Bought another BMW E34 5-series, rebuild thread within

[Aaron]

My current BMW is a 1990 525i, 4-speed auto. The 1990 was the last year of the famous for being awful M20 2.5l I6. It lacks low end torque, it lacks midrange response, and it lacks high end horsepower. It idles like a cammed 350, and sounds like a tractor engine (Probably because it basically is one). The only positive, is that mine has 232,000 miles on it, and has never needed more than spark plugs and a thermostat. The thing won't die.

In 1991 they went to the M50, which is the DOHC version of the same motor. It picked up a fair amount of low and midrange torque, but no horsepower. It also runs much smoother, and weighs very slightly less.

My new car is a 91, and it has a 5-speed. YAY! So I expect to get rear ended much more (Seems people expect you to accelerate when the light turns green). I also expect to gain a few miles per gallon, and not have to fear my transmission will fail again. Looking forward to getting the new one fixed and driving, and the old one sold. The new one is been beat up pretty good, the water pump shaft moves about 3" in any direction, fan doesn't have any blades on it, fan shroud is half of what it should be, door stop has pulled through the door frame, the gas door is busted, every panel has some form of dent/scratch, the door locks don't work, seats are in terrible shape, etc. My first step is going to get it mechanically sound, so I can at least drive it. So I'll be getting a new water pump, serpentine belt, thermostat, fan (Upgrading to an electric fan), and normal maintenance (Oil/plugs/air filter). As budget and interest permit I will be fixing the minor cosmetic things that bother me.

[Indy]

Crocs. If you could go ahead and GTFO now....That would be great.

[Aaron]

I was afraid someone would notice that. They're like a Mike's Hard Lemonade though. We all love one every now and then, it's just nothing we want anyone else to know.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Nice to see you got a stick and the better engine... just hope you got a hell of a deal on the rest of the car. It's pretty rough.

S52 swap?

M20 needs a timing belt every 60K or so, also. It does great in a 2500# E30. A 3400# E34... not so much.

M50 and M20 share many critical dimensions (cranks & pistons will interchange, for instance) but they are different engines. I tought the M50 was also up about 20 HP (195 vs 175) on the M20.

[Aaron]

Wikipedia says you're right, which is news to me! They also say the M50 has a "long life expectancy." Considering my M20 is at 232,000, I'm looking forward to what the M50 will do (It's 241,000 right now lol). I got a decent deal on it. It's worth more than I paid in parts for sure, but I'm going to drive it.

I drove an M50 in a touring, and it didn't seem any more powerful than the M20, but definitely had more low end. The tourings do weigh a few hundred more though. The M20 would be ok if it had a stick, but with the auto, it's impossible unless you hold it in gears and never go below 3,000rpm. You know they made an E34 518 in Europe? 1.8l I4 making all of 113hp. That had to have been godawful.

[The Dark Side of Will]

When I was on leave in the UK in Feb '10, I saw quite a few E60 520d's.

[Aaron]

Today I pulled the old fan, shroud, belts, and water pump off. They were all pretty much fvcked haha.

I bought a new water pump and set of serpentine belts (2) and put them on. I ran it for a few minutes, and like when I bought it, it's better than I expected, but not as good as I had hoped. Needs brake linings, but other than that it seems great! Then I looked under the hood and saw the puddle. Dam. Turns out the radiator is punctured. Hopefully I'll get that fixed Monday, and go pick up an electric fan of some sort.

[Aaron]

New radiator and T-stat is in, and the car is driveable. Now I need a head unit for the stereo, new seats, and a shifter rebuild.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I have part numbers someplace, but I used the shifter from a Z3 1.9 in my car and it's MUCH better than the original... Significantly shorter throw.

[Aaron]

So far I've fixed a few things, and rolled over to 262,000 miles the other day. The white dash/console in the pictures is gone, replaced with a black one.

The radio sans face plate was replaced with a cheap head unit I had laying around.

The door locks work 40% of the time (Need to replace the passenger side actuator again).

Things I still need/want to fix: ABS, brake pads/sensors, heater core, HVAC fan, engine vacuum lines, shifter, and any more of 100 misc things.

[Emc209i]

Friendly (non intoxicated) edit: Are you planning to do anything about the seats?

[Aaron]

I missed the intoxicated post, I would've liked to see it though!

I would love to put new seats in it, but none that I've found at the junkyard were clean enough and a matching color. Eventually...

I fixed the ABS and brake pad sensor today, total cost $8.99. I looked into heater cores, $95 for a new one at rockauto! I think I'll pass on that for a while.

[The Dark Side of Will]

What was wrong with the ABS?

[CincinnatiFiero]

Maybe I've owned and worked on too many Euro cars, $95 seems reasonable for a heater core.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I'd be suspect of a heater core that cost much less than that.

Heater cores for Fieros are $60 and $90 for A/C or not from the Fiero Store

[Aaron]

The ABS sensors got too dirty. An hour's worth of work and they were clean and working again.

Maybe it is reasonable, I guess that's just more than I was looking to spend. Unfortunately it's too much work to chance putting a used one in. I'll just live with it for now, I can't afford $100 and it still works.

[Aaron]

Fixed a couple more things on the E34.

The passenger side reading lamp would only work sporadically. Took it apart, bent the contact the button pushes against closer, and all is right again.

The passenger side fog light has always been really dim, and after replacing the bulb, doesn't work at all (Just my luck, especially with how expensive H1 bulbs are). Wires had continuity with their corresponding drivers side wires. I checked volts at the H1 wire terminals, and had difficulty getting a reading. Finally got an unstable 4-7 bolts. Took it all apart, cleaned the H1 connections with fine sand paper, and cleaned the wire terminals and squeezed them so they'll grip tighter. Voila 12v and bright light. But it's aimed at the ground and the bracket is broke so I have to deal with it for now.

I also tried to give my 525 tilt steering, which I'm amazed it didn't come with. Used longer bolts and a spacer to bring the wheel down, but found now it blocks part of my gauges. I liked it better up. I'll put it back tomorrow.

[The Dark Side of Will]

The 535i had telescope but not tilt. I would have liked tilt very much. Supposedly the later E34's had power tilt/telescope.