HustleRussell's old 525i Touring (E34)
Discussion
Thanks all
On Saturday I actually put the wheels on and it sat on it's new suspension for the first time. I did a couple of jobs I'd been dreading; Firstly refilling and bleeding the self-levelling suspension / power steering system. That was the moment of truth for a few things- would it leak? make horrible noises? would my replacement (used) M5 steering box be any good? would the ride height be to my taste on its new sport springs?
Of course on a booster pack the engine started with no dramas as always. The system quickly self-bled and the rear suspension raised up to running height. No sign of any leaks. The new ride height looked pretty good straight away- although it's still 8mm lower at the rear than at the front so I'll have to adjust the rear ride height on the self levelling system. A quick bounce on the front inner wings reassured me that the new shocks and springs aren't too firm and should hopefully improve the ride quality rather than detract from it. Seemed like a good time for dreaded task #2- scrubbing and pressure washing the underbody ready for rust prevention. I only drove the car about a hundred feet to the wash bay but the steering felt much improved.
I ended the weekend depressed because the underbody wash and poke around revealed a bubbling area of failed underseal in the O/S/F wheel arch / drivers footwell. A few sharp prods with a screwdriver and it was soon a 4" x 1" rust hole. On the plus side, I caught it very early (before it could let water in and dissolve the floor!) and there is a very good panel beater on site who'll make very short work of it with some new steel, but still...
On Saturday I actually put the wheels on and it sat on it's new suspension for the first time. I did a couple of jobs I'd been dreading; Firstly refilling and bleeding the self-levelling suspension / power steering system. That was the moment of truth for a few things- would it leak? make horrible noises? would my replacement (used) M5 steering box be any good? would the ride height be to my taste on its new sport springs?
Of course on a booster pack the engine started with no dramas as always. The system quickly self-bled and the rear suspension raised up to running height. No sign of any leaks. The new ride height looked pretty good straight away- although it's still 8mm lower at the rear than at the front so I'll have to adjust the rear ride height on the self levelling system. A quick bounce on the front inner wings reassured me that the new shocks and springs aren't too firm and should hopefully improve the ride quality rather than detract from it. Seemed like a good time for dreaded task #2- scrubbing and pressure washing the underbody ready for rust prevention. I only drove the car about a hundred feet to the wash bay but the steering felt much improved.
I ended the weekend depressed because the underbody wash and poke around revealed a bubbling area of failed underseal in the O/S/F wheel arch / drivers footwell. A few sharp prods with a screwdriver and it was soon a 4" x 1" rust hole. On the plus side, I caught it very early (before it could let water in and dissolve the floor!) and there is a very good panel beater on site who'll make very short work of it with some new steel, but still...
JakeT said:
Shame BMW don't do cool colour cars as standard any more. The current 5 series range may as well be in greyscale!
I suppose the 5-series generally appeals to a rather conservative market. Makes me wonder who spec'd mine, I can only imagine they saw the new E36 M3 in Techno and fancied it on their 5-series...shalmaneser said:
I didn't know these things were still running trailing arm suspension - at least you've got less bushes and ball joints to worry about, I've just done my M3 and there are a hell of a lot of them!
That purple is the absolute best BMW colour, looks like you're doing a great job!
The semi-trailing arm suspension was a bit notorious wasn't it- although I think by the time it was used on the E34 it had been slightly refined. I must say, on new Goodyears the rear has proven extremely well stuck down. That purple is the absolute best BMW colour, looks like you're doing a great job!
I also think that car buyers are becoming more boring, and to quote a common cliche here, leasing and other finance models kill individuality. A funny colour would supsoedly put rental payments up, so people don't buy them. Then BMW see no demand so don't offer them. About 8 of the people living on the same close as me in the '90s all had BMWs and none were silver or black. They were all green, blue, or red. Looked great really. Sadly now they've migrated to Volvos... My dad even ordered a Pearl Beige metallic E53 X5. Not a colour you see often on the X!
His looks the same as this one(wheels included) and has the 3.0i with 200k on it now...
At least you caught the rust early. Better than having it eat into the floor and create a big messy hole. What's the interior like also? If possible, pictures please
ETA: I saw a techno Violet E46 this morning in Southampton. Looked lovely. Something about the older colours on the newer cars...
His looks the same as this one(wheels included) and has the 3.0i with 200k on it now...
At least you caught the rust early. Better than having it eat into the floor and create a big messy hole. What's the interior like also? If possible, pictures please
ETA: I saw a techno Violet E46 this morning in Southampton. Looked lovely. Something about the older colours on the newer cars...
It's all true, although I'm grateful certain colours are gone (those Porsches with the turquoise interiors spring to mind!) and I'm glad some have come back... I actually quite like bronze / brown which hasn't been 'in' since the 70s.
I have to say if you'd said 'beige' without the photo I'd have had my reservations but that X5 looks good. Can't remember seeing one which wasn't black, grey, silver, white or blue.
I have to say if you'd said 'beige' without the photo I'd have had my reservations but that X5 looks good. Can't remember seeing one which wasn't black, grey, silver, white or blue.
Current status;
All very dusty.
The Lotus is Dad's, he's going racing with it this season. I'm supposed to be building one too but work is impacting BMW progress which is hindering Lotus commensement.
I made another trip to the machine shop to modify the Lotus steering column ready for a quick release steering wheel boss. The college machine tools are a little ancient
All very dusty.
The Lotus is Dad's, he's going racing with it this season. I'm supposed to be building one too but work is impacting BMW progress which is hindering Lotus commensement.
I made another trip to the machine shop to modify the Lotus steering column ready for a quick release steering wheel boss. The college machine tools are a little ancient
Both cooling fans were malfunctioning so I've got a new viscous coupling on the way along with new belts and idlers. I reckon I can repair the electric fan motor (or at least attempt to!)
Ever wondered what the inside of an A/C compressor looks like? I did;
Progress is a little sluggish at the moment as there are a number of little uninteresting jobs to tackle before I put my freshly painted panels and bumpers on, however when I need inspiration I can retire to my 'mood room'
Ever wondered what the inside of an A/C compressor looks like? I did;
Progress is a little sluggish at the moment as there are a number of little uninteresting jobs to tackle before I put my freshly painted panels and bumpers on, however when I need inspiration I can retire to my 'mood room'
HustleRussell said:
... however when I need inspiration I can retire to my 'mood room'
If my kids got into that room, you would definitely be in a Mood!Panels look great, suggest it's like a Z1 where you can effortlessly pop them on and off (with a spare day!)- I bet it doesn't take much longer to fit these than the reality of the Z1. Keep them unscratched!
What a great thread. My father owned an Oxford green E34 525i estate when I was growing up, which I loved. It was a fantastic car in a lovely colour and it was a real shame when he traded it in for a Volvo V70 estate once the 5 speed auto gearbox started slipping.
I check PH occasionally for E34 estates, but never see any of interest
I check PH occasionally for E34 estates, but never see any of interest
Polynesian said:
If my kids got into that room, you would definitely be in a Mood!
The car goes together in a pretty conventional way but being from 90s Bavaria it's all quite nicely done. Properly sized, good quality fixings. You only really need four or five different sized sockets and spanners to do the lot!
I think the E34's effectiveness as a workhorse might be it's undoing, they soldier on with little attention but when something does go wrong their low value makes them uneconomical to repair. Few people are enthusiastic about them. I think it may be a generational thing; to my Dad it's just an old 5-series, whereas I don't remember when these cars were still being built and the E34 has always looked 'classic' to my eyes. I'm a sucker for blockish styling and round headlights (they're made of glass!)
I like to think these cars will have their day some time, but when you can get a roadworthy M5 for £6-7k it's hard to imagine many people getting all nostalgic about the 525i any time soon...
The latest drama is the clutch in my stopgap Saxo has suddenly and completely let go, which is at best a distraction from the task in hand. I still have to get to work and back Monday to Friday... I think I'm just going to have to man up and get a clutch kit ordered. It's not worth scrapping anyway.
Leins said:
Open bonnet in high wind? It's probably just me that's nearly exited life that way
Speed sensor mounted on the gearbox failed, which for some reason jammed the throttle half open - it was an automatic so it just went. Luckily it was on my road so i just popped it into neutral (god bless old automatic gearboxes) and rolled onto the drive.Felt horrible watching it towed onto a trailer next morning to go to a local BMW tech but it was back on the road same day.
That was the only problem i had with it, it was driven every day by an enthusiastic but ultimately lazy 20yr old me but kept on going to 230,000 miles before it was sold.
Leins said:
Open bonnet in high wind? It's probably just me that's nearly exited life that way
It's not! Which reminds me- add new bonnet gas struts to the list...Hudson said:
Speed sensor mounted on the gearbox failed, which for some reason jammed the throttle half open - it was an automatic so it just went.
Scary!Clutch on Saxo took the best part of eight hours! Relieved to be back at work today...
Did a lot of the required work in the engine bay at the weekend. The valve cover gasket has been leaking slightly since I bought- aside from making a mess on the outside of the engine, the oil pools in the spark plug wells which can’t be good.
I knew the engine was okay, a look inside confirmed;
I resisted the temptation to start stripping and repainting the valve cover; the paint is flaking on the outside so I scraped the paint off the gasket surfaces and left it at that. I don’t want to risk any contamination inside the engine so until I decide one day to do a proper job of it, it’s staying flaky and grimy. It’s a functional restoration, after all.
I put all new belt idlers on. All of them were the original BMW ones as far as I could tell, which are understandably a bit grumbly after 20 years / 130k. A couple of the rubber breather pipes on the inlet side of the engine were cracked which was causing a slightly uneven idle and odd induction noise, so those were changed. The clips BMW fitted were stainless, so a quick wipe with some light oil and they were as good as new.
One thing I feel I absolutely must get right on this car are wheels and tyres, you may remember I had bought a 16” BBS to compare to the factory 15” ones? I decided to buy a part worn tyre I the right size so that I could see what the wheel / tyre combo would look like… I happened upon a matching set of Michelin Primacy 3 which were local and gave fifty quid for them. I wouldn’t normally buy part worns but these were so cheap and gives me a chance to try the Michelins.
Anyway, the main thing I wanted to check was that I’d still have an appropriate amount of sidewall and bulge to suit the car. I still love the way the 15s look but the 16s look ‘as good’ and will afford much better handling and tyre choice.
I knew the engine was okay, a look inside confirmed;
I resisted the temptation to start stripping and repainting the valve cover; the paint is flaking on the outside so I scraped the paint off the gasket surfaces and left it at that. I don’t want to risk any contamination inside the engine so until I decide one day to do a proper job of it, it’s staying flaky and grimy. It’s a functional restoration, after all.
I put all new belt idlers on. All of them were the original BMW ones as far as I could tell, which are understandably a bit grumbly after 20 years / 130k. A couple of the rubber breather pipes on the inlet side of the engine were cracked which was causing a slightly uneven idle and odd induction noise, so those were changed. The clips BMW fitted were stainless, so a quick wipe with some light oil and they were as good as new.
One thing I feel I absolutely must get right on this car are wheels and tyres, you may remember I had bought a 16” BBS to compare to the factory 15” ones? I decided to buy a part worn tyre I the right size so that I could see what the wheel / tyre combo would look like… I happened upon a matching set of Michelin Primacy 3 which were local and gave fifty quid for them. I wouldn’t normally buy part worns but these were so cheap and gives me a chance to try the Michelins.
Anyway, the main thing I wanted to check was that I’d still have an appropriate amount of sidewall and bulge to suit the car. I still love the way the 15s look but the 16s look ‘as good’ and will afford much better handling and tyre choice.
Paddymcc said:
Looks great love the colour! Quite rare to see an E34 on the road these days too.
Wish i had the time/patience/space to do it to my E34 touring
Cheers! If you don't want to embark on a rebuild of your own, I must recommend periodically taking off the plastic sill covers (if fitted), giving it a good scrub underneath and using some kind of wax coat product under there to preserve it. I don't think these cars rust particularly badly but if it gets a hold it escalates quickly as the cars architecture is quite complicated.Wish i had the time/patience/space to do it to my E34 touring
dbdb said:
How do you find the Michelin Primacy 3s?
I don't think I'm going to be driving on 'em for at least a month yet, but I'll put some feedback up on 'em when I do.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff