atl530i's 540i M-Sport project thread

[Sir Montalbon]

Yeah, most of the cool stuff I've been finding on eBay lately is from eastern Europe. I'll keep an eye out for pics. If you have a shot of the inside of the box, I'd like to see it. I use the center console for storage a lot. I've also installed a dual usb port just above it and am curious if it will interfere with plugging in usb cables.

[BleedsBlue]

Well shoot, J-money. I thought I was such hawt sh1t finding that lock surround P/N for ya

[atl530i]

I'm saving it for that eventual E34 M5. Good to have spares

[angeleye540i]

I use the center console to hide and cleanly keep
My radar and laser defense (jamming) system display and control unit (passport 9500ci)... Also good for storage

[atl530i]

Yeah, most of the cool stuff I've been finding on eBay lately is from eastern Europe. I'll keep an eye out for pics. If you have a shot of the inside of the box, I'd like to see it. I use the center console for storage a lot. I've also installed a dual usb port just above it and am curious if it will interfere with plugging in usb cables.

After looking at your thread, I'm pretty sure it would interfere with plugging stuff in.

I use the center console to hide and cleanly keep
My radar and laser defense (jamming) system display and control unit (passport 9500ci)... Also good for storage

I want to hide pens. I cannot stand seeing pens everywhere in the car, even if they are in the pocket.

[atl530i]

Got the stereo installed update. Very happy with the results and the factory Nokia's sound pretty awesome now for being twenty years old. I provided a JL XD1000/5 and reused my old Rockford HE2 sub. Still sounds great like I first bought it.

Getting started


During. I used 4 conductor wire and used red/blk for left and wht/grn for right.



Good thing the wiring is going to be hidden. I left slack for future use. I ran the wiring under the amp and wrapped the white wire in mesh sheath for aesthetics.


Getting there.


Done. I wired the amp rack light to the trunk lights so it is not on all the time when the radio is on. I straightened out the amp. #6 screws and stand-offs make for a fun time trying to mount it straight. Yes, that's a CD changer...I still have CD's


My old Clarion head unit. 6ch 4v preouts. It has rear aux so I connected a bluetooth adapter to it. I do not like front aux and USB ports, they look tacky and wires hanging off the front of the radio look like crap anyway.

[Sir Montalbon]

Looks awesome! I really wanted one of those crossovers, but timing and funds never lined up. How's the sound?

[BleedsBlue]

Clean, clean, clean. There's J-Money for you.

[atl530i]

Looks awesome! I really wanted one of those crossovers, but timing and funds never lined up. How's the sound?

I like it a lot. Definitely worth the wait if you want more volume and clarity. It's not going to win an SPL contest but it's a nice clean sounding system which is what I want.

I want to get something for the E39 but there are other things it needs first.

Clean, clean, clean. There's J-Money for you.

Thanks. I've been waiting since March to install this stuff. There was a lead time on the crossover network and amp rack. I got the rack on Friday after a two month wait and started installing Saturday afternoon.

[BleedsBlue]

Thanks. I've been waiting since March to install this stuff. There was a lead time on the crossover network and amp rack. I got the rack on Friday after a two month wait and started installing Saturday afternoon.

Damn! Nothing like long-awaited parts

I can't imagine having such a clean and sorted E34 that you can start to tackle things like stereo, haha. My fault for buying crusty basketcases, I suppose.

[atl530i]

Damn! Nothing like long-awaited parts

I can't imagine having such a clean and sorted E34 that you can start to tackle things like stereo, haha. My fault for buying crusty basketcases, I suppose.

I got lucky with the 540. Everything before and after wasn't as nice looking lol. Just took some more time to make them look decent.

[atl530i]

Interior update. I bought that cool interior from Chicago over the weekend. I took my company van and drove there. It was a fun weekend as I went to see some friends that live there so it was not just all business. I had a good time hanging out with everyone and am very grateful to have good friends.




The door panel inserts will be transplanted to later model door panels since these do not have trim and the rears are delaminated pretty bad. I am not sure what to do with the trim, maybe paint it piano black or just leave it?



Installed the seats.




The rear came with the storage arm rest. Bonus since I did not know about that. It even had a German flag and safety vest in it from when it was imported.


I don't do much to the M Sport anymore so it was nice getting this for it. I'll deal with the door panels later. I may try and find a really clean set of black door panels and modify those since mine have a few small imperfections. I also have to build a harness so I can have power mirrors again, not a big deal and nothing new for me. I am debating putting my black sport seats in the wagon, saving them, or just selling them. I like the comfort seats so they may stay in the wagon for the time being.

[Sir Montalbon]

Damn those look good. Congrats, man!

[OGM3]

The progress on this car is fantastic. It just keeps getting better.
What a cool project

[Grim Reaper]

Awesome!

Just a comment given they are in my Euro M5. Its amazing how tight these seats hold you while driving. Tough to describe until you experience it and it really does change the driving experience.

[atl530i]

Awesome!

Just a comment given they are in my Euro M5. Its amazing how tight these seats hold you while driving. Tough to describe until you experience it and it really does change the driving experience.

I've heard the same about these seats. I tested that out the day I installed them and it was really nice not sliding everywhere so it has changed driving the car some. I do miss the leather a little though.

[atl530i]

Finished the rest of the interior.

The door panels were easier than I thought they would be. I managed to save the original inserts in case I want to reuse them in another project.



Rest of the pics.

[BleedsBlue]

Sharp, there is nothing better!

Did BMW offer that interior with wood trim, if anyone knows?

[OGM3]

Such a cool interior nice work.
Have you thought about doing a wrap on the wood trim? Red might be awesome or a gray color.

[Kannackas]

Sharp, there is nothing better!

Did BMW offer that interior with wood trim, if anyone knows?

They did put it in a red M-sport. Also in Europe there's many late model M5's with amaretta and wood panels.

https://bringatrailer.com/2013/10/04...-540i-m-sport/

- - - Updated - - -

Sharp, there is nothing better!

Did BMW offer that interior with wood trim, if anyone knows?

They did put it in a red M-sport. Also in Europe there's many late model M5's with amaretta and wood panels.

https://bringatrailer.com/2013/10/04...-540i-m-sport/

[atl530i]

Such a cool interior nice work.
Have you thought about doing a wrap on the wood trim? Red might be awesome or a gray color.

I thought about piano black, dark silver/gray, or a nice carbon fiber wrap. Red would be too much.

They did put it in a red M-sport. Also in Europe there's many late model M5's with amaretta and wood panels.

https://bringatrailer.com/2013/10/04...-540i-m-sport/

- - - Updated - - -

That interior was swapped from a Canadian M540i when the original owner bought a US spec M Sport and a Canadian M540i. He liked red more than white so he took all the cool bits from the M540i and put them in the M Sport. The white M540i came up on ebay a year or so ago and was missing the carbon fiber trim. He did not swap the carbon fiber trim (no telling what happened to it) unfortunately that were found in M540i's. I'm not sure about Euro cars on whether or not the trim was wood or not with these interiors. The door panels that my inserts came from were the early style with no trim.

[struka]

I thought about piano black, dark silver/gray, or a nice carbon fiber wrap. Red would be too much.

Piano black.

[atl530i]

Decided to fix the mirrors in the M Sport today. Since the car had memory seats and mirrors, the mirrors stopped working when I removed the old seats in favor of the new seats. This was annoying right from the start so I decided to start looking for a sport seat harness so I would not have to tear my sport seat apart for that harness. The seat heater did not work since the connectors were also different. A friend had a spare sport seat memory harness that he just gave me (thanks again!). Everything works now including the autodip mirror when I put it in reverse.

I ended up removing whatever I did not need from the harness (mostly pig tails that went to the motors) in order to make it more compact and easier to hide under the seat. This is what I was left with. I wrapped it in tape so it would blend in some and also be more manageable with zip ties.


What I cut off. Anything that was not needed was cut off and discarded. I kept the bolster harness because I am going to help the same friend get the rest of his sport seat working (has a comfort harness in it currently) properly. I did the same thing on my 540i6 wagon last year so the second time should be a breeze.


As it currently sits


I've been driving it more often than not this year. It sat for most of 2016 due to a lot of other things going on. This car is at home in the north GA mountains.

[Sir Montalbon]

Looks great! I need to do the wiring harness on my wagon's sport seats. I was in a hurry so just hooked up power. Need to get the SRS wires and memory/mirror wires hooked up and reset my SRS light.

[atl530i]

Looks great! I need to do the wiring harness on my wagon's sport seats. I was in a hurry so just hooked up power. Need to get the SRS wires and memory/mirror wires hooked up and reset my SRS light.

Thanks man, I've been lazy about getting the mirrors working.

Since I installed an M-tech II wheel, I don't have an airbag on the driver side and ended up disabling the system because of it. Not sure if I would really trust 20+ y/o airbags.