Member
Man, the Turbines looked bad on this big ol' green wagon! I think Throwing Stars are the ticketOriginally Posted by Eero
I'm surprised you like the Fifteen52s! But thank you.
You try and curse me with the F30!?! I might get extended powertrain warranty for that issue
You were harboring such a hidden gem, man. All hail the squirrelwagon as it's rightfully due, but Heidi has such a sweet platform with great parts. Selling the 911 takes care of debt but also opens up more funds to go cray on the E34!Great updates, love the travels (and IGs
We'll turn this thread into your M60 demo thread
Member
Nah, F30 is fine car.
Member
I found the lower, interior hatch panel I need to replace so the tool kit can be reattached (w/ new hinges being the key benefit). At $175, I'll be holding off on that for now...
The timing chain guides make me nervous, but it is very capable. Progress!! About as quick as the 540i, but 50% better gas mileage!
My name is Wes
That should be a pretty easy part to take from a partout touring though, shouldn't it? I had that panel off in the black wagon when I replaced the rear wiper linkage, I snapped some bits when removing it, but if you're careful it shouldn't be too hard.
Member
mines broken too LOL
-Alex
Member
Yeah, believe me, when it comes to large obscure parts like that, the first thing I go to are definitely part-outs. But I'm gambling that a new part will have much stronger, longer lasting plastic hinges for the tool kit, which is the only reason I need this part. Any part-out will have old, brittle hinges, most likely. Maybe overkill, but I'd rather not deal with it more than once.
Member
Are you guys talking about the touring tailgate panel that holds the tool tray on, with the terribly designed hinge points? They haven't changed. I bought a new one a couple years ago. In case you're wondering, a new one comes with the backing foam and the plastic clips that hold it to the tailgate.
Member
^Yep, exactly. I didn't figure the design of the hinges had changed, just that I'd rather have a set that have been sitting out of sunlight, and not already fatigued from a bunch of toolkit opening. Am I silly to think the $175 new part's hinges will last me longer than a cheapo-part out's old hinges?
Good to know about the foam and clips though, thank you!!
Maybe I can get Greg to design replacement hinges...
Member
Awesome thread! Great read! Nice Touring! I found it easy to get carried away with wants and desires for these wagons. So many options. Not being dogged by mechanical issues is a bonus. I can't wait to see where this leads....good luck.
Member
Based on what I see with the new one, it's just as weak as an old one. In other words it's kind of weak to start with. If I wasn't careful when opening the tool kit, I feel like I'd break a hinge after a few times, even on the new one. You'd probably do just as well to buy a used one and somehow reinforce the plastic. I tried using glue on my old one, but I think the extreme temperature cycles were too much because it came apart again after a while. My strategy is simply to be careful with it.
Member
A couple of the hinges on my tool kit had broken and I used acetone to chemically weld them back together. It's been fine for about 4k miles and one NC summer since my swap. Cheap, too!
Member
In other random news, I've bought another pair of 17x8 Tarmacs and will be selling the 18s I had used on Heidi's rear axle (giving me 4x matching 17x8 'Macs). Long story short, I love the design, but they are too heavy for me to justify using them for performance driving (in large sizes) on Heidi. We all know how the E34 handles heavy rotating mass on the front axle (not well, even with all fresh suspension)..
But the 17x8 Tarmacs are actually a perfect winter wheel set-up for my F30, with some WS80s. The factory F30 sport wheels are pretty heavy, so the Tarmacs don't add weight in this case.
I'll plan to run staggered M Systems on Heidi this summer, for now.
Hey thanks, your touring (at least the 540i I've seen) looks flippin' mint! There are a lot of cool things to be done, and as far as issues go: you pick your poison. Both my previous M5 and this 540iT are in the same boat, with solid mechanicals and basically no failures of that sort, but both are in desperate need of cosmetic restoration. At least with this one, I stepped into a solid, semi-original interior, while the M5 had a hackjob swap.
That's good to know, Eddy, and thank you! I'll plan to hold off on buying the new part until I get Greg's eyes on the hinge design. I'm hoping he can figure out a sweet 3D printable replacement or reinforcement.
As soon as I saw just two hinges left on mine a few months ago, I've been exceedingly careful with the kit. It's just a really silly idea to have made the hinges plastic, probably stemming from the factory's confidence that the toolkit wouldn't need to be accessed much ().
That sounds like a nice patch job! The problem for me is that three of the hinge pieces are mainly missing.
Member
How much Tarmacs weight? How about BBS RC302/300? Very light weight.
Member
^The 17x8s (ET35) are roughly 24lb/11kg, or 3lb/1.4kg heavier than same-size M System (or I could even be thinking of the 17x9 M System). The 18x9.5 was closer to 30lb/13.5kg. They are very solid and can stand up to abuse, but too heavy in wide sizes for the E34.
In comparison the factory 18x8 F30 Sport Package wheel (320) is the same weight as the 17x8 Tarmac, which seems heavy for a BMW wheel! Not forged for sure.
RC are light but expensive, and I don't love their design
Member
Original 8x17 cast wheel with turbines ~13kg.
Member
How about some details on your 3rd brake light...inside the back window? Thanks.
Member
This is a grey market car. To "federalize" it, required the addition of a third brake light.
-Alex
Member
Yepper, and while it somehow hasn't fallen/doesn't seem loose, it's pretty shoddily attached.
Blacktusk, let me know if you'd like pictures and I can post some detailed ones for ya, no problem.
Member
Thanks pics would do. Quite interested in moving mine inside.
Member
It is fine. And I just sold mine, haha. I'm a firm believer in never owning a modern BMW without a warranty, and despite the incredible interior/comfort/gas mileage/desirable package, I just can't justify that car. It was a fun two months/2k miles.
Oh, boy. So sorry this took me two months, I completely spaced this and hopefully these are still helpful! Looks like potentially wood screws drilled into the trim, but as I said before, it's super solidly attached.
(Respect Your Elders sticker is unrelated
Finally
The gamble paid off, and Colorado issued me a clean title after months of paperwork, laziness on my part, and not a small amount of incompetence by clerks both here and in California. Three entire months were wasted by incompetence at the California DMV, from whom I had to request record searches to make sure that the previous two owners, who I text with regularly, did not still retain a stake in the car.
The real issue here is a typically Californian one of question over-regulation; because the car was broken into, it was given a CA salvage title, which meant the title is essentially suspended/non-permanent until the next CA owner took the car through DMV inspections to ensure roadworthiness. Which is ridiculous when the salvage title is issued due to theft/a missing head unit. Corey never had the time/desire to go through this process, and my buddy who bought Heidi from Corey (as well as Corey, and myself) all thought the temporary title Corey included with the car would be enough to title it in CO. Long story short, we know now not to ever take a CA car out of CA unless there is a paper title in the seller's name, or you're faced with a long, drawn-out process:
It was still all worth it IMO, as the car now bears a clean Colorado title, and let's face it: it's in very good mechanical shape with some seriously good parts underneath the skin.
I'll be looking for Oxford doors, and will do some basic rust-prevention touch-up like I did on BK06091, but other than that I'll just be enjoying the car knowing I have a titled, plated Euro 540iT.
Last edited by BleedsBlue; 03-18-2017 at 03:32 PM.
station wagon
About time! Can you believe there's people who want the .gov to control even more stuff?!?
Glad you're still enjoying 'her'!
my version of a midlife crisis: 20 year old spray painted, lowered BMW station wagon.
Member
Ha, right? Man I don't think I could live in CA again, with my proclivity for weird titles, Euro cars, potential swaps, etc etc etc.
I won't change the thread but have been put on notice by Ms. BleedsBlue, that the "Heidi" name is dead/no longer at play in our household. We don't really name cars, but when we do, we come up with them
And yeah, this car rocks. It's amazing how little it's needed.
Last edited by BleedsBlue; 03-22-2017 at 01:39 PM.
Member
Now legally registered for the next year, and now my dedicated daily (since I re-bought my M5), I dove into a long-overdue interior detail on the wagon, and messed with some basic rust arresting (hopefully minor rust spread prevention, but I'm not convinced).
I armed myself with my household steamer (which immediately broke after 5 years of service...), Ammo Lather, an interior detail "boar" brush (totally synthetic crap), a water/Oxyclean solution with an old toothbrush, Chemical Guys conditioner, and microfibers.
This was honestly one of the dirtiest interiors of any car I'd bought, and unfortunately neglect and a leaky sunroof pretty much sealed the deal on the front seat bottoms. They're covered in cracks, but I was still able to remove a nice film of brown:
Not having the steamer probably reduced the effectiveness, but I was satisfied with a thorough cleanse and condition for now. I'll be staying on top of conditioning to see if it will help prevent further cracking--before this, the seat leather was rock hard
I only finished the front third of the car, but I did get every single surface and spent some quality time with the toothbrush and Oxyclean removing random stains and scuffs galore. The stitching is always a pain:
I'll get back after it sometime this week for the rear seat area, and finish up with small touches like sanding down the seat belt receptacles. I really need to pull the seats and clean the carpets, as well as fix seat twist, but I'd prefer to have new lower seat leather on hand for that job as well. I also started greasing the door hinges and rods, but may need to replace them at some point (maybe when I swap doors).
Besides the door bottoms, I had two major ugly rust patches on the passenger rear fender, pretty indicative of a crappy re-spray/body work at some point:
Today I spot sanded those areas down, and applied the first layer of black Rustoleum with a small brush (not caring to find a poorly matched green). A few layers of like stuff helped to slow the rust creep down on my M5, so here's hoping.
I'll definitely need new doors for the wagon, and a re-spray; the clear coat is failing on certain areas (I never detailed it) and there are bubbles of rust, well, everywhere. Since I need to hold off on that cost for a bit, hopefully I can find Oxford doors eventually; and I have SEM trim paint to coat the roof rails, which also look terrible.
I'll get some pictures sometime to show what a patchwork hunk of junk this car is (black M Systems now, since all four of these were junk), but damn does it run well and go good.
Member
Forgot to throw this one up. Renown got those Hella covers back in stock right as one of my useless high beam lens cracked. This is the best lighting for this car
Member
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks