WIBIMMERS

Thanks everyone for the help, a wild e34 appeared at home last night. About the only pics I have right now:

Well, I guess I'll start. 

Not sure what to post, but I suppose I could give a bit of background info on myself and my car. I'm a freshman at MSOE right now, mechanical engineering, and I'm originally from Madison where I met Chris a few years ago and was introduced to the forum. 

I've got a 1989 325i vert that I've slowly been bringing back from neglect. It had the rear suspension and driveshaft components refreshed/replaced last winter, and the head rebuilt with new cam/rockers/valve springs in June due to a broken valve spring. I've done a lot of interior refreshing as well, along with new tires and some other little things. 

Oh, and it's Alpine White, which seems to be a thing around here. 

Not sure where I'm going to go with it from here, probably gonna refresh the front suspension, maybe a manual swap, and maybe spring for a x-brace, but who knows with college and all that. 

No real update, but got the car out of storage today. Feels weird to be back in the e30 after the e34, steering felt stupid light in comparison. Looking forward to getting in some good miles this summer and replacing the front suspension, I’ll be hitting up @patsbimmer1 soon for that. Also got an e36 rack from @wasnt m3 this weekend, just need to clean it up and machine myself some spacers and we’ll be good to go there. 

Requisite potato phone pic:

I held off on opening my gift until I delivered mine, but I finally got to open it today. Got a handy Milwaukee pick set, some really sweet (and mint) dealer sales brochures for the e30 and e34, and of course, stroopwafels. Thanks @m42b32!

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Well, my time with this car has come to an end. What a wonderful car and one I’ll truly miss, but it was time. It sat nearly all summer and was just getting to be a pain to maintain on top of the truck, e30, and e91. It went to a local guy who was looking for a neat older car to learn to wrench on, so I think it’ll suit him well. It remains the quietest, most solidly built car I’ve ever owned, it was seriously a tank. Hung the tail out in the snow pretty impressively too.

Replaced the blower motor before I sold it, and sent two sets of wheels and most of my e34 spares along as well. I’m excited to have the space back, one less project, and to be able to focus more on the E91 and E30. I still have the MOMO Heritage 6’s and the m-systems, if anyone was wondering haha. MOMO’s will be listed as soon as I wash them, and the M-Systems will hopefully get their restoration completed once the e30 is back on the road. 
 

Farewell to the E34 club, it’s been a good ride!

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Replaced air filter - used a Mahle filter (P/N LX1035) in the euro airbox and it was an identical drop-in replacement. It doesn’t show up as compatible on FCP euro for the euro airbox, while the K&N does - the Mahle is 1/4 of the price and doesn’t need to be oiled or anything. Very happy. 
 

Upper control arm ball joint is already failing again after replacement earlier this year, sounds like the TRW upper control arms have been problematic since a COO change from Europe to Malaysia. They’re letting me warranty with Meyle M3 arms instead, hopefully those work better because swapping them every year is quite annoying. 
 

Pretty sure there’s either a sticking caliper (unlikely) or a failing wheel bearing on the drivers rear, it’s generating a lot of heat after even short drives. Going to temp gun it and see if I can diagnose further. Just got parts in to fix the leaking washer fluid (pump and filters), as well as rear sway links and rear subframe bushing inserts. Going to order front struts and start stockpiling all the rear suspension parts for some much-needed suspension refreshing this winter. 
 

In other news, I used the wagon for a weekend camping trip at Mirror Lake this past weekend, it was perfect for the job and never skipped a beat. I love this car. 

https://madison.craigslist.org/wto/d/20-bmw-rims-and-tires/6697852672.html

Does anyone else see a problem, or is that just me?

Just paid my registration, vintage or bust!

Ryan... said:

Not looking good for me, with the recent uptick in shootings/burglaries/stolen cars the Chief doesn't want us comping out on weekends so we remain fully staffed 

Police escort? Solves both problems...

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.

Also:

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Oil change and filter, just received all the VANOS rebuilt parts, valve cover gasket and a few other odds and ends so I can take care of a few leaks and the VANOS system all at once. Replaced all 6 coils with Bremi units and solved an idle misfire/stumble when pulling away from lights.

Planned on replacing rear brakes due to the “low brake pad squeal” noise starting and had all the parts necessary in hand, but pulled the rear wheels and had decent pad left. Probably going to take care of them later this summer when I have more time. New giubo is also in hand, the old one is a bit cracked and provides a good excuse to replace the shift shaft and input shaft seals on the transmission as well. Also going to be a “when I get to it” project, probably slated for this fall.

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Took a ~800 mile round trip to the boundary waters over Memorial Day weekend, not a single hiccup and averaged something like 23-24mpg even with a big ass canoe on the roof the whole way. Had awesome weather, great fishing, and an overall good time. Got to bomb a total of around 40 miles of forest roads to and from the entry point too, which was a riot.

In other news, I finally picked up the M-Systems! Not overjoyed with how they turned out and I think I’m going to polish them out further myself, but the bulk of the work is done. The shop that did it was unable to get into the sharp corners of the lips to fully polish them out, and also managed to round over the corners of the valve stem openings so probably wouldn’t go back, but after the 2 months that I waited I was just happy to have them back.

Pics:

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Oil change and filter, used the oreilly’s house brand full synthetic because they had nothing else in 10w-40 and I figured that’d be better than running something lighter weight from Castrol or Mobil.

Replaced the two front tires with used takeoffs as a stopgap for when the 17’a go on, I’ve had approximately zero free time in the last month so that project has stalled. The fronts were down to the wear bars, rears are still okay for a little while, so just wanted to buy myself a few weeks before I can hopefully get the true summer set finished up. 
 

In other news, I bought another car! It’s crusty, non-running, and has more damage than I originally thought, but I paid less than $1k for it (and it’s a NC car, so really no rust underneath) so I figured that at worst it’ll get parted, and at best I’ll have a fun beater to use to keep miles off of the e34. 

Stats: 1988 535is, salmon silver over blue with a 5spd. All of the “is” specific parts are gone with the exception of the LSD. The only remaining seat part is the rear seat bottom, but I have a spare set of e30 sport fronts that I’ll be tossing in once I make some adapters. 
 

It appears to have been set up for track/DE work before it took the hit, it’s rocking bilstein sports all the way around with what I believe are racing dynamics lowering springs. I noted some new suspension bits like dogbones in my inspection of the car as well, so it appears to have been already at least partially gone through. Brake is still firm, and it has braided lines throughout. Interior is partially gutted, with no door cards or carpet and an electrical cutoff in the rear seat bulkhead. Overall, not bad for a car that’s been sitting for at least 5 years. 
 

Current plan is to try to get it running, then evaluate my costs and options from there once I can suss out the rest of the systems in the car. If anyone has e28 fenders, grilles and high beams/headlight assemblies they’d be willing to part with, I’m interested and on the lookout. 
 

I also picked up a set of 17x8.5 MOMO heritage 6’s the other day off their site, they’re holding a buy two-get two sale thru early September and I couldn’t resist. Hoping they show up quickly, at which point they’ll be installed on the e34 with some Pilot Sport A/S 3+’s. 

Thanks to @Jdesign for the tip on these! Snagged three turbine covers from a guy here in MKE the other day, now I just need the fourth to complete the set (and provide the motivation to finish them lol)

Let me know if any of you ever find a spare single one, I need a left side cover and fan (3611-2226273 and 3611-2226275, respectively). I have four genuine center caps so I’m good there.

Condition isn’t bad at all, the center caps are beat up but all functional, and the paint on the fans is actually quite good. Same for the black fan pieces. Even got the OEM hardware with them!

Pics:

Sheesh, long overdue for an update here. 
 

I’ve been lagging on getting this done; the spring ended up being completely full (like, every single weekend from January to May) with water ski team maintenance stuff, and the season went until May to now. The team hasn’t had an official member dedicated to fleet main fence in a long time so the backlog was enormous. Like, waterlogged and rusting boat trailer bearings that haven’t been repacked in a decade, rotting trailer floor, and broken bilge pumps and blowers, enormous. 
 

I’m finally getting a chance to get back into cars though thankfully, and have made some good progress! It feels amazing to be finally getting somewhere.

Fuel tank is back in and the tank-adjacent stuff is plumbed in. I’m holding off on installing the fuel hardlines until the engine comes out and goes back in so I don’t accidentally damage them. My brake hardlines seem to fit nicely though, which is exciting!
 

And tonight, for the first time in something like 20 months, the car’s subframe and chassis were reunited. Big stuff! My only concern so far is that the fuel tank neck is contacting the subframe because of the subframe riser bushings; it doesn’t seem to be severe though, so I’m probably going to leave it. Don’t have much of a choice I guess.

Engine oil has been drained, PS hoses disconnected, a/c lines are unhooked, and all fuel/intake/other things have been disconnected in the bay other than the starter ground strap, oil cooler lines, coolant hoses, and the DME. The plan is to button up the rear end ASAP and get it back on four wheels so that I can reposition it, then yank the engine and get cracking on the swap stuff/timing belt. Also planning to get the HIKfab skidplate welded on by @rampelsauce while the engine is out, should make it a snap to weld and repaint. 
 

Hoping to make a lot of progress this fall. I’d love to get it done, but I’ve made promises like that before (look at how long it’s been sitting). It WILL get done before next summer; the ski team is doing an 80’s themed show and it’d be sacrilege to not have the quintessential 80’s car not running for it.

I never posted photos from the Vintage this year; the photo dump is at the end. Such a fun event that I’m going back this year!

I put a lot of miles on it overall last season, driving it up until late November before finally putting it away. Had a minor issue with a hanging e brake halfway through the summer but beyond that it ran and worked great! I ended the year at 212,283 miles on the odometer, so over 7000 miles? Pretty proud of that. 
 

Took it up to Hayward in June, the Vintage in May, and all over the state after that. The z3 shifter made a world of difference, and I love the Stromung catback - it’s a little droney at neighborhood speeds but it sounds so good when wrung out that I don’t care. Minimal to no drone on the highway is way more important to me, and I can’t hear any over the wind noise!

Winter projects:

- Put in rebuilt alternator. Had it done at MJ Auto Electric in Butler and they did a great job, it looks excellent. 
- E46 rack swap (AAE 3310N). Currently in progress, I’m working on getting the steering coupler shaft thingy out now and fighting the upper splined joint hard. Any tips are welcome, it’s stuck fast. 
- Rebuilt PS pump, I’m swapping in a ZF to replace the Vickers that it had in there. Luckily got a ZF with all the brackets so it’s a direct swap

- Replace all PS lines and the reservoir, goes hand in had with the rack swap. 
- Address a small coolant leak coming either from the looped throttle body heater hoses or from the thermostat gasket itself. 
- Correctly repair the C191 injector harness; I admittedly kludged it together to get it working last time and need to go back and fix it correctly with good heat shrink and crimp connectors. 
- If I can find good used speakers (or if anyone has recommendations), replace the blown rear speakers. 
- Replace the literally worn through seatbelt buckle. Old car problems!

- Valve adjustment

- New oil dipstick o-ring, the tube is dirty and im assuming the crankcase pressure is just enough to blow oily air past that o ring.

- Replace the tee fitting for the headlight washers; it’s never worked and it’s annoying. Might put in a smaller fluid bottle to give more room for other things

- Replace the cracked drivers side low beam; I scored a full set of ellipsoids from an old member here a month ago and I’ll probably refurb using the best lenses from both and new adjusters.

MY EYES!!!!

- Realign the muffler (it sits slightly twisted currently) and smoke test both the intake and exhaust to look for leaks. I’m almost positive I have some leaks in the cat section, but honestly with wanting to go to a header + universal cats at some point soon I’ll probably just use exhaust tape or JB weld to patch and send it for now if/when I find leaks.

It isn’t winning any concours awards anyways. 

Anywho, here’s the trip pics!

A sweet print they gave out at the CCA museum!

Skidplate hit I took on Shenandoah from a fat ass rock. The HIKfab plate saved my trip and maybe me - oil on the tires where I hit it might’ve sent me off a cliff.

Obligatory Buc-EE’s stop. Clean bathrooms, but man, sensory overload. You can pry kwik trip from my cold dead hands.

Tail of the Dragon!

Some company for dinner at a German restaurant in Hendersonville! As a Wisconsinite, I can genuinely say that their food was pretty top tier and on par with the best bratwurst up here.

 

One of my favorite magazine articles ever was Sam Smith’s piece on the alpina 2002 at Laguna Seca. Seeing that car in the flesh was incredible. My favorite feature was the metal strips riveted over the back window to keep it from flying out at speed!

I have never seen so many Alpinas in my life. Between the 15 or so inside and the 25ish outside, it has to be one of the largest gatherings ever in North America.

This guy won sticker of the week in my book!

Japanese market LHD e36 M3!

Group drive on Thursday! Maybe 150 cars? We caused a huge traffic jam on the way out of town, sorry not sorry. I saw at least one overheat

Mt Pisgah - one of the best drives of the trip. I want to run it again this year with the quick rack - the factory one was definitely a hindrance.

A phenomenal view, finally. I spent most of my time in the mountains in the rain and fog, even getting caught in a flash flood warning in Shenandoah. The top was far closer to “water resistant” than “waterproof” 

Leaky roofs call for desperate measures

Two days before the trip, I smoked an absolute hoss of a raccoon on I94 and narrowly avoided taking out my oil cooler. I ran like this most of the way down, picked up a new lower valance in Chicago on my way by, and swapped it once I got to NC. 

How about for every month he doesn’t work on it, we replace one random (preferably hidden) stainless fastener with a zinc plated one until it gets worked on again?

My gift from @straight6pwr showed up today, got a sweet LEGO Porsche 918, along with some WiBimmers decals and a blipshift one as well. Thanks Dan!

Soooo who else is getting one? I love the look, I was expecting just a plain white plate so this was a pleasant surprise.

It would appear that there is a dust cover of sorts and then a washer on the underside according to this diagram.