I bought a 46k mile e34 M5!??!

[6erWEBB]

So fun facts first! This car had 36k miles in 1997, a tire rotation sticker in the door at 39k in 2000 and the odometer shows 46k.

Sad facts: it had a salvage New York title in the 90s and was rebuilt but never really accumulated miles. My theory after digging in is that it underwent some questionable maintenance and developed running issues that were too irritating to deal with.

It’s spent the last several years sitting in a back lot of a body shop in mississippi which is where a friend and I picked it up.









So the salvage title? Well so far I’ve found a dotR hood and trunk lid. As well as a lot of filler in the rear quarters and the front fenders. Not a huge deal, but rolling around underneath today I found HUGE cracks in the areas of the unibody where the front subframe mounts.

I had already intended to part most of this car out but I was feeling bad about it until that. Obviously this thing went through hell at some point.

Future plans: I intend to utilize SOME of the M bits in my e32 including the engine, however I’ll be selling a lot of the other desirable parts soon (look for a companion thread in the classifieds).

And until then this thread will serve as a place to show the process of getting the engine running while in this shell before I pull it to freshen it up a bit!


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[6erWEBB]

Update anyone? SO, as I stated before this engine has a documented 46k miles but it’s been sitting since what I now think may have been 2007 based on sales and registration records.

First thing I did was try to turn it over and heard a SNAP!!! But felt no feedback in my ratchet. So plugs pulled timing cover off I spun it slowly and heard it again. It’s either a valve sticking and the piston it bumping it back up, or a lifter is sticking.

Either way, the plan is to eventually put this engine into my e32, which some may laugh at, after a heavy freshening. I’d like to check main and rod bearings and put a fresh gasket under every service and be able to begin this engines new life at mile zero with me.

So based on this the head will be coming off and going to a specialist to be checked and have a valve job done so that I can get it running in it’s current “engine stand”.

Now for the pics!!!!








Yep, that friggin nut was in there!!!


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[drosato]

After dealing with many old cars that have sat for a long time what you may hear is rust/corrosion on the pistons/cylinder bores where a ring was sticking. I would make sure to tear it down and inspect before i turned it over much more. Good Luck! super cool find and will be a hell of a powerplant in your e32.

[JThomp33]

That's an awesome (and very rare pickup). In my opinion I would much rather see a full restoration/build, etc. keeping the original car and motor, but to each their own.

If you are also planning on a manual conversion, my Brother just did a very detailed manual swap into his E32, you can check it out here:
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ual-Conversion

[6erWEBB]

That's an awesome (and very rare pickup). In my opinion I would much rather see a full restoration/build, etc. keeping the original car and motor, but to each their own.

If you are also planning on a manual conversion, my Brother just did a very detailed manual swap into his E32, you can check it out here:
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ual-Conversion

Man! yall really did some work! So my e32 is a factory M30 5 speed car! I actually got it free with the trans missing and had topiece it back together.. Ill see if I can post a couple pics of that one too. And just know, this car is in way worse shape than the pictures let you know, a restoration would be in the 60-80k range and sadly its just not worth it right now.

After dealing with many old cars that have sat for a long time what you may hear is rust/corrosion on the pistons/cylinder bores where a ring was sticking. I would make sure to tear it down and inspect before i turned it over much more. Good Luck! super cool find and will be a hell of a powerplant in your e32.

Ugh, lets hope thats not it haha. Yeah I didnt even think about that, the first engine I ever built went through that. We'll find out soon, Ill try to get the head off in a couple days. Also thanks! I really cant wait, the e32 really grew on me after finding one with such a basic drivetrain and Ive always been fascinated by the s38.

[6erWEBB]

Here we go, took me a bit to find the first photo I took of the e32.



And the last one I took... actually a year ago!




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[JThomp33]

Here we go, took me a bit to find the first photo I took of the e32.



And the last one I took... actually a year ago!




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That looks awesome on those RC90'S! It's a shame the ///M5 is beyond saving, but you should be able to get a decent amount for parting it out at least.

[6erWEBB]

Took a little time and marked wires, made a vacuum line map as I’ve had trouble finding a good accurate one, and removed the itb’s.




A couple valves looked just ok but most were cruddy and carbon-y.







A couple people have told me to just throw fresh gas in it and try to crank. Seeing as the cheapest engine for sale out there is 7500 and to rebuild one would cost similar I have no wish to “risk it”. I like the thought of knowing I’m giving it all I can.

I also found a myriad of odd things that most likely would’ve kept it from starting. One vacuum line had a t in it but nothing going from one of the outlets. More than a few clamps on vacuum tubes were hanging loose, and the fuel smelled more like plastic than fuel.. so I’m thinking injectors as well now.


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[Johal E32]

Great find!

I noticed the M5 cluster with red needles is missing..Did the car come with the standard instrument cluster already installed, or did you swap that in?

[6erWEBB]

Well that stinks to hear, heard it twice now. I actually didn’t know what made an M cluster but I had some suspicions when I noticed the redline and max speed were the same as my 735i..

oddly it does have a little M logo where the high beam indicator is. One thought I had for my swap was if an M cluster would be ideal for the engine to be used in my e32..

btw I love your silver M5, the specs on the engine give me naughty ideas for when I pull mine out.

[6erWEBB]

Well two things have happened this week. It appears I payed no attention to the limit on photos Tapatalk puts on free members and of course I can’t remember my Apple ID to upgrade so... that’s fun. And secondly, and more interestingly..... the head has been off this engine at some point for what is currently an unknown reason! so far I’ve found silicone under the cam tray, missing and loose bolts on the exhaust, and marks on hardware inside the cam tray... can’t wait to post more pics!! Also I’m almost certain this car had an entire new right hand strut tower welded in!!!


now, for a question. I’ll be putting this engine into my 735i that already has a manual trans. If I purchase an m5 proper cluster and use my current coding plug, in my thinking the biggest thing would be that the mileage reads what the 735 had.. correct? I’m sure the speedometer will be wonky but the only cluster I currently see for sale is in kph anyways.

[theBMWbeast]

M5 cluster will read slightly incorrect without the coding chip recoded. The revs will be a couple hundred off, the speedometer seems to read a consistent 10mph fast, and the oil temp gauge obviously won’t work. I believe this stems from the gauge going to 180mph, and the tach to 8k.

I have one in my 535i, and just got my coding chip back from Mark D’Sylva. Still need to install it, but if all works this should solve the above issues. That’s really to get it perfect though, and take advantage of the oil temp gauge. I had been running it with a stock chip for 2 years. You can’t use your current plug, as early cars that is integrated into the harness. You also can’t use an m5 chip, everything will be off.

Try reaching out to Mark, he might be able to help. He was very busy when I shipped him my chip, ended up taking 5 months to get it back. Elsewise he is the go to guy.

[6erWEBB]

Yeah that sounds like a huge headache! Dang, I guess I was hoping if the gauge cluster matched the engine at least the tach and oil gauges would be right. Well... knowing all that now I really want one lol.

[locknload]

Car has some serious dragon tracks. Curious to know if you believe the shop you bought it from was legit? Did they know they had a unicorn? Also, what were your expectations when you first decided to purchase?

[6erWEBB]

Haha explain dragon tracks to me!! The shop I bought it from did none of the work to it. It was a gm body shop that bought this, and a Porsche 944 turbo and some other cars in an estate sale years and years ago. They absolutely had no clue what they had as the price showed. Also as I said this car was totaled in 95.. when it’s value was still quite high, so though I may never know what happened to it chances are it was extremely major.

the only goal I ever had was a complete s38 to transplant into my e32. Ive loved these engines forever and owned three before I had any money or knowledge to repair them. The last one I sold went for 2500 including the trans and diff (in 2014) and I pulled teeth to get that much. Now I struggle to find one bare block with a head for less than 4K.

the truth is the future of this car was only ever going to be a parts car, after everything is pulled I’ll have to take some pics as I’m uncovering some gnarly weld seams all over the understructure.

[q20v]

This is really cool stuff, please keep posting info and pictures!

[6erWEBB]

Ok, finally figured out my Apple ID lol... I’m getting old.

So the head is removed.. now I just need to bag everything up before I forget what’s what!




To show where the timing Mark is on the cams to show tdc on compression stroke.









So as of right now I know the cam tray has been removed, who knows why. Laughably they marked every bearing cap even though they have factory marks.

The sound I was hearing appears to be a sticking intake valve on cylinder six and the piston pushing it back up created the noise.







And the worlds best solution for keeping up with 24 lifters.






Next steps won’t be for awhile.. I’ll be taking the head to Memphis motor works to be gone through but I’ll need to sell some parts first!!


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[mottati]

i'm not seeing anything on this car or engine to go with 46k miles, but you're going thru it anyway so doesn't really matter. Will be a cool swap.

[6erWEBB]

I know, I agree! But all the documentation plus the fact that I doubt someone had the knowledge to swap the coding plug when they swapped the cluster.

Does anyone know if there are numbers to match the head/block to the car? Or even together? The cam tray has the vin sticker but that’s all I know of for sure.

[6erWEBB]

Welp!! More of the story of the ‘95 crash. We got the knee bolster to work on the stock seats and when it scooted out it was full of glass. And remember the weld lines I mentioned? Welp, this is what factory paint looks like when you sand through it. Color layer, sealer layer, and metal.




And this is the paint on the passenger side strut tower: notice it goes black-sealer, gold-sealer, then metal.




More proof of the horrible life this car had!! I also found a positive sign of very nice cross hatch marks in the cylinders... but then found more crap like this:




Not a great photo but the ground location was actually welded on by what appears to be a child! I just have no doubt that this car is in fact low mile but it’s had one of the worst lives I’ve seen in such a special car. As for the cruddyness of the engine.. I’m pretty sure years of low grade fuel would cause all that carbon, no?


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[locknload]

You've checked the VIN? It is a US market car? Hacked welding could be a sign of gray market or 3rd world repairs. Also, isn't there usually a signature of the guy who built it behind the front bumper cover? It'd be fun if that was still intact.

[6erWEBB]

Yep! Bought brand new in New York. And I never heard that! I’ll look but I’m betting if it was crashed bad enough to need a strut tower it probably got a new bumper.


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[doubleJC]

Nice find by the way! Pretty cool to see you uncover the mysteries of the car's life through tearing it apart (I guess that's the only real way, huh?) but even cooler is that you're going against the grain and putting it into a 735! Should be a fun car once all said and done!

Excited to see more,
John

[6erWEBB]

John, thanks so much, very kind words there. I’ve always enjoyed uncovering the stories of a cats life that people have tried to hide. Making my living restoring cars it seems to help me in my quest to achieve “perfection” as well.

I forgot to check the bumper for the signature today but I did find a thread on m5board on the subject. Apparently there’s talk of signatures possibly being on the rear bumper as well as the engine block? Couldn’t find photos of the engine one though, that may be a myth.

[M3NACEe46]

Without the m5 cluster that mileage is almost certainly not correct. And as sad as it is to see one of these die, your doing the right thing. This one is way to far gone to make it worth restoring/ even if you did it wouldnt go for a lot given the spotty and clear accident history. One dies so others live... in your case a rad e32

The locations of the signatures I know about are on the front bumper, under the plastic trim. Usually on the right side. But as you said unlikely the bumper is original to the car. Especially if the hood is a has a DOT sticker. The other spots I have found/ heard of are on the inside of the intake plenum. And I’ve heard the painter used to sign under the roundel on the trunk. Not sure about the rear bumper/ haven’t seen any pics of one there.

I suspect your keeping the whole drive train? I would be interested in the cat and exhaust as long as it’s in good shape? And they’re not going on the e32.

Good of luck with the rebuild