XCRN's 525i Build Thread

[XCRN]

Also how hard was it to pull the carpet from beneath the HVAC box or did you cut it?

I just cut it and it was not easy getting far up enough to where you can't see where the cuts were made, but I did it.

[XCRN]

Finished with the carpet today and I got to say I like the black on tan interior, I might just keep it this way.




No seats in yet since I found a small wet spot underneath the carpet and just waiting for it to dry off (that is why it is propped up in that area). I still need to vacuum it more, it get rid of loose dye, flattens the color, and softens the carpet. But here is essentially the final product minus the seats.




Tomorrow after first day classes I will get to work on replacing with the black rear deck.

[M I C H A E L]

I can dig this two tone.... nice work man.

[XCRN]

Small update. School has started but I find my self on Tuesdays and Thursdays not having to leave for class until 4:30 PM, and even then I am out at 7:15. I guess those days will give me time to work on the car or fill with part-time work. Anyways onto the update.

All I did was get the black rear deck in and painted the little random plastic pieces on the ground of the car to match the carpet.

[rlfv5erie5]

This is awesome!!! Wish I had this sort of time at my disposal.

[XCRN]

Thanks. And I will wish I still had it in the upcoming months.

[XCRN]

Finished up the interior (minus the radio and shift plate). I really like the 2-tone and I think I will keep it that way instead of spending hundreds of dollars to do a full black swap.





I think this weekend I will start the process of removing the engine and transmission. It is not that I am doing the manual swap yet since I still need to piece together more parts.

[XCRN]

I wish I could say I was more productive with this project throughout the week, but today was the only thing I did since last update. I was unable to remove the engine since my Aunt bought a 2015 Odyssey that is parked in the spot in the barn where I was going to do the job. She said we will get to cleaning one of the other spots eventually. Key word "eventually".
Anyways all I did today was paint the windshield wipers.



This is something I also did at some point, I just started putting trim back on today. I did a DIY Euro trim. I know the actual euro trim is only $50 but I have run out of spending money so I just painted the lenses. It actually looks good. It is not obvious it was a blinker before, maybe an access hatch of some sort.

[bfp9]

When you free up some spending money outside of what is needed for the swap, brakes, and suspension, do some learning as you said earlier on an extra trunk lid or fender. Learning to detail is really rewarding, but it also truly can change the way you look at your car. Especially with your color, detailing it would be incredibly rewarding.

[XCRN]

When you free up some spending money outside of what is needed for the swap, brakes, and suspension, do some learning as you said earlier on an extra trunk lid or fender. Learning to detail is really rewarding, but it also truly can change the way you look at your car. Especially with your color, detailing it would be incredibly rewarding.

I actually started some polishing and waxing today apparently my cousins had some polish and rubbing compound that he let me use. So why not do it since there is not much more I can do that is free. I have never done polishing or waxing before. But my polish job looks great on the hood and trunk. After class today I think I will pick up some Meguiars wax to finish the job. I will try and get picture up when I get home since I have a real camera now.

I may end up replacing the trunk completely since the rust is a bit more serious than I thought, and that will likely require me to re-spray the new trunk since it is already hard enough to find any E34 much less a calypso one. And since I will be there the hood could use a re-spray since there are a lot of deep rock chips and scratches and oxidation, and other areas and some dents need to be touched up as well. And with the amount of effort to touch up all the areas I might as well paint the whole thing. But that is in the hypothetical future I first need to learn to paint and it might as well be on the spare trunk to begin with.

- - - Updated - - -

Got the hood and trunk polished with two coats of wax and started on the rear quarter panel started. Looks brand new except for the rock chips .

[XCRN]

Started calculating what I need to make this roadworthy. So this includes transmission and differential re-seal, shifter rebuild, brakes all around, and a clutch. I have not accounted for shipping, tax, machining, tools, or the fluids yet.

Some notes.
*I currently see a resurfaced flywheel for sale for $100 plus shipping, but it is unlikely it will be around when I make the next round of purchases.
*And I still need to figure out my situation with the throw-out bearing which I might need to buy a $90 TOB for the single mass flywheel conversion.
*Do not know how much the starter I need is so I can't estimate a price on that.

ZF310
9/1990 to 6/1992

+++Trans Seals
Input Seal 23121222972   National Rockauto 223555 $2.21
Output Seal 23121222771   National Rockauto 4175  $2.72
Shift Seal 23121282394 23121222677 Elring Ebay   $11.99
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Elring-S...994466&vxp=mtr

+++Diff Seals
Inner Seal 33111214144 x2  BMW Ebay    $5.53
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-OEM-94-9...ae239b&vxp=mtr
Outer Seal 33107505602 x2  Elring Ebay $10.98
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Differential...9cea0c&vxp=mtr
Input Seal 33101214099   BMW     $12.95
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Differential...88f5c7&vxp=mtr  

+++Shifter
Foam Insert 25111434194   BMW Ebay    $9.74
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-2002-530...895048&vxp=mtr  
Shift Pivot 25111220600
Shift Triangle 25111220707  BMW Ebay    $53.78
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-Genuine-...63a9ca&vxp=mtr

+++M20 Flywheel 
Flywheel Bolts 11227805885  BMW Ebay    $33.50 x8 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-Flywheel...b4ef6c&vxp=mtr
Flywheel    ?     $100.00?

+++M20 Starter 

+++M20 Clutch E30   LUK Rockauto 03023 $131.79
 
+++TO Bearing?
 
+++Pilot Bearing   National Rockauto 102CC  $9.54

+++Fluids

+++Brakes
Seals F x2    Carlson Rockauto 15220    $2.36       
Seals R x2    Centric Rockauto 14334012 $9.62
Rotors F x2    Brembo RockAuto 25301     $29.79
Rotors R x2    Brembo Rockauto 25129     $22.79
Pads F     Power Stop Rockauto 16394 $21.79
Pads R     Power Stop Rockauto 16396 $21.79

Numbers currently calculated equal $573.94, with the unknown values (fluids, tools, etc) probably another $150 on top and with a $90 for the TOB added too. So over all to finish the car I will need between $723.94 or $813.94 w/ TOB.

[XCRN]

Small update.

So I found my oscillating tool and was able to re-do the valve cover. Turned out ok, but you could see where I put the effort in. It was night when I got everything back on and the flash would make it look like crap when close so I had to take the final shot from further back.




I also started the process of cleaning and painting the manual swap parts.

I got the driveshaft painted since it was spotted with rust. I mainly just covered over it but it should suffice.



With the 3.23 LSD, I disassembled it so I could throw it in an electrolysis tub when I do the calipers. I may just push the caliper rebuild sooner so I can do this before the cold weather starts. I am assuming it is safe to use electrolysis on the exterior parts of the diff, please correct me if I am wrong.




- - - Updated - - -

Also what is the nut size for the input flange?

[7erfella]

Great work man! Loving the two tone, the only thing that would make it look a little better is a black dash and the top of the door cards to be black also, that would add a nice contrast that matches the carpet

If your ever interested in getting some KiDO coilovers, PM me for pricing and more details.

Keep up the great work!

[XCRN]

Started on another little project.

One little design quirk that annoys me with the E34 is the lack of a real cup holder, and I will hopefully driving this car back to Seattle for the next summer and having the cup holder would be real nice. I could get a universal cup holder but I want something that looks factory. However there is nothing good like that so I decided to make my own cup holder that is integrated in the center console. I am currently in school for Engineering Technology and have access to expensive CAD programs and machinery so I could do this project. Anyway here are some basic and quick sketches to give you and idea as to what I am doing. It is going to require some modifications to the center console.




And did a quick 3D model on Google Sketch-Up to get a better idea.

[Kinghorn]

Love your thread! Coming along nicely and your work definitely shows. As for detailing, just get into it. Youtube/practicing on extra panels helps and in turn polishes up your bad boy the most. Checkout my build thread and the detailing photos and use it as motivation. Cheap and very effective but I understand about the priorities issue the most as I'm in high school.


Calypso's an awesome color and w/ the manual swap it'll be a sweeeeeet daily, but lots of work ahead... Goodluck!

[XCRN]

Things have been moving slow but some stuff is getting done to pass some time. I started and finish the tan/black interior. Got a lot of pictures to show, I like to do that no matter how meaningless and insignificant the job is.

Doors.






Dashboard.

At this point I was dreading what I had got my self into.



Below is 2 coats into it before I had to get more paint.



Below is finished product.



Getting things put back together. Dashboard was easier than I thought.



And done.

[BleedsBlue]

Now I just want a black & tan.

Good work, though!

[The Night Rider]

Nice progress, that dash made a huge difference. If you do the headliner and pillar covers I think it will be a really impressive interior.

[XCRN]

Now I just want a black & tan.

Good work, though!

Thanks, 3 cans of the Dupli-Color vinyl fabric paint and some time and that is it.

Nice progress, that dash made a huge difference. If you do the headliner and pillar covers I think it will be a really impressive interior.

Thank you, I am still debating on that one, either way the head liner needs to come down so I can clean off some of the deep stains, then I will decide if I will. And if I decide to do it, then I have to figure the best approach to doing it since I am not very good at reupholstery. I have a friend in class who is a "jack of all trades" with this sort of stuff so he may know how to do it.

[XCRN]

So I have not updated this in awhile because no money, but during my vacation in Seattle I was able to sell $450 of my Honda/Acura parts collection. My collection was primarily suspension conversions. But anyways I was able to purchase a lot of parts, enough to make it update worthy. Nothing has been installed yet but next Wednesday I have no classes so I can maybe do some of these things that day.


Ok to begin with, my first round of purchases was several braking components. These I ordered while on my vacation in Seattle that was mostly spent at the hospital.




For the rotors I got Brembo in the front and Centric C-TEK in the rear. I was not thrilled with the packaging of the Brembo rotors but they looked fine. I will also be painting the rotor top hats and edges black since I will have the paint for the calipers.

I also got Centric C-TEK ceramic brake pads.

I also got components to rebuild all of the calipers and I went to Home Depot to pick up stuff for and electrolysis tub.



And the best part of this delivery, Stoptech stainless steel brake lines.




So that was one purchase. Today I went to the junkyard to get some E32 goodies since I go to find out that a week before I arrive, 3 of the local junkyards that always seem to be flooded with BMWs, they have scrapped anything I could use. But as it turns out, in a place where BMWs are uncommon to find start becoming saturated with Bimmers. So I went to the junkyard and got me some goodies. I got a rear head rest to match my interior and I saw a pristine condition black rear headrest which I might go back soon to pick them up. But I am happy with the ones I got, they are in superb condition.



And got the rear reading lights and rear cigarette lighter.




And when I got home I saw this at the front of the door. It was a $15 auto transmission filter since my transmission might be salvageable with a fluid and filter change.



So this all I have to report on for now. I will probably get the interior bits put on Wednesday and the brakes will have to wait until the snow melts.

[The Night Rider]

Nice, its good to see some more updates for your car. Sorry to hear you spent most of your vacation in hospital, hope all is well.

[E38740iMD]

After all that brake stuff you didn't get 540i brakes parts?

[XCRN]

Nice, its good to see some more updates for your car. Sorry to hear you spent most of your vacation in hospital, hope all is well.

Thank you, I am sort of relieved that it happend there since I still am insured there and not Ohio so I guess a blessing in disguise. But still wish I did not need to do this at all.

After all that brake stuff you didn't get 540i brakes parts?

I weighed my options with that one and I did not think it was worth the money this point in time. If I were to get 540i calipers it would probably be just the rear for vented rotors but I am still debating whether or not they will improve the braking in the front.

[XCRN]

Got the rear headrests and reading lights in today. Not fun since it was 10 degrees out but muscled on through it. The head rests are one of the cooler things I have done to the car I can see them being put to good use.



Not too fun splicing all the wires for these since the lights were 2 plugs and the car had a single small plug. I only had a box cutter to remove the insulation, I could not find the right tool for it but it worked.

[RN WC]

Hey that baby is looking awesome, especially considering the budget constraints. Keep up the good work. Fellow Engineering Tech graduate and Calypsorot 525i owner here