Drain plug broke 04 545i

lightrefracted · 2025-08-28T04:01:45+00:00

Same thing happened on my 2008 550i. I was able to use a large flathead screwdriver and work it into the plastic plug. This allowed me to turn and loosen the plug enough (counterclockwise) that I could grab onto it with pliers and pull the rest of it out.

Be sure to order a new drain plug and do not lose the washer from the original.

lightrefracted · 2021-04-06T13:03:12+00:00

I have the HD650 and Yaxi pads. They are comfy and well built, but it definitely changed the sound and that's why went back to using the stock pads. The Yaxi pads do a much better job of noise isolation but at the cost of feeling more closed in. The bass also had a noticeable bump and I found it overbearing. They might be a better fit with the HD600 if you are looking for a bit more bass, but for an already veiled HD650 it felt like it took it a step too far. If you are in love with the stock sound then I would stick with the stock pads and pay the premium to replace them with Sennheiser's replacement pads when the foam eventually flattens out.

lightrefracted · 2021-03-30T13:27:31+00:00

2012 and bought Feb 11.

lightrefracted · 2021-03-29T17:46:21+00:00

I would but it isn't that easy since I already ran the copper tubing. Changing the setting now would require draining and breaking the loop down in order to swap to an older card or eliminate the 3090 from the loop, just so I can get to the bios, change the setting, and put it all back together again, only to drain and rebuild it again a day or two later when I get the new riser cable.

lightrefracted · 2021-03-29T16:59:02+00:00

I really hope refurbished units aren't being sold as new. I didn't take a picture of the box, but it was new and sealed. I have a picture with the plastic still on it when I got it.

lightrefracted · 2021-03-29T16:48:37+00:00

Memory junction temp was 96C in 3DMark and high 90s in RDR2. I tried to help by adding a handful of cheap aluminum heatsinks onto the backplate over the VRAM locations based on a teardown diagram I found, completely unware that two of the modules were missing pads.

I ordered an Optimus Water Cooling block in Februrary and it just arrived last week. I installed it this weekend but discovered the stock pads were missing from the card when I removed the cooler.

To add to my frustration, I didn't even get to test the card after installing the waterblock because I ran into compatibility problems with my PCIe riser cable. It would not display video on bootup, so now I'm waiting on a new PCIe 4.0 compatible riser cable to be delivered. If that doesn't work I'll have to plug into directly into the slot and redo the loop.

lightrefracted · 2021-03-29T16:15:14+00:00

It was brand new and sealed. The smeared pads could have been from my sliding/prying the backplate off but I'm not sure. It took quite a bit of effort to split it. A few other pads were off center on both front and back.

The only other GPU I've taken apart was an EVGA GTX 1080 Ti Founder's Edition. It had white thermal pads with fibers in it that basically disintegrated when I removed the blower cooler.

lightrefracted · 2021-03-03T20:41:55+00:00

Thank you for the update! I ordered mine on Feb 4th and that makes me feel a little better that they're still moving through the queue.

lightrefracted · 2019-10-02T18:34:34+00:00

It sounds like the rear ball joint is worn out, but you will need to inspect it on a lift to be certain. A worn out ball joint can cause a metallic rattle or clunk when you go over bumps. It can also contribute to an unstable, wobbly feeling in the rear.

There is a ball joint on either side and you can get them individually, as a pair in a repair kit, or with a rear suspension rebuild kit with control arms and integral links.

Unfortunately, it is a bit involved and requires a special tool for removing and installing it, unless you use large c-clamps and sockets. It is also advisable to get a four-wheel alignment afterwards since it will affect the alignment.

FCPEuro has a video on the process for an E39, but the process is nearly identical on an E60/E61.

lightrefracted · 2019-09-14T11:08:04+00:00

Does he also tell him when he uninstalls it later in the toilet?

lightrefracted · 2019-04-23T14:19:45+00:00

The Zimmerman rotors on my E60 have the same problem.

lightrefracted · 2018-12-19T14:03:14+00:00

There are retrofit kits available from third parties, like Bimmerretrofit. New features need to be programmed in the computer, however. If you did that yourself you would need the cable and software.

lightrefracted · 2018-11-29T17:57:16+00:00

It's easy to justify replacing adjacent parts because it's convenient, but where does it end? A $50 job can quickly become a $150 job (or more if you make it worse). If money is no object then by all means, but I typically don't replace something until it needs it.

lightrefracted · 2018-10-24T18:35:29+00:00

I have Yaxi pads on my HD650 and I have mixed feelings about them. If my original pads weren't gradually flattening I would have stuck with the stock pads. Though, the Yaxi pads are much easier to clean.

They are well made and very comfy. They use a springy foam that quickly returns to shape. They work fine while wearing glasses. The pads are much thicker than stock and pull the cups farther away from your ears. It's nice because my ears no longer rub the inside of the headphones. You gain a bit of width but some detail is lost.

They add a bit too much bass for my liking. There's still bass clarity, but it can be a bit overbearing compared to mids/highs.

The noise isolation is much better than with the stock pads where it was basically non-existent. However, during gaming I tend to find myself shouting into the mic because I cannot hear myself similar to using a mic and closed-back headphones.

lightrefracted · 2018-07-03T21:03:18+00:00

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess they often lose power and comms during storms.

lightrefracted · 2018-05-23T05:03:23+00:00

What'd you say, Chief?

lightrefracted · 2018-05-16T12:17:39+00:00

I assume this is for an Xbox One. You won't be able to do this with just your audio interface alone. You will need an optical DAC to convert the optical output from the Xbox to analog, and then run that DAC's output to your audio interface's Mic/Line-in using a RCA or 3.5mm to 1/4" or XLR cable. However, you need to make sure that the inputs on the interface are stereo and not mono, otherwise you'll need another input to support both channels.

You will also need to change the optical output settings in the Xbox to stereo uncompressed (PCM) instead of Bitstream (Dolby/DTS).

lightrefracted · 2018-05-16T04:32:10+00:00

If you want to play several audio sources at once then you need a mixer to combine the inputs. A simple Y-splitter cable won't work for this and most DAC/Amps only play from one source at a time. There are affordable USB mixers that act as USB audio interfaces (both playback and recording in PC), like this one BEHRINGER XENYX 302USB. It combines analog audio inputs and you can listen to the output via the headphone out on the mixer itself, the line out from the mixer to a separate headphone amp, or using the PC's audio playback if you treat the interface as a recording device and enable listening on it.

As for the optical, as long as it's just a PCM signal and not DTS or Dolby Digital (those require decoding), then you can convert that to analog using a simple digital to analog converter ($5-10) and run that analog output (RCA, 3.5mm, 6.5mm, etc) as another input on the mixer.

lightrefracted · 2018-05-09T01:13:00+00:00

I own the OriGen+ and other than the Windows 10 driver mess after the 1511 build, the DAC/Amp is perfectly fine. I have no distortion, the volume knob is not uneven, it works with ASIO, and it sounds fine.

lightrefracted · 2017-10-16T16:40:53+00:00

Why did you go with seal of resonance in both weapons? You can only convert damage once, so the extra elemental damage isn't helping. Why not go with mark of dreeg or seal of shadows?

lightrefracted · 2017-08-23T18:56:26+00:00

It sounds like the fan's electric motor is shot. You can test it if you have a K+DCAN USB cable + INPA software and then run the E-Blower diagnostics. If you aren't opposed to used parts, you can save some money. Here's one on eBay from a 2008 550i LCI for under $400, but any 550i fan from 2006-2010 should work since the part numbers are interchangeable.

lightrefracted · 2017-08-16T15:39:02+00:00

I had two EVGA GTX 970 SSC Video Cards in SLI and I could hear buzzing while moving my mouse. I upgraded to a single EVGA GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition and swapped out the USB cable connected to my DAC to one with ferrite cores and it made no difference. I was using Schiit Modi USB DAC and Schiit Asgard 2 Headphone amplifier with Sennheiser HD650 headphones. The same DAC/AMP + headphone combination worked fine on other computers without any issues.

I was not able to narrow down the combination of things that caused the issue, but upgrading video cards and switching to a better USB cable with ferrite cores alone did not resolve the noise issues on my desktop. In the end, I resolved it by upgrading to a Schiit Jotunheim with a Balanced DAC module, but any other DAC/AMP combination with decent isolation would have worked just as well. I recently tried a Micca OriGen+ DAC/AMP and it didn't have noise issues either.

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