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BMW 5-Series Sedans

12737 messages,  Last post on Feb 16, 2013 at 11:05 PM

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What is this discussion about? BMW 5 Series, Sedan

Messages Page 883 of 1274

#8818 of 12737 Ny540i6 by shipo

Apr 30, 2004 (9:09 pm)

Sounds like we have been having similar traveling itineraries; in San Francisco 3rd week in March and again two weeks ago, sans 530i both times. Then two round trips in the 530i from New Hampshire to New York totaling 8 days. Did you see me last Monday waving at you in the rain as I was heading south down I-84?
 
Regarding tires, I'm still on my snows. What with the travel schedule, and then knocking a wheel weight off of a rim last weekend (more on that later) while I was cleaning the summer set, I'm going to have to wait until Monday (when I fetch the summer set back from being rebalanced) before I can put the OEM set back on. As for your 540i, I too would be more than a little leery about going to 19" wheels given the condition of roads in the NYC metro area. That could get expensive fast.
 
As a suggestion, you could either re-mount your winter set when your existing tires are done, and send that outfit your OEM wheels for polishing or wait until next fall and have your wheels polished then.
 
Regarding tires, I've been spending some time over on the "Tires, tires, tires" discussion, and found that there are a few regulars there that actually sell tires (including one from TireRack.com) and/or race regularly. Needless to say, there is lots of irrelevant information floating around over there (vis-a-vie 5-Series BMW anyway), however, a number of folks seem to think that the hot setup is to run the Yokohama AVS ES100 tires, as they stack up reasonably well with the Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position tires at only 64% of the cost. Their reasoning goes like this, "I can now afford to drive harder because these tires cost so much less." Also, depending upon who you listen to, the ES100s are some of the quietest tires out there, something that almost all E39 SP owners are interested in.
 
So, what to do, pop for the Goodyears, or give the Yokos a shot. By all accounts, both tires are far superior to the OEM Michelin Pilot Primacys that I will be running as of Monday. Now, on to the wheel weight; as I was cleaning some of the brake grime off of my rims with a wheel brush and some wheel cleaner, a very small weight on the inside edge of the wheel fell off. :-/ After finishing the cleaning process, I loaded all four wheels into the Green Monster (our 1998 3.8 Caravan errand/utility vehicle) and headed for our local BMW specialty shop. Unfortunately he was too busy to fit me in as he was preparing for a race, so I had to leave the wheels. When I told him what happened, without even looking at the wheels he asked me, “Was it a weight on the inside edge of the wheel?” “Yup.” “Yeah, that happens all of the time, in most cases just from normal driving around.” I was a little surprised, especially considering the fact that I had to knock off several fairly sizeable bits of asphalt that heat, stickiness and centrifugal force had conspired to attach to the inside of my rims. I figured that the centrifugal forces would hold the weights on basically forever.
 
I told you all of that to say this, Riez is always harping at us to get our wheels balanced and our cars aligned yearly, and here is just another reason to do so.
 
Best Regards,
Shipo

#8819 of 12737 Tire Tires Tires by cassidym

May 01, 2004 (5:22 am)

Pardon me for asking a real 5-Series rookie question: Am considering a 545 with SP so will have to do the tire swap twice a year. Have to store the tires and rims somewhere and haul them to the dealer or someone to switch them out in the Fall and Spring. Question: can you fit a set of tires and rims in the trunk of a 5? How about in the back with seat folded down.(Well, I said it was a dumb question)

#8820 of 12737 This and That by riez

May 01, 2004 (7:00 am)

shipo... Yes, I do "harp" on the need and value for a yearly 4-wheel balance and alignment by someone who knows BMWs. Best thing you can do for your tires and suspension. Amazes me that people will spend a small fortune on their 5 Series and then later on its replacement tires, but they skimp on such a simple, inexpensive yet important service. Go figure.
 
diver110... Congrats on the '01 540ia. Does it (hopefully) have the Sport Pkg? The 540ia Sport has the numerically higher 3.15:1 final drive ratio (versus the 2.82 on the non-Sports). Believe the 3.15 is same as in E39 M5. If you change out your differential, do get LSD!!!
 
You should thoroughly test drive a 3.45:1 before buying. See what it does to engine RPMs at higher speeds, not to mention lowering fuel economy. If gas prices stay high, you'll pay for the 3.45:1 at the pump! Keep in mind that the EPA rated the 540ia Sport at only 21 mpg highway; it was clobbered with a decent gas guzzler penalty. A 3.45:1 final drive likely would lower that to 19 or 20 mpg.

#8821 of 12737 Re: This and That [riez #8820], 3.45 differential by diver110

May 01, 2004 (7:17 am)

Replying to: riez (May 01, 2004 7:00 am)
Riez, Yes, I got the sport package. Actually, I thought the "A" in 540iA stood for that, is that right? What does LSD stand for (I assume you are not talking about the hallucenogen)? So I do have the 3.15 differential. I was thinking in terms of the Dinan 3.45 limited slip, which they say gives a 10% across the board torque and horsepower increase. I don't fully understand how "limited slip" works, however, or how it increases power by 10% other than somehow it transfers power to the wheels more efficiently. I would appreciate any feedback you or others can give in this regard. The Dinan 3.45 ain't cheap BTW, around $8000 with labor.

#8822 of 12737 Enjoy the Car "As Is" by riez

May 01, 2004 (7:39 am)

diver110... LSD = limited slip differential. On BMWs, it is only available on M3 and M5 (standard on both). LSD used to be available as an option on pretty much all BMWs built before around 1993.
 
LSD is an acceleration enhancer. It helps both off the line as well as while accelerating in corners. With an open (i.e., non-LSD) differential, power goes to the wheel spinning the fastest. So if a wheel is just spinning (say on ice) that wheel gets all the power (which is thus wasted). Wheels spin at different speeds while cornering.
 
540ia means a 540i with automatic transmission ("a" = AT). This is just an identifier that people use. BMW doesn't actually label their cars with an "a".
 
The Sport Pkg gets you the Sport seats, the 3-spoke M-steering wheel, shadowline trim, 3.15:1 differential, high performance summer tires, revised suspension set up, etc.
 
If you have a 540ia Sport, I would NOT spend $8K just to get a Dinan differential. I'm not a big fan of expensive mods, even Dinan ones. Though Dinan are some of the best.

#8823 of 12737 Driver110 by shipo

May 01, 2004 (7:53 am)

For the E39s there were 3 different 540i models, the "A" is used to indicate an automatic transmission. Typically folks refer to their cars in the following manner:
 
540iA -- Base 540i with an automatic transmission
540iA SP -- 540i with the Sport Package and the Automatic transmission
540i6 -- 540i with the 6-Speed manual gearbox and the Sport Package
 
As for LSD, that stands for "Limited Slip Differential", which is a rear end that drives the wheel with the most grip as opposed to the default setup that drives the wheel with the least grip. As for the mechanical method to achieve this, there are at least two or three methods that I have read about over the years, and basically it is a marvelous arrangement of gears and clutches.
 
Regarding how the Dinan 3.45 rear end is able to increase power by 10 percent, it is quite simple, the higher the axle ratio is, the faster the engine spins in any given gear at any given speed. It's just like driving around in a slightly lower gear all of the time. Hmmm, $8,000 for the 3.45 LSD? Ouch, that's a bit steep.
 
Best Regards,
Shipo

#8824 of 12737 Seems that Riez beat me to the punch. ;-) by shipo

May 01, 2004 (7:54 am)

#8825 of 12737 Re: This and That [riez #8820], 3.45 differential by diver110

May 01, 2004 (8:36 am)

Replying to: riez (May 01, 2004 7:00 am)
Riez, Yes, I got the sport package. Actually, I thought the "A" in 540iA stood for that, is that right? What does LSD stand for (I assume you are not talking about the hallucenogen)? So I do have the 3.15 differential. I was thinking in terms of the Dinan 3.45 limited slip, which they say gives a 10% across the board torque and horsepower increase. I don't fully understand how "limited slip" works, however, or how it increases power by 10% other than somehow it transfers power to the wheels more efficiently. I would appreciate any feedback you or others can give in this regard. The Dinan 3.45 ain't cheap BTW, around $8000 with labor.

#8826 of 12737 Hey Riez... by shipo

May 01, 2004 (8:45 am)

...I guess we both forgot to switch off our cloaking devices.
 
Best Regards,
Shipo

#8827 of 12737 Service by ny540i6

May 01, 2004 (10:48 am)

Dropped the machine off for service, needing Insp 1. Did 28.5K before the indicator came on, and aboout 600 miles since then. Ironically, on the way to the dealer this morning the brake light (service indicator, not failure) came on, so I guess 30K would be about what my location and driving style gives as a brake life expectancy. Does that sound low/norm/high considering the amount of city driving this car does? I know that in the past I have gotten significantly less than that from the front end of nose heavy front wheel drive cars, so I am not unhappy, just curious. At 30K a year I should probably establish a good relationship (between dealer oil, filter changes etc) with a good independent shop, since I will be out of warranty around the time the machine is 2 years old.

Messages Page 883 of 1274

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