My e34 Touring intro

[Normajean]

Hey guys, my names Joe and i havent really introduced myself yet here to the forums. First of all I love Bmw's. I had two e30 that i loved to death but times goes on and your family starts growing ,so i got out of the e30 game and jumped into the e34 game. I got this 93 525i Touring for $2300 from an old couple who were the orignal owners. It has 130k on it and i have all the paperwork and history of the car. i was pretty stoked on the car, heated seats leather black on black. Ive had it for three months and have done the ellipsoid swap, clear turns, and style 32s, but have much much more to come.

heres a pic of it when i got it
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae102/joe2skate/72e429cd.jpg

and a pic of it now
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae102/joe2skate/2013-02-05_17-15-23_609.jpg

So thats it, oh and i work at autobahn in el cajon if anyone needs parts. Visit autobahnparts.com

[ishcan]

+1 for E34 Tourings with style 32s! Now go get yourself some H&Rs.

Always a score to find an original owner, especially pensioners.

I head down to San Diego at least once a month. We should have a black vs. white tourings on style 32s photo shoot!

[ShapeShifter]

Black will always win...

It is the color of evil after all.

[NedMW]

+1 on H&R! I Ditched the blown stock shocks and enormous springs and it now handles phenomenally! 32s are the best wheels for tourings IMO

[Normajean]

I agree, love the 32s and i will be putting on billy sports with eibachs pro front and rear and much much more. and black will always win haha but i love white

[Porthos]

Hey guys, my names Joe and i havent really introduced myself yet here to the forums. First of all I love Bmw's. I had two e30 that i loved to death but times goes on and your family starts growing ,so i got out of the e30 game and jumped into the e34 game. I got this 93 525i Touring for $2300 from an old couple who were the orignal owners. It has 130k on it and i have all the paperwork and history of the car. i was pretty stoked on the car, heated seats leather black on black. Ive had it for three months and have done the ellipsoid swap, clear turns, and style 32s, but have much much more to come.

heres a pic of it when i got it

and a pic of it now

So thats it, oh and i work at autobahn in el cajon if anyone needs parts. Visit autobahnparts.com

Do you want to trade your stock springs my lowering springs? I don't want a lowered wagon.

[Cheche]

Welcome! car looks great!

[Leonator134]

Looks great!!

[Normajean]

thanks guys, its gonna be more done up after some time, i love it. and porthos, yes i will trade my stocks for your lowering springs

[Porthos]

thanks guys, its gonna be more done up after some time, i love it. and porthos, yes i will trade my stocks for your lowering springs

Sweet we can PM each other a good time to do it.

[moroza]

If I had to do my wagon project all over again, I would start with what you just got (though only because a non-sunroof '95 in black is too hard to find). Sounds like you got a great deal! Plans?

You want lowering springs just for lowering, or for handling? I assume the latter, in which case, here's my unsolicited suggestion for a handling-oriented build:

Keep the M50 or upgrade it to M52 or S52
Manual trans, but there are two and I'm not learned on the difference between them
Bilstein HD shocks
Springs... whatever you end up with
M5 thrust arms, probably poly LCA bushings
M5T N'Ring swaybars (25/20), if you can find them; otherwise keep the stock front swaybar (23, IIRC) and upgrade the rear to 18mm (I forget offhand from what car)
Camber plates
Replace both rear trailing arms with those off an E32 740 or 750; they have bearings instead of bushings, and you gain some rear track width and bigger brakes. While you're at it, replace the rear subframe mounts and dogbones.
540i front brakes; you can do E31 brakes, but IMO they are for higher power (higher than S52) or track use. I'm ambivalent about mine, in the balance.
Front strut bar
If you really want it to feel solid, rear strut bar (custom) and sunroof delete (custom but easier to do once you find a headliner)
Rear headrests (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1217032)
No-plastic radiator (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1356809). Search for applicable info to M50 fitment; last I checked it does fit but some extra work required. If it were my car I'd also seriously look into the EMP Stewart (I think) upgraded waterpump.
M5/95 sideskirts
Tint

Welcome!

[pennpen]

welcome

[Normajean]

WOW moroza, thannks for all that!, i actually have a set of billy HD that i plan on putting in with whatever springs i find but removing the bump stop from the hd first. I work in a place where we have thousands of parts and thats how i built my last e30 haha. thanks for all that info and we actually have a race car with most of what you described on it haha for the lemons race we do.

and thanks pennpen, i like your wagon ;)

[mottati]

I thought HD's were for stock springs/ride height and B sports were for lowered springs? (otherwise the valving is the same, i've read)
At any rate, nice looking car. Sounds like a good find. One owner cars are pretty rare, and black/black is the best combo for a touring!

The M5 touring nurburgring sway bars are still available new from the dealer, and are not that expensive. My 530iT has a 25mm front bar stock, so i just left that alone, the rear i put the 20mm bar in. The 18mm mentioned above was stock m5 rear.

[Normajean]

Hds and sports are identical all that is different is the bump stop in the hds. and i do love the black on black :)

[Rajiim]

Looks Great!

[Normajean]

Hey just another update from my touring. Did a few more things to it recently, nothing to dramatic but just cosmetic.

Got the windows tinted and the wheels powdercoated sating black and zenons. Next on the list is a 5 speed swap :) CANT WAIT FOR THAT! i allready have the car here waiting for me to pick it of its goodies.

here she is now, still have tp clear all the scratches and scuffs but ill get there :)
457101457102457103

[JamieNL]

I'm down in San Diego, where did you get your tint done? I want to get my tourings' done as well.

[Mark185]

I love the way your touring looks. What tint did you get? I am interested in brand and % spec. I plan to get mine done soon.

I also hate all of you California residents that find these beautiful rust free examples. :)


Hey just another update from my touring. Did a few more things to it recently, nothing to dramatic but just cosmetic.

Got the windows tinted and the wheels powdercoated sating black and zenons. Next on the list is a 5 speed swap :) CANT WAIT FOR THAT! i allready have the car here waiting for me to pick it of its goodies.

here she is now, still have tp clear all the scratches and scuffs but ill get there :)

[thatracer]

Welcome. Another wagon yay lol

[Normajean]

hey jamieNL i got my tint done at SD window tint on greenfield, he did it for $120 with a lifetime warrenty and the back windows are 5% and the front are 70%. i dont know that brand of tint used , i just dropped it off and picked it up haha. he is a customer of mine so he gave me a deal i think haha.

Thanks mark185, i love the car and im about to do the 5 speed swap within this month then suspension (which has just been sitting right in my face for the past 5 months haha.

[JamieNL]

hey jamieNL i got my tint done at SD window tint on greenfield, he did it for $120 with a lifetime warrenty and the back windows are 5% and the front are 70%. i dont know that brand of tint used , i just dropped it off and picked it up haha. he is a customer of mine so he gave me a deal i think haha.

Thanks mark185, i love the car and im about to do the 5 speed swap within this month then suspension (which has just been sitting right in my face for the past 5 months haha.

nice, thanks, I'm driving my car out next weekend, and a tint will be one of the first things I'm doing (for security and keep the heat out a little). Is it a pretty good quality tint, it looks good in the pictures, no bubbles, and none of that "purple" looking crap tint?

also, does anyone know if there are any DOT restrictions on rear window tint percentages?

[JamieNL]

Is it this place?

http://www.yelp.com/biz/sd-window-tint-el-cajon

just talked to a guy named jimmy, said it'd be $175 with a lifetime warranty, not to bad

[IronmanE30]

Very nice start and I wish I worked where you do. Actually my M3 was bought from your shop prior to it's restoration. I think that these cars are the best family car that BMW made and with a little extra power, a manual transmission and a little lower it will be the perfect grocery getter.

As far as tint goes, I just had the M3 done a while ago and learned a little about what is available. Check out this site: http://www.llumar.com/en/Automotive.aspxI

I ended up with Pinnacle 35 which is a Nano Ceramic Teflon base tint. No dyes are used so no fading or color changes will occur plus this product has a great UV and heat shielding. They even make it in clear if you don't want the cops pulling you over here in Calif. I could not be happier with the result but it does cost more than normal tint.

Cheers,

Jim

[moroza]

Semi-blacked out wagon? Hell yeah! Add sideskirts and reflector-delete bumper trim to really clean it up.

[BMW_7]

Welcome! That is a great price for a great car :D

I wonder how many touring owners we have now!

[Normajean]

hey thanks guys, yeh im going to buy some euro trim pretty soon here but i want to get to the net step which is sls delete and billys and springs. Just finished my 5 speed converion this past weekend and man o man what a difference, makes the wagon a really fun car to drive. little by little im fixing it up but remember i have a wife with an e36 that need tlc EVERYDAY! haha so its back and forth with her car.

[AndrewH]

Is "NormaJean" a phrase of some sort? There's a fleet of party boats by my house that are all named NormaJean and I always wondered if it was some kind of significance.

[Normajean]

your welcome rayfinkle5 for the hope, they are out there you just have to look and be patient :) and andrewH for me i use the name normajean becasue i am a marilyn monroe fan and her real name was Norma Jean Mortenson.

[Onizukachan]

If the SLS still works, don't delete it. Just reindex the ride height.
Subjectively It rides better, and yet is firmer for better handling.

[Normajean]

so ive done a little bit of work since the last update,

Euro headlights with new clears and 3500k HID's, added 540i brake ducts in the wrong spot to see how it looks, got a racing dynamics bumper from my work that we almost threw away so i kinda saved it :) also dropped the front with billys sports and bav auto's i have the rears to install to )same setup as front) but have to have mroe time to install ;)

But thats it for now, until next time. so here's a couple pics.

http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae102/joe2skate/DSC02243.jpg (http://s962.photobucket.com/user/joe2skate/media/DSC02243.jpg.html)
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae102/joe2skate/DSC02242.jpg (http://s962.photobucket.com/user/joe2skate/media/DSC02242.jpg.html)
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae102/joe2skate/DSC02241.jpg (http://s962.photobucket.com/user/joe2skate/media/DSC02241.jpg.html)
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae102/joe2skate/DSC02240.jpg (http://s962.photobucket.com/user/joe2skate/media/DSC02240.jpg.html)
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae102/joe2skate/DSC02239.jpg (http://s962.photobucket.com/user/joe2skate/media/DSC02239.jpg.html)
http://i962.photobucket.com/albums/ae102/joe2skate/DSC02238.jpg (http://s962.photobucket.com/user/joe2skate/media/DSC02238.jpg.html)

[Elekta]

Nice work there.

[Normajean]

thank you elekta, i love my veegan