E34 525i.

Re: E34 525i

Okayyy... Time I blew the cobwebs off this thread

I'm attempting to enter it into a vintage car show, so I'll be doing minor cosmetic stuff to it to have it looking relatively good

Should have done the whole history thing on the first post but oh well here it goes...

First, this remains the most expensive car I've bought to this day. All mine for €600

I bought it 2nd sept 2006 and got it on the 13th




I wasn't even old enough to have a licence for it...!

As some of you (probably didn't bother ) may have guessed, it is a UK import


But disaster! Only a month into ownership and some corroded wires got the better of the car It stood in this spot for 5 months :shakehead:


When I got it back in 2007, I "tested" it to make sure it was working as it should


Excellent! Don't worry theyre nankangs :yuck:

The a/c fan is a very weak point on these cars and after trying to cobble another fan from a Bravo in, I gave up and left it alone


I moved onto cosmetic stuff. First was black plates (road illegal)



Washing the car after to compliment the plates...


Sitting in its new spot


Not for long...


Next was a set of uprated H1s for the dipped beams and fogs. No cheap plasma crap here New foglights were also put in, one is done in this pic


Followed by a radio I got for free...


And some general pics of the car in the night




Now I decided limo tints would look brilliant




For the fronts too



Its not great but I had to start somewhere...

Moving on to 2009 and another toy was got running...


:yum:


This annoyed everyone who passed by


But alas, the fun was short lived for my car last winter

These cars have a distributor which is useless in keeping out the damp


As winter approached, I drove it to its again new location and it didn't start again for months





So we move onto the current day

It runs beautifully, if not loud

Because of lying up, the backbox blew up :bang:


But a set of straight pipes will do

I whipped off the back bumper to straighten it a bit...


And found tinworm eating my bumper mount!!!


Not to worry I'll sort that

Finally I pulled this out of somewhere :worship:


There will be more updates on this car, it needs a full resto! :idea:

Re: E34 525i

Got my surround on, looks more 80s


But I didn't put the bumper on...

Today I've been bold with my "new" exhaust :devil:

Its actually affected my phone... :bang:


More stuff on the way...

As the show is this weekend, the car needed some attention

I decided earlier to take off the tint. It looks weird without it...


And cleaned the interior out


Well almost...


Its getting there...

Due to a lack of ramps, no car up on the trailer means no car to the show. Pity as it would have been the only one there. Very annoying

Needs drop links and subframe mounts mind you....

Looks like you shoved your PC in there haha.

Also i noticed a Red bravo

Puntonick said:

Looks like you shoved your PC in there haha.

Also i noticed a Red bravo

Click to expand...

Its a time computer... :yuck:

That red Bravo has the colour mirrors I can't find! :bang:

Speaking of that red Bravo, it was our first Bravo round the house, got in 2004 from an auction for half its forecourt price It had a sad ending (as in the pic its crashed ) I put the engine + box, interior and electrics into my first Bravo bits of it live on today such as the shortblock, elec mirrors, speedometer and the surround are all in the van

Back to the black car, more bits are being acquired. The plan is to buy all the bushes, arms and brake bits I need and install them in one shot. I had a look at the drivers door, theres a battle scar on the bottom thats barely noticable. Its rusty below that and almost eaten through

Anyone ever change a door on these cars? Any of the ones I have were a bloody nightmare! But thats not an option, I don't fancy swapping the window motors and metal handles... In due time I'll break out the Karust and body solder! It needs a hg too (common problem on these cars) so a skim and I'll adjust the valve clearances when thats out Keep watching, I'm delighted to have the time to sort my car and see it come back to life

A short update...

Now my bumper needed sorting...


A few bits were missing that I needed. Conveniently I pulled this bumper out of nowhere


These bits


Well I needed 4 actually


Fitted


Now I got this out...


So I could replace this part


Off!


Rotten


But I'll sort that

You can see why I replaced it...


Bumper on!


And boot closed


More fun stuff on the way...

Any updates?

Oh yes, I have a new brake light switch ready to go in, waiting for decent weather! I'm also gathering parts when I can so I can put them all in one shot

Ahhh i do love all the cars and madness you work on, this e34 is lovely and can't wait to see how it turns out! always love the old skool beemers !

Keep it up m2

Know what? Update

That famous switch, finally got it


Problem is fitting it. Not much room


You physically break it out....

Eventually


And for the 1st time in 3 years we have brake lights again :woot:


Which leads me to that end. Tool kit (I'm short a few bits, can anyone help me?)


BMW decided to use different nuts on different mounts


Had to straighten my bumper you see... Bolted up


These slide into cut-outs and clip in


Sorted! Plate back on too


Lights cleaned


Stay tuned...

Awesome car! My dad had 2! Would love one for myself when i can afford it..

chrisb7777 said:

Awesome car! My dad had 2! Would love one for myself when i can afford it..

Click to expand...

Cheers! I've had this one a while

They're cheap enough to run due to their simplicity! just tax over here is a killer...

If your going to get one, the earlier 12v models are simplest, 24v stuff is said to be much better (had one) and vanos even better (also had one) personally I'd stick with the 12v models, they're older, rarer and have subtle differences (metal door handles, metal sunvisors etc)

Unless you want a V8 or S38B36/B38

Insurance is the problem for me :/

Yea i agree the 12v valve is the best version of the m20! 24v is super smooth and reliable but there is something about the older 12v!

chrisb7777 said:

Insurance is the problem for me :/

Yea i agree the 12v valve is the best version of the m20! 24v is super smooth and reliable but there is something about the older 12v!

Click to expand...

It's about €1500 a year for me if I went to insure it as my daily!

The 12v has a far sweeter sound imo

Here's me in my old 24v non vanos 520i


I got that car like that...

And here's a vid of the black machine :slayer:


Prefer the 12v any day :slayer:

My dad had a 94' 520i 24v a few years ago, it was brilliant, very smooth and very powerful.

I would love one, but my insurance would be over £2,000 a year.

Great looking and great driving cars! Good work on yours, the rear lights look very 80's and cool!

It's still alive and kicking, just need the time to sort it

So I got up one morning and said, the paint needs to be restored


Whole bonnet



Then the sides



Rear quarter



Boot


RH quarter


Roof


Just need to decide what to do with the doors, but it's come up very very well, I'm delighted to see it shining once more