Impulse bought the e34s big brother w/ an m30b35

[jmile46]

Hey yall,
As I was driving the other day I passed a scrapyard and noticed in the corner of my eye a pretty nice looking black e32 735i. So I stopped and asked the proprietor about it. He said he had no idea, they just got it. He told me to go check it out and see if it runs and said make a cash offer for whole car. So I checked it out and noticed no major damage aside from a decent dent in front driver side fender(from a sidewipe it appears). Aside from those the paint was rather decent, not super faded and minor door rust on 3 doors. More importantly though I made sure it ran. The m30 fired right up. I let it run for some 45 minutes to make sure it didn’t overheat( seems to be main issue with these motors). I presumed thats why it was there. But to my surprise no overheating. Also came with oem bbs style 5s with bbs center caps! Caps say made in W. germany. Cool!! It has 195k miles and upon checking car fax I am apparently the 2nd owner! Clean title! So thats cool. Anyway The fellow wanted $750 for it. I nitpicked him to $650. So i figured screw it, why not?! So I drove it home and soon found out something was severely wrong up front. Violent shaking. Made it home and learned front left caliper is completely seized and pads are no longer existent because of that. So brakes are ordered and should fix front end issues. Also, tires were shot which contributed as well. So i swapped on my e34 wheels and it drove a little better. So new tire and brakes are on the list. Id also like to replace waterpump as a safety measure, plus when initially accelerating it appears to make noise, bad bearing Id say.

Funniest part is as some of you may know I have an m30b35 I was given for free and have been parting and now here I am with another in this car, so I have a parts motor!

Anyway is there any other items I should address in this m30 or anything at all to pay attention too?


Heres the poor e34 on jacks as the e32 borrows its wheels!

[moroza]

One owner and in overall good running shape? Suspect the owner either actually or functionally expired, and their heirs/estate managers had too much else on their plate to deal with the car except by the easiest means possible. Looks good! How's the interior? Adjust the valves.

[jmile46]

One owner and in overall good running shape? Suspect the owner either actually or functionally expired, and their heirs/estate managers had too much else on their plate to deal with the car except by the easiest means possible. Looks good! How's the interior? Adjust the valves.

Im thinking it was an older woman whos kids likely took it over. Car hasn’t been registered since 2016. So Im thinking it sat past couple years. In terms of running it needs a tune up. But it seems to run/ rev healthy. Im scared to really surpass 4k until I do some normal maintenance, especially fix brakes. Interior isn’t horrible. 1 saggy pillar. Driver seat pretty worn. Passenger seat good besides 1 tear. Rear seat like new. Steering wheel is average. Adjusting valves definitely on the list!

[ross1]

Great buy!
I've yet to see a water pump on an M30 go more than 60k miles so that is de rigueur. While adjusting valve lash(.008" at the cam on old motors works better)check the banjo bolts retaining the oil spray bar for tightness.
Trans service!
BTW those are style 7s

[jmile46]

Great buy!
I've yet to see a water pump on an M30 go more than 60k miles so that is de rigueur. While adjusting valve lash(.008" at the cam on old motors works better)check the banjo bolts retaining the oil spray bar for tightness.
Trans service!
BTW those are style 7s

Thanks for the advice Ross! But in that 2nd pic, yes those are style 7s, from my e34. As tires in 7er were too dry rotted to drive.

These are from car. Style 5 no?

[zubbie]

Thanks for the advice Ross! But in that 2nd pic, yes those are style 7s, from my e34. As tires in 7er were too dry rotted to drive.

These are from car. Style 5 no?

Yes 15" style 5. Caps are not stock though.

[ross1]

style 5 001.jpg

Yes 15" style 5. Caps are not stock though.

Close but no, style 5's spokes don't extend into the flange area.
EDIT; Well, according to this they are; >> EDIT (just had an attempted attack on my PC after viewing this page, caveat emptor) http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/
which begs the question WTF are these that are on every other 5er on the planet?
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...86#36111179774

Then of course the 3 pc style 5s. Seems BBS and BMW conspired to make a wheel even more difficult to clean

[jmile46]

Possible there has been a few different iterations of style 5s?

[zubbie]

style 5 001.jpg
Close but no, style 5's spokes don't extend into the flange area.
EDIT; Well, according to this they are; >> EDIT (just had an attempted attack on my PC after viewing this page, caveat emptor) http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/
which begs the question WTF are these that are on every other 5er on the planet?
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...86#36111179774

Then of course the 3 pc style 5s. Seems BBS and BMW conspired to make a wheel even more difficult to clean

Good eye Ross. Now I'm confused also. My stockers are like realoem and your pic. Never seen the "spoke flange" version. Maybe the OP can check the back of the rim for a bmw part #.

I think I solved it. E30's used ET24 versions that show the spoke flange. Part 36111179066 although it wouldn't make sense that these would be on an E32.

[moroza]

There were at least three, maybe four different Style 5 designs, all of which I think are specific to size/offset. 15" look subtly different from 16"; 17" are 3-piece.

[jmile46]

I’ll grab a part number tomorrow! But im confused about bbs centers. Why would a non enthusiast older woman put bbs center caps on her style 5s? Lol

[ross1]

I’ll grab a part number tomorrow! But im confused about bbs centers. Why would a non enthusiast older woman put bbs center caps on her style 5s? Lol

Well, #1 you're making a big assumption about the previous owner. After 20+ years lots of cars no longer wear their original wheels. Folks like myself who have two dedicated sets for their cars, winter & summer, sometimes find themselves switching "duty" for set of wheels as tires wear. Dealers are always pushing winter sets and accessory wheels too. It's not hard to imagine that even granny might wind up with aftermarket wheels or caps.
If they bother you I seem to have cornered the market for ancient 15" rolling stock and have quite a few you could choose from.

[jmile46]

Well, #1 you're making a big assumption about the previous owner. After 20+ years lots of cars no longer wear their original wheels. Folks like myself who have two dedicated sets for their cars, winter & summer, sometimes find themselves switching "duty" for set of wheels as tires wear. Dealers are always pushing winter sets and accessory wheels too. It's not hard to imagine that even granny might wind up with aftermarket wheels or caps.
If they bother you I seem to have cornered the market for ancient 15" rolling stock and have quite a few you could choose from.

Very true. I certainly don’t mind them. I find it very cool that they have bbs caps. Especially because they came with the removal tool which Is surprising. If you have any dirt cheap sets with decent useable tires I’d consider grabbing a set as Im extremely sick of mounting and balancing tires lately.