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Thread: 1995 525i Black/Parchment - New Project

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    1989 535i

    1995 525i Black/Parchment - New Project

    Hi there! This is my first post here, thanks for having me.
    I’ve been a lifelong BMW fan, but have only now purchased my first one!



    Say hello to my new 1995 525i sedan, black on parchment with that all important 5 speed manual gearbox. I bought it from a good buddy of mine, a hardcore BMW enthusiast that picked this up as a project and has just never had the time to mess with it. Very solid car, no rust whatsoever (it’s an Alabama car for most of its life), no accident damage, all shutlines seem to be spot on. It’s showing around 230k miles, but has had a much lower mileage engine swapped in fairly recently. From looking around the engine, I would guess it’s a sub-100k motor, it’s absolutely mint under the hood.

    So yeah, solid car, runs like an absolute dream, it’s just so smooth. Unfortunately, the downpipes are missing, and the rest of the exhaust components are sitting in the trunk... so it sounds like a NASCAR racer lol, absolutely unbearably loud! That’s going to be the first order of business..

    Cosmetically it’s not too bad. The paintwork seems ok under all the dirt and grime. It definitely has some paint fade in a few places, but we’ll really see once I get it cleaned up. Wheels are all in great shape, headlights and taillights are all new looks like. Interior is nice too. All the seats are pretty much trashed, but oddly the carpets are in perfect condition, barely even need to be cleaned. Dash is really nice, not cracked at all. The original radio is there, and seems to work, everything on the dash seems to work as well. Not sure about the sunroof yet, the switch isn’t there.

    Very nice car overall, I feel like I got an absolute bargain for $800. I’m sure some new issues will pop up, but overall seems to be a great car.

    It’s still sitting at his place in Alabama, it’s about a 3.5 hour drive him to me in western Kentucky. I’ve already made one trip down there, and that ended up being a total cluster of a day trying to get it roadworthy. My little daily driver Toyota wasn’t powerful enough to jump off the dead battery, and even after we got a new battery it wouldn’t start. (Took is a few hours to figure out that it was almost out of gas, and the fuel pump wasn’t sitting in the tank correctly.. so it wasn’t picking up fuel even when we added some! Go figure) I was finally about to hit the road when we realized the thermostat was stuck... an annoying end to a long day. But I have a new one now, and should be heading back down there next week to install it, flush the coolant system, and hopefully be on my way back home with the car!



    As for plans with the car, right now it’s just going to be a mostly stock restoration. I’ve always admired how these cars look factory fresh, and I think I want to keep it like that, I think the E34 is the best looking 4 door BMW ever made. Get her cleaned up, sort the interior out, and just drive and enjoy it. Maybe eventually lower it on some nice OEM wheels, time will tell.

    It’ll be sharing the parking lot at my apartment with my daily driver Toyota IA, and my 2002 Volvo C70 Coupe. The Volvo was my first car, I’ve owned it for 12 years or so now and I love it dearly! I’ve pretty much finished its mechanical refurb (needed it after 11 years as my only car), and now starting on the cosmetics. Kinda fun to have two projects going now, thank god I have an understanding wife!

    Sorry for the long read, hope you guys will enjoy the progress.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    1989 BMW 535i - Cirrusblau/Natur, 5 speed manual. Stock and original!
    2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
    2023 Acura MDX A-Spec

  2. #2
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    Interested to see more!
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  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Got the car home yesterday! My buddy and I drove back to Alabama, where the car was, and managed to get it roadworthy. Changed the thermostat (that lower bolt is a real PITA when you don’t have the tool to remove the fan!), and then flushed the coolant system and topped it up with some proper blue BMW coolant.

    We had some issues bleeding the system, I didn’t take the bleed screw out completely first, so there was a huge air bubble in the system... took a while to figure that out lol (got out the Bentley manual and read the instructions... should’ve done that first), and then I was on my way!

    The 200 mile journey home went off flawlessly, wow that car rides like a dream! It goes down the road so nicely, I’m really impressed with the E34 already. I was half deaf my the time I got home, since the car has no exhaust haha. No idea how kids can stand their cars being that loud!!

    Here it is today after I cleaned it up a bit.

















    And of course this morning, it wouldn’t start! Typical. Turns out one of the spark plugs was just sitting loose in there, and the ground wire wasn’t really connected. A new set of spark plugs and it’s running great (and loudly) again.

    Tomorrow’s project is to figure out where all this is coming from... that’s after being parked for only a couple hours this afternoon...



    1995 BMW 525i Sedan - Black/Parchment, 5 speed manual

    Other Cars: 2002 Volvo C70 Coupe, 2017 Toyota Yaris IA
    1989 BMW 535i - Cirrusblau/Natur, 5 speed manual. Stock and original!
    2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
    2023 Acura MDX A-Spec

  4. #4
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    '95 C36 AMG
    Looks like a solid project. My guess for the oil leak would be oil filter housing gasket and hopefully it's not the pan gasket.

  5. #5
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    Yeah seems like that’s the most common leak. We shall see. I’m leaving for some new job training tomorrow, and probably won’t get back to the car until after Christmas. Update y’all then!


    1995 BMW 525i Sedan - Black/Parchment, 5 speed manual

    Other Cars: 2002 Volvo C70 Coupe, 2017 Toyota Yaris IA
    1989 BMW 535i - Cirrusblau/Natur, 5 speed manual. Stock and original!
    2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
    2023 Acura MDX A-Spec

  6. #6
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    So I’m back home, and crawled under it today to see what it going on. Leaks galore!! The whole underside is just coated. Power steering pump is leaking, oil everywhere, coolant leaking... ugh!

    I think the oil pan gasket is leaking, it seems wet all along the right side. Lots of oil came out along that side when I ran it. Along with a lovely milky substance on the front left part of the pan...

    Coolant dripping down the exhaust manifold too.

    Head gasket?

    Well I told myself I bought this car to learn how to really work on cars... it’s just being nice and giving me that opportunity lol. I’ve got a buddy coming by next week that knows tons about these cars, so he’s going to have a look and tell me what he thinks.


    1995 BMW 525i Sedan - Black/Parchment, 5 speed manual

    Other Cars: 2002 Volvo C70 Coupe, 2017 Toyota Yaris IA
    1989 BMW 535i - Cirrusblau/Natur, 5 speed manual. Stock and original!
    2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
    2023 Acura MDX A-Spec

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2017
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    Austin Tx
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    e34 525, s52 1993skyline
    Ya if you have milky oil coming out of the opi pan its almost always a headgasket make sure you do some research on doing them there is some great youtube videos documenting the entire process you should watch before attempting.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tristan36 View Post
    Ya if you have milky oil coming out of the opi pan its almost always a headgasket make sure you do some research on doing them there is some great youtube videos documenting the entire process you should watch before attempting.
    Thanks man, yeah that was my thought too.
    Luckily I have a good friend that’s owned a ton of old BMWs and knows a lot about them. He’s coming by next week to check it out, and can help me with the head gasket if need be.


    1995 BMW 525i Sedan - Black/Parchment, 5 speed manual

    Other Cars: 2002 Volvo C70 Coupe, 2017 Toyota Yaris IA
    1989 BMW 535i - Cirrusblau/Natur, 5 speed manual. Stock and original!
    2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
    2023 Acura MDX A-Spec

  9. #9
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    '73 E9, '94 E34, '02 E46
    Waitaminnnit... you drove it 200 miles without an exhaust, and no plates? Bold move! Sounds like you have a project or a hundred on hand. TRY to make sure you don't get upside down on this... the headgasket will take a big bite out of the budget (where $budget = maximum possible sales price). Or you can hit it with a blank check (or several) and call it "learning".
    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.

  10. #10
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    Yeah my ears were ringing a bit when I got home lol. If I can get all the rest of these new developments sorted, the exhaust will be the very next thing to fix.

    I do intend to use this car to learn a lot, for sure. I've been lucky and not had to do any big jobs on any of my other cars, this will be a big undertaking for me.
    But I know my buddy will help me out, so if I can keep the labor costs in the pizza/beer territory, I think I might be alright! We shall see. Definitely do appreciate the advice guys.

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    E53, E38, E34, E39T
    Welcome to the madness Sir. Looking forward to seeing the progress





    Some Places remain unknown because no one has ventured forth. Others remain so because no one has ever come back......

  12. #12
    Join Date
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    If you have the time, here’s my thread on my 525i rebuild. I had no budget, just pouring money into it, but it came back to life and is still going strong at 250k miles +

    https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...mplete-rebuild

    Good luck!

    02 e39 540i Sport (Son), 01 DINAN 7 (Me), 12 e70 X5 x35i (Mrs), 95 e34 525i (Daughter 2), 01 e46 325Ci vert (Daughter 1)

  13. #13
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    That’s awesome! Looking forward to going through that thread when I get a few minutes.

    Got these two together in the same place for the first time yesterday. The Volvo was my first car, I’ve owned it for about 12 years. It’s been staying in a storage unit for the past year or so. Apartment living sucks when you’re a car guy!




    1995 BMW 525i Sedan - Black/Parchment, 5 speed manual

    Other Cars: 2002 Volvo C70 Coupe, 2017 Toyota Yaris IA
    1989 BMW 535i - Cirrusblau/Natur, 5 speed manual. Stock and original!
    2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
    2023 Acura MDX A-Spec

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
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    1989 535i

    1995 525i Black/Parchment - New Project

    Well today has been fun. My apartment complex was threatening to tow the car since I haven’t had a chance to get it registered yet.

    In Kentucky, for an out of state title, they have to verify the mileage.... So I thought I could top up the oil and get away with the few mile drive down to the DMV...

    Wrong



    Head gasket failed coming home, only about a mile away! She overheated, it had been in the red maybe 30-45 seconds, and the coolant temp message had just come up when I was able to get it shut off. Ugh!!

    It’s still turning over, which is good. Hopefully I didn’t warp the head, but I’ve seen some good cylinder heads on eBay for reasonable money. Would it be ok to get one of those? This is all new territory for me.


    1995 BMW 525i Sedan - Black/Parchment, 5 speed manual

    Other Cars: 2002 Volvo C70 Coupe, 2017 Toyota Yaris IA
    Last edited by Petrolheadpilot; 01-20-2019 at 07:45 PM.
    1989 BMW 535i - Cirrusblau/Natur, 5 speed manual. Stock and original!
    2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
    2023 Acura MDX A-Spec

  15. #15
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    the 'bay is of course the natural habitat of all sorts of creatures. Were I to make a significant purchase of anything used, I'd want the seller to be clear about returns, return shipping, and what would constitute a defect for which a return would be offered. F'rinstance, if someone sells you a head that arrives cracked, there's no point in sending it back, yet how does the seller verify you're not simply trying to work him/her? Perhaps better to source another head locally.
    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.

  16. #16
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    Yeah man most definitely.

    Haven't updated this thread in a little while, but nothing to report. I'm moving apartments next month, the new one comes with a single car garage. Not ideal, but much better workspace than what I have now! So I'm going to wait until I'm settled in there and start tearing into the old girl. I had toyed with selling it as a parts car, but this thing is just too nice a car to scrap. It deserves to live. My skills/mechanical experience is minimal, but I'm going to give it my best shot, and try to learn as much as I can.

  17. #17
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    I'm about to move finally! Unfortunately, the apartment folks just let me know that there is a waiting list for a garage... Hopefully won't be too long, but that does put a bit of a kink in the rebuild plans. I've transported it to a storage unit for now, I'll get it moved to my new place as soon as I can! Don't stone me to death for using it as a storage shelf... haha

    E34 by Logan Abner, on Flickr

    E34 by Logan Abner, on Flickr

    I've been doing a lot of research, and I'm leaning towards doing an M52 swap on it, not trying to rebuild the M50. Seems like a fairly straightfoward swap, and will give me a ton of learning experience. The tiny one car garage will make the work a challenge, but surely I can make it work.

    I have been parts shopping a bit.. I bought these incredibly minty E32 seats on facebook. Should be picking them up sometime next month.
    E34 by Logan Abner, on Flickr

    While the car is down, I'm going to try and get it cleaned up the best I can, carpets steam cleaned, full paint correction, etc. At least get it looking good while I plan the mechanical work!

    Does the M52 sound like a good idea? What would y'all do in my situation?
    Last edited by Petrolheadpilot; 03-19-2019 at 01:02 PM. Reason: double post

  18. #18
    Join Date
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    From what I've read, m52s have more emission controls and so make less power than a m50.
    Maybe you could do a delete, but depending on your state inspection you may have to keep all emission controls of a newer engine when doing a swap.

    Also you are also starting with a obd1 car and have to change everything to a obd2 engine. Wouldn't be worth it for a m52 - that was a model engine solely brought out to improve emissions - not performance.
    Lots of people rebuild their m50s with m54b30 engine parts though - ie upgrade the motor to a 3L but keep the m50 block, inlets and OBD1
    Last edited by fo3; 03-20-2019 at 06:20 AM.

  19. #19
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    Id say if you are planning on doing any swap id do a s5x swap on it. A lot more power and pretty straightforward especially since you dont need to do an obd2 swap


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fresco34 View Post
    Id say if you are planning on doing any swap id do a s5x swap on it. A lot more power and pretty straightforward especially since you dont need to do an obd2 swap
    ^This, as far as I understand it, unless converting an ob2 motor at the same time, is plug and play. Only question is getting one for a fair price...
    O o
    ____________________________ ______________
    | BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! !!!!
    \_¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

  21. #21
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    Yeah I would like to do an S50 swap, cost might be a bit prohibitive. That’s my only hesitation with that.

    But a simple plug and play swap would be really good for me, I’ve never done anything nearly as big as an engine swap before haha.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1989 BMW 535i - Cirrusblau/Natur, 5 speed manual. Stock and original!
    2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
    2023 Acura MDX A-Spec

  22. #22
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    Keep it simple and just fix the engine that's in there now. It's way too easy to get caught up in an endless project. Just get it fixed and drive it.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  23. #23
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    Not too much to update, but I did score these really clean and nice E32 seats!

    Maybe my priorities are a bit out of whack, buying interior parts when it still doesn’t run lol. But hey, gotta grab good parts when they come up.



    I’m still waiting on a garage space to come available at the apartment... hopefully that will be happening soon and I can get started on this project finally.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1989 BMW 535i - Cirrusblau/Natur, 5 speed manual. Stock and original!
    2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
    2023 Acura MDX A-Spec

  24. #24
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    If you are going to do all the trouble off swapping might as well put an M motor in there.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Red Shirt KRT View Post
    If you are going to do all the trouble off swapping might as well put an M motor in there.
    I agree completely! That’s the plan. I’ll be keeping an eye out for a cheap S50 here soon.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1989 BMW 535i - Cirrusblau/Natur, 5 speed manual. Stock and original!
    2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
    2023 Acura MDX A-Spec

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