My new 1995 540i/6
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I'm still weary on doing burnouts as there is still a slight driveline vibration in 1st/2nd. Ben bought the Guibo and CSB for me to replace while hes gone but I'm thinking the rear CV joint on the drive shaft might be the issue. I didn't feel any play in the CSB while under the car and the guibo just needs replacement for age, otherwise its holding up. I'm not sure if I wanna mess with taking off the exhaust system either so these items might have to wait till winter. I'll do some more investigating tomorrow afternoon at the shop.
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Saturday I ended up doing some last minute work on the car while Ben was flying back from Virginia. Bought a set of ceramic brake pads to replace the rears only to find out the pads on the car are basically new. Looks to me like the rear calipers are sticking slightly so time for a rebuild.
The car started a little roughly after finishing the sub frame mounts last weekend, so figured it was time for new spark plugs.
In case you wondered what a M60B40 looked like naked...
I knew the drivers side valver cover gasket was leaking when I bought the car but it was only visibly leaking on the back of the head, but never left puddles. Now I know the oil was leaking down in the spark plug wells. Took me a good hour or so to soak all that out with paper towls.
Not sure when the plugs were last changed but they didn't look too bad.
Replaced them all with Bosch plugs and cleaned it up. Special shout out to Kaiser for the 11pm service adivsor call. I've never changed plugs on a car with coil packs so I learned they just kinda sit there instead of popping on like the caps of a plug wire. Thanks bud.
Fired right up without hesitation and definantly felt some power gained back. Next morning after a big breakfast with the family and some of his friends Ben got the car all packed for the maiden voyage down south.
Putting the engine covers back on
All packed and filled the tank.
Good news, he got 26mpg on the way down and even maintained 25mpg through the mountains. Bad news is down near Charlotte, NC he had to pull over due to some severe front end vibrations. I was on the phone with him on and off for most of this morning. We are thinking his front calipers probably stick too and he noticed he had a vibration clip missing from the passenger side where the wheel vibrations were coming from.
I had checked out the driveshaft and it seamed pretty solid by feel but apparently the vibrations have gotten a lot worse too. Car had been driving normally over the past two weeks so it kinda sucks that things went south as well you know he went south
Looks like he'll have some weekend projects to take care of over the next two semesters. -
The vibration clip i assume you are talking about for the brake caliper? Really does almost nothing. Just for anti rattle. WOuld have nothing to due with your vibration.
Figured so but worth mentioning. Car needs control arm bushings pretty badly along with most other suspension bushings at 260k+. Basically this car needs a baseline on suspension and driveline.
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I thought I would do a little update post since Chris did all the posting for me on my trip (thanks by the way
). My car is still sitting in Summerville, SC at my grandparents place. It's about 30 minutes away from me in Charleston and I haven't been able to get out there to do any work yet. I did start her up this past Sunday, she started right away and sounded great so I've got that going for me. I did my research and sourced parts for what I think is wrong as of right now. My plan is to rebuild all 4 calipers and replacing the pistons on the front two. I'm pretty sure the front right caliper is stuck open causing the pads to rattle around in the mounts. This also giving my car's computer the illusion that the pads where low because there wasn't any pressure on the pads. When I looked at the calipers there was a good layer of rust and corrosion on the pistons that possibly could have seized it up and they didn't budge when I went at them with a C-clamp. I tried moving all the arms down there around but not one moved even a little. There were some sketchy bushings but that's a job for another day. I set a budget of $250 to rebuild all of the calipers, this includes new seals, gaskets, anti-rattle clips (somehow I'm missing 3 of the 4), wear sensors, front pistons, shipping and lubes/ cleaning crap. I was thinking about getting all the parts sand blasted and then putting a protective coat on as well. I will have to find a place to do this down here but does anyone have any idea how much it would cost for sand blasting?Now for the drive shaft...I have a guibo and center bearing at home so I'll have Chris send them down here. Once I get 6 new lock-tight bolts and nuts (M17 I believe?) and a drive shaft centering bushing (According to E34website.net) I'll replace all those parts. At this point all take her to a repair shop of the sorts and have them check out the drive shaft to ensure that no other parts need to be replaced (such as the CV joint, which is around $180). Hopefully I shouldn't need to buy too much more for the drive shaft project but it will probably cost around $100 for them to inspect my car to I set my overall estimated cost at $450. Then my car should be drive-able once again
.I also brought my style 5s down planning on sanding/cleaning them up so I could put a nice set of summer tires on, because it's summer all year around down here
. Anyone have any good DIY for cleaning up your wheels? I would really appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction. For some motivation, I found this picture which is a sneak peak to what my car will look like when the wheels are done. I have a lot of work to do but I'm excited to get it done. I'm just waiting on the Marine Corps to start paying me this semester so I can kick this all off. I will probably be able to get some stuff done in 2 weekends but we will see what happens.
BMWCCA #499464
Current - 1995 540i/6 V 2.0 | Dead - 1995 540i/6 | Sold - 1995 318is
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It is in the beginning of the never ending story
Is that in Genesis or Exodus?
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Finally getting around to doing a little work on my car this weekend. I plan on doing some prep work for rebuilding the rear calipers and maybe even taking the exhaust off. Worst comes to worst and I'll start refinishing the wheels. I'm really excited to start getting some work done though
BMWCCA #499464
Current - 1995 540i/6 V 2.0 | Dead - 1995 540i/6 | Sold - 1995 318is
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Are you coming to the october port washington meet sponsored by the former owner of a canadian and euro e30s
Unfortunately no I won't be able to make it. I'm at school right now in South Carolina so I won't be back up north till this winter. I'm trying to find some meets to go to around here but the carloinaeuros forum I tried getting into has been dead for months so I'll have to try some other sites. Hard to find forums as great as wibimmers.
BMWCCA #499464
Current - 1995 540i/6 V 2.0 | Dead - 1995 540i/6 | Sold - 1995 318is
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Last weekend was not as productive as I wanted but when do you ever get as much done as you want to. I did find rebuilt calipers at AutoZone for $45 after core charge which is pretty sweet. Also a bud of mine down here told me about a shop that he goes to so I'm hoping to get over there this weekend and figure some stuff out, possibly drop my car off for them to do the drive line stuff for me. I don't really have the capabilities down here anyways. I did get started on my wheels though!
As you can tell I didn't get very far but I know how it all works now so the rest of the wheels shouldn't take long at all to take apart and wash up. I'm using this DIY I found http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1156455-*DIY-Refinishing-style-5-s-BIG-pictures. It's going to take a while to get them really nice but it will be worth it. I was thinking about getting the centers powder coated gun metal grey, what do you guys think?
Hopefully I'll get a little more done this weekend and possibly get my car to that shop but you never know.
BMWCCA #499464
Current - 1995 540i/6 V 2.0 | Dead - 1995 540i/6 | Sold - 1995 318is
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I'm excited to see those get finished! I think the gun metal powder would look great!
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I also enjoy the gun metal faces, but I am biased from my old set.
TJ sprayed the faces OEM Arctic Grey before I got them from the guy he sold them to
What color are your bolts in those pictures? I can't tell if they are a bronze or copper. Those wheels look great! I may think about doing something like that then.
BMWCCA #499464
Current - 1995 540i/6 V 2.0 | Dead - 1995 540i/6 | Sold - 1995 318is
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