Well, I love the new toy, I sold a 740i that I modified quite a bit to get into something with more room for my work (wagon, ect) but.. the tables turned when I found this thing I just couldn't pass it up.

The seller was a complete BS'er and was pissed that I was nit picking every little thing on it, but I have an extreme case of OCD with my cars and I have to have them perfect to be happy... with that said I picked her up with just over 100k and a clean, clear title with no wreck's present... good enough for me as I knew I would be restoring it.

Here is what she looked like when I picked her up... (sorry for crappy pic)



Seller told me it had all the options and I specifically asked if it had PDC... he said yes.. and that was my cue to go look at it... I show up.. car don't have it Is that easy to retrofit into these cars?

Then... as I'm going over the car... I find minor issues that weren't described, some idiot also put the front passenger tire on backwards and it made an awful wheel bearing like noise.... and I find this...



The serp belt is split in 2.... oh my.. didn't even wanna drive it home but I lived close, worst case I have it towed when it snaps....... needless to say she made it like a champ...

Time to pull out the fans!



Napa was the only place locally that had a belt to try... I'm usually an OEM only freak as I was a parts guy for many years at a few local dealers... but hey.. 35 bucks? I'm game...



Got that on any everything worked flawlessly, no noises.. ect... I still want to replace the supercharger belt as it don't look like it's been changed either....

After all that I took it to get the front tire rotated the correct rotation and it made a lot of the noise go away, but I think the wheel bearing suffered do to this issue (seller said he fixed the drivers side wheel bearing, but that's the side I think I feel it on) and the car will need a full set of shocks as the lower mounts are bad and clunking... I did a search and found the blisteins are well regarded here? there is a place online with them on sale this month so I think i'm going to go with them...

Other than that I has a third brake light out, then i find they jerry rig'd it in there.. guess they couldn't afford some glue.. pretty sad.



That's where I'm at today, going to go pick up a few things to fix that correctly... as well as a OBD2 scanner. BMW's have full diag software for laptops... do the jag's have anything like that??

Until next time...

 

I have 4 brand new Bilstein Sport XJR shocks if you are interested. They have 400 miles on them. I installed them to replace my adaptive shocks but the Sport shocks and the soft springs on the VDP did not get along well. I put my adaptive shocks back in place.
PM me if you are interested.
Also, check your secondary chain tensioners right away to make sure they have been replaced with the newer ones

 

Awesome, Sent you a PM. Thanks.

 

Congrats on the car! I'm not sure about OEM park distance control, but aftermarket shops (car audio places, etc.) can install them pretty easily. I work at a BMW dealer and we'll often sell a car that doesn't have PDC, which the customer wants, and we get a local shop to install it for a few hundred bucks. Looks clean and works well. And yes, check your chain tensioners.

 

I will be checking everything

I re-built the entire chains/vanos system in my 7... what a horror show to the wallet that was... i'm glad these cars are half the cost and a simple set-up.

I just scanned the car... Only code I had was a P0433...

 

Why replace the shocks ,do they leak ?

Jaguar sells new shock bushings if they wear out ...

 

I show a heated catalyst below threshold bank 2 if you needed that info.

 

Forgot to mention, very nice btw. I am in the process of doing the same thing to our 01. Love this car.

 

Really? I thought it was the gas cap code.

The shocks just need replacing if i'm in there I'm just going to do them all anyway, that way I won't have to worry about it for another 100k or so...

I won't really be driving this one that much so that's going to take a long time.

I also need an auto dim rear view mirror, (also appears to be rain sensing) mine has the dreaded bubble... there is a place in MI that fixes this with a lifetime warranty on the bmw mirrors... need to see if they can do these as well... unless you guys have a source already.

If that stuff leaks out of the mirror housing it will melt interior parts haha.

 

Yep, just ran it again and googled it.

 

Sorry,forgot to mention our 97 XJ6 had the same mirror issue, put something on the ski slope as the stuff that comes out is almost radioactive. I think I bought a new one off ebay for about 100.00 but that was 8 years ago.

If/When you do the shocks send Jim Lombardi a PM, he's got a great link to a DIY with great photos. I just did my rears and it was perfect.

 

Thanks man!

BTW.. is there any decent lowering springs for these? or a lead on a used pair? i like the stance but i feel the front needs to come down half an inch to match the rear...

 

For the stance, my tires are different:

Front- 245/40/18
Rear- 255/40/18

Sits perfect in my opinion.

 

My tires are all the same, I mean the way the springs are sitting stock, front need's to go down a little...

 

Brake light surgery...







New bosch wiper blade looks ten times better than what was on it...



I usually use NGK... but they had these in stock so i figure it's worth a shot... along with those is the new wheel bearing to fix the shoddy job the last guy did... ugh



And then I get to this.... :9



I MEAN REALLY! Turns out I don't have a 2" 12 point socket...crap... any other suggestions on getting this off?

Need the part number to a new one, I need to replace it too now.

Wifes gone, I'm stuck without a way to get anywhere.. grrr

 

D'you know what - I'd not bother and get another vertical link/hub assembly from another car, looking at the ABS sensor ring almost all the lugs are smashed off. There's a couple of cars being parted out in the classified - obviously this'll take more time, but I'd just not bother with the original - my dog could've done a better job...

 

Aren't they known to shatter if someone is careless with them? Why not just deliberately shatter it with a chisel? Of course this presumes that the reluctor is being replaced with a new one.

BTW, is 2" the exact right size of socket for when someone else gets to this job?

 

They come off with one of these and a lot of effort or they end up looking like yours.



Some butcher has discovered a hammer and chisel on the lugs doesn't work. Took a few lessons from the number that are broken!

Graham

 

Is one of "those" a special tool?

 

Anywhere to rent that tool? Or do I REALLY have to buy it.. ugh.. I hate retarded mechanics.

If I do have to buy it, it will probably be cheaper just to grab one from a part out.... and just take the bearing back...