BMW E34 535i sport
Discussion
Major lurker alert. Been enjoying the readers car section for ages, but am mostly on the BMW5 forum. I've had all sorts of E28's, E34 and E39's over the years, plus i co own a MX5 NA track car and have a E39 540 sport as a daily, but i've always wanted an old BMW to work on over weekends.
I'm lucky enough to rent a fairly large garage with pit for peanuts, but unlucky enough to work abroad Monday to Friday, so combined with a looming wedding, fettling time is limited.
Cut a long story short, in spring 2016 i was directed towards a Gumtree ad for a sketchy looking e34 miles ooop north. It checked out as a genuine manual sport, so i grabbed the trailer and £800 later was the proud owner of this.
It had sat under a car port for ~ 7 years... and it shows! First impressions were sills are shot, radiator leaks, brakes rusted, fuel leak and the list goes on.
I then spent 6 months umming and erring about what to do, opening the garage door, looking at it, and then going for a pint.
After changing the rad, spark plugs, distributor cap and arm and some sensors, which got it mostly running, i finally decided in October to strip it all back, have the chassis welded, clean all the bits up and put it back together again.
My main fear was/is forgetting where screws etc go so i bought 2000 zip seal bags online and as i go along, for each compenent i bag up the nuts and bolts, label it and put it away. Same for all the bits, if they're reusable, i'm cleaning, labeling and putting away as i go along, so a little slower than i'd like, but hopefully worth it, when in 18 months i'm trying to remember how the fuse box sat.
I'm lucky enough to rent a fairly large garage with pit for peanuts, but unlucky enough to work abroad Monday to Friday, so combined with a looming wedding, fettling time is limited.
Cut a long story short, in spring 2016 i was directed towards a Gumtree ad for a sketchy looking e34 miles ooop north. It checked out as a genuine manual sport, so i grabbed the trailer and £800 later was the proud owner of this.
It had sat under a car port for ~ 7 years... and it shows! First impressions were sills are shot, radiator leaks, brakes rusted, fuel leak and the list goes on.
I then spent 6 months umming and erring about what to do, opening the garage door, looking at it, and then going for a pint.
After changing the rad, spark plugs, distributor cap and arm and some sensors, which got it mostly running, i finally decided in October to strip it all back, have the chassis welded, clean all the bits up and put it back together again.
My main fear was/is forgetting where screws etc go so i bought 2000 zip seal bags online and as i go along, for each compenent i bag up the nuts and bolts, label it and put it away. Same for all the bits, if they're reusable, i'm cleaning, labeling and putting away as i go along, so a little slower than i'd like, but hopefully worth it, when in 18 months i'm trying to remember how the fuse box sat.
So the first step was to pull the side skirts. the 10mm Bolts on the front end were rusted solid, and the bottom of both wings, despite looking fine from the outside and above, are totally rusted through beneath the plastic... Had to dremel off the rusted bolts, and cleaned up the skirts ready for spraying at a later point. I'm bagging individual clips and bolts in separate zip seal bags for each component and marking it, replacing all the broken or rusty stuff as i go along. this will help me put it all back together again.
And here are the manky bolts. Having spent a few hours on the car now rusted bolts and screws are a recurring theme. Dremel is worth the investment...
Next up: Stripping back the bonnet and lifting it off...
And here are the manky bolts. Having spent a few hours on the car now rusted bolts and screws are a recurring theme. Dremel is worth the investment...
Next up: Stripping back the bonnet and lifting it off...
The Bonnet: Despite heavily stone chipped, its totally rust free bar a tiny bubble on the frame beneath the sound proofing. Peeling off the lining is easy with the ~ 20 little rivets, and then i peeled back the hoses and wires, carefully marking each plug so i know what plugs into where!
Access Much easier without the bonnet. Resting on a foam block, its now put to one side waiting for an eventual paint...
Next up: Front Wings...
Access Much easier without the bonnet. Resting on a foam block, its now put to one side waiting for an eventual paint...
Next up: Front Wings...
Front Wings. I know they're both rotten below, so just was a case of undoing the 15 or so 10mm bolts and whipping them off...
Revealing quite a clean inner wing, although note rust creeping from the sill bottom left...
Rest of the metal work under the wing looks ok, repeated with the other side. The bumper carrier bolts (10mm) had rusted through however so will need to change those.
Finally, to round off the day, spent a little while removing the front grill assembly and lights.
Next up: continue stripping the front end down, plus trim and rear bumper.
Thx
Revealing quite a clean inner wing, although note rust creeping from the sill bottom left...
Rest of the metal work under the wing looks ok, repeated with the other side. The bumper carrier bolts (10mm) had rusted through however so will need to change those.
Finally, to round off the day, spent a little while removing the front grill assembly and lights.
Next up: continue stripping the front end down, plus trim and rear bumper.
Thx
Moved on the front suspension assembly here and had an hour or two to do what i could. I'll leave the pictures to do the talking but many spiders were made homeless.
So Calipers, disks and pads are off, plus all the arms are off bar the lower control arm, i had somehow left my 19 socket at home so couldn't tackle it.
I've ordered a front caliper rebuild kit so will grind off the rust, POR15 those bad boys and rebuild them. I've got a nice run of days off over Xmas so looking forward to getting more time in the garage also.
So Calipers, disks and pads are off, plus all the arms are off bar the lower control arm, i had somehow left my 19 socket at home so couldn't tackle it.
I've ordered a front caliper rebuild kit so will grind off the rust, POR15 those bad boys and rebuild them. I've got a nice run of days off over Xmas so looking forward to getting more time in the garage also.
Thanks for the words of support. Financially of course none of this makes sense, but when you look at the rebuild costs of the S38's its absurd as a pose to just steep for an M30. I doubt there are many left as the sill rust, esp on sunroof models where the sunroof drain leads to the sill is usually quite bad.
I had one of these when I was 21, managed to get it on classic car insurance for a smidge over £300 a year. G515 VRX if I remember rightly
To this day it remains the one car I absolutely loved and really regret selling it. The noise of the engine was fantastic. Mine was the same colour as yours, also a manual. In fact you've just prompted me to have a check to see if it's still about and as of October 2010 no MOT and February 2011 no tax. Such a shame as it was in beautiful condition.
I always check the classifieds here in Norway in hope that one day one might pop up.
To this day it remains the one car I absolutely loved and really regret selling it. The noise of the engine was fantastic. Mine was the same colour as yours, also a manual. In fact you've just prompted me to have a check to see if it's still about and as of October 2010 no MOT and February 2011 no tax. Such a shame as it was in beautiful condition.
I always check the classifieds here in Norway in hope that one day one might pop up.
Due an update i believe. Unfortunately due to a winter cold and socializing over the Festive period progress has been a little slower than i hoped. Having said that with the number of bolt, nuts, clips and loose bits floating around i'm taking it super slow to make sure i get it back together properly.
My first challenge was getting the mystery locking wheel nut off the rear nearside wheel. Not of a classic BMW design and stubbornly refusing to come out with a wheel nut extractor key. Thoughts of angle grinding the alloy off came and went but in the end a bit of ebay browsing of keys showed up an aftermarket key that looked remarkably similar. Success meant the 4 alloys could come off and go on ebay, and i could start dismantling the rear subframe.
As my Garage is around 30mins from home i also wanted to start rebuilding smaller parts at home to save travel time. First thing in the parts box was the front calipers.
Time for a Rebuild. Completely stripped them, Ground down the worst of the rust, Degreased, Metal prepped and POR15 High temp painted. I went for silver as i'm keen to keep things as OEM as possible. Thats them boxed up and ready to go on in about a year.
???????
Also ongoing was dismantling the front subframe, shocks and cleaning them up. step by step. Some pics to do the talking. Most of it has / had surface rust but a few minutes with the wire brush on a drill and some metal prep saw to that. Bit by bit i'm degreasing, metal prepping and POR15'ing all these bits.
Font ARB mounts
Next Challenge was dismantling the front Shocks. Needed a thin wall 46mm socket to undo the bearing nut. $45 from the USA?!? Found one on ebay, cheeky bid in at £10 and won it. I have a 50cm Breaker bar but needed the added leverage of a parasol pole to break the nut loose on my workbench. Note to self, loosen rear ones ON the car.
I'm finding the shock assembly quite a poor design, extremely heavy and rust collects int he bottom spring cup, despite a drainage hole. Either way 30 mins with by wire brush on a drill and most of the surface rust is gone.
???????
Finding as close to OEM shocks was quite a challenge. Was impossible to confirm that GSF and ECP were selling the right ones. Eventually found a new pair of SACHS advantage shocks in Germany for the princely sum of £110 delivered. They match the old Boge ones perfectly in dimensions and i'm confident they're the right ones.
I'm pretty much at a stage where i can rebuild the shocks, and start putting the front subframe back together (need to drop the main subframe off the car still!) but i have a few purchases to make, namely some Eibach springs, control arms, stabiliser links, bushes and about £150 worth of nuts and bolts from BMW.
Other ongoing bits too such as rebuilding front lights, Exhaust off etc will update in March when i hope to put up some pics of some sexy looking, POR!5'd front subframe assembly
My first challenge was getting the mystery locking wheel nut off the rear nearside wheel. Not of a classic BMW design and stubbornly refusing to come out with a wheel nut extractor key. Thoughts of angle grinding the alloy off came and went but in the end a bit of ebay browsing of keys showed up an aftermarket key that looked remarkably similar. Success meant the 4 alloys could come off and go on ebay, and i could start dismantling the rear subframe.
As my Garage is around 30mins from home i also wanted to start rebuilding smaller parts at home to save travel time. First thing in the parts box was the front calipers.
Time for a Rebuild. Completely stripped them, Ground down the worst of the rust, Degreased, Metal prepped and POR15 High temp painted. I went for silver as i'm keen to keep things as OEM as possible. Thats them boxed up and ready to go on in about a year.
???????
Also ongoing was dismantling the front subframe, shocks and cleaning them up. step by step. Some pics to do the talking. Most of it has / had surface rust but a few minutes with the wire brush on a drill and some metal prep saw to that. Bit by bit i'm degreasing, metal prepping and POR15'ing all these bits.
Font ARB mounts
Next Challenge was dismantling the front Shocks. Needed a thin wall 46mm socket to undo the bearing nut. $45 from the USA?!? Found one on ebay, cheeky bid in at £10 and won it. I have a 50cm Breaker bar but needed the added leverage of a parasol pole to break the nut loose on my workbench. Note to self, loosen rear ones ON the car.
I'm finding the shock assembly quite a poor design, extremely heavy and rust collects int he bottom spring cup, despite a drainage hole. Either way 30 mins with by wire brush on a drill and most of the surface rust is gone.
???????
Finding as close to OEM shocks was quite a challenge. Was impossible to confirm that GSF and ECP were selling the right ones. Eventually found a new pair of SACHS advantage shocks in Germany for the princely sum of £110 delivered. They match the old Boge ones perfectly in dimensions and i'm confident they're the right ones.
I'm pretty much at a stage where i can rebuild the shocks, and start putting the front subframe back together (need to drop the main subframe off the car still!) but i have a few purchases to make, namely some Eibach springs, control arms, stabiliser links, bushes and about £150 worth of nuts and bolts from BMW.
Other ongoing bits too such as rebuilding front lights, Exhaust off etc will update in March when i hope to put up some pics of some sexy looking, POR!5'd front subframe assembly
Edited by mumbojumbo1 on Wednesday 22 February 08:14
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