BMW advice

[CincinnatiFiero]

Thats not far south of columbus, if they want to overcharge you for shipping I could probably go pick them up for you and ship them.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I appreciate the offer... Thanks!

However, by the time I did my research on the axles, they'd already sold one of the control arms, so I snagged control arms and axles from an outfit in MN.

[The Dark Side of Will]

So this happened in mid-June, literally the day before I was to leave for two weeks of Navy duty.



Other guy was hauled away for DUI. Nobody was hurt, but I had an airbag burn on my arm.

[Aaron]

Non-fault accidents with E34s are the best, because they generally appraise a good amount higher than they can be purchased for. And with him being DUI, his insurance has no leg to stand on as far as fault goes.

On a side note, I see your airbag works (Errr, worked). Mine doesn't. At least I doubt it does, as the red SRS lamp flashes whenever I drive it. I'd love to fix it but don't want to spend any money doing so.

[The Dark Side of Will]

That wasn't the case this time. The insurance only gave me $1500ish for it... probably could have sold for $2500. I pushed them pretty hard and they wouldn't budge.

I can part it out. Having lived with an M30 for 40K miles, I'm not really a fan of it. It has fantastic durability and longevity and is very well made and well engineered, but power, mileage and octane tolerance are mediocre at best.

The canted offset valves make for a mesy chamber shape. There's no excuse for an engine with 9:1 compression under an aluminum head to ping on 87 octane. BMW could take some two valve chamber design lessons from GM. They did better with the M70 V12.

The ports aren't very good. The poor port flow means that the engine can't make a lot of power. It ends up cammed up a bit to make the power it makes. This means that it needs more rear end gear and is wound pretty tight on the highway. It turned 3000 RPM at 80. Because it's cammed up, it doesn't have the low end torque to pull a significantly taller gear.

I was on a gradual collision course with turbo because it was there, not because it was a good idea. While turbo M30's *can* make a good bit of power and mountains of torque, they need copious water/meth to do it, thanks to the poor octane tolerance. I wasn't enthusiastic about that at all.

I really should get a diesel Merc if I want a highway car or a 540i if I want a 4 door hot rod.

The E34 is exceptionally well built, however and almost never wear out. I may test drive some E39's, but from what I've heard, the E39 isn't put together quite as well as the E34.

[Series8217]

That sucks for the car, but I'm glad to hear you're alright.

An E39 wagon would make a sick parts getter.

[Aaron]

I never understood the point of the M30. It has the power of a 535, with the gas mileage of a 540. And along those lines, I never understood the point of the 535 either. If you want power, get the 540. If you want reliability and gas mileage, get the 525. The 530/535 gives you slightly more power, with a big hit to economy.

My M50 has plenty of power to move the E34 along fairly well. It isn't fast, it isn't a race car, but I have no problems keeping up with traffic or passing when I have to. With 192hp, it actually pulls halfway decently once you get it up past 3,000rpm or so. The M50 is a great motor too, it's smooth, quiet, makes decent power, returns great mileage, and is the most durable/reliable platform BMW has. Plus it is extremely easy to work on in most applications.

I love the E34, but mine drives me crazy. It's been neglected for so long that problems are just everywhere, and I don't want to spend the money to fix them.

[Aaron]

You think 3,000 at 80 is high? The M50 5-speed turns straight up 3,500rpm at 80. I bet it'd pick up 5mpg of that was lowered to 2,000 or so. The gearing so ridiculously taller than it needs to be. I can easily 2nd gear stop, and I never use 2nd or 4th. I go 1-3-5 all the time. And that's at 5,000 ft altitude too!

[The Dark Side of Will]

When it came out in the '80's, the 535 was a pretty badass car. It was only 30 HP off a Corvette and topped out over 140. Heated seats, trip computer, bussed chassis functions, THROTTLE BY WIRE, etc. were absolute top shelf items back in the day.

The 535 M30 and 540 were not concurrently produced. The 540 replaced the 535 in the model lineup as the rung immediately below the M5. With 165 HP from the single cam/two valve M20, the 210 HP 535 made sense. With 190 HP from the twin cam/four valve M50, it didn't so much. The 530 V8 at 220 HP was barely differentiated from the 525 M50. There was a 535 V8 for international markets, but it didn't come here.

The M30 was a heritage engine for BMW. They'd built it since the late '60's. When introduced it was called the most technologically advanced inline 6 in the world. Times change.

DSM's turn 4000 at 80, but they're gutless wonders. I think that the M30 could pull 2500 at 80 without difficulty on hills. Your M50 could *NOT* pull 2000 at 80... *Maybe* at a constant speed on level ground. At the time our cars were built, BMW geared their cars to be able to hit top speed on the Autobahn. The 535 M30 could hit 143 MPH. That's 5300 RPM in 5th gear. The engine makes peak power at 5200 RPM. You picking up what I'm putting down? If you do the same figuring for your car, you'll probably find that it hits top speed at peak power RPM in top gear. It wasn't until the 540 V8 six speed came out that BMW started to embrace the American concept of a cruise gear that's taller than the top speed gear.

That's another reason that BMW has a ratio every 5% for their 188mm medium case diffs.

[CincinnatiFiero]

So what are you replacing it with????

A 350iX ?

[The Dark Side of Will]

Hehe... Bad Idea won't be a highway car... and won't be on the road for a while either. It'll get great mileage on the highway and the engine will be relaxed thanks to the gearing, but an E30 will never be as comfortable on long trips as a 5 series or an E class.

I picked up a car to receive the powertrain, but it lost the front main seal on the way back from Richmond Go, M20, Go!

[CincinnatiFiero]

I saw you bought an E30 in your other thread, or do you mean you picked up another E34?

[The Dark Side of Will]

The E30 is what I meant.

[CincinnatiFiero]

I've got a W124 300 2.5 with a salvage title that needs the front end straightened, come buy that to replace the E34.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Hmm... Had it for a while? Going to have it for a while?

I might have some big life changes in the next month... Might be interested after that.

[CincinnatiFiero]

Had it nearly 3 years. Bought it in Kentucky drove it 150 miles home. Drive it around the parking lot occasionally. It was a good buy it's a totally rust free car. Has a salvage title, it was poorly repaired up front but the hood closes and latches. A buy here pay here lot sold it for $2,900 and then the radiator and injector lines started leaking, and the customer dropped it off and told them to keep it. I replaced the radiator and injector lines. I've done primary and secondary filters, air filter. I also put a blower motor and blower motor resistor in it. There was a vacuum leak to the digital wastegate I fixed so now it boosts correctly. It's teal-green over cream-beige, shifts well, drives well. A/C doesn't work, but the compressor isn't locked up and when we put the A/C vacuum on it it held vacuum. Sunroof works great, and the car has the optional passenger airbag.

I'll have it in a month or two, its not going anywhere. I bought it because it was a good buy, but I have a 300D 3.0L I daily, my girlfriend has a 190D 2.5, I don't really need the 3rd one, so it just sits.

247k on it. I'd part with it for like $1200. I'll throw in an extra hood, hinges, and a core support. Seats in the car are above average but I have a darn near flawless pair to go with it. It's got E320 8 hole wheels on it with decent rubber. Needs a radio.

My dad wanted it, then he said he wants it for my little sister. But he bought himself something else and she may not want it.
I've got 12 cars at this point, need to thin the herd.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Hmm.... Assuming I'd have to go to Ohio to get it.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Getting more interested... I'll be moving into one of the properties I've been renting out at the end of the month. I'll have a 2.5 car garage to keep The Stupid Ferrari under a roof and accomodate short term work on another car.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Had it nearly 3 years. Bought it in Kentucky drove it 150 miles home. Drive it around the parking lot occasionally. It was a good buy it's a totally rust free car. Has a salvage title, it was poorly repaired up front but the hood closes and latches. A buy here pay here lot sold it for $2,900 and then the radiator and injector lines started leaking, and the customer dropped it off and told them to keep it. I replaced the radiator and injector lines. I've done primary and secondary filters, air filter. I also put a blower motor and blower motor resistor in it. There was a vacuum leak to the digital wastegate I fixed so now it boosts correctly. It's teal-green over cream-beige, shifts well, drives well. A/C doesn't work, but the compressor isn't locked up and when we put the A/C vacuum on it it held vacuum. Sunroof works great, and the car has the optional passenger airbag.

I'll have it in a month or two, its not going anywhere. I bought it because it was a good buy, but I have a 300D 3.0L I daily, my girlfriend has a 190D 2.5, I don't really need the 3rd one, so it just sits.

247k on it. I'd part with it for like $1200. I'll throw in an extra hood, hinges, and a core support. Seats in the car are above average but I have a darn near flawless pair to go with it. It's got E320 8 hole wheels on it with decent rubber. Needs a radio.

My dad wanted it, then he said he wants it for my little sister. But he bought himself something else and she may not want it.
I've got 12 cars at this point, need to thin the herd.

I'm thinking of making a road trip out in late October for this. Tell me more about it... What exactly was damaged in the accident? How was it repaired? Has the front end been clipped?

What options were available? What does it have?

2.5 is 5 cylinder, right? OM602 or OM605?

Year? Mileage?

Etc...

[CincinnatiFiero]

Its currently at a bodyshop being fixed. My frame guy said for $300 he thought he could get it straightened out. I'll be curious to see what he gives me back. I'll also be interested to see what paint will run me. Maybe the paint estimate will put it back on the market haha.

Front end was never clipped. The car was hit high and someone I'm pretty sure hammered it straight and shimmed stuff with washers. The hood just fits all cattywompus and the one headlight looks like its running downhill. I don't think the bags blew. It was someones daily driver even with the repairs as fubared as they are. The car has an aftermarket windshield and one corner of the hood is curled up, I think the hood went through the windshield. I'm putting a 1995 E320 updated hood and headlights on it so it will look like a 1995 E300.

Its a 1992 300D 2.5 Turbo with 248,000 miles. Its got MB-Text vinyl interior which was the base interior, but the text is much more durable than the leather. It has the Becker 1492 8 speaker powered stereo system (needs new head unit, but I think I've located one), it has the sunroof, it has the optional passenger air bag, I think that's about all it has. The 90-93 5cylinder cars are historically less equipped than the 1987 6 cylinder cars. This car was like $45,000, my 87 was nearly $51,000. My 87 has heated mirrors, heated washer fluid, headlight wipers, alarm, etc.

So its not for sale as of today since its at a body shop being repaired. I was ready to be done with it but my cheap body guy who I thought wasn't working anymore called me looking for work.

This is the 86-93 front end


This is the 94-95 front, should look good