1995 540I Cashmere Beige on Beige on Beige

[moroza]

Can't say I've experienced them back to back on the same car as a decent OE set, but they're fundamentally a different design than the anisotropic OE ones. People's threshholds for NVH comparisons, or absolute levels of what they consider comfortable or not, can vary. Most say that 750iL thrust arm bushings ride as well as the lesser models', but neither I nor the engineers who specified five different bushings for that position agree.

[circuit.heart]

Compromising for availability and durability at this point. Powerflex subframe mounts are unnoticeable as long as you *don't* have M5 slide bearings in the trailing arms. The suspension bushings being hard isn't much of a problem as long as the arms are close to level (so bump forces don't transmit directly to the frame).

For the same token, there isn't much NVH gain from going straight to Turner Motorsport spherical thrust bearings either, as long as the other front end components are stock rubber and the arms are close to level at driving height.

[moroza]

Availability is certainly a valid reason to compromise. Durability? I can't say for track use, but in regular use, the OE ones seem to last 10-15 years.

[circuit.heart]

Installation and removal is also a great reason to compromise! Stock rubber bushings are a pain to press out - replacing poly is trivial, you can do it by hand under the car.

The other big question mark is that "OEM" parts of the original quality are getting rare, so you might expect 10-15 years and get 5, which would be a huge piss-off.

[okmike540i]

Installation and removal is also a great reason to compromise! Stock rubber bushings are a pain to press out - replacing poly is trivial, you can do it by hand under the car.

The other big question mark is that "OEM" parts of the original quality are getting rare, so you might expect 10-15 years and get 5, which would be a huge piss-off.

I went with Condor poly bushings. Have been buying all their parts for my shift linkage and they seem very high quality. This is my fun car, if it rides a bit rough that is a price I will pay.

[BleedsBlue]

Good to meet you at TexFest, sir! Still planning on Radwood in Feb?

[okmike540i]

Good to meet you at TexFest, sir! Still planning on Radwood in Feb?

Good meeting you as well! I am thinking about it, I am sure a respite from February weather will sound like a great idea in a few months. Clutch Pivot Pin fit perfect last night in the 310, like buttah!

[okmike540i]

I will share a few pics from TexFest, but won't go into the detail Danny did. And my old self finally got around to getting a photo host...

TexFest was a great time; Got to meet a lot of good folks who are into the same old cars we are. The roads were awesome, I saw GPS clocked speeds that I shouldn't have (knowing that I am my own "mechanic"), drank too many beers, had just enough whiskey, and now seriously want an E28 to putter on. I didn't get into the automotive all out shenanigans some of the fellas did, but we still hammered the back roads and I would say the group as whole did a good job of breaking every motor vehicle law on the books in Texas.

Outside God's chicken hut in Dallas, we met up with a local DFW E34 group bud to caravan down before he split off to pick up an E24 interior. My buddy in the E39 drove down with me from Tulsa.


Hit a mileage milestone that my juvenile brain has been waiting for. And the v8 was practically sipping fuel on the way down.


Dallas to Ingram was the longest 5 hour drive ever, I35 sucks when you don't trust your brakes and every honda civic driver in Texas thinks they are Dale Earnhardt drafting for the slingshot to the Nascar championship. And we are stereotyped as the asshole drivers...










S52 Swapped and a fun driver:






The Wagon Elitist Jerks:

The Grail... Sub 55k miles and smooth as silk. Near perfect inside and out.


Killed 1/3 of the bugs in Texas. At a Whataburger in Texas a bird landed on my bumper and plucked a big bug off for a snack.


Back to Clean after 1300 trouble free miles.

[a777fan]

Lookin good mike!

80085 lolz.

[circuit.heart]

Didn't notice till now - was your car in a front-end accident? The hood line sits high, and the front bumper sits low.

[okmike540i]

Didn't notice till now - was your car in a front-end accident? The hood line sits high, and the front bumper sits low.

Has DOT fenders but original hood, so the old lady must have run into something at some point. I need to take off the bumper and line it up better. No idea how to lower the hood in the front.

[okmike540i]

Been busy these last few weeks, working on and off as time allows.

ZF 310 all cleaned and ready to go. (I know, I know, shoulda got the 6 speed...)

Detent caps changed out for new. Did input, output, and shift select seals while I was at it. All plastic parts replaced with the Condor rebuild kit. Shifts like a bolt action rifle (maybe not miata trans levels of bolt action, but pretty damn good).

New Angry Ass Stainless Steel pin, new slave:

Yanked this heavy pig out of there. Always sketchy when they weigh this much.

Manual crossover pipe installed, new gaskets (+hondabond) and o-rings all around.

RHD lightweight flywheel and brand new sachs clutch installed. Went with all new bolts on everything.

Pedals installed. New clutch master and Condor stainless line. And yes, that is my HF Icon golden ratchet, and yes, it is AWESOME.

Hung this lighter weight piggy yesterday afternoon. Had a bud helping who knows what he is doing, so it went smoothly.

Shifter installed, clutch bled, then it was beer thirty and time to stop for the day.


Tonight I will play with the wiring, Wcsco123 has been giving me some much needed encouragement and guidance there. Also plan to hang the DS so I can get measurements for the driveshaft shop and hopefully drop it off tomorrow.

For future reference here is a 530i manual vs 540i auto driveshaft. Note the difference in knuckle location.


Cheers,

Mike

[circuit.heart]

For future reference here is a 530i manual vs 540i auto driveshaft. Note the difference in knuckle location

Interesting catch, that's really weird. I think all the 6-cylinder cars have the U-joint in the same place as the 530i driveshaft you pictured.

[danespann]

Good progress and congrats getting the manual swap coming along. Having driven plenty of zf310/320 and 420g cars, the ZF is the nicer trans to drive by far, besides having one less gear. Hope you enjoy it.

[BleedsBlue]

Nice work, Mike!

I'm pretty over BMW 6 speeds. The "overdrive" just isn't worth it, IMO, especially when you look at the competition's definition of overdrive.

[dannyzabolotny]

Yeah, the ZF 310z feels far superior as far as shift quality goes… the 420g is overrated unless you want to run a really short diff. The 530i/5’s had a 3.07 diff which made for pretty comfortable cruising, even with the 1:1 5th gear.

[okmike540i]

Thanks for the encouragement gentlemen! Got all the wiring done last night, will edit with pictures later.

So the driveshaft shop that said they could customize the 2 into 1... told me they couldn't when I got up there this morning. Didn't have the right fixtures to spin it for balancing. So after frantically calling around, no one in town/Oklahoma can do a BMW driveshaft. Called a guy in Dallas, but he seemed a little rude for my taste. My local parts guy/German shop said he had used Beyer Motorworks in AZ in the past so I gave them a call. They informed me they sold off the driveline work to some former employees, now operating under Beyer Driveline so I called them up. Super friendly on the phone and their tech understood exactly what I need after talking with him. So off it will go to Arizona for a complete rebuild and lengthening. Minor set back to getting it back on the road, but I also still have to get the old auto chip back to Dmitriy at DudMD to trade it out for a manual one. I have a spare DME, so I still plan to fire this up open header tonight or tomorrow.

[okmike540i]

Almost weekend update... Been a busy few weeks, some of it just waiting on parts. Hosting site seems to be acting up, so you get crap pics today.

The Driveshaft: I sent it off to Beyer Driveline in Chandler, AZ and they did a great job. Completely rebuilt CV, CSB, and lengthened to spec. Again, they are super nice folks and I would not think twice about sending them business again. I installed it last night and it fits perfect. They had me measure from the center of the CSB bolt holes to the guibo and it turns out I can run a tape measure. FedEx held it hostage for a few days, but I was out of town and waiting on other parts.
PXL_20211201_233337260 (1).jpg
Previously mentioned wiring is complete. I was missing a harness for the reverse light, but luckily had some m60 engine harnesses to scavenge from. The ZF310 reverse plug is the same pattern as a fuel injector with the "tang" in the center, so I cobbled that together. I used some random wire I had, marine grade shrink wrap, soldered lineman's splices, wrapped all of the wires twice with regular electrical tape, then a third wrap with black cloth electrical tape to look OE, and used the 2 prong jumper from the clutch switch delete to plug into the harness. I used a fine-tooth saw to cut the "collar" off that plug. I also saved the grommet from the auto shifter cable and ran the home made harness through that hole and into the cabin. I soldered all of the wiring connections I made, not a fan of crimp connectors. Must have done it right as there is no "trans program error" and the lights work when I put it in reverse.
PXL_20211109_001435806.jpg
My soldering rig:
PXL_20211109_001039080.jpg
More action shots:
PXL_20211109_005007477.jpg
And the money shot with re-veneered panel, Condor boot, and custom shift knob with Condor gear pattern sticker:
PXL_20211112_222926983.PORTRAIT.jpg

[dannyzabolotny]

Heck yeah! That’s some real ingenuity with repurposing the connector, I love seeing stuff like that. I dig the wood shift knob, it matches the light interior quite nicely.

Have you driven the car as a manual yet?

[okmike540i]

DudMD chip came in, runs great!
PXL_20211122_231907661.jpg

So when I pressed the clutch pedal in, the bell housing immediately started screaming at me in protest. Vibration and screeching when at the bottom 10% of travel. Pull the now ruined slave off, and the plastic tip is completely melted. Out comes the trans again... Here is the 633i clutch and plate on the RHD flywheel.
PXL_20211124_011003258.jpg
Here is the the hole that the plate made on the clutch fork:
PXL_20211201_234206773.jpg
Here is the 323i throw out bearing (left) that you need to use if you run this set up, it gives you an extra 5mm clearance that will prevent fork destruction:
PXL_20211201_234245150.jpg
Live and learn, nothing catastrophic lost, and what is another $140 on this already over budget project, right?

Plan to button everything up after work and take it out on it's maiden drive as a manual car. Will post more updates soon!

Mike

[circuit.heart]

Here is the 323i throw out bearing (left) that you need to use if you run this set up, it gives you an extra 5mm clearance that will prevent fork destruction:
PXL_20211201_234245150.jpg

Ah I felt this. Went through the same thing fitting the 335i gearbox, only I got lucky going the other way (TOB too tall and clutch never engaged). Good times. Like you said, nothing expensive died, continue

[okmike540i]

Heck yeah! That’s some real ingenuity with repurposing the connector, I love seeing stuff like that. I dig the wood shift knob, it matches the light interior quite nicely.

Have you driven the car as a manual yet?

I stole that idea from multiple sources on the connector... and thanks on the knob! Just got back from the first drive and... oh my god it is soooo much fecking better. I do not know how I am supposed to drive "mildly" to break in this clutch with how damn responsive and rev happy it is now. The driveshaft knuckles had to "self clearance" on the heat shield, but 14.8 miles later it is hardly making a peep...

Ah I felt this. Went through the same thing fitting the 335i gearbox, only I got lucky going the other way (TOB too tall and clutch never engaged). Good times. Like you said, nothing expensive died, continue

Already way over budget on this project, it's just money, I will make more... (as the wife telepathically scowls at me for typing that)

[okmike540i]

Long, photo heavy, "post swap" 1k mile update. Everything has been functioning 100%. Glad I did it, was a fun challenge, and how many people can say they made a car better? The RHD flywheel makes it rev stupidly quick, coupled with the OE grade sachs clutch it has pedal feel like any of the other E34's I have driven. You can hear a little chatter at idle, but definitely not a deal breaker. I buggered up the shift shaft seal when I replaced it, but that's easy enough to go back and re do. 10/10 would manual swap an E34 again.

After puttering around and not abusing the clutch during break in... I had some Christmas money to spend and ordered an E60 short shifter. With the previously installed Condor bushings I put in it feels fantastic. As "bolt action" as an unknown mileage zf 310 can get. The 530 shift lever was ok, but a little long. Was it worth my family members money? Yes.

I ordered one of these before they discontinue them. I wish RD would start reproducing more e34 parts, we prove there are still people willing to spend money on these cars. Front end feels tighter for sure, or that is placebo, but it still looks damn cool damnit.

I ordered these about a month ago from Rasporki (before we couldn't anymore?). Super fast shipping, stupid cheap prices, easy transaction, and I would do business with them again.

Ordered some "street" coilovers from MTS Technik out of Poland. A buddy put me on to them and from what I can tell they look great; ISO 9000, not made in china, tuv approved, and great weld quality. I am not after a race suspension, I just want to lower this old girl a small (boomer) amount, have fun on backroads, and be firmer but not jar your teeth out firm. I will report back how these are.

Because of E34 Family (Dominik Toretto voice), I now have a spare ZF from a junk yard outside of Austin. Thanks boys, you know who you are. I will probably start buying every last one I come across.

Back on her perches, where she lives half the time. My buddy says the car sighs every time the Harbor Freight daytona jack comes out.

But for the suspension it was sigh of relief. Totally shot, 3 of 4 shocks were done for.


Brakes looking roasted as well:

Cutting these down for the front coils was easy enough. I took them to a buddy for welding, he is into Nissan's and other Japanese cars but I don't hold it against him. I was trying to sell him on turbo M50 swapping his R31 wagon, but he wouldn't hear it.


Welded and painted.

I picked up new everything for the coilovers as well as brakes. The MTS's use the stock hardware for the top of the rear strut assembly so I ordered pretty much all of it. Here is the rear Rasporki brace installed. It was a little finicky to install and you have to cut the carpet in front of the towers.

Fronts installed, everything went really smooth.

New rotors, Zimmermans in the front. Balo's in the back. Also ordered new rotor "screws" as they were all chewed up.

And the Rasporki E31 clone subframe brace. I also did the sway bar bushings finally, they were dated 1994.

Waiting on one more Rotor and new brake lines to be delivered. Hoping to be back on the ground by Tuesday to start messing with the ride height. Can't wait to piss off the stance kids by going minimum drop.

Cheers,

Mike

[BleedsBlue]

Great stuff, Mike!

[circuit.heart]

Interesting​ I didn't know that's how the rear tower brace installs. That's not a bad idea, since we don't have fold-down seats anyways it's worth bracing up that area to prevent fatigue cracks of the rear firewall.