HustleRussell's old 525i Touring (E34)
Discussion
Fair bloody play to you OP. It's great to see someone putting the time, money and effort into getting something like this back to its former glory. I look forward to the updates.
I have a bit of a thing for E34s seeing as my dad had a few when I was a nipper... one of which was a red 525i touring.
I have a bit of a thing for E34s seeing as my dad had a few when I was a nipper... one of which was a red 525i touring.
shielsy said:
Fair bloody play to you OP. It's great to see someone putting the time, money and effort into getting something like this back to its former glory. I look forward to the updates.
I have a bit of a thing for E34s seeing as my dad had a few when I was a nipper... one of which was a red 525i touring.
Exactly this. Although the red E34 touring The Chief (RIP) had was a Schnitzer 530i I have a bit of a thing for E34s seeing as my dad had a few when I was a nipper... one of which was a red 525i touring.
Back on it's wheels and in the paint shop before Christmas.
I went for the top notch lacquer because the painters prefer it- that's £700 in paint materials alone.
The whole thing is getting kind of pricy now, I've breached the £3k barrier thanks to about £2k worth of parts from BMW. For that I've got a front wing, a rear bumper skin, a windscreen (pushed the boat out for a top tint) plus scores of trim pieces, rubbing strips and little clips and sundries.
In for a penny...
Koni sport adjustable shock absorbers on the way, these will be paired with BMW sport self-levelling units at the rear with new BMW M-technic springs. Hopefully the combination of Koni front and Sachs rear shock absorbers will play nice.
Right now the car is up on a ramp having just received an M5 steering box (slightly quicker ratio and lower miles), waiting for me to stop sodding decorating the house and refit the bloody suspension and steering.
I went for the top notch lacquer because the painters prefer it- that's £700 in paint materials alone.
The whole thing is getting kind of pricy now, I've breached the £3k barrier thanks to about £2k worth of parts from BMW. For that I've got a front wing, a rear bumper skin, a windscreen (pushed the boat out for a top tint) plus scores of trim pieces, rubbing strips and little clips and sundries.
In for a penny...
Koni sport adjustable shock absorbers on the way, these will be paired with BMW sport self-levelling units at the rear with new BMW M-technic springs. Hopefully the combination of Koni front and Sachs rear shock absorbers will play nice.
Right now the car is up on a ramp having just received an M5 steering box (slightly quicker ratio and lower miles), waiting for me to stop sodding decorating the house and refit the bloody suspension and steering.
Thanks
Everyone in the real world thinks I'm mad. This will be one of the least valuable cars I've ever bought and at the same time the most money I've ever spent on a car
I don't think £5k is too bad for a well-sorted slice of genuine Germanic build quality.
I'm actually really excited about driving it again, it's going to be heaven after my £250 stop gap saxo (the ignition barrel on it failed last night so I'm currently having to hotwire it!)
Everyone in the real world thinks I'm mad. This will be one of the least valuable cars I've ever bought and at the same time the most money I've ever spent on a car
I don't think £5k is too bad for a well-sorted slice of genuine Germanic build quality.
I'm actually really excited about driving it again, it's going to be heaven after my £250 stop gap saxo (the ignition barrel on it failed last night so I'm currently having to hotwire it!)
HustleRussell said:
Thanks
Everyone in the real world thinks I'm mad. This will be one of the least valuable cars I've ever bought and at the same time the most money I've ever spent on a car
And people in the real world pour huge amounts of money into things that those of us that are normal will never understand. Everyone in the real world thinks I'm mad. This will be one of the least valuable cars I've ever bought and at the same time the most money I've ever spent on a car
A lovely looking care, well done for keeping it and giving it some TLC.
Love that so much. The E34 is a fave of mine and have many memories as a child being ferried around in a green one (no idea which colour). Roof open and AC on because it was the '90s so why not. Look forward to seeing the work progress on this. I am guessing you'll do a couple of engine bits and try and sort the Air out, also?
Thanks all,
The engine itself is great, I'm itching to give it a service though. In the engine bay, I'm going to be looking for any perished hoses and seals to replace (I suspect there's a couple of little pipes around the air inlet control valve which are cracking) and when I fit new belts I'll check the tensioners etc. I am planning to recommission the A/C, I've already got a used replacement compressor, a new receiver / dryer and an assortment of 'O' rings for the job although the system hasn't worked at all in my ownership so I'm expecting it to need more attention than that.
Finally, progress!
BMW’s ability to supply parts for this 20 year old car is pleasantly surprising, however some parts have been a 4-5 day wait from Germany.
I finally collected together all the bits I needed to get the struts together, so it was out with the old…
I had to come up with an engineering solution for the rear shock absorbers as the old rubber damper eye bushes were knackered and they are technically integral with the eye (bonded in). I priced up new shock absorbers at £960 the pair, and decided that on balance my old (but perfectly functional) shock absorbers could be redeemed with a set of universal polybushes and a slight modification to the crush tube.
Finally the struts were re-assembled. BMW ‘low slung sport suspension’ springs and bump stops were used, along with Koni Sport shock absorbers in the front.
I hope the new springs play nice with the rear shock absorbers but at least I know that new ‘sport’ ones are still available if they don’t.
The struts were re-fitted to the car- but only after I’d fitted all new suspension arms, steering linkages and bushes up front and scrubbed and waxcoated the internal surfaces of the suspension turrets.
Up next, wheels on and then I'll be cleaning out all it's cavities ready for an extensive application of Waxoyl or Dinitrol before the exterior gets reassembled.
Getting impatient to get the lovely freshly painted panels on but after that I've still got a load of interior to reassemble...
JakeT said:
Love that so much. The E34 is a fave of mine and have many memories as a child being ferried around in a green one (no idea which colour). Roof open and AC on because it was the '90s so why not. Look forward to seeing the work progress on this. I am guessing you'll do a couple of engine bits and try and sort the Air out, also?
Lots of 'em were oxford green which is a dark bottle / BRG colour?The engine itself is great, I'm itching to give it a service though. In the engine bay, I'm going to be looking for any perished hoses and seals to replace (I suspect there's a couple of little pipes around the air inlet control valve which are cracking) and when I fit new belts I'll check the tensioners etc. I am planning to recommission the A/C, I've already got a used replacement compressor, a new receiver / dryer and an assortment of 'O' rings for the job although the system hasn't worked at all in my ownership so I'm expecting it to need more attention than that.
Finally, progress!
BMW’s ability to supply parts for this 20 year old car is pleasantly surprising, however some parts have been a 4-5 day wait from Germany.
I finally collected together all the bits I needed to get the struts together, so it was out with the old…
I had to come up with an engineering solution for the rear shock absorbers as the old rubber damper eye bushes were knackered and they are technically integral with the eye (bonded in). I priced up new shock absorbers at £960 the pair, and decided that on balance my old (but perfectly functional) shock absorbers could be redeemed with a set of universal polybushes and a slight modification to the crush tube.
Finally the struts were re-assembled. BMW ‘low slung sport suspension’ springs and bump stops were used, along with Koni Sport shock absorbers in the front.
I hope the new springs play nice with the rear shock absorbers but at least I know that new ‘sport’ ones are still available if they don’t.
The struts were re-fitted to the car- but only after I’d fitted all new suspension arms, steering linkages and bushes up front and scrubbed and waxcoated the internal surfaces of the suspension turrets.
Up next, wheels on and then I'll be cleaning out all it's cavities ready for an extensive application of Waxoyl or Dinitrol before the exterior gets reassembled.
Getting impatient to get the lovely freshly painted panels on but after that I've still got a load of interior to reassemble...
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