Which shop is doing the work?
Convenience Collision in East Bangor, PA.
Came highly recommended from Guten Parts, in NJ.
I DD all my cars too, but just seeing all this work and expense gives me the willies when you drive a car like that with all the lunatics out there. I just got done my e34 rebuild and my daughter is driving it, I'm always nervous either she, or some other kid, will whack the car and all the work will be for naught. But these cars are made to be enjoyed. The other day someone asked me why I like to drive BMWs, I asked him, why do you drive a Honda when you bought your wife an S550 Merc? We value the driving pleasure, he just wants a go cart to go places.
Here's the boat I'm in. About 5 years ago I purchased and completely rebuilt an e38 (photo below). Replaced the engine, rebuild the trans, suspension, cosmetics...then the HG went and did both heads. Car drove great for nearly 3 yrs after the rebuild in LA traffic, and about $10k invested. Last week the #8 cylinder failed. May be just a valve, but may be worse, after 211k miles, who knows. It's tough to spend so much on an old car, knowing the day will always come when the metal will give up on you.
I am very impressed by this project though. Lots of detail and work. Waaaaaay more than I have done. Just would like to see this car last a long time after all this work.
02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)
+100000
I'm doing lot's of work to my car. I bought CA car, don't have any rust there. But I did replace all suspension, almost done fixing up interior (leather, paint plastic ultrasuede, recovered door panels, etc). Cost is so far ~$9k. And after all that done I may go for new paint. I stay away from everybody on a road, but some things is just out of our control... And I bought it to be first car for my daughter but now I don't think so. I will teach her to drive in this car, but no more. I found myself driving it more than M3 lately One thing is to buy car with a money and another thing is to drive car that you restored and gave second live.
I hope it lasts literally forever!!
I got some pretty great news from the body shop. The rust repair is officially complete Now they are prepping the jams for paint, they will mount the rust free doors (which are already painted on the inside) and then the blocking and prime and all of that fun stuff begins.
Here are some photos, and one of them makes me realize I need a new passenger side bumper shock - this one looks like it came off the titanic!!!
The rust is officially repaired by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
The rust is officially repaired by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
The rust is officially repaired by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
The rust is officially repaired by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
The rust is officially repaired by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
The rust is officially repaired by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
Soon I hope I can report back with photos that actually resemble an e34. For now, maybe someone has a spare bumper shock they can sell me?!?!
Starting to think dying my carpet black might actually be the best idea, reluctantly...
Also curious if anyone has any life hacks to deal with the photobucket hosting problem? I'd love for this thread to actually work from the beginning....
I think the photobucket thing is a patch for you, but the better thing is to move to something else. (Imgur also hates BF.c - I use ImageShack for $18 a year)
Nice to see this car being revitalized!!!
Gone but not forgotten:
'95 540i/6 M-Sport. GA65474. Alpineweiss/Parchment.
Supercharger project
great photo dump from the body shop today
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
it will begin to look like an actual car again soon.
-Wes
Man oh man this is a beautiful thing! Makes me feel very fortunate that my '93 M5 and my DD '94 525 touring are from California. Fix it and drive it every single time the sun is shining. I totally agree that these cars must be driven and bring on the smiles. If driving them doesn't bring on the smiles you're doing it wrong!
Tommy L.
(oOO \ (IIII) (IIII) / OOo)
-o- (##########) -o-
2001 BMW M5 LMB LHD Euro
Bilstein PSS, Black Kidneys, Dinan Rear Anti-sway Bar, Matte Black Style 65, UUC SSK w/DSSR, Alpine iLX-007, Alpine MRV-F 340 Amp, Boston Acoustics Pro components, Alpine MRP-M450 Amp, Infinity Kappa 102.7W Sub x2
Current Garage:
1993 BMW M5
1994 BMW 525i Touring 5spd
2004 Ford SVT Lightning
Ah, how I wish this was a cali car.... :P 1993 m5 though? amazing. I love the way that year has the unique door handles. My dream score is to find BMW individual door handles and also door sills. I'll stick with the stock handles and m5 door sills until then though.
Does anyone know if all front bumper shocks are compatible? As seen above my pass side is corroded AF and going to make a clean engine bay ugly. I found a 25 dollar one on eBay, came from a 92 - I think they're all the same but I'd love some corroboration.
and still looking for OEM floor mats, kind of thinking dying my carpet black is the best bet at this point...
-Wes
Here are some very fun body shop updates.
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
- - - Updated - - -
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickrv
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on FlickrE34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
- - - Updated - - -
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration continued. PAINT! by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
So, now we have two brand new OEM front fenders, and a brand new OEM hood. rear windshield removed and reinstalled, front windshield replaced with OEM. Rear bumper and door bottom trims still need paint as well obviously. I'm getting so excited, but I know the car will need to be gone over a bit when I get it back from the body shop as it's now been there an entire year. Just before dropping it off was when the 3.15 LSD was installed with new power flex subframe bushings, and other things as well a few pages back. There was one mystery clunk in the front suspension, and we plan to replace the hard brake lines as well as add some stainless steel lines.
I'm also daydreaming, My brother had an interesting idea for the wheels. They'll be split and the lips polished and hardware refinished. He suggested painting the carbon fiber rings in the center caps to the body color, mauritius blau. Could be a super nice little touch. Not sure yet.
Damn
Dude. Sweet.
Current Fleet:
E34 1991 M5 Macaoblau on Complete (ruined)Leather Champagne - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1705166
Past:
E34 1989 535i 5-Speed AlpineweissII on Natur - Parted
E34 1992 525i 5-Speed Islandgrun on Pergament - Parted
E34 1995 540i 6-Speed ShwarzII on Shwarz - Sold to Sneezy.
E34 1995 525i 5-Speed Calypso Red on Parchment - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1748143 - Sold locally.
E39 1998 528i 5-Speed Black on Black - Sold locally.
E34 1993 M5 Alpinweiss on Black - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...lpinweissII-M5 - Parted
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
Just the gas cap and door bottom trims left. The body shop is also going to address the strut towers because the engine bay is otherwise looking excellent. At some point in the cars life a previous owner drilled new holes to add camber without camber plates - quite odd to me. I've since installed the coil overs and those other holes have some surface rust - so that will be addressed. And the OEM shadow line I bought for the car is being refreshed - we decided to do the windshield trims in the same shade of black for a nice matching look. Otherwise just a lot of wet sanding, polishing, re-assembly....
I'm thinking of having a clear bra installed on the entire front end before it leaves the body shop, they're pretty expensive but I'd really like to protect my investment in nice paint up front!
-Wes
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
oem shadow line getting refreshed
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
windshield trims done in the same black as the side trims
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
new OEM gas tank - this was something on my radar, a few years back I replaced the original tank with a "less bad" tank in a pinch. It was surface rusty then, and I knew it was just a matter of time. Glad I didn't have to do that job again in my driveway - early pages of this thread!
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
wet sanding the sun roof panel
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
sand sand sand
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
that's a brand new OEM windshield under there also
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
heavy... breathing.....
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
That's all for now. Getting so close!! After the body shop though it is going to need some going over... it's been there for a little over a year now- the plan was to do hard brake lines and such when it returned, but there will also be some maintenance items that will need addressing. Easy squeasy compared to the rust work.
-Wes
Really excited for you man. Very jealous.
Current Fleet:
E34 1991 M5 Macaoblau on Complete (ruined)Leather Champagne - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1705166
Past:
E34 1989 535i 5-Speed AlpineweissII on Natur - Parted
E34 1992 525i 5-Speed Islandgrun on Pergament - Parted
E34 1995 540i 6-Speed ShwarzII on Shwarz - Sold to Sneezy.
E34 1995 525i 5-Speed Calypso Red on Parchment - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1748143 - Sold locally.
E39 1998 528i 5-Speed Black on Black - Sold locally.
E34 1993 M5 Alpinweiss on Black - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...lpinweissII-M5 - Parted
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
these are being replaced with new OEM, I might make them functional later but I don't really have much of a desire to use them - just an aesthetics thing on the bumper for me.
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
some black paint and rust protection for the rear wheel wells
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
freshening up the black pieces in satin
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on FlickrE34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickrf
NO RUST fresh door rubber too
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
let there be light!!
E34 restoration progress by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
unfortunately the donor door had a bend in it that the body shop didn't catch when assembling. The passenger fender was replaced with new OEM (as was the hood and driver fender) and the pass fender was backordered so it was painted a few days after the rest was... unfortunately that led to this slight hiccup, but it is fixed and set to be repainted probably on monday.
Another find was that the driver's side mirror glass is not a heated unit and the wires were just tucked. So I'll need to replace that. I might go with the euro mirror wide angle glass to match the passenger side (I retrofitted a few years back).
Unfortunately the seat is acting up, drivers side specifically, and the power functions don't seem to be working. Hoping it's an easy fix with the cables, I explained how that could happen over the phone but we will see. Ultimately it isn't the worst because I have the euro interior to swap in
Hoping the car leaves the bodyshop within two weeks time now. It will be delivered right to my brother's shop where we will go through the car a bit as it was at the body shop for one year and two months so far. Spark plugs, fluids, etc. Also it will get new hard brake lines and the calipers will be pulled to be refinished. When that is done I can do the interior swap myself and then who knows what will happen. I need to find a garage to store the car in
-Wes
Holy shit this is amazing! I love the thoroughness of the restoration.
Haven't posted here in a little bit. Here's some awesome updates! The body shop is all but finished, the balance is completely paid and the car will be leaving on Friday - heading to my brother's job where the work begins on all new brake lines and fuel lines, along with spark plugs, fluids, filters, battery, stuff to address since it has been sitting..... also ... the wheels and interior
Okay, here's the fixed door as seen above... like it never happened!
Untitled by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
Untitled by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
really beginning to look like a car here
Untitled by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
mock up of one of the rears.... I've got brand new CF rings for the center caps that will are now painted body color
Untitled by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
Untitled by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
unfortunately 15 months of being pushed around and not started and stuff lead to the steering wheel leather finally giving way..... now accepting recommendations on where you've gotten your wheel rewrapped. fresh leather is mandatory now!
Untitled by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration nearing completion by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
much excite!!
E34 restoration nearing completion by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration nearing completion by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
when installing, the paint that was on the rocker panel when I brought it to the shop seemed to fail underneath the new coat. The paint chipped off when the rocker was pressed on, and the shop called me to tell me they were going to have to completely strip that rocker and start over. The other side went on fine, and for now we have left it alone... I know the car was not original paint when I bought it, but I was never clear on just how much was redone or was it the whole car etc..... For now, that's a risk we took. It's easy enough to pull the rocker and have it redone should this issue ever arise again.
E34 restoration nearing completion by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
E34 restoration nearing completion by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
strut towers got a fresh coat of paint to address some surface rust from weirdo previous owner mods. We had all of the stickers that had to be removed reproduced to OEM spec yes that's right this car is an individual from 95
Here's the photos from my visit to the bodyshop yesterday
DSC02876 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02877 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02878 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02881 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02882 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02884 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02886 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02889 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02893 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02896 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02897 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02899 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02900 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02902 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02905 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02907 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02912 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
DSC02916 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
It's SO NICE to see straight panel gaps, perfect body lines on the DRIVERS SIDE for the first time in years. No quarter panel rust, no door bubble rust, no trim that's bent or misshapen...... it's just so refreshing!! It finally looks like the car I'd always pictured in my head when I looked at it..... and now there's no bad angle to shoot it from
I can't wait to keep on with this progress and FINALLY DRIVE THE CAR.... haven't driven the car since thanksgiving 2016 :O
-Wes
I guess if we ask how much it cost - we can't afford it?
Very nice! Paint flaking off plastic is really bad sign. Hopefully they will get it right.
I had front bumper on RX7 painted 3 times, every time stripped to plastic and they sweared they used proper agents, etc
ugh...looks so nice. Interested to see the wheels on it with both silver/blue center caps.
e34 540i/6 :: e30 M62/6 :: e30 318is :: c5 Z06
Bookmarks