Ironman's Daily Drivers

[IronmanE30]

It's 5:30 and the roosters are crowing, still dark but I had a hard time sleeping last night. Our plans changed and we ended up mounting the tires up yesterday and the car is on the rack. As soon as it get light enough I will start working on the car. Today I have to pull the suspension and change out the springs to a longer set then work on getting the new shoes on the 540.



I expect some fitment fun so I have an assortment of spacers to test fit so I can order the correct spacers and bolts for the final install. The old wheels were an ET 13 and the new ones are about ET20/ET22 from my measurements. Lifting the car will change the camber and ride height both of which will effect the tire fitment. I have done suspension on several E30's but this will be the first time on an E34 and the first time with coil overs so it should be a learning experience. I will post more pictures throughout the day.

Cheers,

Jim

[ShapeShifter]

Sounds like fun, with the right et its gonna look awesome.
Did you order 255's or 265's?

[IronmanE30]

So I am starting out without the new springs just to see how things are going to work without any modifications to the suspension.





The rear has one finger gap at the top. Maybe a 4mm spacer?

Here is a picture of the front without any spacer.





Lots of room under compression on full turn so no problem there. So let's push it out with a 12mm spacer so the caps will fit.





Looks good enough for the driveway test. Our driveway is a perfect test because it puts things under full compression. Cars with big sway bars will lift the rear wheel which is what the 540 does. Thank goodness for LSD.

Cheers,

Jim

- - - Updated - - -

Well the driveway test went OK. The rears work and I have about one inch before the back of the car drags.



But... the front needs to come up a little.



So I will adjust the coil overs up a little bit and give it another try. My wife is watching and says that I need to lift the car up so I won't look so ghetto. I still get a kick out of the kids giving a thumbs up to an old man, so for now we stay slammed.

Cheers,

Jim

- - - Updated - - -

I adjusted the front springs up 1/2".


The coil overs are now adjusted to the maximum height with these springs but the new springs are 2" longer so that should put them just about in the middle of their adjustment. The side skirts are almost perfectly level so this took out the rake. I am not sure how stock cars sit so if any of you have time to take a level and see if your side skirts are level or if when stock there is a rake that would be nice to know. I would like to do a corner balance on the car once the new springs are installed to get things as close to 50/50 as possible but I have not done this before so I have to research who does that locally and how much it costs.

Then I did the driveway test again.



Close enough for Government work. Now to play a little bit with spacing out the back tires.

Cheers,

Jim

[gixxerboy63]

Looks great... You're on the right track and it's going to get dialed in perfectly.

[IronmanE30]

Thanks Tim!

[gixxerboy63]

...just keep the progress pictures coming!

[IronmanE30]

...just keep the progress pictures coming!

Yesterday Brian and I worked on my old, his new, 525. He put the M Pars on the car so he was all ready for the new Hartge's for his M5. Then we did a polish and wax job on it. Then it started to rain. LOL

His new car has not looked this good in several years. Congratulations on your new ride Brian!



I ordered new bolts and H&R spacers with the hub centric adapters build in to go from the E34 to the E39 hub diameter. They should be here in a few days which will give me time to treat all the black trim with Der Stuff.

Cheers,

Jim

[IronmanE30]

H&R TRAK+ came today. Hub centric rings built in so one less part to worry about.



Lug Bolts here tomorrow. It will be good to drive the beast for a while before the next project begins.

Cheers,

Jim

[93FIM5]

Coming along nicely! I can sympathize with wanting to drive it for a while before the next phase. You should of grabbed my studs for sale lol. Again looks great!

[IronmanE30]

LOL, I am actually using the studs off the Mtech for the test fit and thought that the lug bolts would get here before the spacers. I ended up spending the down time cleaning the door jams. It is amazing how dirty things can get.

Cheers,

Jim

[IronmanE30]

Today was an interesting day. I spent quite a bit on H&R spacers and neither set fit. I had to get out the old Dremel with a sanding hub and chamfer the back of the 5mm spacer. The brake disc's has a small area where it came into the parking brake drum that was a little larger than the hub. No worries all fixed and on to the front spacers. This one I could not fix.





The hub was almost twice as long as the area in the spacer allowed. So I put the studs back on and used two spacers on each wheel to get it out to a 16mm spacer. After all that it was time for a drive. I took a couple of pictures around town. No shimmy or bounce up to 80 mph so life is good.







Cheers,

Jim

[gixxerboy63]

Looking good too!

[ShapeShifter]

wow that sits nice.

I hope the kids are paying attention, this is what it takes to get wheels to sit perfect.

[IronmanE30]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Today I am taking a break from the 540 and working on the Urban Assault Vehicle. This is my 04 Rubicon with under 15K miles. I started building this Jeep in 2005 and it's still not done. LOL

I am part of the Red Flag fire patrol here in our little town. Here is a picture from July 4th 2013.



Cheers,

Jim

[gixxerboy63]

The Mpars look outstanding on the 525... the improved paint detail looks better too!

[FLarimer]

Jim - your 540 is looking super! Can't wait to catch up with you and Brian so we can compare our E34's.

fL

[IronmanE30]

Hi Fred,

It's good to see you here. Brian works on Saturdays now so he won't be able to make Cars and Coffee but we will find a time an a place to meet up my friend.

Hi Tim,

Yes it was quite a transformation for the old 525. It's funny how nice it got the day before it traded hands.

Cheers,

Jim

[thatonedood]

Yeah those Mpars look very nice on the 525. And I guess the 540 and style 5's look good too...





Great work man!

[Leonator134]

Lookin' good Jim!


Cheers,

Leo

[IronmanE30]

Yeah those Mpars look very nice on the 525. And I guess the 540 and style 5's look good too...





Great work man!

I have to agree that the M-Pars are perfect for our cars. I had to settle for the Style 5's on the 540...

Lookin' good Jim!


Cheers,

Leo

Thanks Leo!

Cheers,

Jim

[IronmanE30]

Not much to update, except that the front H&R spacers did not work so I returned them and I am waiting for the new ones to arrive. Been working on the Jeep for the past few weekends getting ready for Hot Summer Nights car show. Open headers competition, Off Road rigs and Military rigs. This should be a great way to spend the afternoon.



Cheers,

Jim

[staystackin]

Personally, I would raise the rear a hair or lower the front a hair. The differing arches of the e34 chassis (to me) call for a slight bit of rake. The rear looks more low the the front at first glance and the front looks too high at first glance. Upon anything more than that it's plain to see the sideskirt is level and that's just the design of the car however.

Just my 2 cents. Love this thread and the car is definitely coming out great. Looking forward to some pics of those hartge's on your son's M5 too!

-Wes

[BigM62]

Thanks!



Thanks! The difference in the power band between the S38 and the M60 actually makes them both totally different cars to drive. For daily driving I like the M60 but there is nothing like the feeling of the S38 when it is in the power band.
Jim

Very good point, and one that I have said many times. When in it's power band ( over 4.5K rpm) the E34 M5 is awesome. But, unless you live in a secluded area or just don't care about tickets, the US highway system is not the German autobahn. Hence, the reason BMW went to a torquey V8.

Great looking Jeep.

[IronmanE30]

Personally, I would raise the rear a hair or lower the front a hair. The differing arches of the e34 chassis (to me) call for a slight bit of rake. The rear looks more low the the front at first glance and the front looks too high at first glance. Upon anything more than that it's plain to see the sideskirt is level and that's just the design of the car however.

Just my 2 cents. Love this thread and the car is definitely coming out great. Looking forward to some pics of those hartge's on your son's M5 too!

-Wes

Thanks, I agree. The plan is to raise the rear just a bit but I have not installed the new springs yet and the existing springs are at their highest setting with the front tires fitting perfect in the wheel wells. Brian is very excited about his new wheels. I just hope they get here when he is at work so I can see how they look on the 540. LOL

Very good point, and one that I have said many times. When in it's power band ( over 4.5K rpm) the E34 M5 is awesome. But, unless you live in a secluded area or just don't care about tickets, the US highway system is not the German autobahn. Hence, the reason BMW went to a torquey V8.

Great looking Jeep.

Thanks, Both are great cars, I have always loved torque so the 540 is perfect for me.

A little update, I found some bumpers for the 540... But they come with a complete car attached. Please welcome my wifes new daily driver.



We finally got her out of the E39 and into a better ride. She is so excited and so are we.

Cheers,

Jim

[FLarimer]

Yo, Jim -
>>A little update, I found some bumpers for the 540... But they come with a complete car attached. Please welcome my wifes new daily driver.<<

SWEET! Congrats on the Touring. The 540 is looking good!