Another daily driver thread: E34 525i
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Parfrey’s Glen?
Nope, Honey Creek state natural area. It's out in Sauk county, about a half hour west of devils lake. Super cool, but definitely an early spring/late fall kind of place. It'd be miserable in the summer with the bugs. And the first hiking pic is devils lake, as you probably could've guessed.
Great weekend for some hiking. Couldn't have asked for better weather considering it's late November.
It was amazing, I got super lucky that this was the week of my break.
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Spring Update:
Up to 66.8k miles. Sadly, a tiny spot of rust formed over the winter on the bottom edge of the passenger door, gonna pull the trim strip and the door card off within the next few weeks to attempt to stop it, or at least prolong the life of the door. Changed the oil today and got my first good look underneath it, looks very clean so I think there might have already been some paint damage at the bottom of the door that kick-started the rust.
Couple things I noticed:
- Very small oil leak at the from corner of the oil pan. Doesn't drip, just weeping a bit. Not gonna worry about it, but notable.
- There appears to be a fairly significant leak on the back of the transmission somewhere, I can't tell if it's the selector shaft input or the output shaft seal. I took some pictures and will post them up tomorrow morning.
- There's been a small clunk in the rear end since we bought it, almost like something binding then popping free (it almost sounds like it resonates a little). Doesn't happen with any regularity, i.e. every bump or on/off throttle, but it is exacerbated by extra weight in the backseat or trunk. Thoughts?
A light paint correction is next on the list, along with fixing that clunk and the lower lip of the bumper my brother chunked on a snowbank. A DSSR and shifter rebuild will come as soon as I get time in the machine shop at school.
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If the clunk happens with on/off throttle it's likely the rear subframe mount bushings.
Throttle doesn’t cause it, is usually a large leading or unloading of the suspension, like in and out of driveways. Doesn’t always happen, and sometimes it happens driving at regular speeds, but it’s loudest and most consistent on big changes in suspension loading.
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Forgot to update last time with pictures and can’t find them right now, so the ones I took this morning after washing will have to do. Up to 70.7k miles, replaced two of the rubber exhaust hangers last night after they ripped. Nothing else has been done lately, just been racking up the miles. Super happy to be able to commute in this, it’s so comfortable and refined compared to just about anything else I’ve ever driven.
If I ever find the free time in the next month, I’ll probably order a set of those trailing arm links and sway bar links and see if they get rid of the noise we’ve been dealing with. Hood and trunk shocks need replacing too, along with the drivers seat adjustment buttons, the sunroof switch panel, and a few of the headlight adjusters. Might get a set of tan floor mats if I can find any.
Side reminder: If anyone comes across an undamaged black front bumper or would like to sell theirs (cough @ChrisO cough) let me know.
Pictures:
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Might be able to find some of those parts used at the local salvage yard.
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that thing is so clean!
Thanks! It’s very much a 20 footer in person haha, the paint has a lot of small imperfections and the photos hide that. I’ve been meaning to spend more time on paint correction and cleaning up the other things on this, but life has gotten really busy in the last month.
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Thanks! It’s very much a 20 footer in person haha, the paint has a lot of small imperfections and the photos hide that. I’ve been meaning to spend more time on paint correction and cleaning up the other things on this, but life has gotten really busy in the last month.
I’ll brag for you, this car is a solid 5 footer. Interior was 9.5/10 and 9/10 outside.
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Did an oil change at 71,5xx miles, that's about the only update. This was an awesome daily for this summer with commuting 400 miles per week for work, never had so much as a hiccup. Also, am I @straight6pwr yet? For all you paddling enthusiasts, I'm looking for some good locations to see or day trips in the greater Madison/Baraboo area if anyone has suggestions.
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Not too much of an update, only a few new things.
- Ended up replacing both front calipers in December, right front had an extremely sticky piston that ended up causing some pretty violent vibration after a few minutes at highway speed, the left side was better but still getting bad so both got replaced. No pictures unfortunately, but in the last photo i posted you can see just how much more brake dust there is on the front wheel than the rear. Luckily, no warping of the rotors occurred and there's still plenty of pad left, lucked out there.
- Picked up a set of 17" style 5's from @need4speed1299, I'll post more pictures as I begin the tear-down. I'm currently planning on stripping everything, repainting the centers in the stock silver, and polishing the lips. I also plan to send off the bolts to be plated, anyone have experience with places for this (especially local places)? Del's Plating Works in TX seems to be one that's popped up on r3v a few times, I'll send them an email soon to see what I'm looking at on cost. Sounds like anywhere from $50 to $75 is a decent estimate.
Here's some pics of the wheels. The first four seem solid, minimal if any curb rash, although they've all had a crappy respray over the factory finish that is peeling in spots. The fifth one has some very slight curb damage, should sand out.
I think I'm going to remove the hardware from the fifth one and send it off with the stuff from the other four, not sure what I'll do with it beyond that. Might be worth it to look for an unbent barrel and refinish it as a spare as long as the center piece wasn't tweaked. It would make pretty cool furniture though too...
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Plate all the hardware from the spare wheel as well because you will break some. If they don’t snap coming off like my experience, 3 broke on install. Had to buy some off eBay which guys specifically sell small sets for this reason and now there's some ugly hardware mixed on the wheels because it doesn't pay to plate 3 bolts. Even then the plating didn't last long, we had it done in Milwaukee somewhere.
I'd strongly recommend getting new hardware for not much more
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Plate all the hardware from the spare wheel as well because you will break some. If they don’t snap coming off like my experience, 3 broke on install. Had to buy some off eBay which guys specifically sell small sets for this reason and now there's some ugly hardware mixed on the wheels because it doesn't pay to plate 3 bolts. Even then the plating didn't last long, we had it done in Milwaukee somewhere.
I'd strongly recommend getting new hardware for not much more
You have any sources for hardware? I saw that many recommended Black Forest Industries, but they only carry M8 bolts and for $1.44 apiece, which would come out to $185 before shipping or tax.
SRR Hardware has the correct M7 splined hardware for around $210 shipped.
Did the plating flake off?
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