lufbramatt

Don't see what difference it makes if you're paying a garage to fit it anyway? Plenty of people breaking these cars that would be able to remove an exhaust. £30 to hire a van for a day vs a good few hundred for a BMW part.

Agree with above, get a complete exhaust off a breaker. Heavy and bulky though so transport might be interesting. When I had the exhaust off mine to do some welding+ brake pipes etc. it was in mint condition and cleaned up really nicely. That was on a 14 year old car at the time. the steel wasn't magnetic so they must have used some sort of stainless steel from the factory.

cheers for the heads up, planning a service at the weekend and they have one in stock at the ECP over the road from work

I went for these ones which fitted with no issues: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-BMW-E-39-Angel-Eyes-Headlight-Adjusters-NEW-2-Cogs-Life-warranty/323859114395?hash=item4b6781e99b:g:WicAAOSwT6pV1gp But I think they're all pretty similar really. Note pre and post facelift are different.

Once the adjusters has been wound off the end of the threaded rod I Used a 150mm long torx driver bit to undo the little screw holding the ball socket to the lamp plate, via the back of the headlight where the big rubber donuts go. then once you’ve retrieved the foot, you can use two flat head screwdrivers to get the old ball out.

Wouldn't worry too much if they don't split, I have done the adjusters on both of mine recently without splitting them or cutting holes in the top and it really wasn't a big deal. first one took about 45 mins and second one about 30. I did the second one slightly differently to the guide on the M5board though, as on the main beam adjuster I got the adjuster in through the LH/RH lever hatch, then once it was engaged on the thread, clip the foot on the ball, then locate the foot to the plate that holds the lamps. Much easier than trying to get the adjuster in place with it connected to the foot. I replaced the rubber gasket/trim on the tops of mine as they were perished, £9 a side from BMW on ebay.

The metal fuel pipes under the car are made of steel and they rust, maybe a pinhole in one of those? I've had mine off, treated the corrosion and repainted which has probably bought a few more years but I imagine they will need replacing at some point.

when I replaced mine I found some "JOM" branded ones which had glass lenses. just checked my Ebay history and the part number was JOM 82769. Marketed mainly as E46 M3 foglights so the plastic surrounds are wrong but you just use your original ones and they fit perfectly.

I know some people rave about it but in my experience Febi suspension stuff is junk. The only brand I've used to fail in less than 12 months on the car- bump stops breaking up, steering rack boots splitting, ball joints falling to bits. Wouldn't surprise me if their shocks are equally as bad.

What's the condition of the bodyshell around the hole? A couple of mine were like this and by the time I'd cleaned the edges of the hole back to clean metal the new plug was too small. Ended up just welding the holes up with sheet steel

Did the adjusters today, now got to reassemble all the bulbs and ballasts etc. Didn’t try separating the lenses. Was fiddly but not hard once I’d worked out what way round the bits needed to sit. Not sure what all the fuss was about certainly not worth replacing the entire lights for.

Mine has got more of a yellow tinge to it. Although it's an Individual with champagne nappa if that makes any difference. not so much beige. sorry about the small person

IIRC Fuel pressure reg is built in to the fuel filter on a 530i (fuel rail doesn't have a return pipe) so kill 2 birds with one stone.

Thread bump Meant to do this over Christmas but due to my other car blowing a fuel injector which killed the ECU (So much for Honda reliability!) I couldn't afford to have the E39 off the road. The Honda master technician wasn't too impressed when I said my 17 year old full-of-electronics BMW was meant to the temperamental car! Have ordered a adjuster kit which comes with the little gear wheels and the 3m lens kit. If I can get the adjusters sorted out successfully I will replace all the bulbs in due course.

Plastic parts can be vacuum plated, still a common process in the UK. At work we had an Airfix model vacuum plated to use as a trophy at a local place. I expect that the existing plating would have to be completely removed though so not sure that old reflectors could be restored without damage to the optical qualities.