Ultimate goal: A "responsible" daily driver.
I've desired a wagon for about three years, and as of Aug 2017 I found one.
Plans from the beginning:
-Adjustable Height
-Many Wheels
-Manual
-Improved Engine
-Winter Capable
-Road Trip-Ready
Plans updated as the project continued:
-BC Coilovers
-3.64 Limited Slip
-ZF 5 speed
-Euro Bits, trim and headlights
-MT2 wheel
-3.0 M50, or Poor Mans S50
Future Plans (For better gas mileage and better road tripping):
-6 Speed Manual
-Supercharger
I found this specific wagon via an auction in California. I live in Idaho. The final bid was great, but after fees and shipping just less than $1k was spent. From the pictures I could tell that the engine was missing some parts, and the car was otherwise complete. Perfect!
Here's what arrived. First step was a quick detail and some wheel changing.
- - - Updated - - -
The BBS RK's I had collected from a previous partout... I threw them on so the car could at least look good while it was parked, until I got the engine sorted.
What's on the grocery list?
Well, first things first. After looking over the wagon's condition, it appeared the previous owners were attempting a DIY head gasket repair. They probably didn't know what they were doing, and the first thing I found was that the HEAD WAS CRACKED. They had all the head bolts removed except the three tiny ones at the front of the engine, and I imagine them thinking "oh it's probably just stuck, let's give it some sledgehammer motivation".
That would be a good reason to get rid of the car especially if you didn't know its value.
So I needed to do a head gasket repair, and I needed a new head, and I knew I wanted it 5 speed swapped. Let's just do it all at once.
Engine rebuild - 3.0 M50 using M54 rotating assembly and intake cam.
Manual Swap - Whole ZF 5 speed swap acquired from the junkyard.
- - - Updated - - -
1) Take it apart
2) Clean it up
3) Buy a bunch of parts
4) Pull a junkyard m54
5) Discover a cracked piston
6) Return m54 #1
7) Discover your m50 block is rusted and pitted in the cylinder walls, from being exposed to the elements for so long.
8) Pull two more fucking engines. :hitler:
- - - Updated - - -
8) Clean up the block
9) Hone it out
10) Paint it up
11) Install rotating assembly with new rings and bearings
12) Rebuild the head, New valve guides, and m54b30 intake cam (timing has to be manual set on this setup. Timing blocks do not work)
13) Throw it all together and place in the car
14) Build an exhaust
15) Start it... or not.
- - - Updated - - -
Got the engine all put together and it ran like shit!!
A couple of things happened:
M50 timing blocks cannot be used to set timing on m54 camshaft.
The engine shook like crazy. Ran a compression test and had no compression in cyl 5. I adjusted timing and tried again. Better compression in all cylinders but still none in cyl 5.
Leak down test also showed that the cylinder wouldn't hold any pressure what so ever.
So fuck it, take the head back off and I discover two ever so slightly bent exhaust valves... Even though I replaced all the valve guides I didn't notice the two slight bends.
16) Take the head back off
17) Replace the bad valves
18) Put it back together
19) Drive it at last.
Note cam lobes when using m50 timing blocks
And Manually adjust timing
Just in time for snow!
- - - Updated - - -
Some other projects came up along the way.
Found a set of staggered ACS Type 2's and test fit. They need some repairs and powdercoating before they go on full time.
Found a set of working and uncracked fog lights. Threw some tint film on them to protect them from cracking like they all do.
The lady and I bought a fixer upper which meant the wagon got to haul 1000 sqft of flooring and many trips back and forth from the old house. Note - Shop
Started building a custom sub box.. haven't finished it yet.
And mostly just enjoyed driving the wagon around for a few months!
- - - Updated - - -
Back to the shopping list
20) Buy a parts car
21) Take the Parts (Euro bumper trim, MT2 Wheel, BC Coiovers)
22) Return parts car to stock, and fix many things.
- - - Updated - - -
Coilovers are installed, and the parts car has been returned to stock.
I love how clean the front of this car looks!
- - - Updated - - -
Threw some new wheels on for shits and giggles.
Also cleaned out the front garage so the lady has a place to park for the impending weather change.
Thats a beauty man. Ive been wantin to get an e34 wagon to match with my sedan, hopefully this gives me enough inspiration to go and do it lol.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Great thread, love all the pics. You knock the work out it would appear.
This is pretty awesome. Way to keep with it after the engine issues too.
95 540i6 M Sport - 95 525it S52/OBD2 - 433k E36 328i5 - X5D that hit a pothole - IG: @justinmurray95
Heck yeah! I'm glad to see more M50B30 stroker builds, gets me excited to do mine! How much of a gain do you actually get with the M54 cam? I'm still debating whether I want to mess with that or just enjoy the increased displacement without replacing the cams.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Nice work! I love the color combo.
When you are ready to tackle those seats, check out Leatherique.
Nice work! Nothing beats RKs, imo.
Awesome thread. Love the updates and the progress.
Amazing work on the touring and looks great on the BBS RK.
I would love to own a clean wagon similar at one point.
Hey Artfoodbmw,
Talk a little about how you did the front windshield trim. Did you have to pull the glass and do all new clips? I have new clips for one of my main glass bits, and can't figure out how to get the clip in there to save my life.
Also, like 3rd time I have gone through this thread looking at pictures. I like it.
Thanks mate, It was a lot of work to keep the motivation up, but well worth it.
I don't think its much, maybe 10 hp? It's not that aggressive compared to stock. I think its an easy enough swap while you have it all apart.
I've look into leatherique for the back seats, the fronts will be replaced with sport seats as soon as I can get my hands on a set.
The Rk's are nice but I always will favor a nice set of staggered wheels. Hence why I'm stoked to put the ACS' on
Thank you, long time in the making but all fun along the way
Thank you! I think I'm going to turn the RX into winter wheels, and paint them a more neutral color... Rk's will stay the same until I can find an e28 to put them on.
I still haven't fixed the stupid windshield trim.. I put a replacement piece on and it flew off on the freeway At this point I'm just hoping to replace the whole windshield and trim setup.
Now that's what I like to see! RKs look fantastic. 17x8?
3.64 seems way overgeared with a non-OD transmission. Do you take it on long trips? I put a 2.65 in my 544iT (previously 3.15) and it went from a slightly high-strung hotrod to a loafy highway cruiser, a good thing in Montana. Picked up a couple of MPGs, and the gearing was such that third was good until about 100.
Safelite screwed up a windshield install on a previous E34 and left off the windshield trim altogether. It actually looked ok and didn't seem to cause any problems.
17x8.5, et15 I think. I only wish they were staggered. I like when wheels can closely fill up both fender wells and it seems like BMW designed there cars for staggered setups.
The 3.64 does make it a little strung on the freeway. Farthest trip I've taken is up north 2 hours, and It really wasn't that bad as far as the gearing.
That being said the 6 speed swap is on the list. I'll probably start looking for a parts e46 when my queue clears up a bit. Should be a pretty straight forward swap and give me the necessary overdrive gear.
Impressive!
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
Took some pictures
Fixed the rear wiper arm
Bought another e34 for the rear bumper
Powder coated the BBS Rx's
Bought another wagon
Got the rear M-tech bumper painted
More wheels too.....
Long live the RK.
Yer doing a lot of work on a car that cost almost nuthin. But does it pay in the long run?
I spy a 2002 or two in there. Me likey.
I also thought I saw a K100RS - I had two before the K1300GT. What an ICBM that one is, here I am driving it on my 4-mile to and from work commute. But I almost vitiated my future career (says Mr. Kipling) at the onramp today. Life can be short! So can onramps!
Charlie
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to add value to these threads, either by pictures or by descriptions, so the next person with the same or similar problem stands on your shoulders.
Certaintly does pay in the long run. I've had people call my work asking how much I'd sell the wagon for. That's why I bought the white one. Plans will be along the same lines but I do plan on building it to sell. Also I try not to worry too much about the money I put into this one as it is one of the forever cars for me. I build for the fun.
The 2002 is on ongoing project. That's currently what I'm focusing on.. High compression pistons, IE reground cam and resprayed engine bay. Should be a fun little car to scoot around in when it's finally on the road. I've owned it for 2 years and its ran for like 5 minutes. Engine build should be done in a few weeks.
The bike was a K75... Sold it a few months back because I knew I wasn't going to give it the attention it needed over the winter. Currently looking for something similar now that the weather is turning around.
Sold the M-tech bumper for nearly as much as a pair of front and rear go for. In order to make progress on some other projects
Bought another parts car for sport seats and a manual swap and suspension upgrade for the white wagon.
Prepped the wagon for 5erWest (Steering components, brakes, calipers, dogbones, skid plate, wheel bearing etc.)
Got two new tires and an alignment finally
Charged the A/C
Also finally worked up the nerve to open the sunroof. Its fully functional :yawn:
Lost another windshield trim on the drive over also...
Road Trip Ready
Looks awesome! Your build thread is so inspirational, makes me want to go do stuff to my E34 wagon.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Nice job. Love a guy that does his own work even when the going gets tough. That's the way you learn. You might look at the stock Z8 wheels if you want a staggered setup for not much money. The offsets are perfect for the E34 and you can find them on ebay cheap. I ran them on my Touring for years before I found that the twitchy feeling it had was caused by the wider wheels on the back so I changed to a square setup w/20mm offsets all around and it felt more stable. I replaced the rear cradle bushings last year which might have had something to do with the twitchy fee so I might try the Z8 wheels again and see. I also fitted some 540 sport seats which I rewired to work. I'll be 70 next year so now I have to pay someone to do what I know how to do. :-(
Great thread I love seeing a great restoration being done
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Bookmarks