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Thread: A transcontinental romance: loving a

  1. #1
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    Transcontinental tryst: romancing a 540/6

    I've been lurking around these parts long enough; time to introduce myself and my lovely lady.

    I'm Mat, live in Oakville, Ontario and have an addiction to storied cars. My first car was a $300 E30, and I've since had a few others. Some may remember me from the E39 section, I did a manual swap on a 540 on jackstands a couple of years ago. Anyways, long story short, I sold my C63 Benz in May and was hunting for a new daily as my Italians were complaining about the commute. I looked at all kinds of cars, from the new Alfa Giulia to E39 M5s and many other things in between.

    One day, perusing the classifieds, I spotted a short ad about a 540 in Vancouver. Seeing a blue E34, I thought, "hey, it's like a bigger E30!" and called the seller. Another long story, but I flew out two days later and met the seller. It was an Orientblau on Ultramarine 1995 540i/6 with pretty much all the options (including a car phone!). Beautiful original paint and a mint interior belied the 275000 kms it'd traveled since new. OEM clear signals helped too.
    I cancelled my return ticket and bought the car along with a set of Mpars on old summers (I bought the car on its original 17" Style 5s with winters, which wouldn't like the trip home). Over the next three days I raced across most of Canada, covering 4400 kms and killing plenty of bugs. Despite some obvious signs of deferred maintenance and some strange issues, I made it home without a hitch with a few hours before I had to go back to work.

    Beginning the trip
    20170623_205703.jpg



    Halfway through
    20170625_173215.jpg




    Since then, I've decided to make this car into the DD I've always wanted: fast, comfortable, well-equipped and, most of all, a joy to drive. I discovered that it is one of two cars in that colour combination ever made for North America--and the other didn't have nearly the same option loadout. I'm going to add a few more things.
    First things first, the car wandered all over the road, had a horrible clunk when hitting bumps with the right front wheel and had a few electrical issues (seat motors, windows, cluster LCD). I ordered a set of Eibach springs and Koni yellows, and off to the hoist! Turns out the front right coil was broken...I probably wouldn't have driven as fast as I did had I known that. No matter!


    Immediate maintenance

    A full suspension and steering refresh was needed, so I did that at the same time. The broken foglight lens and windshield were replaced too, and we resealed the engine (valve colver gaskets, valley pan, water pump, hoses, etc.)
    As the summer wore on, I fell more and more in love with this car. I added a couple of bits and bobs to make it more liveable (and with toys to match my previous DDs). A CD43 with bluetooth came first, then a repair of all the worn bowden cables in both seats, added lumbar support (difficult on sport seats that don't have the harness prewired), and also rebuilt the headlights with Morimoto HID projectors (like a night and day change--literally). New three-spoke airbag wheel and ZHP knob too for his pleasure.

    In mid-August I booked the car in to repair what rust there was. Bottom of all four doors, and a bit around the gas tank filler flap opening. Done in a week and looking quite good, time will tell whether it was a good job. Only problem is that I ordered the regular door bottom mouldings, not realising that I have the Mtech skirts as my car is a 1995. Correct ones are sitting at the border waiting for me to have the time to pick them up.

    Last month, my right rear door decided that it didn't want to unlock any more. No amount of tugging on the popper or pulling the handle would change that. One day, while visiting an old friend about 500 kms away, it opened! Two new window regulators and actuator installed.
    Went back to the factory-installed staggered Style 5s for winter. The rear tires are from 2004 and needed replacing, but nobody in Canada stocks a 255/40/17 winter tire, so I bought a set of square E39 style 5s and some new winter boots.

    Here we are!


    20171119_164722.jpg

    Most importantly, in July I'd bought a 1988 750iL. I parted what I wanted, made my money back, and kept the engine and, of course, the 3.15 LSD. In mid-September I got the diff back from the rebuilders (it needed almost nothing!) and put it in.

    What a change! The car pulls almost as well as my old E39 540i with the 3.15 and a manual swap and a couple of bolt-ons. This one has a Dinan airbox (lol) and tune, and an ignition refresh certainly woke it up, but we have a ways to go until my C63-spoiled right foot's appetite is sated...

    ...Which brings us to last weekend. I bought a S62 for not much money and missing a few bits (intake). Stay tuned for more fix-logging and an eventual build. Lots of parts are incoming this winter as I fly down south and can bring things back every few weeks.

    TL;DR young silly guy spends money on a 540/6, drives it back across Canada, fixes a bunch of stuff and has a wildly ambitious plan for more power. Also is quite enamored with said car. More to follow.
    Last edited by tantumaude; 02-26-2018 at 10:35 PM. Reason: Thread title fail.

  2. #2
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    Hey!

    Wow, I love the colour on your car! it looks amazing! Thanks for writing this thread - its motivating me to continue working on my touring!

    subbed!

  3. #3
    moroza's Avatar
    moroza is offline MORΩN ΛABIA BMW CCA Member
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    I didn't know Ultramarine was available on later cars. Blue sport seats, eh?

    I've not driven in the prairie provinces, but I too had an adventure racing across Canada. The Stewart-Cassiar highway (BC-37) remains my all-time favorite road, perhaps tied with the San Mateo bridge. I imagine in rural parts of SK and MB, the car had a chance to stretch its legs? How far did they stretch?
    Last edited by moroza; 11-22-2017 at 04:12 PM.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Siebenthal View Post
    Hey!

    Wow, I love the colour on your car! it looks amazing! Thanks for writing this thread - its motivating me to continue working on my touring!

    subbed!

    Thanks! I think these are some of the best cars BMW ever made, and are definitely worth a lot of work with the rewards they give an attentive owner and driver.

    Quote Originally Posted by moroza View Post
    I didn't know Ultramarine was available on later cars. Blue sport seats, eh?

    I've not driven in the prairie provinces, but I too had an adventure racing across Canada. The Stewart-Cassiar highway (BC-37) remains my all-time favorite road, perhaps tied with the San Mateo bridge. I imagine in rural parts of SK and MB, the car had a chance to stretch its legs? How far did they stretch?

    Yeah, it's pretty cool. I was a bit concerned that it would be a smurf when I booked the flight, but it truly looks amazing. I daresay the blue leather must be treated differently, there is hardly any wear on the driver's seat at all.

    I read your thread the night before my departure. Needless to say, it's quite inspiring (and much more impressive) than mine--I dream of following your path one day.

    I'll tell you how far they stretched once the statute of limitation expires, but I can confirm that the Dinan chip does remove the speed limiter and the stock 2.93 diff allows for a good clip at 4800 rpm. BC has by far the best roads in Canada, but Alberta was actually the quietest and allowed for higher speeds--but I wouldn't have gone over half what I did knowing about the broken coil spring! I just wish I'd had more than three days in which to make it back, so that I could have taken the time to really enjoy the scenery.

  5. #5
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    moroza is offline MORΩN ΛABIA BMW CCA Member
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    BC has good roads but there's more garbage on them than one would expect; I got a fat ticket 40km outside of Hudson's Hope.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by moroza View Post
    BC has good roads but there's more garbage on them than one would expect; I got a fat ticket 40km outside of Hudson's Hope.
    Guess I got lucky in that regard, I think I saw all of three cops on the whole trip. My average speed from start to finish was 109 kph, including all the stops and time spent in jams (Ontario mostly, especially one 60 km section where I was stuck behind a tractor going 40 kph).

    As for the car, I ordered a 750iL master cylinder to accompany my rebuilt E31 brembos, and also everything needed to rebuild the S62 (WPC bearings especially). Just need to decide which VANOS service kit to use, Beisan or Dr Vanos.

    I'll try to figure out why my driver's seat only has heating on the backrest and not the base, along with the strange cluster issues (gauges all work, as do LCD pixels, but the LCD displays all kinds of gibberish)
    Last edited by tantumaude; 11-24-2017 at 09:57 PM.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by moroza View Post
    BC has good roads but there's more garbage on them than one would expect; I got a fat ticket 40km outside of Hudson's Hope.
    MB and ON are known to have an absurd amount of police along the highways. Depending on the specific ones, if he took HWY 1 east of Winnipeg to the ON border that would of been his safest opening in MB, other than that there really is no safe place to open up. and rural police are privatized and funded well in Ontario.

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    By the way awesome story and congrats on the car! I live in Eastern MB near Falcon Lake and would love to come see that car some time if I'm ever around there, super jealous of the 3.15..... Along with the M-Pars and Style 5's..... All I really have going is black M5 interior conversion, respray and HID's, and BMW warranty replaced short block at end of warranty extension; my Oxford on Parchment HE53 was originally from AZ.

    Oh also, prepare to be doing annual rust work on the bottom of those doors since this car will be a daily; those lower door mouldings will always trap moisture, and with the salt we have on the roads in our provinces it doesn't take much to bring it back again, the doors can really only go unattended for multiple years in climates better than ours.

    How are the throttle cable bushings? You seem well versed in the highest priorities an e34 needs but those are one thing that can be overlooked easily, they don't get a lot of mention, making sure the cable is adjusted properly with the billet bushing alternatives on ebay make a world of difference in throttle response.... Until lightweight flywheel time if you choose to do so.
    Last edited by Strife; 11-28-2017 at 06:26 AM.

  9. #9
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    Cool car, post a few pic of the interior.

    Enjoy!

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Strife View Post
    By the way awesome story and congrats on the car! I live in Eastern MB near Falcon Lake and would love to come see that car some time if I'm ever around there, super jealous of the 3.15..... Along with the M-Pars and Style 5's..... All I really have going is black M5 interior conversion, respray and HID's, and BMW warranty replaced short block at end of warranty extension; my Oxford on Parchment HE53 was originally from AZ.

    Oh also, prepare to be doing annual rust work on the bottom of those doors since this car will be a daily; those lower door mouldings will always trap moisture, and with the salt we have on the roads in our provinces it doesn't take much to bring it back again, the doors can really only go unattended for multiple years in climates better than ours.

    How are the throttle cable bushings? You seem well versed in the highest priorities an e34 needs but those are one thing that can be overlooked easily, they don't get a lot of mention, making sure the cable is adjusted properly with the billet bushing alternatives on ebay make a world of difference in throttle response.... Until lightweight flywheel time if you choose to do so.
    Thanks! I did not think of check the bushings beyond the normal inspection--I tightened up the cable and made sure there wasn't any resistance to closing. I'll have a look at them when I come home. I've got a pretty good guarantee on the doors, but I'll keep it in mind. Salt is indeed a huge problem, but I think between my frequent washes, garage keeping and, let's be honest, using other cars on days just before and after storms, I'll be doing the best I can. I'd love to have you come and see it!

    Quote Originally Posted by ShapeShifter View Post
    Cool car, post a few pic of the interior.

    Enjoy!
    Thank you, I'll do that very soon.




    I picked up a few goodies this week while I'm in Florida: brand new steering box, OEM first aid kit (thanks junkyard!), some BavAuto rubber floor mats, and a spare LCD for the cluster. We'll see if I can figure it out soon. Started tearing down the S62 as well, pics to follow. I've got to find a place that can tweak my S62 DME (dyno mode, EWS, postcat 02 and SAP delete) and build me a harness adapter (I don't have the patience for wiring). Any suggestions are appreciated!

  11. #11
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    Got a few things done yesterday. Installed 3 of 4 door handle gaskets (thanks Shogun!) I broke the fourth handle surround as I was removing it, so I have to get one before I can finish the job. It looks pretty horrid all taped up! Makes a nice difference to the car, it's been bothering me since I got it.

    Old:
    20171202_115404.jpg

    New:
    20171201_214917.jpg


    Also put on some clear front sidemarkers. Not 100% sure I like these...
    20171201_215019.jpg20171201_215024.jpg
    Last edited by tantumaude; 12-03-2017 at 12:10 AM.

  12. #12
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    Got a brand new steering box installed today. What a world of difference. No play and no sudden changes of direction, joy!

  13. #13
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    moroza is offline MORΩN ΛABIA BMW CCA Member
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    Brand new? I didn't realize they were still available at all. Did the old one run out of adjustment?

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by moroza View Post
    Brand new? I didn't realize they were still available at all. Did the old one run out of adjustment?
    Yup, apparently I got the last one available. The old one was a bit of a mess, which I'm not too surprised to see with almost 300k kms.

  15. #15
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    Wow blue/blue! Very interesting, I too want to see an interior shot.
    I can't even imagine how much better the car must feel with a brand new steering box. One thing that's guaranteed - if this board had caught wind of there being a new one in Germany somewhere, it would have sold years ago :p


  16. #16
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    I'm sure it's an improvement over a used box, but even period reviews of brand-new E34s complained about the steering. Rack >> box.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by tantumaude View Post
    Got a brand new steering box installed today. What a world of difference. No play and no sudden changes of direction, joy!
    Did you find an actual new box or is a rebuild?

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by moroza View Post
    I'm sure it's an improvement over a used box, but even period reviews of brand-new E34s complained about the steering. Rack >> box.
    Agreed on both counts. My biggest complaint is about how slow it is. I wish there's been a quicker box available (m5 boxes don't seem to interface well with no servotronic)

    Quote Originally Posted by ericsyzf View Post
    Did you find an actual new box or is a rebuild?
    Brand spankin' new from ZF



    In other news, I got the car off the hoist and took a couple of pics of the inside. Not bad for 22 years and 280k! Admire the car phone!
    Attached Images Attached Images

  19. #19
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    Just came back from Florida again, into a snowstorm. Got some more S62 parts (gaskets, clutch, MAFs) and a set of E32 door handle trims (metal, yay!)

    On my drive home
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by tantumaude; 12-12-2017 at 08:06 PM.

  20. #20
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    Got the last door handle gasket installed and went for a drive. Heckblende arrived yesterday.


    I've now bought the most important part for the S62 swap:


    I have a strange sense of humour. Yes, I know it's for an E39. Couldn't find an E34 one.

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by tantumaude View Post
    Got the last door handle gasket installed and went for a drive. Heckblende arrived yesterday.


    I've now bought the most important part for the S62 swap:


    I have a strange sense of humour. Yes, I know it's for an E39. Couldn't find an E34 one.
    Love it!
    "The right to self defense is fundamental to a free state. If, by dictate of the state, it is unlawful to defend your own person, you are not a citizen nor even a subject; you are property"

  22. #22
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    It's been a quiet few weeks due to some crazy cold and lots of work. Did the bearings in the S62. Also had the coolant tank break in the E34--that was interesting. The resultant spray shorted out one of my HID assemblies, which I now have to diagnose. Ballast or relay...what joy.

    20180112_140312.jpg

    Anyways, ordered about plenty of parts to finish the S62 refresh and clean up a few things...shifter bushes, brake pedal switch, etc. Unfortunately the dreaded steering play has returned, even with the new linkage, steering box and bushes. Really at a loss now.

    Changed the cluster LCD and finally fixed the messed up (read missing) driver's door brake. Added a Koala Motorsport reinforcement plate
    20180117_180012.jpg
    Before
    20180117_190655.jpg
    After

    Also deciding what wheel setup to run next summer. 17" staggered style 5s, or 18" mpars? Either set would need new tires, not sure which I prefer. Thoughts?
    Last edited by tantumaude; 01-17-2018 at 08:34 PM.

  23. #23
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    moroza is offline MORΩN ΛABIA BMW CCA Member
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    I'd go for 17's myself. You're more likely to notice the difference in comfort (taller sidewall and less unsprung weight) than performance given the same tire. MPars do look great though. And at least you're not asking about 20's

    As for your steering play... did you adjust the box? What do you mean by "new linkage", or "full suspension and steering refresh"? 2x tierods, 4x control arms, 2x strut mounts, center link, idler arm bushing, pitman arm secure to steerbox, steerbox worm/sector lash, steerbox sector shaft play (is that even adjustable on ours? It made a big difference on an old Mazda I worked on), 2x (IIRC?) steering column u-joints, steering column rubber coupler, steering column telescoping nut... I can think of more but unlikely to cause steering play without very noticable other effects (thrust arm crossmember, wheel bearings, steering column bearings...)
    Last edited by moroza; 01-17-2018 at 09:10 PM.

  24. #24
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    Thanks. I'm worried that I can only go 255 wide on the rears in 17". Might be an issue with the S62, even though I have the LSD already. I loved the Mpars, but after putting 17" winters and enjoying the improved ride, I'm really torn.

    As for the play, it's a brand new box (about 200 kms on it). It was fine at first, but yesterday the play started again. Everything you listed was done in August with Lemforder parts, except for the column stuff.

  25. #25
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    The bearings had seen better days, changing them was a good move. Lots of crud on the inside as well, I'll have to clean that.
    IMG_0002.JPGIMG_0011.JPG20180117_191728.jpg20180117_191738.jpg

    Going down south next week, I should be able to bring back my wiring harness, DME, and most of the rest of what I need to do the swap. Got my gearbox, flywheel and clutch too. I plan to do the installation in April or May once it's warm again.


    Also ordered an E34 M5 cluster, so that I have an accurate redline and the oil temp gauge. How do I reprogram it to work with the V8? I'll also have a CANBUS controller on the new harness.
    Last edited by tantumaude; 01-20-2018 at 12:42 PM.

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