holes drilled out in them that were then covered with gaffer tape, so very likely LED's were fitted or Hid or something. I was looking for replacement covers but they are extortionate money for a plastic cap. Nearly half way towards a used pair of headlights. Will keep you posted on the longevity. Turtle wax says about a year of protection by the ceramic. I'm thinking of doing them again though. I can see micro cracks when the lights are on at night which I suspect is because I didn't have the 600grit and didn't take enough material off. By the way, is the wiring only accessible once the lenses are out? Yes it's quite all over the place, you can reach some areas of wiring through the back, but not fully unless removing front lenses. About dust caps might be worth to try some scrap yards in your area. They probably will be given away for few quid, especially if you find car with front end damage where cups have survived. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpgscott Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 Well some nice fresh oil in the 535d today and a new battery. Last time I coded battery using NCS-expert but for some reason it wasn’t displaying in English and menus weren’t as I remember. So took a look and registered new battery with Ista-d it was so much easier. Hopefully what I’ve done is correct. Next task is to take a look again at the rear wiring on the e61 as it’s been a couple of years. I now don’t have the glass opening or fogs on drivers side tailgate. Tested switch on glass and it’s fine so must be wiring again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpgscott Posted September 3 Share Posted September 3 Well back in on the tailgate wiring as my glass wasn’t opening and right rear fog and reverse lights not working on tailgate. Got a surprise as it’s only been about 3 yrs since I last did them. So started by checking that the switch was ok it all buzzed out correctly. On one wire set I had 3 broken wires then on the other wiring harness both on drivers side hinge I didn’t have any breaks but there were lots of wires the insulation was damaged. So sorted them all and back together. Glass is working, number plate lights all good. Rear right fog and reverse still not working and I can’t see any breaks between connector and speaker so goodness knows.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 13 hours ago, Mpgscott said: Well back in on the tailgate wiring as my glass wasn’t opening and right rear fog and reverse lights not working on tailgate. Got a surprise as it’s only been about 3 yrs since I last did them. So started by checking that the switch was ok it all buzzed out correctly. On one wire set I had 3 broken wires then on the other wiring harness both on drivers side hinge I didn’t have any breaks but there were lots of wires the insulation was damaged. So sorted them all and back together. Glass is working, number plate lights all good. Rear right fog and reverse still not working and I can’t see any breaks between connector and speaker so goodness knows.. Have you checked the left loom as I get the feeling the solenoids fed via the left loom on the latch? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpgscott Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 Just now, Gonzo said: Have you checked the left loom as I get the feeling the solenoids fed via the left loom on the latch? My latch for the glass wasn’t working and the heated screen. The glass is now working it’s just my rear right fog and reverse that aren’t. The cables were damaged but I’ve fixed them so now trying to find out if they are on a separate fuse which I wouldn’t think they would be. The main boot release was working fine just the glass that wasn’t. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 5 minutes ago, Mpgscott said: My latch for the glass wasn’t working and the heated screen. The glass is now working it’s just my rear right fog and reverse that aren’t. The cables were damaged but I’ve fixed them so now trying to find out if they are on a separate fuse which I wouldn’t think they would be. The main boot release was working fine just the glass that wasn’t. There is a chance the light module has permanently shut it down due to too many fails logged, ISTA will tell you and reset it, there are also guides on doing it with tool32 but TBH I find ISTA does it 99% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpgscott Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 10 hours ago, Gonzo said: There is a chance the light module has permanently shut it down due to too many fails logged, ISTA will tell you and reset it, there are also guides on doing it with tool32 but TBH I find ISTA does it 99% of the time. Thanks for that, nothing showing in ista for anything being shut down. Now seems happy with my linking the right to the left for the reverse it’s not showing any faults on the check control. So seems to be ok with it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 On 04/09/2024 at 11:49, Mpgscott said: My latch for the glass wasn’t working and the heated screen. The glass is now working it’s just my rear right fog and reverse that aren’t. The cables were damaged but I’ve fixed them so now trying to find out if they are on a separate fuse which I wouldn’t think they would be. The main boot release was working fine just the glass that wasn’t. Bare in mind that your glass heating and glass latch is going through different loom, and your boot lid lights will be different. If you checked all 4 of them thats fine, if not, you are missing couple broken wires still. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpgscott Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 1 hour ago, Ray112 said: Bear in mind that your glass heating and glass latch is going through different loom, and your boot lid lights will be different. If you checked all 4 of them thats fine, if not, you are missing couple broken wires still. Checked them all and the two lights run down that side on drivers. Has anyone spotted a list of the four hinge looms and what does what? Im not getting any alarms or warnings with me tapping into the left hand loom to power the right all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray112 Posted September 8 Share Posted September 8 2 hours ago, Mpgscott said: Checked them all and the two lights run down that side on drivers. Has anyone spotted a list of the four hinge looms and what does what? Im not getting any alarms or warnings with me tapping into the left hand loom to power the right all good. I'll do mine next weekend. Did both sides of glass wiring loom and washer pipe couple years ago, but now looks like actual boot lid wiring is starting to play up, today boot lid handle stopped working, tested handle microswitch with multimeter for continuity when pressed and it is fine, so must be wiring loom. Have some silicone wires ordered so will carry on repair next weekend. Might double check glass wiring as well while I'm there. I'll try to keep in mind to check what colours going to fog lights and to reverse lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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