No.39 - 1995 BMW E34 M5 UK Limited Edition #39/50

[Pig benis]

Bloody hell, you did that on a driveway without a ramp.. I am amazed, fair play OP.

I did a similar resto to my friends E46 M3 over lockdown, but using his 4 poster ramp and that was a ballache of a job.

Like the E46, do you need to weld in strengthening plates to the subframe chassis area?

PB

[Quhet]

James Hay said:

Absolutely love these! Without the wheels on, there's barely any hint that it's an M. Long gone are the days of such subtlety

[scottos]

Love these and hats off for doing that on a driveway on axle stands! A friend has one sat on his drive and it needs this sort of love (plus intermittent wiring issues) cant wait for him to sort it out!

[Drive it fix it repeat]

I’m not much of a BMW fan normally, find them a bit dull but always loved the look of an e34 and they don’t come better than an M5. Impressive work aswell and now you are reaping the rewards. Look forward to seeing more of the car hopefully.

[James Hay]

Jonmx said:

Of all the cars I've owned, only 2 I really miss. An S14 200 SX and a stunning E34 525i I picked up for £500 in 2007. Absolutely fantastic cars and I can only imagine what they're like with the M performance. An acquaintance has the Alpina version of this going slowly green on his driveway but won't entertain any offers on it.
Yours looks fantastic, and it would appear you have your own pit crew of grease monkeys to help keep up the maintenance!

Wow how prices have changed, a decent 525i nowadays seems to cost around ten times that. You definitely bought at the right time, a lot of car for the money back then. How long did you own it for?

A friend of mine has an Alpina as well (in the image below), used to be an automatic but he converted to a Manual. Hopefully your acquaintance has plans for his/hers and is just waiting for the right time.

I did the vast majority of work myself but indeed I had to call in reinforcements to get the diff in as I was really struggling! My dad gave me a hand guiding the subframe in as well but it was really easy to be honest I could have done that myself. All good fun!

[James Hay]

James Hay said:

Jonmx said:

Of all the cars I've owned, only 2 I really miss. An S14 200 SX and a stunning E34 525i I picked up for £500 in 2007. Absolutely fantastic cars and I can only imagine what they're like with the M performance. An acquaintance has the Alpina version of this going slowly green on his driveway but won't entertain any offers on it.
Yours looks fantastic, and it would appear you have your own pit crew of grease monkeys to help keep up the maintenance!

Wow how prices have changed, a decent 525i nowadays seems to cost around ten times that. You definitely bought at the right time, a lot of car for the money back then. How long did you own it for?

A friend of mine has an Alpina as well (in the image below), used to be an automatic but he converted to a Manual. Hopefully your acquaintance has plans for his/hers and is just waiting for the right time.

I did the vast majority of work myself but indeed I had to call in reinforcements to get the diff in as I was really struggling! My dad gave me a hand guiding the subframe in as well but it was really easy to be honest I could have done that myself. All good fun!

[James Hay]

Pig benis said:

Bloody hell, you did that on a driveway without a ramp.. I am amazed, fair play OP.

I did a similar resto to my friends E46 M3 over lockdown, but using his 4 poster ramp and that was a ballache of a job.

Like the E46, do you need to weld in strengthening plates to the subframe chassis area?

PB

Thanks, yes all done with the car sitting on axle stands. I would love a ramp one day, I've looked at those moveable scissor ramps that can be parked over in the garage and then dragged out onto the drive for use, but in all honestly I can manage fine without one plus it would be quite an expense for me.

I haven't heard of people welding strengthening plates onto an E34 so it's not something I did, although I understand it is good practice to do on an E46 if the subframe is out. I did have a small hole welded in however on the OS subframe mount.

[James Hay]

Quhet said:

Absolutely love these! Without the wheels on, there's barely any hint that it's an M. Long gone are the days of such subtlety

Completely agree, I like the understated aesthetics. All trousers no mouth!

[James Hay]

scottos said:

Love these and hats off for doing that on a driveway on axle stands! A friend has one sat on his drive and it needs this sort of love (plus intermittent wiring issues) cant wait for him to sort it out!

Thanks very much! Hopefully your friend will get his all sorted. One of the things I was worried about was wiring as I've heard all sorts of horror stores about cars not being used for periods of time as mice love the taste of wiring insulation apparently, so far I don't seem to have any issues luckily.

[James Hay]

Drive it fix it repeat said:

I’m not much of a BMW fan normally, find them a bit dull but always loved the look of an e34 and they don’t come better than an M5. Impressive work aswell and now you are reaping the rewards. Look forward to seeing more of the car hopefully.

Thanks very much, I'll aim to keep this discussion updated. I can see how some could think the subtle styling as dull as there is not a lot going on, however restrained handsome looks is what I like. Very rarely is it good to be the loudest person in the room...unless you're Lemmy.

[Pig benis]

James Hay said:

Thanks, yes all done with the car sitting on axle stands. I would love a ramp one day, I've looked at those moveable scissor ramps that can be parked over in the garage and then dragged out onto the drive for use, but in all honestly I can manage fine without one plus it would be quite an expense for me.

I haven't heard of people welding strengthening plates onto an E34 so it's not something I did, although I understand it is good practice to do on an E46 if the subframe is out. I did have a small hole welded in however on the OS subframe mount.

I would like one of those scissor ramps at home as well, I'll invest in one next year I think, as they do make working on cars so much easier.

Ah okay fair enough - I don't know the E34 very well, glad to hear they don't have subframe cracking issues like the E46.

[James Hay]

Pig benis said:

James Hay said:

Thanks, yes all done with the car sitting on axle stands. I would love a ramp one day, I've looked at those moveable scissor ramps that can be parked over in the garage and then dragged out onto the drive for use, but in all honestly I can manage fine without one plus it would be quite an expense for me.

I haven't heard of people welding strengthening plates onto an E34 so it's not something I did, although I understand it is good practice to do on an E46 if the subframe is out. I did have a small hole welded in however on the OS subframe mount.

I would like one of those scissor ramps at home as well, I'll invest in one next year I think, as they do make working on cars so much easier.

Ah okay fair enough - I don't know the E34 very well, glad to hear they don't have subframe cracking issues like the E46.

I just remembered I do know a chap who has had to reinforce his centre subframe mount on his 540i, the one that bolts to the box section. He put a triangular cross brace in the boot between the suspension turrets and then down to the top of that box section. In all fairness though I believe it's the car that has done over 300,000 miles and he told me he drives somewhat 'spiritedly' most of the time so it's taken a lot of punishment over the years...!

[Aluminati]

Had number 30, sold with regret .

[Maxus]

Love the car OP. Is it an Orinoco Edition? The E34 is such a great car. I had a 1995 manual 525i Sport in Daytona Violet that I absolutely adored. The closest I got to an M5 was installing the rear number plate plinth from one onto it
Amazing job on your driveway. Looks really smart underneath. Keep the updates coming.

[James Hay]

Aluminati said:

Had number 30, sold with regret .

Looks great, I much prefer them with a boot spoiler, hoping to fit one to mine at some point.

I believe I know of this car, a father & son owned/still own it?

[James Hay]

Maxus said:

Love the car OP. Is it an Orinoco Edition? The E34 is such a great car. I had a 1995 manual 525i Sport in Daytona Violet that I absolutely adored. The closest I got to an M5 was installing the rear number plate plinth from one onto it
Amazing job on your driveway. Looks really smart underneath. Keep the updates coming.

Thanks very much. It's a Limited Edition, one of the 35 that were painted in Orinoco Metallic yes.

Awesome the 525i Sport is very desirable now especially in Daytona, lovely colour!

[G-P]

Great work James, in every project you hit the point of why did I start this but it’s always worth it when you see it out!

[James Hay]

G-P said:

Great work James, in every project you hit the point of why did I start this but it’s always worth it when you see it out!

Thanks! Yeah I must say one of the worst parts I remember was when I was drilling out some of the corroded fluid line bracket screws on a cold day in on and off rain, several broken drill bits, lying on my back getting cold and soaked. I remember looking at the corroded old parts that sit above the subframe and thinking christ what have I started...! Rather than think of it as one big challenge I just broke it down and gradually worked through loads of little challenges. Doesn't put me off doing it again though!

[Jonny-Jimbo]

I do love an E34, 'the thinking mans E30'. Honestly I think they handle better than the E30, and with a decent engine are much, much faster.

Of course it's more comfortable too for long continental runs. I did a 'under-shell' rebuild on my 540i/6 a few years back after it had been laid up by the previous owner for 10 years or so. Two days after finishing the build me and a mate drove it to Austria, non-stop in 26 hours. Pretty good on fuel too, 39.9mpg at 85mph+.



Done a few track day etc too, plus a few visits to the ring, well worth it!



I'd like an M5, but as has been said, the values now are going mental, and I don't think I could justify an M5 and a 540...

[RS Grant]

Enjoying all the E34 content here, saw a late E34 M5 a year or so ago, just pedalling round an industrial estate normally and it still looked amazing. I've fully missed the boat on these due to price, but I'm happy to live vicariously through threads like this.