E34 540iT/6 Swap Thread

[Layne]

How hard would it be to swap the black dash to the Touring? I've never removed a dash before and it sounds like hell, but I'd love to do it if it's reasonable.

Assuming they're both the same year, it's no trouble at all. Maybe 2 hours all together for a first-timer.

[wmrcs]

That sounds totally worth it. Pretty sure the touring is a '95 too so cool.

[Sir Montalbon]

Got any pics or info on this touring?

[wmrcs]

I was going to save the pics for when I picked it up....but since you asked here is one.




More to come...

[Layne]

Nice! Those roof bars are worth $200 easy.

[Sir Montalbon]

Man, if that thing is granite on black, I'm jealous. I'll only be vindicated when I swap my Alpine's interior to black. Good start!

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+1 to Layne's roof rack comment.

[wmrcs]

Nice! Those roof bars are worth $200 easy.

Man, if that thing is granite on black, I'm jealous. I'll only be vindicated when I swap my Alpine's interior to black. Good start!

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+1 to Layne's roof rack comment.

Shh you guys! I don't know if this guy is on the forums or not and I don't want him to realize that! I wanted those same roof racks on my last Touring SO BAD.

[wmrcs]

Just sayin....



It's super dirty right now. Can't wait to get home in 4 hours with it!

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Greaaaatttt... TWO flat tires on the trailer.

[Sir Montalbon]

Every big project will fight you along the way. Welcome to your first! Good looking start, good luck!

[wmrcs]

Every big project will fight you along the way. Welcome to your first! Good looking start, good luck!

My goodness, it was quite the day I'll tell you what! Between the early departure, 600 mile trek, and the blown tires I am so glad to be home!

The first batch of goodies for the motor and trans showed up today too! It's finally becoming a reality! Anyway, here is a pictorial synopsis of my day.







And then finally home to it's resting place until the 540i gets moved out of the garage.





And here's the interior...it is a little dirty, but in great shape! I definitely will be swapping as much black into it as I can. And the car is a '94 not a '95, but I'm going to assume that the dashes will still be interchangeable unless Layne says otherwise... they look the same! Mostly..







I'm tanked, but can't wait to work on the 540 some more tomorrow.

[moroza]

Sweet!

Maybe keep the seats, change the rest to black?

No reason the dashes shouldn't interchange, but mind the airbags.

[Bimmerick]

My goodness, it was quite the day I'll tell you what! Between the early departure, 600 mile trek, and the blown tires I am so glad to be home!

...I'm tanked, but can't wait to work on the 540 some more tomorrow.

Congratulations on the new Touring. It looks great in the pics and should make for an awesome 540/6 Touring.

And FWIW, I love the earlier (pre-95) dashboard with no passenger airbag; I think the molded in tray looks classic, and those stupid passenger airbag covers always seem to look a little "off" to me even when they are not warped.

On the other hand, although a sedan interior isn't a touring interior, a black interior in that touring would look pretty sweet.

[wmrcs]

Thanks guys! Yea she needs some love, but I think it has tremendous potential. That's not too bad of an idea Moroza, although, these 540 sport seats just look too sleek! The touring seats look plush and cozy, but I want a sportier look

Rick, I do LOVE the dashes with no airbag... I am going to hold off as long as possible to dig into the touring.. I need to get the B40 and everything out of the sedan and on the side before I get to mixed up with the cars.

Now off to do spark plugs on my Tundra! Peace.

[762Armo]

Sports seats are more comfortable than the comfort seats. I have a black non airbag dash if you switch everything to black and want that too.

[wmrcs]

Sports seats are more comfortable than the comfort seats. I have a black non airbag dash if you switch everything to black and want that too.

Broo... I need to double check my 540 but I'd love a black non airbag dash. What a great excuse to meet up too haha! Don't get rid of it because I'll more than likely want it! I hate this grey dash... 😲

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Armo, what kind of deal can we work for that no airbag black dash? PM me or something!

[wmrcs]

So last night a spent about 45 minutes on the 540 and get the radiator out. The motor is just about ready to be pulled, although, I think I'm going to take a quick hiatus from it and invest a little effort into the wagon right now. I bought it with a no start condition. The PO didn't have a single clue what happened as he purchased the car from a dealer who bought it back from a customer... kind of a confusing story, but I'm happy with the deal. I checked the coolant/oil and it isn't showing any signs of bad head gaskets so I went and grabbed a fresh battery I had sitting in my garage and through it in. Turned the key and was enlightened with the fact I finally saw the beautiful 111k on the instrument cluster! So glad that it has low-ish miles just for the mental factor.

The car doesn't even crank. It is a '94 so I don't think it's any EWS issue (I could very well be wrong). Tonight when I get home I'm going to check the starter and ignition switch. Thankfully I have one I can take out of the 540i to swap and test with! I'd like to be able to drive the Touring a little bit so I can get home earlier at the end of the day because my wife usually gets off of work at 5:30ish and I'm off by 4:30 most days. And we carpool... that extra hour could be invaluable.

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[Layne]

Could be anything. Try hooking a jumper cable from the engine to the chassis. The little ground wire that connects them recently bit me in the ass. Could be a bad starter (not as hard to change as it looks, but very very hard to get at to do any in-place testing). Could be someone fiddled with the CODE setting on the OBC. You're right it does not have EWSII so no problems there.

[wmrcs]

Could be anything. Try hooking a jumper cable from the engine to the chassis. The little ground wire that connects them recently bit me in the ass. Could be a bad starter (not as hard to change as it looks, but very very hard to get at to do any in-place testing). Could be someone fiddled with the CODE setting on the OBC. You're right it does not have EWSII so no problems there.

Good to know. Haven't looked for the starter yet so hoping it's nowhere near what my '98 328is starter was.. that was a bitch for sure. What do you mean someone could've fiddled with the CODE setting?

[AHenry014]

Does the OBC show "CODE" when trying to start it? In the case of someone trying to steal the car, and assuming theyve defeated the ignition and steering wheel lock, the OBC has a "code" feature (lower right hand button), which the user can program a 4 digit code into to keep the car from starting until the code is entered again. I tinkered with it once or twice, and recall being able to crank the engine, but no start. Couldnt tell you how to defeat it if you dont have the code. If it sat for any amount of time with a dead battery, i would assume it would reset itself. As Layne said, i would jump an engine ground and try again. If that doesnt help, i would get underneath and try to jump the starter solenoid. If you get it to crank, then theres a wiring issue (pretty simple to trace with the diagrams). If not crank, then id bet a bad starter. Also as Layne said, the starter isnt too bad to do. Looks intimidating, but remove connections at the starter solenoid, and two bolts from the bellhousing side and down she comes. Disconnect the battery first!

[Sir Montalbon]

Check that you have power in the ebox to the DME. I had a no start in my touring that ended up being the second fusible link that runs from the battery to the ebox under the carpet. It's about where the rear passenger's feet would be.

Also, not sure if the '94 530 touring has a smog pump, but if so, you should have a big red 50A fuse in the ebox. Mine wouldn't start another time until I found that fuse blown and replaced it. Although, in hindsight, that doesn't make sense...

[wmrcs]

Does the OBC show "CODE" when trying to start it? In the case of someone trying to steal the car, and assuming theyve defeated the ignition and steering wheel lock, the OBC has a "code" feature (lower right hand button), which the user can program a 4 digit code into to keep the car from starting until the code is entered again. I tinkered with it once or twice, and recall being able to crank the engine, but no start. Couldnt tell you how to defeat it if you dont have the code. If it sat for any amount of time with a dead battery, i would assume it would reset itself. As Layne said, i would jump an engine ground and try again. If that doesnt help, i would get underneath and try to jump the starter solenoid. If you get it to crank, then theres a wiring issue (pretty simple to trace with the diagrams). If not crank, then id bet a bad starter. Also as Layne said, the starter isnt too bad to do. Looks intimidating, but remove connections at the starter solenoid, and two bolts from the bellhousing side and down she comes. Disconnect the battery first!

Check that you have power in the ebox to the DME. I had a no start in my touring that ended up being the second fusible link that runs from the battery to the ebox under the carpet. It's about where the rear passenger's feet would be.

Also, not sure if the '94 530 touring has a smog pump, but if so, you should have a big red 50A fuse in the ebox. Mine wouldn't start another time until I found that fuse blown and replaced it. Although, in hindsight, that doesn't make sense...

You guys rock! I don't recall it saying CODE but I will dig in tonight and let you know what happens! Thanks a million.

[Layne]

As said, the code is an anti-theft thing. You enter a 4 digit code, and then the car cannot be started until you re-enter the same code. It's easy to do accidentally. Passengers like to push buttons. I'm like "HOLY $H1T GET AWAY FROM THERE!" anytime someone touches the OBC. It's kind of a dumb system. Right next to the buttons to tell you gas mileage and average speed is the 'never be able to start your car again' button. Of course it can be bypassed, there's a relay somewhere. I forget where. Obviously it's very well concealed or it would be totally pointless. Somewhere deep inside the dash I think. I don't remember if the code lockout prevents cranking the engine, or lets it crank but not start. I'm thinking it's the later, so probably not what you're facing.

[wmrcs]

So got home a little later than expected tonight so I've run out of daylight and willpower (I need a bigger garage...) The inside of this car is prettyyy gross with dead bugs everywhere and the occasional pile of mice poop. Starting to get nervous that a wire or 50 got chewed through... but several places to look first before I decide that!

Tonight all I did was check the fusible link visually and visually investigate all of the fuses. Tomorrow morning I'll try and hit it for about 20 minutes before work if possible and I'm going to check the main DME relay (speaking of that, is it just in the computer box with the DME, and TCM and whatever that third one is?) and double check the fusible link near the battery under the rear passenger seat. Is that the only fusible link in this car? I've done a bit of research but it's been vague or redundant. Really wish I could've spent more time with it but it is what it is. Can't wait for the weekend!

[Sir Montalbon]

There are two fusible links. One is mounted under the seat close to the battery and is very visible. The second one I was referring to is actually under the carpet where the right rear passenger's feet would be. Visually checking them isn't always adequate, as often the fuse looks fine but has hairline cracks that have been known to cause issues. To test both fusible links, I would remove them and use a thick jumper cable with an inline fuse to eliminate them as the culprit.

Good info starting at post #27 and continuing on throughout this thread:
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...3#post20474273

[wmrcs]

Ah, see that's what I thought you were saying. I originally pulled up the carpet up because of what you said and it was hot and dark so I just felt around all the way up to the seat (I removed the door trim piece that the carpet was under and just pulled the corner back as far as I could and reached under it) and I didn't feel anything other than metal floor so I proceeded to Google if there were more than just one. I even looked right at that thread and clearly skimmed right over that bit where it's on the 8 gauge cable under heat shrink. I was feeling for another black box similar to what that 80A link is behind the battery. I guess I'm just tired haha. I'll check it out tonight now.