THSCC Forums

Hey Guys,

Sad to say, but it’s time to sell my 2003 540i 6-Speed M-Tech. I bought the car about 4 years ago as a weekend/hobby car. I had planned to do a good bit of maintenance on it and already had another car. Recently, I haven’t really been driving as much (COVID) and with our newborn daughter here, I have a lot less time for projects and hobbies. Rather than letting it sit around, I would rather find it a new home with someone who will take care of it. I have receipts for ALL parts and/or work that was done on the car during my 4 years of ownership. I have put about 10-12k miles on it since I have owned it, so it’s really been a weekend car for me. The car has 142k miles on it now. Pictures available here. Looking to get $7500 for it on craigslist, will work with anyone here if there is interest.

Some History:
The car has had a lot of previous owners (7 or 8 maybe). When I got the car, the exterior was in good shape (except paint peel on the trunk lid), but the car had some issues. The water pump leaked on the inspection drive, the transmission would grind on hard shifts into 3rd, there was a metric shit ton of oil leaks, and the ABS trifecta was lit like a christmas tree. I didn’t mind the mechanical issues as I had the time to put into it. I have fixed a good chunk of these issues, or have the parts for you to complete the job.

About 2 weeks after getting the car, a truck in-front of me dropped a full cooler at night, which I was unable to avoid. There were no mechanical issues with the destruction of said cooler, but I had to replace a lot of the front body work and get it repainted. I had that work done professionally at Caliber collision. At the same time, I had them repair the paint job on the trunk (it was peeling and really ugly). Unfortunately, they added some minor scratches on the rear bumper and side, but they are not noticeable.

Work I have done:
Chain Guides/Front gaskets/Front main seal
New Alternator. Old one works, but was making a weird noise. Decided to preempt any issues there.
Random assortment of fixed parts on the engine, spark plugs, water pump, vent valve, etc.
New engine mounts, new trans mounts, rebuilt the shifter (feels prettttttyyyy nice).
Replaced the FSU (no more randomly dead battery).
New-ish battery (replaced after the FSU problems).
ABS Trifecta is gone!
Replaced the old cracked wood trim with a brushed aluminum set. It looks nice and is pretty damn close to OEM.
Fixed a bunch of random broken interior parts.
Fixed rear door water leak when raining (no more wet floors!)
Radio display was replaced due to dead pixels
Previous owner replaced regulators on the windows, not sure if it’s all of them or some.


Issues still active:
The Stratification wheel is stuck. I have moved it to the middle, so it doesn’t affect the air, but it doesn’t go down to cold anymore. I took apart some of the dash to see if I could repair, but could not figure out how it was stuck. Half the movement in it works though.
The AC and heater work, but the temp controls don’t. I used INPA to check, it seems all sensors/servos/etc. Are working fine. Most likely culprit is the Heater control valve gaskets (https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/show ... trol-Valve). Basically, lower is hot air only, uppers on the outside are cold only, and the center are hot/cold based on the small adjustment in the Stratification wheel.
3rd gear grind is still here, but I have procured a 6 speed transmission from a 2001 with less mileage and in good shape (according to the seller). Newer trans comes with the car. The grind is pretty rare during normal driving, but can be recreated easily with misshifts or hard shifts early before the trans fluid has warmed up.
Passenger Seat back twist. This is a relatively easy fix, but requires some time (https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/seat ... at.919783/).
Passenger seat stitching is separating slightly.
May still be a small oil leak...but what BMW doesn’t have one?

Parts you get with the car:
Basically I will give you all the parts associated with the car. I have no reason to keep any of them, except some general tools for myself:
VANOS Timing kit & Crank holder
4 Bilstein HD shocks NIB
2001 540i 6 speed transmission
Old alternator (still works)
A replacement ABS module that I reprogrammed in INPA (you can sell it or keep it as a spare) & its ABS pump (not needed for anything I don’t think)
Assortment of replacement parts
Original wood trim kit (faded/cracked)

Updated the Imgur album with interior pics. Let me know guys!

price updated!