Chris’ e34 extravaganza

ChrisO

Here’s just a few more pics of the car and some interesting things

PO gave me a bucket of stuff from the car and these diagnostic tools were in it, along with a custom ground down spark plug socket (s38’s have very narrow spark plug holes)

also in the bucket was a 12v adapter that plugs into where the glovebox flashlight goes

Car has all the keys it came with from the factory, I think. Also has full documentation from the dealer

Break in period sticker from when the car was new, assuming this is pretty damn rare to see

full size m system spare and a almost complete tool kit

Few interior shots

patsbimmer1

That's very cool!

B C

Yes!

I love that they even suggest the idea of running at max speed for a long duration in the break in label.

amazing to see keyless entry from that vintage as well.

id squirt some oil/atf down the cylinders and look into priming the oil pump before firing it up.

Fun project

Rekpoint

Pretty sick to have already owned 2 m3s and an m5 at your stage in life

straight6pwr

i don't mean to rain on the P.O.'s parade, but there's a perfectly good spark plug tool in that tool kit...yet there he was, grinding and grinding and grinding

ChrisO

straight6pwr said:

i don't mean to rain on the P.O.'s parade, but there's a perfectly good spark plug tool in that tool kit...yet there he was, grinding and grinding and grinding

Wow I didn't even notice that lmao, sweet

SteelBlue

Thanks Chris, very cool!

GunMetalGrey

This thing is cool.
Please don't disassemble it and put parts on a 540!

Rekpoint

GunMetalGrey said:

This thing is cool.
Please don't disassemble it and put parts on a 540!

I vote m60 swap it

Jdesign

That documentation alone would be enough for me to try and save it.

If I were you, I would fill that motor with marvel or a detergent and let it sit a day or two. Then I would drop the pan and remove the VC. Thoroughly clean it and pour new oil through the head and allow it to flow through the motor until its clean and no longer gross. Rotate the oil pump and motor by hand till it seems to spin free and easy. Then reassemble and do the basics. Motors are pretty durable, its just contaminants and lack of lubrication that usually cause failures.

Also: http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=123682

GunMetalGrey

Jdesign said:

If I were you

I would pull the engine, just because it appears to be my favorite activity.
Maybe even put it in a lifted E30.
Who knows.

But for real. This thing is cool and uncommon.

I know a mix of ATF and Seafoam with the oil is good for clearing stuff out (only let it run for a bit).

straight6pwr

Jdesign said:

Also: http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=123682

great link!

YoungCR

All good suggestions. I’d over prepare for the first start being a high tolerance motor. If you want to pull the tank, they are fairly simple on e34’s, just two tank straps to undo. The front strap bolts can be tricky if things are rusty though.

Really cool that this car still has its dealer tags on the keys. The keyless entry system is easy to reprogram too if everything is working.

jc43089

It sounds as though you have already cranked it, did the oil pressure light turn off? If not I typically remove the spark plugs before cranking a dormant engine so that there is no load on the bearings. Also adding a squirt of oil to the cylinders wouldn't hurt. A bore scope would be handy to look in the cylinders for rust but if you already cranked it over then you already are past that.

jc43089

https://gearpatrol.com/2019/03/14/the-forgotten-generation-of-bmw-m5-is-the-most-affordable-and-the-one-you-want/?utm_content=87174951&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-179943528721059

ChrisO

YoungCR said:

All good suggestions. I’d over prepare for the first start being a high tolerance motor. If you want to pull the tank, they are fairly simple on e34’s, just two tank straps to undo. The front strap bolts can be tricky if things are rusty though.

Really cool that this car still has its dealer tags on the keys. The keyless entry system is easy to reprogram too if everything is working.

The car has a new fuel pump and fuel lines, the previous owner just put the tank back in in the last two years

jc43089 said:

It sounds as though you have already cranked it, did the oil pressure light turn off? If not I typically remove the spark plugs before cranking a dormant engine so that there is no load on the bearings. Also adding a squirt of oil to the cylinders wouldn't hurt. A bore scope would be handy to look in the cylinders for rust but if you already cranked it over then you already are past that.

I havent personally cranked it, but in the last two years the previous owner tried to get it to run on multiple occasions

I really appreciate the advice from everyone, I'm definitely going to put some oil down into the cylinders before I try to start it and put a quart through the motor. I'm probably going to pull the valve cover gasket to take a look at the sludge and make sure I see no obvious damage

For now, there isn't a chance I could have gotten it to run today. I went over the engine bay very thoroughly and found several different issues that would prevent the car from running.

The cam pulse sensor that surrounds a spark plug wire is destroyed. Unfortunately this is a $170 sensor, and is s38b36 specific and only available as a genuine BMW part. @straight6pwr you were right, it's already expensive

Next pretty much every vacuum line is bad. The one off the fuel pressure regulator is completely split in half

The intake boot post-maf is torn wideee open

The maf plug was half plugged in

So I need to order that cam sensor and a intake boot, and redo the vacuum lines. All pretty simple things, I'm going to pull the plenum off and redo all the vacuum lines while I wait for the sensor.

I did put power to the car today though, just to see if everything worked. All headlights, tail lights, turn signals all work. Blower motor works, windows work, all seat functions work. Radio turns on but nothing comes out of the speakers, assuming It's thanks to the hellish wiring and amp/sub set up in the trunk.

It was a good feeling to see the car come to life with power

Just under 192k miles

A lot for having sat the last 11 years, would probably be over 250k if it never stopped running

I spent most of the day just degreasing and cleaning inside the engine bay, it was really bad and now I have a pretty clean motor to work with

The itb throttle linkage was pretty gummed up, I really focused on that and it's much better now

Gave the car a wash on the outside the best I could without running water, I just wanted to make it look less like a abandoned car in the parking lot of my apartment haha

But yeah, no wonder the car wouldn't start... More to come

Jdesign

I feel like I have heard this before... 5 or 6 largely important items compromised will obvious cause issues LOL. Im willing to bet it fires right up when it comes time.

ChrisO

Well I got around to compression testing the motor this morning.

Test was dry and cold but

Cylinder #1 gave false hope, decent number for a cold motor?

Cylinder #2-4 crushed my dreams, I triple checked all of them and they were in the 60-70psi range

And back to a more normal number in cylinder #6...

I made sure to check each cylinder multiple times in different orders to make sure it wasn't user or equipment error

So yea thats bad.

So the car needs:

Major engine work
All new coolant hoses
A gas tank
A new battery
A cam pulse sensor
A intake boot
New tires
New brakes
rear shocks
every busing that is rubber in the car

I also found a hole by the battery under the rear seat where it looks like something punctured the body?? It's all rusty now

I'm still super happy with my purchase, but the amount of money and work it's going to need is gonna be too much. If the thing didn't have rusty jack points and holes in the pan I'd consider "bringing it back from the dead"

I know it's a rare car but it's a easy $7000 in parts, and even if this was driving I don't see anyone paying over $8k with the overall condition/ rust. Decent rust free ones with similar miles go for 11-15k it seems like

I still have my new M3 I'm trying to build, and my main focus is on that, not tearing down a s38 when I have no major engine work experience

Sorry guys but I'm gonna look for a decent 535i to throw some fun parts on and beat around in

m42b32

That's a bummer.... but it makes sense to part out. Spending the money to rebuild the engine/etc just wouldn't make sense if the shell isn't in good shape. Swapping the M5 parts to another E34 would be pretty sweet though (M5 touring replica??)

ChrisO

m42b32 said:

That's a bummer.... but it makes sense to part out. Spending the money to rebuild the engine/etc just wouldn't make sense if the shell isn't in good shape. Swapping the M5 parts to another E34 would be pretty sweet though (M5 touring replica??)

Honestly whatever comes first a e34 touring or a 5 speed 535i!

The tourings seem next to impossible to find

WIBIMMERS

Chris’ e34 extravaganza