1995 525i Black/Parchment - New Project

[Petrolheadpilot]

I’m still here! Project is still going on.

I got furloughed from my job thanks to COVID, which put everything on hold for a while. Still not working, but I got sick and tired of seeing that engine on the stand, and the car getting dustier and dustier.

So I’ve been selling off some of my extra Volvo parts and various other things I collect... the first batch of parts has come in! Very excited to get going once again, and get my childhood dream car back on the road.




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[moroza]

Plague epidemics are a great time to get around to low-budget high-time back-burner projects. Reminds me that I also need to look at my chain tensioner before it becomes a problem.

[Petrolheadpilot]

Decided to free up some space in the garage today by getting the old engine out of there. I disassembled the internals to make the block easier to lift. Milkshake anyone? Haha

Cannot believe I drove it home 3 and a half hours in that condition lol. I’m definitely a believer in these engines now!




1995 BMW 525i - Black/Parchment, M50/5 speed manual

2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
2017 Toyota Yaris IA

[Petrolheadpilot]

Today I painted the exhaust manifolds, using some rust reformer and then a couple coats of high temp black paint brushed on.

Erasing 25 years of grime from this engine is quite an undertaking haha. I’m not going for concours level obviously, but I do want to be proud when I open the engine bay of this car... and some extra effort now will be well worth it later!




1995 BMW 525i - Black/Parchment, M50/5 speed manual

2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
2017 Toyota Yaris IA

[a777fan]

One step at a time!

[Petrolheadpilot]

Tried out my new tap and die set today. What a satisfying thing to do.



I had the Dremel tool and razor blades out, getting all the mating surfaces for the various gaskets cleaned up and ready to go.

The new main sprocket is the first official new part to go on the engine! Small victories.



And just more scrubbing. So much scrubbing lol. I’m not going for Pebble Beach level, but I do want the engine bay to be as clean and presentable as possible.


My wife and I are planning to buy a house next year, and the first thing I’m getting for the garage is a blasting cabinet lol. I’m over this scrubbing.

I’m getting a lot of satisfaction out of this project, even as slow as the progress has been. Hopefully that progress will continue through these winter months. I appreciate all the views, comments and constructive advice!


1995 BMW 525i - Black/Parchment, M50/5 speed manual

2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
2017 Toyota Yaris IA

[Petrolheadpilot]

Parts are continuing to trickle in...



And I bought some sort of performance exhaust off Craigslist yesterday. Any ideas what it might be? It was only $50 so I didn’t do much research lol






1995 BMW 525i - Black/Parchment, M50/5 speed manual

2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
2017 Toyota Yaris IA

[Petrolheadpilot]

Happy New Year to everyone! I’m so excited for 2021. Gonna be some big things happening in my life, including finally getting this car back on the road. I start a new job in February, which will finally provide some financial backing for this project! So that is great news for sure. Parts are continuing to trickle in, so I am working to get the rest of the engine prepped to receive them!

Spent this afternoon getting the cams installed in the cylinder head. Doing that alone is definitely tricky, but I managed.



All I’m waiting on now is the oil pump shaft. I bought the upgraded shaft and bolt kit from Achilles Motorsports, and after trying two different hydraulic presses at my buddy’s machine shop, we couldn’t get the old one out!

But Achilles has provided great customer service, I sent it back to them and they pressed their new part into my existing rotor (can’t get the rotor new anymore). Just waiting for that to arrive back from California, and we’ll be in business!

After that, I think I’ll have everything I need to get the big bits of the engine assembled and off the stand. Whoop!


1995 BMW 525i - Black/Parchment, M50/5 speed manual

2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
2017 Toyota Yaris IA

[a777fan]

Good things comin in 2021!

[henfjel]

Great progress, and congratulations on your new job!
Looking forward to seeing more good work here.

[Singing6]

Parts are continuing to trickle in...



And I bought some sort of performance exhaust off Craigslist yesterday. Any ideas what it might be? It was only $50 so I didn’t do much research lol






1995 BMW 525i - Black/Parchment, M50/5 speed manual

2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
2017 Toyota Yaris IA

Looks like billy boat. Good way to tell for sure is if it fits. If you find that getting the rear left hanger on is almost impossible because the bracket on the muffler is in the wrong spot, then its the real billy boat. Iirc, the right side was poorly done on them as well. And before you ask, yes, it was not just the one I was working with. Two different models (525 and m5) both ordered new by someone I do e34 work for, going on different cars (525iT and M5), and they had identical issues.

[sbeckman7]

That does indeed look like a Billy Boat and $50 is an absolute steal for that exhaust! I had an M50 525i when I studied in Indiana and I absolutely loved it. My car had a Billy Boat exhaust as well, cold air intake (sounded incredible - I don't care if it lost power), m systems, bilstein/eibach springs, LSD... Compared to my 535i, the M50 car felt so much more modern yet still 100% an E34. I'm sure you will have a blast once your car is done and I'm looking forward to seeing it finished

IMG_1357.jpgIMG_3303.jpg

[Petrolheadpilot]

That is awesome! Thanks for the advice, I’m definitely looking forward to getting it hooked up and hearing it.

It’s just funny, I wasn’t even thinking about aftermarket exhausts at all. Just went to pick it up because my car came with mo exhaust at all. But I might’ve gotten an absolute steal lol. Love it!


1995 BMW 525i - Black/Parchment, M50/5 speed manual

2002 Volvo C70 Coupe
2017 Toyota Yaris IA

[Singing6]

It should polish up nice, the tips in particular!


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[Petrolheadpilot]

Finally some honest to god progress on this thing. Parts have been coming in for a while now, and it feels great to finally be putting them on! It’s embarrassing how long it’s taken me to get to this point, but at least I’m here now.

1st thing was to lower the engine off the stand and replace the rear main seal.



Then I installed the oil pump, which has been fully rebuilt with new internal parts, and had the Achilles Motorsports shaft kit installed. That was a big ordeal, but its all together now!
Also, a brand new chain and main sprocket were put on with it.



And lastly, I caused myself quite a bit of extra work lol. But we’re honest with each other here, right? So I’ll tell on myself haha.

When I painted the block, I decided to put duck tape over the top of the block, so I didn’t get any paint there... never got around to taking it back off, so the adhesive really stuck on there good! I went to crank the engine around by hand a little, and heard it unsticking itself from the pistons hahaha. Ugh! Big time stupid moment. But hey, the other cylinders blew out the tape, so I guess it has good compression haha.



Took about 45 minutes of scraping with a razor blade and 2 very sore hands to get it all off... but it’s all good now. Live and learn lol.

More coming very soon!


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[a777fan]

Nice! Those new parts are lookin snappy installed. Curious on your oil cog, you have 'front' marked. Do those actually have an orientation? I couldn't tell on my M60 one when I pulled it off, but maybe I need to look harder.

And yes, thanks for sharing even the 'bone-head' moments, as we have all had them. IMHO, the important part is realizing you've made a mistake and taking action to correct it before you toast whatever component you made the mess-up on.

Not to derail your thread, but I'll contribute my most recent example in a show of camaraderie: During the sanding work I did on my drivers side frame rail, I neglected to block off the Oil Ports on the side of the block. Talk about MAJOR bone-head move. Nothing is going to toast a motor quicker than abrasives circulating through the lubrication system.
Luckily nothing major was in there when I pulled off the engine mount which the oil lines feed through. The design of the M60 also gives great access to the galleys in that part of the block so I was able to go to town with some brake cleaner for the initial flush, and then follow that up with an oil flush. Problem solved! But I definitely was sweating it until I fully understood where all the passages went, and how accessible they were.

[Petrolheadpilot]

Nice! Those new parts are lookin snappy installed. Curious on your oil cog, you have 'front' marked. Do those actually have an orientation? I couldn't tell on my M60 one when I pulled it off, but maybe I need to look harder.

Haha! Oh dear that could’ve been bad. But yeah like you said, good that you realized it!

And to answer your question, I’m not sure. Achilles Motorsports makes the cogs in house, and it came to me marked that way. So I didn’t question it haha.


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[a777fan]

Haha! Oh dear that could’ve been bad. But yeah like you said, good that you realized it!

And to answer your question, I’m not sure. Achilles Motorsports makes the cogs in house, and it came to me marked that way. So I didn’t question it haha.


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thanks! and interesting. I'll check out their website and see how M50 specific their offerings are. I know the pumps are pretty different, with the M50 having a reverse thread bolt on the pump and such....

[Mless5]

When you are done with those seats and panels are back, can you please post a few pictures that will illustrate how they fit into e34? I've heard that they are wider than e34 seats.

[Petrolheadpilot]

I didn’t remember cylinder 6 looking quite this nasty... I have zero experience here... am I ok to send it? This engine doesn’t need to last forever, but I don’t want to be stupid about it.

I really don’t have a machine shop in my budget... but what do you guys say?




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[Petrolheadpilot]

Upon further research, I’m gonna try brake fluid and ATF to clean the cylinder walls. I’ll update on how that goes!

More progress on the engine today. Got the new front seal and front timing cover installed, that all seemed to go well! Time will tell once it’s running haha.





For the new jesus bolt I had to order a 3/4 to 1/2 adapter for my BIG torque wrench. That’ll be here tomorrow hopefully.
My method for tightening it down requires the oil pan to be off, so that was all the engine work I could do today.

So I tackled some interior work. The fuse was missing for the blower motor haha, so that was an easy fix. It seems to work pretty well. I wish I’d looked at that when the car was running, so I’d know if the AC and heat works lol.

Then I changed out the cabin air filter. It’s a bit of a pain, but I know it’s a fire hazard if not replaced. Oddly enough, there was NO filter in there... I can’t figure that one out... why go to all the trouble to remove the filter, but then not replace it? Oh well, all good now.


The passenger side air duct was cracked, and all 3 mounting tabs were broken, so I’ve ordered a new one of those. I still need to do the passenger window regulator, and fix the driver side door handle. Feels REALLY good to be making progress regularly now.


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[michaelmcc827]

Funny, I ran into the same thing changing my cabin filter. Just an empty slot waiting for the new filter. There was considerable gunk built up and stuck to the metal fins. Not easy to clean. How strange!

[Petrolheadpilot]

Funny, I ran into the same thing changing my cabin filter. Just an empty slot waiting for the new filter. There was considerable gunk built up and stuck to the metal fins. Not easy to clean. How strange!

Wow haha, yeah I can’t figure out the logic there at all haha. Luckily mine was pretty clean, just needed a quick vacuum.


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[Petrolheadpilot]

Today I did a job I’ve been putting off, installing and torquing a new jesus bolt haha. I’m pretty happy with my one-man method of installation.



And got the harmonic balancer and pulley put on as well.




Got a few interior parts in as well today, a new HVAC tube for the passenger side to replace the broken one, and a new eBay window regulator... and of course they sent me the wrong regulator. Always something haha


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[Petrolheadpilot]

I’m still around! Life has been crazy these past few months, landed my dream job, and have been away training for a couple months, and since I’ve been back, my wife and I have been house shopping almost nonstop!

So many good things happening, it’s insane. It’s going to be a challenge to move the E34 project to Florida with me, but I’m going to do it! I’m not giving up now at this stage of the game.

I got out to the garage for a little bit today and got some work done.


I wasn’t happy with the safety wire job, so I redid it. Much better.




The oil pan is now installed. I chased all the threads, and got the mating surfaces cleaned up. Then installed everything with some shiny new hardware, and a new magnetic drain plug. I’ve turned the garage upside down looking for the oil level sensor haha. I’ve got a new O-ring for it and everything, but no idea where it’s gone off to. Hopefully it shows itself soon.








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