e34 project getting started

[ska-texas]

Hi y'all from the lone star state

Ok the end of a long week of spending,spending and more spending. BillionPA I took your advice and got the struts,springs,sway bars and bushing. Thanks. Angrypancake I will photo the project and heres hoping those 19" work. Airborne001 thanks for the BMP reference. My last few questions though are regarding lighting. I did order the Depot angel eyes but must assume they don't have bulbs also ordered the Hella replacement fog lamp cans. I would like to have the xenon look for the low beams and fog lamps. Any advice? I will launch the project the week of july 3-7. Paint the bumpers and rockers, install suspension and wheels and lamps, leatherique the interior to new and hand the keys to my wife. Results hopefully will be bitchen e34 and no more damn car payments. As always I'm a new 535i e34 owner so any help or advice will be awsome.:)

[BillionPa]

make sure you have a set of torque wrenches, and a LOT of WD40 and PB.

as well as a full wratchet set.

get an O2 sensor removal tool to do the front shock nut removal and installation.

with the Eibach springs i got, i didnt even need a spring compressor on the fronts.

also, jackstands dont work too well on E34s, i made a couple of aluminum pieces to rebalance the weight onto the jackstand. you will see.

you can get some HID units to install in the low beams and fog lams clusters, however you will get an error message on the dash saying the bulbs are out.

what brand/size swaybars and type of shocks/spring combo you get?

[ska-texas]

I'm fortunate enough to be able to most of the work at a very high end body shop. Components were from BMP and ebay I did go with a progressive rate sping though since my wife will never take this thing on a track. The spring rate is more about comfort and ride height. I did some research online and found some xenon type bulbs. Have you heard of Hella Optiflux?

[BillionPa]

optilux isnt HID

[ska-texas]

I guess I'm going for xenon effect. although after I googled BMW e34 xenon replacement bulbs I more confused than ever. Seems that all kinds of manufacuture are selling bulbs and everbodys are the best. I like the bright white light with hint of blue that xenon produces but I don't want to purchase the wrong ones.

[liquidtiger720]

why dont you just get real HID's?

[ska-texas]

Sound like that is the way to go. So that being said what is the right way to do HID quality and price.

[angrypancake]

phillips ballasts.

[ska-texas]

Thanks,
I did the xenon lamp search and found that 632Regal has had good luck with the Wagner Brite Lights. I hate to cheap out but at this time I'm going for a little more light with some hints of blue. This week has seen my wallet get much lighter with all these parts. Now I'm thinking go for the body kit also. There is no shortage of 9006 bulbs out there claiming to be the brightest and the best. Sylvania, Hella optilix, etc. What do you think?

[BillionPa]

i have ProLumen HID in my car, and its brighter than holy hell!!!!

the light is 6000K, which looks pure white if you stare at it (for about .1s before you go blind) but they look more purple from the side, and the light they shine has a blue halo at the upper edge of the light beam.

also they draw 20W less than a standard bulb, which means more power to the engine

i would wait and save up for HID rather than spending a lot of money on the look, only to not like it and get HID later anyways!

[angrypancake]

i forget what i have, i picked it up off of Hypr5. Phillips ballasts I know. 4300K, and its really really bright. they're comboed with euro projectors, so the HID's in the low beams are amazing, and when i turn on the high beams it's like stadium lighting. truly a worthy investment.

[ska-texas]

I just searched xenon bulbs and can't believe the info. Man I love this forum. Sound like it's time to be patient and get the HID upgrade. Now the tech part, It I just purchased the Depot angel eyes will I need to say goodbye to those and do a complete upgrade with HID?

[BillionPa]

no, I have the Depo lights with HID, they are a nice combo.

HOWEVER... depending on which kit you get, it may require modification of the lighting cluster to fit.

[ska-texas]

please explane. Depot bought from ebay with adivce from reading what Qube had written.

[BillionPa]

the ones i got were from Umnitza and had the Prolumen HID bulbs preinstalled.

all i had to do was splice in the high beams and connect the balasts to the low beams.

[ska-texas]

I'm going to do the HID's last. We have more than enough small projects to get this thing started. I'll upgrade to warner brite lights in the mean time. That should bye me enough time to save for the body kit and HID's. After seeing the basic upgrades that I'm doing, wheels,suspension,lights,upgraded bumpers it should be night and day. One note on the wheels/Tires though When We went to church today I saw a 740 parked and checked out the wheels 18" with 255/45/18 I think Angrypancake is right in that I'm going to need 30/35's to make the 19" fit with thoughs Intrax springs.

[cableface]

Hi y'all from the lone star state

Ok the end of a long week of spending,spending and more spending. BillionPA I took your advice and got the struts,springs,sway bars and bushing. Thanks. Angrypancake I will photo the project and heres hoping those 19" work. Airborne001 thanks for the BMP reference. My last few questions though are regarding lighting. I did order the Depot angel eyes but must assume they don't have bulbs also ordered the Hella replacement fog lamp cans. I would like to have the xenon look for the low beams and fog lamps. Any advice? I will launch the project the week of july 3-7. Paint the bumpers and rockers, install suspension and wheels and lamps, leatherique the interior to new and hand the keys to my wife. Results hopefully will be bitchen e34 and no more damn car payments. As always I'm a new 535i e34 owner so any help or advice will be awsome.:)
How much did you spend total on everything for your front suspension? Also, where in TX are you located? I'm in College Station...

[ska-texas]

Wheels on ebay $950.00, suspension on ebay+swaybar and bushing $475.00, angel eyes,euro rears and side markers $400.00, new radiator and themostat and BMW antifreez $ 250.00 , leatherique kit $ 150.00 so far. Georgetown just north of Austin. GIG EM.

[angrypancake]

I'm going to do the HID's last. We have more than enough small projects to get this thing started. I'll upgrade to warner brite lights in the mean time. That should bye me enough time to save for the body kit and HID's. After seeing the basic upgrades that I'm doing, wheels,suspension,lights,upgraded bumpers it should be night and day. One note on the wheels/Tires though When We went to church today I saw a 740 parked and checked out the wheels 18" with 255/45/18 I think Angrypancake is right in that I'm going to need 30/35's to make the 19" fit with thoughs Intrax springs.


what do you mean by body kit? m-tech?

[ska-texas]

Body kit. I'm looking at a Rieger kit or others now. Happy wife happy life.

[angrypancake]

bahhhhhhhhhh rieger is cool just not the rear bumper.... this is from a "one of a kind" 540 that was in the f/s section. it was his wifes car too. but ehhh...

http://www.bimmer.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2675&stc=1&d=1144699763

[ska-texas]

That's the one. Now do I cheap out and go the ebay $ 695.00 Ree-Ger replica or step up and get the real deal?

[angrypancake]

haha from euro stop usa? don't cheap out. it's probly crap quality and will shatter on the first curb hit or bottom out. if i may voice my opinion. don't get a rieger kit, it doesn't flow with the lines of the e34 at all. there are far better "kits" out there. get some m-tech side skirts, and scour german ebay. you can get an Alpina front bumper for relatively cheap (i was bidding on one that only went for about 175 euros). shipping wasn't going to be terrible either. if you could though, go for the ACS stuff. www.orange-tuning.de they ship to the US.

[ska-texas]

Hey thanks again for the info. I started pricing 245/35/19 already assuming those 255/45/19 are going to be too big. Ill check out those kits in the interim. Dude I have spent way too much $$$$ to make this car as nice as possible. The Depot angel eyes came today and the quality looks pretty good. I've been reading the forum on wheels. I still like the looks of the 18"-19 but 20"s that's a little much. As for ride quality she's drives to the gym and back maybe 4 miles so I'm not to concerned about the ride. Hey is your ride on cardomain.com?

[angrypancake]

it's awesome that this is gonna be your wife's car. when its finally done you're gonna be driving it all the time! mine? yeah, i havent updated it in forever though.

[angrypancake]

m5 side skirts, worldwide shipping. (http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-M5-E34-orig-Seitenschweller-m-Tuerleisten-a-Alpina_W0QQitemZ8065532297QQcategoryZ44212QQcmdZVi ewItem)

another set, in diamond shwarze metallic. same seller. (http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-M5-E34-orig-Seitenschweller-m-Tuerleisten-a-Alpina_W0QQitemZ8075842527QQcategoryZ44212QQcmdZVi ewItem)

ask this guy if he'd sell you the front and rear bumpers, looks like he's parting a complete b10 bi turbo (http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8076195965)

[ska-texas]

I thought I regognized the name if I do remember it was green? Yea she's very stoked right now we just sold her Suburban so this is the first time in 15 years with no car payments. I see a lot of stock 5 series but I myself really like the way the can be made to look. FYI I just shot the sub complete w/ppg, new entertainment system for my baby, running boards got rid of the side moldings it looked bitchen. I'll try to attach a photo. Still working on this whole computer savy thing.

[ska-texas]

Man 2 years of a foreign language in collage taught me nothing. How's your German? So your thinking Front spoiler and side skirts only?

[angrypancake]

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4619/natsnewride003greencopy5yq.jpg
photoshopped. that was last summer's debate... to paint it green or not.

[ska-texas]

BOLD! So did you step up?

[angrypancake]

lol no, not yet. but i have a few plans up my sleeve. just waiting on the bank account. theres more pressing things right now than the car.

[ska-texas]

I feel you. Life just keeps happening