A Nice Legacy Build - 2002 BMW 540i Touring

I was just about to start this blog with the ole opening line about how THIS was a fun build and all that. I realized that they are ALL fun builds. Some make me speak French during the work, others are just brain teasers, but once there is always that feeling of joy and fulfillment when they are done.

This car was no less fun and no less fulfilling, it was however one of those brain teaser builds... LOL! 😁 I feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to put this DINAN Project together, it is not often one gets to see these cars in this condition anymore and to be able to put together a complete DINAN Build of this era was nice. The car is a 2002 BMW 540i Touring, or Sporting Wagon as they were also known.

That makes is special enough as these are rarer and rarer to find these days. To make it even more special, this one had been modified into a fully functional 6-Speed Wagon. The E39 540 Series Wagon were never brought to the US as 6 - Speeds, they were all automatic.

In addition to being a rare Sport Wagon, with 6 Speed manual transmission, this girl was also riding on high end KW Suspension. Nice! All that made this baby pretty unique. Now we get to add DINAN Go fast, perform better modifications to it - Oh Yeah Baby!

"JIL" dropped her off one Monday afternoon and the plan was for me to have her for a week if needed to get all the work done. Some of the modifications / upgrades were actually no longer available from DINAN, so all the parts here were the result of time committed to hunting down and acquiring various parts to make this build happen. When I got the car, the parts to be installed were the DINAN Throttle Body, Cold Air Intake and AFM / MAF housing and then complete the installation with the appropriate Flash Tune to take full advantage of the upgrades.

With the car in the shop, I was able to go over the parts to make sure we had everything we need. One of the challenges of acquiring hard to find used parts like some of these is often times there are missing pieces. Such was the case here. The AFM / MAF was missing an intake hose, the Cold Air Intake was missing the Secondary Air Pump (SAP) mounting bracket and it was actually from a 740i, not a 540i. While the E39 and E38 740 and 540 share the same M62TUB44 Engine, there was a slight difference in their intakes. The 740 intake had a small breather attached to it. We would have to adapt this DINAN Intake to this car - not the end of the world. Thanks to great support from DINAN, we were also able to order a replacement SAP Bracket, and got it expedited so there was minimal delay to progress on the car.

I was able to get work started on the car once I got it in the shop. Soon she had her nose in the air and I went about the fun task of taking of the needed stock parts to make room for the DINAN Upgrades.

First, we take off the front bumper, and then I take out the required headlight assembly. In this car, only the Passenger Side assembly needed to come out, unlike the M5. The 540i uses a single Air Intake system.

With the Bumper and the Headlight out, next came the stock intake system which included the snorkel behind the bumper and the air filter assembly inside the engine bay. Once those items were out, I then took off the Secondary Air Pump.

With these items out / off the car, I was able to do a first test fit of the incoming upgrades to make sure we were good to go. I made sure the MAF / AFM Housing would work with the stock intake pipe to the Throttle as well as with the Cold Air Intake. I also confirmed this Intake would work okay in the 540 engine bay.

With all that checked and verified, it was time to get the real work done and start getting things sorted as far as all the modifications. One of the next steps here is to prepare the SAP mounting area to give access to the Intake Pipe. The mounting plate has to be trimmed to make adequate allowance. In the 540, you also have to trim a bit of the plastic assembly of the intake mounting area to give the right amount of clearance.

Once I had the SAP Mounting plate trimmed, it was time to fit and install the SAP Bracket along with the pump which would now be inverted. Maybe it's just me, but this is always a tricky part of the installation process, first fitting the bracket and the pump and then getting the SAP hose to latch back on the pump without bending it too much. I was able to get that done. With this kit on the 540, there was not requirement to install heat shields or water deflectors (My M5 brethren can relate here), things were pretty straight forward from here.

Quick side note and a massive thanks to the Tech Support team at DINAN who were able to get me the SAP Bracket and bolts the next day. Without that, work would have stalled. Thanks Guys - Y'All Rock! www.dinancars.com

The next piece was the Intake Tube itself. As I mentioned earlier, this tube must have come from a 740 DINAN 7, I would have to adapt the breather outlet to the 540. Also, the mounting angle for the intake was slight off - possibly due to slight differences in the 740 engine bay, but I was able to make it work. To adapt the breather outlet,

I used a Silicone hose with a breather attached and was able to put the breather in the stock hold for the smaller upper intake on the inner fender wall. This also meant it would be breathing cool air - so no compromise to the essence of the Cold Air Intake .... Whoo Hooo!!!!

I was then able to add the AFM / MAF housing and attach it to the installed DINAN Throttle body using the stock intake pipe. With all the pieces in place, it was time to reassemble the old girl and get her back on her feet.

DINAN Throttle Body Is still available..... for now.

With all the hardware in place, I was able to put her back together, all like a jigsaw puzzle.... headlights, bumper cover, wheels, and then BOOM! She's back together and on her feet.... again!

For her tune, after discussing with the Client, we decided to go with a Stage 5 Tune. The car will be getting an upgraded Intake Manifold soon, so might as well have her ready. The tune was loaded with zero issue. It was nice to complete a full DINAN 5 build for one of these legacy cars, and great to welcome a new addition to the DINAN Family.

She has a few more modifications coming her way. She will be getting the Front Strut Tower brace, the Rear Adjustable Sway bar and the Short Shift Kit for more "spirited" driving now that she's been modified.

I was delighted to see the boy like grin on JIL's face when he did his first test drive and to get his feedback later on from the drive home. She certainly is a "new" car and he can't wait for the remaining upgrades and to go surprise a few folks on the road with this Sleeper Baby Hauler.... I mean Sport Wagon! 😎😎😎

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY