*&@^%~!!!!!

[Guest johnny2k]

If it's not one thing it's another...

Bought my 540 last november with 102k on the clock, super clean. Dealer I bought it from replaced the alternator when he took it in on trade (not a cheap date by any means) and all was well. I buy the car, and 7k miles later I have to do rear upper control arms. Fine, done, $538 later I left the shop with it just two days ago. Now, today I get in to move it and get my mustang out and bam, I'm staring at a big red battery light and the car is reading 10.8 volts on the radar detector. Great, alternator is shot, called the guy I bought it from and he said to call him monday if the alt he put in (new btw) has a warranty, I will be happy and he will be getting dirty, if not, I'm gonna be one pissed off mother @%^&er!!!

Sorry, just had to vent. Thanks for listening

[straight6pwr]

do you wrench on the car at all by yourself? alternator and control arms arent difficult tasks and you could save a butload fixing stuff like that!

[Ryan...]

^^ very true. I loved my 540i, but they are an absolute PITA to own. It seems like every time you fix one rattle or shake, its replaced by 3 more funny noises/shakes/shimmies

I would honestly say if you plan on keeping the car for a long time, it might not be a bad idea to go ahead and literally replace the whole front suspension (minus shocks/springs if you dont need them). That will save you the headache of multiple trips to the mechanic, and you'll have the peace of mind knowing your car is set for many years to come

Also, you should prepare for the cooling overhaul which is almost surely going to be due. If you have no records of the radiator, hoses, thermostat/housing, and water pump being changed, you should also do that. Yes, it sucks, but if any one of those fails you're looking at a huge mechanics bill. I'm not mechanically skilled whatsoever, but with the help of a good friend, a couple packs of beer and determination, we did the cooling overhaul on my old project e39 M5. An ounce of prevention is worth 1000000lbs of cure with these cars

Edited April 3, 2011 by Ryan...

[Guest johnny2k]

I can definitely tackle the job with my roommate, but again, if it's got a warranty on the part, I will let the dealer deal with it. As for the upper control arms, it was mainly a matter of time for me. The parts were 300, an alignment would have been in the neighborhood of 100 plus, so i wasn't out that much more having a shop do it. As for the cooling overhaul, not sure. I know I can get most of the service history since the majority was done at International Autos

[Ryan...]

Yeah, I'd definitely let the dealer play with anything under warranty. I doubt the overhaul was done previously, most people do it all at once as a precaution, rather than waiting for individual pieces to fail. Once that's done you should be happy again with your car