WIBIMMERS

@Earl @SteelBlue I am not a huge fan of the pre face lift because of the body lines. I like the small kidneys but the hood lines are too narrow and my favorite brake duct valance wouldn't work at all.

Well she drives but has the dreaded 50 shimmy. As of now I have the whole font suspension back off to work on the upper and lower control arms. It would have been great to do that when I replaced the front shocks.... On another note if anyone has some rare e34 goodies they are looking to liquidate feel free to push them my way.

Lol. This is exactly why I need an expert opinion.  I doubt I would find a donor wheel or even new parts so I'm stuck with letting my OCD run wild or risk making it look worse on my own.

Does anyone know how to refurbish the matte black plastic that's peeling off? In my old Chevy work truck it did this and I ended up peeling it all off but it just looked terrible after. I assume strip and resurface but what could I use that will be durable enough?

YoungCR said:

Link to the amazon product? Looks great!

Leather wrap in size "L-". I didn't go with the regular "L" because coincidentally there is a review from an e34 owner who suggested it is loose fit but it probably would have worked just fine if you don't like the gap in mine. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01L8NUQSS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Colored thread to match the M stitching. I have a whole bunch now though if you need some. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y63TK4D/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Jdesign said:

On a scale from 1 - 10, How hard was that? 

It looks amazing though!

The difficulty was a 5 but it took a good hour and a half to complete. The leather was surprisingly easy to manipulate and the stitching stayed tight along the way which I did not expect at all.

I’m really not a huge fan of the e34 steering wheel but instead of replacing it with a better one I was able to spruce it up a bit. I used a universal genuine leather wrap from Amazon and stitched it to match the M pattern. I didn’t know if I would like the wide stitching at first but it feels amazing in hand because it add a bunch of grip to the leather. All in all not a bad look for $20 total. 

suspenceful said:

Any plans to lower the back down a bit?

Love those wheels on there.

I didn't put the exhaust back on yet because I am working on some bugs but I am hoping since it is 1,000,000 lbs it will help the back settle down a bit more. It does concern me enough to think about lowering the springs but I doubt I will act on it because the rake isn't horrible and this will be a daily driver.

She is alive and dirty. I have a few gremlins to chase and body work to do but otherwise in decent condition. 

ChrisO said:

The style 24's look awesome. Never seen them on a e34 before

I looked everywhere on the inter-webs for example pictures and could not find anything. I see a lot of people running m contours but never the LTW's. I'm pleasantly surprised with how fitting they are on the vehicle.

Update from last weekend.

I was able to get just about everything installed including some vogtland springs. I didn't get the driveshaft put back in because the shift selector rod was too short since it did not match the gearshift rod joint that was recently replaced incorrectly (part number change in 10/1994) by the last owner. Instead of purchasing a new one I cut, tapped, bent, and extended the old one to work. Turned out "Meh" but now it is fully adjustable. I had originally purchased some fittings for the bend from the master cylinder but I ended up just making a hard line that worked out even easier. I jumped the starter relay, started the car and everything works great. I should have it all wrapped up next weekend but who knows. 

@straight6pwr Did you have to do any DME flashing after the swap? I am hearing people say they experienced hanging revs if you keep the auto computer.

Slowly plugging away at this project. I changed the rear main seal and gasket even though it really didn't have any leaks at all. In hindsight I should have left it alone because the upper oil pan gasket just crumbled when I gently pried the rear crankcase cover off. I cut it cleanly at the ends and filled it with OEM loctite 5970 differential/pan sealant. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  Worst case scenario I have to drop the entire oil pan but it should be done anyways by the condition of the gasket piece that disintegrated. 

YoungCR said:

Yeah the exhaust is the worst part, had to do that job twice now  My suggestion would be to ditch all of the stock clutch lines and Order 32” of 3260-3-INCH stainless braided hose and a *90 male off one end HE606-03P-090 and a straight male HE606-03P-000 on the other. It'll be about $70 from Pegasus but it makes the install way easier. I bought the stainless braided section from ECS and ended up not using it because the clutch slave hardline is such a pain. 

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/iscustom-hose.asp?RecID=9023

I also have the OEM sockets for the flywheel. 

Already have them.

straight6pwr said:

The exhaust removal/install was the most frustrating part of my swap due to the corrosion, for sure. Glad you're finding use from my post! 

The reverse harness I got from my parts car.

Just remembered : if your flywheel is the variety with oem torx bolts, I have a modified torx driver for it that you may need and are free to borrow 

I picked up a full extended set on sale for $20 and planned on grinding the T60 down. If you are located near Sheboygan/West bend I would still take you up on that offer.

@straight6pwr I have been following your DIY pretty closely actually. I saw that you talked about the jumper that you made for the reverse switch but not the actual harness for the switch itself. Your post in conjunction with the Bentley transmission removal steps has made this swap very predictable. It's still throwing curveballs with a bunch of seized bolts so I wouldn't go as far as to say it's easy but the process is straight forward.

straight6pwr said:

Don't forget to setup all the clutch hydro stuff and reverse light wiring before putting the trans on. Very little room up there. 

You'll hate life a little getting the master hooked up

Thanks for the heads up. I don't think I will look at it for another week while I wait for rear main seal to get here. is there a harness for the backup light switch or do I need to make one?

About a month ago I picked up a moderately clean e34 540ia with the intent to do a full 6 speed swap for a daily driver. I was't originally going to make a post for this but since I am elbow deep in this project it wouldn't hurt to open up the floor to criticism. I have only put about 3 full days of putzing into the car so I don't have many photos but this is what I have so far. Steering column, pedal assembly, exhaust, driveshaft, and auto transmission are out. Everything under the car was a hassle with the amount of corrosion. 

wasnt m3 said:

What are you trying to accomplish? I've got a laptop with a bunch of bmw software on it.

I have a foxwell scanner but I don't think I'm able to properly calibrate my x3 VTG control unit. Ether that or the unit is bad in which case I will need to code the new one which I know for sure I don't have the capability to do with the scanner. I'm up shit creek with this car.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm trying to get my hands on ISTA/D Rheingold for some coding but it's very difficult to go through their website.

Thanks in advance

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk