zroadster.net

A few weeks ago I was flushing the coolant on my M Roadster and changed out the thermostat and rad hoses while I was in there.

http://www.badenscarpages.ca/s54-coolant-flush/

My apologies in advance for all of the references to driver's side/passenger side.


Baden

From memory they were the original tyres supplied on S54s I don't believe that the PS2s were around in 2002 when the last S54 M Roadsters were built. I think that it was the original Pilot Sports (without the PS2 designation) that were used by the M's. These are the tires that have the "V"...

I was planning to do a brake fluid flush on the M Roadster but read that the ABS system need to be put into a diagnostic mode to properly flush the fluid. Does anyone know if this diagnostic mode can be done at home and if not what the implications are if a brake fluid flush is done within this step...

Just curious: how much clearance do you have between the car and the walls of your garage? It looks like about 4 inches but I'm sure that it's more than that.

Baden

For any car that you own in British Columbia (things may be slightly different in the other Canadian provinces), we have to pay for insurance every year to keep my car on the road. Included in my insurance cost is a small amount (~$50) that is for licensing but everyone just calls the whole thing ju...

Ok, here's a dumb question. What's "road tax"?

I'm trying to figure out if it's something that we have in Canada but just call it something different or if it is unique to the UK.


Baden

113,000 Km (~70,000 miles) on my '01 Phoenix Yellow M Roadster. With the new suspension that I did in September and the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's that I put on this morning I'm loving it even more than when I bought it 3.5 years ago.

Baden

I still have my original M Roadster springs sitting in my garage when I changed out the suspension last month. I was wondering if they might be worth trying to sell to someone who had a Z3? Does anyone know if the springs between M Roadsters and Z3's fit?

Baden

Just came across this web site this morning. This company, Beisan Systems also seems to deal with vanos repairs and have some great DIY articles.

http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/


Baden

I'm not sure what the cost of the sensor will be in the UK but in Vancouver it was close to $200 and this was buying from an independent garage - not the dealer.

Baden

If you are getting these oil level warnings and your oil level is correct then it's most likely the oil level sensor. I replaced mine a few months ago as I was having the oil warnings and also my oil temperature gauge stopped working. Both the gauge and the warnings are fed from the same sensor. The...

My friend who has an E46 328 was talking to me about replacing the guibo (flex disk) and transmission mounts on his car. After reading these articles ( http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Guibo/E36-Guibo.htm and http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Tranny_Mounts/E36-Tranny_M...

My M is driven pretty much all year round except when it snows (which in Vancouver might be between 2-10 days all year). I have a hard top for my M that gets put on in November and off around late February or early March.


Baden

My intention of replacing the thermostat and the rad hoses are not because they are faulty but for preventative reasons. I have had two thermostat failures on two different BMW's and in both cases they failed in a closed position which caused the engine to overheat and the car to be stranded on the ...

I'm in the process of gathering all of the parts for a cooling system flush next month. While I'm in there I plan on replacing the two rad hoses and the thermostat at the same time. I was floored when I was told what the cost was for the thermostat for the S54 engine (about $100 for a German made, b...

My car has 112,000 km's on it. The front struts that I took out were actually not that bad but as I said the rear shocks were just trashed. There were no leaks on either of the original front or rears.

Baden

New rear shocks have transformed my car's handling.

I absolutely agree. My original rear shocks were in such bad shape that the the improvement and stability of the rear suspension is by far the most noticeable.


Baden

we just have to remember that the drivers side is on the other side I was thinking of you guys while I was writing this thing up wondering if the driver's side/passenger side thing needed rewording. In the end I decided to stay consistent with my other articles and keep this terminology. Overall, t...

After several months in the planning stages, I finally did the full suspension upgrade on my M Roadster last weekend. This upgrade included Bilstein Sport struts and shocks and H&R Sport springs. To summarize, the car's handling has been improved dramatically and yet the filings in my teeth aren...

Every document and expert that I have seen have only said that the S54 must use the 10w60 oil - nothing else. I've also been using it for over 3 years in my '01 M Roadster.

Alfie, I knew that the S54 was an E46 product but I wasn't sure if the cooling system was also from the M3 or more along the lines of the "regular" Z3's. I had a '98 2.8L Z3 before my M Roadster and it definitely had typical E36 cooling system problems. I proactively replaced the plastic t...

There are some well known issues with E36 cooling systems where plastic parts in the thermostat housing, water pump and radiator are known to fail. Replacement of these parts at specific mileage is typically the recommended course of action. Does anyone know if the S54 cooling system has similar pro...