'91 M5 Project

[Justin6745]

I <3 turbines

[TGreene]

Have you seen this?

http://mmm-five.net/Articles/files/E...esOverhaul.pdf

On page 16 of the PDF, I have the hose coming down from the vacuum actuator going into nipple B instead of nipple A.

That is a sweet PDF by the way. I guess I need to make sure that the vacuum actuator is doing its self-test once I get this thing all squared away.

I still don't know what to do about that hose that goes towards the engine from the air pump electric valve (the box under the ICV).

Tried a simple vacuum leak test with carb cleaner? Stuck ICV?

I assume there is at least one major vacuum leak as it is now. I will test once I think I have it right.

I took the ICV out and blasted that thing with carb and brake cleaner. When held up to my hear it rattled when shook, which I am told is how you make sure it is still decent.

[Psykick5]

That color is beautiful

[TGreene]

Beneath the ICV is where I have my two problems:



First problem is that broken cable/hose/hard yellow plastic thing right in the middle of the picture above? I traced it back towards the front of the engine but then I lose it when it wraps around underneath the thermostat housing.

Second, there is that nipple that had some crumbling vacuum hose on it that points towards the engine. In this next picture you can see a box hanging down off of a bracket about two inches beneath the ICV. There is one black vacuum hose coming off of it headed towards the firewall. There is a second nipple facing the engine that you cannot see:



I try and use this diagram but it confuses the hell out of me because I only have one of those boxes (labelled part numbers 7 and 11) but the diagram shows two.

This is how I have the intake plenum because in the vacuum hose kit it says:

"18. Vacuum module on accumulator to forward fitting on bottom of accumulator." However, on that realOEM diagram it shows the hose going from the vacuum module at the top of the accumulator down to that engine-facing nipple on the box below the ICV - the one that is currently vacant in my engine bay.

Hrmm.

Well I think I have it figured out. I screwed up the hoses on the bottom of the air accumulator and have set them to how they should be thanks to TriForce linking that PDF.

After finding out that part # 7 in the diagram (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...74&hg=11&fg=45
) is bolted onto the bottom of the air accumulator, that diagram now makes way more sense.

Now I see that the mistery hose that wraps around the front of the engine is probably going to the air pump and I just need to bridge the gap from that onto the engine-facing nipple off of the air pump electric valve (that box that sits beneath the ICV).

If I have a grasp of what is going on, then I should be able to reinstall everything tomorrow after work and look forward to a nice lumpy idle and a healthy(er) engine. I now also know that I need to make sure that the vacuum resonance system/vacuum actuator is working properly as I did not know that it existed before and the compared dynographs in that PDF are getting me excited.

Short list:

1. Bridge that gap and connect the vacuum line between the air pump and the air pump electric valve.

2. See if I can pass VA emissions.

3. Test the vacuum actuator, air intake temp sensor and the throttle position sensor.

4. Adjust the valves and install a new valve cover gasket.

5. Adjust the throttle bodies.

6. Get more poorer if anything goes awry.

[PorscheH6]

Basically you are looking for this.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSTd3eqdc28[/ame]

Then you will have a nice fat torque curve like this

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...t/f8740874.jpg

I knew that PDF would help, as it sure helped me in the past. Now I think I've had the plenum off so many times I could probably do it by heart. Maybe.

I hope you are thoroughly enjoying S38 ownership

[TGreene]

I hope you are thoroughly enjoying S38 ownership

After figuring some things out and getting this thing out on the road for an hour last night, I absolutely am.

I am going to back up a bit and show what I have done since buying it and having it smashed in the driveway.

I had the car registered with temps plates so I could troubleshoot it and eventually get it state safety and emissions inspected.

I took it over to Jamie's house (JamieNL) and did the spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor and the intake air filter while he worked on his touring. We then changed the oil and oil filter using some nice LubroMoly.







I had originally bought these for the 535i that my Dad had passed down to my brother and then to me, but that had ultimately blown a headgasket due to my own incompetence over two years ago. That car died at 187k. This car is reborn at 187k!

So so much for these ultra rare unicorn M5s being way more expensive than the other E34s...



After replacing those parts with nice new fresh ones the car felt much better.

A few days later I started with doing the intake gaskets, vacuum hoses and the intake plenum O-rings.





Only a little bit dirty, just a little bit:



Somewhat cleaner:



I looked into the intake ports and all of the valves looked really nice a clean. I tried for a few minutes to get a decent picture but clearly my camera is trash. This is when it would be nice to be 5mall5nail or five$dime.





I spent a good five hours on a nice Sunday afternoon dissassembling, cleaning, reassembling, lubricating and installing the throttle bodies with new intake gaskets and a few bottles of carb cleaner:





The vacuum hose kit:



When I was installing the new hoses, I cracked the non return valve that connects the hoses coming off of the throttle bodies at cylinders 5 and 6 and the brake booster vacuum hose. Progress stopped as I waited for new parts and left town for a week.

A few days ago, with most of the parts in hand, I (I should say we since JamieNL had been with me most of the time I have been working on it) got back to work.

Jamie had spotted a leak coming from the bottom of the brake fluid reservoir so I had ordered new grommets that connect the reservoir to the top of the brake master cylinder. We popped off the reservoir and cleaned it. After waiting a day to let it dry, he brought over some RTV gasket sealant and we popped in the new grommets:





We hooked up the pressure bleeder to test the fit and all way nice and tight. We then topped it off with some ATE Super Blue brake fluid.



After that we went back and put in the new check valves and no-return valve (The one that had cracked when taked the vacuum hoses off, $60, ouch), hooked up the ICV that I had cleaned, verified that the hoses looked good and put the intake plenum back on.

When we fired it up it revved up to 2k RPM and I immediately shut it off. We checked for the throttle or cruise cables to be hung up and they were not. I tried again the car fired right up and was idling at 1.8k RPM, which is where I was when asking questions a few days ago in this thread (page 3).

After researching I found out that the vacuum line that goes from the air pump electric valve (the box underneath the ICV) to the air pump was disconnected. I connected that. I also realized, thanks to the PDF that TriForce posted in this thread, that I had screwed up and switched around the two vacuum hoses that connect to the bottom of the intake plenum/air accumulator. After setting right those two things I put the intake plenum back on again and hoped for a nice low idle.

It did the same thing and reveed up to near 2k RPM and stayed there. Since the car had a sloppy pedal and I had already ordered a new throttle cable and the two pedal bushings, I installed them. I tied a strong to the old throttle cable before pulling it all the way out and then tied that string to the new one to help pull it back down behind the brake booster. Although the pedal felt great, the idle remained high.

Jamie and I had the car idling and figured that I had probably screwed something up when cleaning up the throttle bodies. We played around until Jamie spotted some set screws that control where the flaps sit at rest. We realized that they were not closing all the way so we backed out the set screws until the idle dropped down. Once the idle seemed normal, we tightened them back up one at a time. The idle then sat at a nice, lumpy ~850RPM. After another check through the parts that had been worked on or tested and a quick bleed of the clutch, we got in the car and went for a drive.

The car ran well. It still needs a few things but with the vacuum hoses done I finally felt comfortable taking it up near 7K RPM once the oil temp gauge got a tick below 6 o'clock. I ended up taking it to work that night. The drive is a good 30 minutes through the suburbs of D.C. and it was a lot of fun. The car sounded great at idle and pulled really hard through 2nd gear from 3.5k to 6.5k. On the way back I got lost and took the long way home and it was excellent. It had to have been the most rewarding driving I have ever experienced, and probably only trumped in fun by those first few days when I was finally let off the leash after getting my license eight years ago.

I have maybe driven it 200 miles so far and I love it. Everything I have done has been engine-related. I have not washed it or even vacuumed it. I am trying to focus and the heart of it before getting carried away with cosmetics. I expect to adjust the valves and replace the valve cover gasket in the next few days.

[ShapeShifter]

Never saw this thread Trevor, congrats!
You've come along way in 2+ years, soon to be a master mechanic.
Enjoy it and have fun!

[JimiJ]

Do you plan on refinishing the valve cover?

[TGreene]

Never saw this thread Trevor, congrats!
You've come along way in 2+ years, soon to be a master mechanic.
Enjoy it and have fun!

Thanks Pat. I have spent a ton of time trying to learn from you guys on this forum and I think a lot of it has paid off. I go back and read old threads I started and am amazed. Its like looking at pictures of myself in 3rd grade.

Do you plan on refinishing the valve cover?

I plan on at least pressure washing it. I have some high temp paint sitting around so I don't think it would hurt to try and do a silver or black and let it dry while I adjust the valves.

[NikosX]

Trev,

Great read. Glad to see things are coming together nicely. Few things are as rewarding as getting one of these back into prime shape! Can't wait for the next leg of the journey. As usual. Don't hesitate.

[Brake_L8]

Wow, nice work! Feel free to give me a call if you need another set of hands for any work.

[GregT53]

Wow, nice work! Feel free to give me a call if you need another set of hands for any work.

Ditto for me. It's always fun to get some dirt under the fingernails especially if it involves great cars!

[desertpir8]

Trevor, this thread is awesome! Love the documentation! Your car is coming a long way too & looks great. That engine work is very very familiar after all the ones we've done here.

Have you synchronized the ITBs yet? With all else set properly, synching all the ITBs with a CarbTune makes all the difference. Really smooths out the idle and improves throttle response. With a race-bred engine, its amazing how the small details of tuning really affect the engine.

[TGreene]

Wow, nice work! Feel free to give me a call if you need another set of hands for any work.

I will take you up on it when I have to drop the exhaust, transmission and driveshaft.

We can replicate that picture of you and your friend doing the CSB on that E30. =p

Ditto for me. It's always fun to get some dirt under the fingernails especially if it involves great cars!

After a week or two more of getting the engine totally sorted you need to drive it to see how it feels compared to the 540is you have been testing.

Trevor, this thread is awesome! Love the documentation! Your car is coming a long way too & looks great. That engine work is very very familiar after all the ones we've done here.

Have you synchronized the ITBs yet? With all else set properly, syncing all the ITBs with a CarbTune makes all the difference. Really smooths out the idle and improves throttle response. With a race-bred engine, its amazing how the small details of tuning really affect the engine.

Coming from you that means a lot. I plan on syncing the TBs but only after doing the valves and the VCG. I will start hassling TriForce about bumming his CarbTune in a few days if things go well.

[Brake_L8]

I will take you up on it when I have to drop the exhaust, transmission and driveshaft.

We can replicate that picture of you and your friend doing the CSB on that E30. =p

Oh boy, here we go. I suppose that's alright, provided we start it and take a video with no exhaust for my satisfaction

[rotaryboots]

Good to see the car is coming along, wonder why the stop screws where in that far. Anyways, great to hear its running good. +1 on the TB sync. That will help out rough, lumpy, and hanging idles as well as the response will be way better.

Great job, and thanks for rescuing it. It's a shame M5's even in better condition than yours was in get parted. The last hand built I6 M5's are something special I believe.

Sent from my ADR6300 using BF.com

[TGreene]

Yesterday I wanted to take the M5 in and see how the emissions were. The car's plates expired in November and I need to have the car pass inspection before I can renew them.

I heated the car up by driving around town and I picked up Jamie. We went to the nearby service station where an E39 540i/6 owner has been inspecting my old beat-up E34s for years. There was a line so we got out and popped the hood with the car running just to have a look around. There ended up being a leak from the return line on the fuel rail so we headed home to try another day.

Today after work Jamie came over and we replaced the o-ring there. I had tightened the bolt up without having the o-ring properly seated, so when I torqued it down it sheared the edge of the o-ring off. With another o-ring on with some RTV gasket sealant curing, we walked around the two 525i/5s, one being my Calypso and the other his Shwartz Touring, talking about what we needed to do.

The master cylinder on his touring is suspect and he ordered the parts last night. Wondering how tight the space to work would be, we went back to the M5 to look at the pedal box since the trim under the steering wheel was still off after doing the throttle cable and pedal bushings.

We felt around and counted the bolts that held the clutch master cylinder in, and I ended up touching the clutch pedal and seeing the master clyinder twist! One of the two mounting bolts was loose, and the other was missing! I was amazed. I thought the cause for play in the pedal was a bad master or slave. I had no idea that it could be so simply, nor had I thought to check for some idiot not bolting in the master clyinder.

A spare nut and a spare bolt from the parts bin later and we took the car on a drive. The clutch pedal feels pretty damned good now. It engages maybe two inches down from total rest. I need a clutch stop now =p

[Brake_L8]

Isn't it fun finding "fixes" from previous owners? I'm un-doing or re-doing so much that someone else went the fast and/or cheap way on. Frustrating but ultimately worth it.

[TGreene]

Thanks to stephan735i via Nat (e34moneypit), the color has been confirmed to be Macaublau Metallic on extended leather Champagne. As suspected, this bad boy is a one of one in the United States.

Hi Nat,

There were 1 (one) US M5 painted in Macaoblau, it had Champagner volleder BK05310 Sonderlackierung 1990-05-03 U.S.A. Macaoblau metallic.

I don't know if it's still in traffic, I got the info from my friend...

Schweet.

I took it back to the station a few weeks ago to see how long the list was of things needing to be repaired before it would pass the state safety inspection and as it turns out, there was nothing!

Hooray!

It also passed emissions! (By a hair, I need to investigate. The sniffer test does provide valuable information regarding the state of the engine.)

Hooray again!



Progress has stalled a bit. The other day I wanted to take my brothers out in the car to go car shopping and show them why I love the car so much now that I am comfortable running the engine how it should be run. I backed it down the driveway and the cabin smelled like fuel. The fuel rail was leaking heavily from the feed line. I will have to snag a new o-ring and install it.

The car also has a severe power steering fluid leak. I don't want to bypass the SLS by looping the lines in the back without knowing for sure that the SLS is inoperable and why, so I want to find and fix the leak before I just go ahead and put in some Koni adustables and HRs in the back. At the same time, would it even be worth it if I have to buy all of that Pentosin? Maybe not.

I gave the car a quick little bath for the first time. It was nothing more than 20 minutes with some soap and water, then a few minutes on a section of the hood with some clay. Here are pictures of ho the car was sitting a few days ago.

Before the wash:









Afters: Still pretty damned dirty. I am not good at washing cars, hah!









Damnit, Ma.




Part dirty old supercar, part storage locker.






I have the '95 Parchment door panels ready to be dyed thanks to Tyler (clevertd). It is pretty far down on the list, though.



The steering column kick panel is out since working on the throttle cable and clutch slave cylinder.

[e34moneypit]

F yeah man! What a color. Bringing it to bfest in August?

[Cookie Monster]

Hi from South Africa the car looks like a real bargain! There are a few E34 M5 B36's running around sunny SA! Non in your colour ours are all silver,maroon,avis blue,diamond black and ice white. We never got the B38 here due to our fuel quality. I am the workshop manager at a local BMW dealer been with them for more then 15 years. I am also a qualified BMW tech. I have always had a soft spot for E34's good solid cars my old man has a minter 95 mod 525i M50 B25TU manual. If I could find a M5 I would buy it right now as our local M5's are either really bad and to expensive to repair or the guys dont want to sell. I really hope you can find the time to fix her up and repair her to her forma glory. Good Luck!!

[BigC0605]

Nice find.

[TGreene]

A few weeks ago I was able to snag a trailer-load of E34 M5 parts from Springfield, Massachussets. The 540i/6 that I was driving at the time, and have now sold on to another forum member (Sneezy), was a pleasure in the mountains of Pennsylvania even with thousands of pounds of extra cargo.





I have sold off most of the haul, but I have kept the piece of resistance! - an insurance policy the only way I know how. I don't know of it runs. The seller claimed it was great with 100k on it when a freak tornado pushed some cinder blocks on the car. It seems to rotate as it should.



The car was not the focus of attention while I had the 540i/6. Being a long-term project car in my eyes, the 540i/6 took priority as a quick an impulse buy that needing sorting out before it could be DDd or sold on. Also complicating my progress with the M5 was working on finishing the garage with my brother.

Now with the 540i/6 gone and the garage space accessible again, time to check more things off of the M5's to-do-list.

The brakes started squeeling up front and I had the brake linings message, so I threw on the decent looking pads from the parts car and a new front pad wear sensor.





Not great, but they will do for now.




No more squeeling, but I still have the brake linings message - rears =(

I finally got fed up enough with the ratty interior that I decided to start taking it apart. I did not take many pictures but the front and rear center console and the rear seats are in my room being soaked with leatherique. The carpet turned out to be much nicer than I had expected, although I have yet to pull the front seats out. I have considered installing some dynamata but the added weight in the end has kept me from doing it.










The shift lever rubber boot was torn so I threw a new one that I had bought for another car but had never installed. I was very suprised by how much engine noise inside of the cabin was eliminated.



I have ordered a few yards of black 1/8th inch foam backed fabric for the headliner, pillars and the rear shelf and I picked up some 3M Super 77 spray adhesive the other day. I need to order much more leatherique oils and then some of their patching and dye materials. A decent interior is not more than a few months away.

The CEL came on and the Peake code reader that JamieNL has been letting me use was telling me that the air intake temperature sensor was bad. I bought a new one and threw it in. I took the airbox apart and cleaned it while I was at it. Going in, I thought it would be a 30 minute job. A few hours later I was only barely satified.



Yesterday and today were pretty big.

Rear Bilstein Sport Shocks
Rear HR Springs
Rear Shock Mounts
Fuel Filter
Flex Disc
UUC Black Poly Transmission Mounts
UUC DSSR
Transmission Fluid Drain and Refill - Redline MTL
Exhaust Hangers
Oxygen Sensor
Rear 20MM Spacers



I was always annoyed by the springing rear end and the sagging stance. I assumed that the SLS was totally dunskies. I guess I was half right.





Dropping the exhaust on this car has been the easiest so far due to how low the back of the headers sit.



New 02 sensor installed in the exhaust.





Hitting the transmission fill plug with some penetrating fluid since it was giving me a hard time. In the end I dropped the transmission down so I could get a break bar to clear the transmission tunnel and get onto the bolt. Once I knew I would be able to fill it up again, I drained it. The fluid was a very dirty brown and the drain plug had some metal shavings. Not good - time will tell. I will sooner replaced the transmission than baby it, though.



This stuff all went in but I did not take any pictures.





I dropped the car down and drove it around the street. I had the 9'' M-Systems on the rear but the rubbed with the spacers. I decided to keep 8'' wide wheels on with the spacers since they have better tires and better tread at the moment.

The engine was running noticeably rougher. I can either attribute that to the A/F mixture being a bit off because I synced the throttle bodies with a dead or dying 02 sensors and now the DME has switched up the fuel supply, or I can attribute it to the new transmission mounts that are transmitting more vibrating through to me - but I doubt it since the existing trans mounts did not look so bad. My plan is to buy my own Carbtune tool and re-sync the TBs then reasses.

The car also has an exhaust leak from the headers. I thought I already had the proper exhaust gaskets on hand but I did not and had to use the existing gasket. I also might not have done a great job distributing the force. They are damned tight, but might be damned tight in the wrong way leading to a bad seal. I will order new gaskets and try again.

The car also has new vibration from the drivetrain. I preloaded the CSB when I put it back in, and I tightened the hell out of the flex disc but I must have overlooked something. Again, I will just have to get in there and try it again before I put so many miles on that I compromise the new parts I just bought.

Even with those problems, taking the car out was a blast. I told myself I would not take it above 5k until I syned the TBs again but that did not last long. The rear end feels much better. It is much more planted, the car feels like it deliver's its power better, and the rear end is very happy to slip out when you want it to.

F yeah man! What a color. Bringing it to bfest in August?

It looks like I will be around so most likely I will.

Hi from South Africa the car looks like a real bargain! There are a few E34 M5 B36's running around sunny SA! Non in your colour ours are all silver,maroon,avis blue,diamond black and ice white. We never got the B38 here due to our fuel quality. I am the workshop manager at a local BMW dealer been with them for more then 15 years. I am also a qualified BMW tech. I have always had a soft spot for E34's good solid cars my old man has a minter 95 mod 525i M50 B25TU manual. If I could find a M5 I would buy it right now as our local M5's are either really bad and to expensive to repair or the guys dont want to sell. I really hope you can find the time to fix her up and repair her to her forma glory. Good Luck!!

Man, you guys have it hard - those are some terrible colors! Haha

Thanks for the encouragment. It is getting a bit more love now that my brother and I have spent some time organizing the garage and I have a place to safely put it up on on jack stands.

[redimension]

lookin good man, Im interested to see how that leather revives! Love the color combo.

[Lucky740]

Loving it.