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So I know some of you saw the car for sale recently by itraveltoomuch. After some sweet talking and explanation of the severity in which I needed another e34(needed being used loosely,) my wife agreed to let me purchase the car. Picked it up for 1,250 as it was listed did not even think about haggling with the kind gentleman. I ended up hauling down to College station from just east of DFW area a couple of weekends ago and snatching it up on the way to San Antonio to pick up a vintage Kitchenaide Flair oven that was my wife's grandmothers (Part of the agreement to allowing me buy the car.) Another agreement being that I will not spend any money on the car aside from a few maintenance items until more of the home projects are completed and I rebuild the engine in her Geo Tracker.
The road trip down there went without a hitch, while I have a 2013 1500 Ram I decided I would borrow my fathers 3500 GMC dually as it doesn't give a shit what is behind it when towing long distances. I welded some steel mounting brackets onto my 16' trailer to install a winch on it as I was purchasing the car under the pretense it was not running. Arrived at sellers home and he had all the paperwork in order to transfer the title to me along with a bill of sale. James was an extremely nice man and his family was lovely as well, very good people. He had owned the car since 2007 as documented on here. He even had some new Lemforder tie rod ends, pitman arm and center drag link in the trunk. I snatched the car up onto the trailer with the winch strapped her down and away we went to San Antonio.
Fast forward the next day as we didn't get home until around 10:00PM after leaving around 5:30AM, luckily it was a long weekend due to Labor Day. I let the 540 down off the trailer with the winch and proceeded to swap the battery out of my 530 into the 540. Wouldn't you know it not to my surprise it started right up! I figured when the PO told me he hadn't replaced the battery that it was likely the culprit, as we all know the E34 likes to eat batteries. He probably knew this as well but did not want to mess with it as he had moved onto another car and likely did not want to sell a car and mislead someone into thinking all it needed was a battery.
So here we are two M60 E34 cars in the shop and could not be happier, my wife thinks I'm a glutton for punishment but like I told her I know these cars a lot better than I ever thought I would after owning one for as long as I have. I've had over 50 cars/trucks/motorcycles in my 18 years of driving and I can honestly say I enjoy the E34 the most as far as the reward of driving it, that's even compared to my S2000 I sold a few years back. It's a shame I didn't find this car sooner, I would have likely left the 530 an automatic for my wife to enjoy (she can drive a standard but the unsprung 6 puck clutch with the LWFW is a little aggressive for her driving style)
What can you do though? I'll tell you what I am going to do, refresh this HE53 car to have a nice clean weekend cruiser and build the 530 into a track oriented car. Maybe I can get a discount on buying so much Schwartz II paint when I go to repaint these cars ha! Anyway onto the pictures! Thanks for reading this far, sorry if I rambled on forever.
IMG_3328.jpgIMG_3337.jpgIMG_3334.jpgIMG_3351.jpgIMG_3346.jpg
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Nice to see one get a good home.
as for the b30 track car..............
If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower. - Mark Donohue
Member
Happy to give it a good home!Originally Posted by ross1
I have since aquired a b40 short block for the 530, need to figure out what to do about the cylinder heads though. Might get stupid and put the smaller CC b30 heads on it, no telling what that would do other than produce less power. I don't know if anyone has actually ever done it, curious what numbers it would put down.
Last edited by consti2tion; 09-16-2020 at 09:00 AM. Reason: typo etc
Member
Nice!
I saw that for sale and was hoping someone here would snap it up. Looking forward to reading more!
Member
It was too good to pass up! Looking forward to finishing these house projects so I can start working on it! One way to motivate me to finish the house stuff is to hang the parts carrot in front of me. Haha!
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Nice score - that's a great deal for a running 540i/6 with no apparent rust!
Member
No rust at all, believe it’s been in Texas it’s whole life. It’s got around 154k miles.
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Very nice. I am jealous of the garage. More pictures?
Current Fleet:
E34 1991 M5 Macaoblau on Complete (ruined)Leather Champagne - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1705166
Past:
E34 1989 535i 5-Speed AlpineweissII on Natur - Parted
E34 1992 525i 5-Speed Islandgrun on Pergament - Parted
E34 1995 540i 6-Speed ShwarzII on Shwarz - Sold to Sneezy.
E34 1995 525i 5-Speed Calypso Red on Parchment - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1748143 - Sold locally.
E39 1998 528i 5-Speed Black on Black - Sold locally.
E34 1993 M5 Alpinweiss on Black - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...lpinweissII-M5 - Parted
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Thanks!
I’ll get some more pictures up when I’m on the computer.
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Hopefully I’ll have a lift within the next year or so.
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Guh!!!
V. Jealous.
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My 540/6 just rolled 370,000 miles yesterday.
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Thanks! Took a few years and house remodeling/flipping to get to this point. It was all worth it!
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Just freaking rolling those miles up! What a beast!
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Amazing car!
Loving that rims
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Thank you! I’m still not sold on the m-pars yet.
I am partial to m-systems. Would love a staggered set of them for this car and the other one. Guess I just need to find 4 17x9 like they’re easy to find you know? Ha!
"Hauls Sh!t & Ass..."
Good save on the 540, looks like it has good bones. Nice garage too, needs a lift!
Member
Thank you Sir. It'll be a good platform to start on for sure! I can't wait to get a lift, that will be life changing.
MORΩN ΛABIA
BMW CCA Member
Excellent find, and sounds like an amazing deal. Glad to see another good specimen kept out of the crusher.
A twin-screw is a routine maintenance item as far as I'm concerned...
Member
Haha! Yes a SC is just part of replacing the intake gaskets.Excellent find, and sounds like an amazing deal. Glad to see another good specimen kept out of the crusher.
A twin-screw is a routine maintenance item as far as I'm concerned...
Was going to take her out this weekend but the water pump had different plans for me. Looks like I am going to be doing some cooling system work this week. It’s okay though the 530 is almost more fun to drive right now anyway with the LSD and LWFW.
Member
Nice pickup!
Check out CA Tuned's silicone cooling hose kit. Just got one for my M60 and will be installing later on. Also - AAS did a pulley production run, may want to get one before they're gone!
Member
Thank you!
I’m trying to convince my financial advisor that I need the pulley set up. She isn’t very receptive at the moment
Member
Sheeeit… $1250?
You went about 10 years into the past scoring that kind of deal. Thought those days were long over. Enjoy it!
Member
They’re not over. Just few and far between I think! Haha either way I am going to enjoy it for sure!
Member
LOL! - Tell her it is justifiable for 2 reasons:
1.) A limited number of sets are available that may not be made again. Future supply and demand naturally increases the kit's value.
2.) You got the car at an absolute STEAL - all parts and care should go hand in hand with the cars value increasing over time.
ROI in the positive either way ; )
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