Bought a slightly burned E34...project.

**darknezz7** · 09-15-2017, 12:20 AM

This is awesome stuff, I love seeing multiple cars assembled into one to make the best and save it! Plus, everyone always needs more parts lol!

**atl530i** · 09-17-2017, 01:08 AM

Making progress. Cleaned up the engine bay, finished the engine, and I now have a clutch pedal. Not bad for a spare time project. I also dropped the LSD off for a reseal since the front pinion seal was leaking.

Before. Getting the rest of the ABC stuff out of the engine bay.

After. Cleaned up nicely.

Engine all cleaned up. The intake is sitting there, it'll be pulled off when the engine is dropped back in the car.

Picked up some BavAuto coils for a killer deal. The coils that were on the engine did not match.

3 pedals! Cleaned up what was left of the ABC stuff while the column was out of the car.

**Jackson42** · 09-17-2017, 01:18 PM

I notice the Fluke multimeter on your workbench. I'll bet you've used that a *lot* on this project!

**atl530i** · 09-17-2017, 02:26 PM

That meter has been thru a lot of projects. I work on marine electronics so I have a few of those meters laying around along with a nice Blue Point meter.

**atl530i** · 10-07-2017, 07:06 PM

I got the detents done and driveshaft back this week so I was able to get some more work done. I also picked up an M5/M Sport steering wheel but haven't installed it. I have a set of black sport seats that came out of my M Sport that I may throw in this car.

Made some great progress last night and today. I finished the rear main, flywheel, clutch, and got everything put together for today.

My cat that likes to supervise these projects.

Engine and trans back in the car.

I got the wiring harness installed but need to tone out a few of the connectors. Guess that's what I get for not labeling anything. Shouldn't take but a few minutes since you only need to tone one wire on each connector.

This is nice to see.

Also installed a single vane power steering pump, reservoir, and the correct lines so there is no need for this stuff now.

**moroza** · 10-07-2017, 11:18 PM

Lesser people would've scrapped that car after the fire. You not only brought it back to life, you're also making it worthy of its name. Cheers!

**atl530i** · 10-18-2017, 12:50 AM

Originally Posted by moroza

Lesser people would've scrapped that car after the fire. You not only brought it back to life, you're also making it worthy of its name. Cheers!

I was close but did not want to give up on the car since most the damage was contained to the HVAC housing. It was about 3 seconds to being completely lost. The old cluster had burn marks on it and so did some of the metal supports under the dash. I swapped coding plugs so it was like nothing ever happened in that aspect.

I got the intake on and the rest of the cooling system installed. I ended up with two extra 525i radiators (not including the one I already have) that are basically new so if one fails, I have backups. It fired (no pun intended) right up and I immediately noticed a small fuel leak at the rear of the fuel rail. I ended up replacing that small hose again and no more leaks. Seems like the car wants to burn up all the way this time. Also broke the small nipple on the separator going to the brake booster. I wrapped it in electrical tape until the new part shows up. I did the same thing on my M52 car and tried to not break it...oh well.

A few zip ties and new coolant, power steering (atf now), and a brake flush and this part is done. All easy stuff at this point. Still waiting in my diff to be completed.

Cluster from my parts 525i5 with the original coding plug. Low brake fluid because the reservoir is empty. Also need to wire up the reverse lights and trick the cluster so it doesn't display trans program. Idling a little high so I'll have to check why. Hopefully it's something simple. It's not hunting so that's good.

**atl530i** · 11-16-2017, 12:56 AM

Been busy with family so the car has been sitting for the past month. I was also waiting on the diff to come back during that time. The swap is pretty much done except flushing the brakes. One of the bavauto coils failed already. The car would idle fine for the first 20 minutes or so and then stumble at idle. I swapped the #5 coil and it runs great now. They were freebies so not a big deal.

Running

Rest of the drive train installed. I installed the exhaust before the video was made. My neighbors have a newborn so I have to be considerate of that. I also removed the rest of the SLS system. The accumulators, camber sensor, level regulator, and the rest of the lines that ran to the front of the car are gone.

Style 42's on, sold the Borbet's to a friend.

DS2 HID's from my parts car installed.

**Jackson42** · 11-19-2017, 12:53 PM

Wow - simply wow! Those last two photos just make me smile. Nicely done!

**atl530i** · 11-19-2017, 09:43 PM

Got it up and running on Friday and I've been driving it around town trying to work out some of the small issues that popped up. The power steering pump that was perfectly fine before is most likely on its way out now. I'm also getting what sounds like a power steering whine from the clutch area when I start to move the car from a stop. That only happens at that time, not when I'm shifting or driving the car. I'll most likely have to remove the transmission to replace whatever is causing the problem. It's probably the throw out bearing. I replaced everything except the flywheel. The flywheel has 144k on it and was perfectly fine when I test drove the parts car around the sellers neighborhood and my neighborhood. Nature of a project car but even with all that, it's still driveable and is actually fun to drive once it warms up (noises are pretty much non-existent at that point). The E.A.T. chip that I found in the parts car really woke the M50 up in this car so that is a pleasant surprise also.

Here are some pics from earlier today. I cleaned it up some. I still need to clean the interior up again but it's not bad. The paint shows really well in the pics but it did not win against the sun over the years and will need a respray later on.

**KingDavidsCourt** · 11-19-2017, 11:32 PM

Great job... just curious... why not swap fenders? The sedan looks dent free

**atl530i** · 11-19-2017, 11:55 PM

Originally Posted by KingDavidsCourt

Great job... just curious... why not swap fenders? The sedan looks dent free

I have the passenger fender from the sedan. I just haven't installed it yet. The driver side is fine. The driver side on the parts car had rust on it so I left it.