I am back with an E34!!!

[Bruno]

I just picked up a 1992 525i Touring M50 non vanos.
Mileage: 186600 miles still with self leveling that seems to work.
Black on black, engine seems to run smoothly, there is no rust on the car, needs some TLC on the interior.

The problem is that the car overheats, the shop changed the thermostat, fan clutch and radiator by the look of it, they thought it was a headgasket so they wanted to dump the car. There is also a problem with the door locks and there is a massive battery drain.

I am pretty excited to get back into the community with something else than an E24.

I think I am going to try the bleed the cooling circuit and then see if there is something obvious before doing the headgasket.

http://www.bmwe34.net/Ebay/Touring.jpg

[Paul in NZ]

looks nice!Hope you solve the overheating easily!perhaps it needs the little hole drilled in the thermostat to aid bleeding.

[attack eagle]

Lock problems could be the bad gate harness if you have something other than the one funky door syndrome (lock motor)

Wonder if they ever changed the w. pump?

Looking forward to seeing the results of a leakdown test.

[Booster]

I wonder if a good old Prestone radiator flush wouldn't clean her out right ??
Cheers,vinny

[525i winter driver]

welcome to the e34 club, there's this amazing website you should know about :D.

my overheat was the pump... po had replaced the radiator, pipes, thermo, fan, and motor(!) but not the pump... engine ran smooth air came out cold in the vents even at high engine temperature.

[Bruno]

welcome to the e34 club, there's this amazing website you should know about :D.

my overheat was the pump... po had replaced the radiator, pipes, thermo, fan, and motor(!) but not the pump... engine ran smooth air came out cold in the vents even at high engine temperature.

Looks like the fan clutch, rad, hoses, thermostat and pump is new. I had to fill up the rad with another 4 liters of distilled water...
Could be that they didn't know how to fill up and bleed the M50 engine, they can be tricky sometimes, not all shops know how to do it.

As for the locks locking and unlocking non stop, I think it is due to someone hacking into the harness to install then partialy remove the remote starter...
ARG, I hate electrical grimlins.

[Bruno]

I wonder if a good old Prestone radiator flush wouldn't clean her out right ??
Cheers,vinny

I am so amazed with this car, every single bolt looks new... You have to love Texas cars, I am sure that they rarely see much rain or snow over there heheh.

I need to wait for the battery to charge before I play around more with the cooling circuit.

I am sooo excited, more projects.

[genphreak]

Looks like the fan clutch, rad, hoses, thermostat and pump is new. I had to fill up the rad with another 4 liters of distilled water...
Could be that they didn't know how to fill up and bleed the M50 engine, they can be tricky sometimes, not all shops know how to do it.

As for the locks locking and unlocking non stop, I think it is due to someone hacking into the harness to install then partialy remove the remote starter...
ARG, I hate electrical grimlins.
Yes, but that's why they are so cheap!

Sounds like your close to being on top of em tho Bruno. Welcome home, btw!

[NielsGalan]

Welcome back, Bruno.

I just went through overheating hell, only to find that my problem was the simplest, stupidest of them all. I had a bad hose, that's all. Mind you, it was the one hose that you can't see or inspect without tearing everything apart (at least on my engine). It was the smal v-shaped hose running from the coolant pump to the thermostat. At first, all hoses looked ok, so I eliminated them from being the problem. So after a new thermostat and an all-nighter replacing the coolant pump and still no cure, I found this one pos hose to be bad. And at the end of the hose that isn't visible.

I don't know the layout of your engine or if you've checked this, but I thought I'd just throw it in there. After all, I've had so much joy from your website that it would be an honor to be able to give some back.

[Jr ///M5]

That's a lucky E34 indeed Bruno, to have you for an owner. Glad to see you back in the graces and pitfalls of the E34, it's been a long time.

We missed you...

JR

[Paul in NZ]

That's a lucky E34 indeed Bruno, to have you for an owner. Glad to see you back in the graces and pitfalls of the E34, it's been a long time.

We missed you...

JR

OT JR how are you finding the e39 540?,six speed??What happened to the M5?

[Bruno]

That's a lucky E34 indeed Bruno, to have you for an owner. Glad to see you back in the graces and pitfalls of the E34, it's been a long time.

We missed you...

JR

Thanks, I do love my 6er, but the sports seats aren't very comfortable for long drives.
The E34 Touring is perfect for carrying stuff around, good gas mileage and comfortable for long drives once I will retrofit the lumbar support.

[Jr ///M5]

OT JR how are you finding the e39 540?,six speed??What happened to the M5?

Paul, I really should get off my ass and post some pictures for you guys. It's not an E39, it's the true 540i Sport for the USA. They imported 200 of them to the US, 135 of them were 6 speeds. Basically, it's a '95 M5 with the M60 V8 engine. I like it very much, it's easier to drive slower through traffic dealing with urban sprawl.

I do miss the power of the M5, the raw explosive power above 3500 rpm, the 540i M Sport comes close and somewhat satisifies the power fiend in me. But it's waaay smoother and dead quiet at stop lights, even with the Dinan exaust.

Thanks for asking Paul,

JR

[txp135]

Nice, more pictures and instructions for us. I wish you live close by, I wouldn't mind helping you so I can learn some stuff.

[bubba966]

and comfortable for long drives once I will retrofit the lumbar support.

All the part numbers you could need for the lumbar support retrofit.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e34-m5-discussion/120595-lumbar-support-part-s.html

And if you buy any of them separately rather than in the retrofit kit, the part # for the instructions is no longer any good (neither is the # for one of the brackets). But if you take the retrofit kit part # to the dealer the parts guys can use the kit # to find the instructions and print them out right then & there for you.

Haven't had a chance to do mine yet as I got injured at work a week & a half ago. Right about the same time the rest of the parts came in...:(

[Paul in NZ]

Paul, I really should get off my ass and post some pictures for you guys. It's not an E39, it's the true 540i Sport for the USA. They imported 200 of them to the US, 135 of them were 6 speeds. Basically, it's a '95 M5 with the M60 V8 engine. I like it very much, it's easier to drive slower through traffic dealing with urban sprawl.

I do miss the power of the M5, the raw explosive power above 3500 rpm, the 540i M Sport comes close and somewhat satisifies the power fiend in me. But it's waaay smoother and dead quiet at stop lights, even with the Dinan exaust.

Thanks for asking Paul,

JR

yes very nice cars,have driven a couple of examples including an Australian version of your car a 540 i LE,somehow one of them(70 built) ended up over here

[Jeff N.]

Nifty. Good to see you back in the fold Bruno...

[Bruno]

Nice, more pictures and instructions for us. I wish you live close by, I wouldn't mind helping you so I can learn some stuff.

With the wiki website that I am finishing, adding a procedure is a breeze.
And the blackberry makes it really easy to take pictures.

Thank you technology :-)

[Bruno]

All the part numbers you could need for the lumbar support retrofit.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e34-m5-discussion/120595-lumbar-support-part-s.html

And if you buy any of them separately rather than in the retrofit kit, the part # for the instructions is no longer any good (neither is the # for one of the brackets). But if you take the retrofit kit part # to the dealer the parts guys can use the kit # to find the instructions and print them out right then & there for you.

Haven't had a chance to do mine yet as I got injured at work a week & a half ago. Right about the same time the rest of the parts came in...:(

Thank you for the link, I am parting out a car that has lumbar support, so I am hopping to just take the parts out of the seat and add them to my driver seat, this is a must have option when you are doing a lot of driving.

I guess I will take some pictures while doing it.

[Bruno]

Nifty. Good to see you back in the fold Bruno...

Thanks, I really didn't think that I would have bought another E34, but with the price of gas and the opportunity of having a rust free car, and a Touring on top of it... I couldn't pass it. And I always loved the M50 non vanos...
Now... there is turbo manifolds for the engine right hehehehe.

I need to get the cargo shade also, this is missing.

[Jr ///M5]

BTW, good decision taking the E34 page to Wiki. It looks very professional and the information can be gleened and added to easily.

Thanks Bruno for all these years of dedication and devotion, and most of all, preserving the work that you and others have contributed. There will be many E34's on the road for years to come, thanks to you.

JR

[Bruno]

BTW, good decision taking the E34 page to Wiki. It looks very professional and the information can be gleened and added to easily.

Thanks Bruno for all these years of dedication and devotion, and most of all, preserving the work that you and others have contributed. There will be many E34's on the road for years to come, thanks to you.

JR

We need to assemble a team to keep updating the wiki website and add new procedures. I am afraid to let everyone add anything and everything on the site.

[bubba966]

Thank you for the link, I am parting out a car that has lumbar support, so I am hopping to just take the parts out of the seat and add them to my driver seat, this is a must have option when you are doing a lot of driving.

I guess I will take some pictures while doing it.

Does the E34 you're putting it into have heated seats? If it does, do you think I could get the lumbar wiring harness out of the car that you're pulling the lumbar support out of?

Apparently the wiring loom for the seat heating also has the lumbar connections on it (so if your 'new' E34 has seat heating you already have the electrical connections in the seat and will then have a spare lumbar wiring harness out of the donor seat). I've not pulled my seat apart yet to see if I need to get that wiring loom or not yet. I don't have heating, but I do have memory sport seats. Hoping I've got the wiring, but I'm doubting that it's in there.

And while I do have a set of factory retrofit instructions, the drawings in it aren't so great. Pics of the process would be great...

[Bruno]

Does the E34 you're putting it into have heated seats? If it does, do you think I could get the lumbar wiring harness out of the car that you're pulling the lumbar support out of?

Apparently the wiring loom for the seat heating also has the lumbar connections on it (so if your 'new' E34 has seat heating you already have the electrical connections in the seat and will then have a spare lumbar wiring harness out of the donor seat). I've not pulled my seat apart yet to see if I need to get that wiring loom or not yet. I don't have heating, but I do have memory sport seats. Hoping I've got the wiring, but I'm doubting that it's in there.

And while I do have a set of factory retrofit instructions, the drawings in it aren't so great. Pics of the process would be great...


YEs there is heating on these seats. I will pull the harness out for you. My new touring has heeated seats and very cold AC yeahhhh, and a overheating engine.

[bubba966]

YEs there is heating on these seats. I will pull the harness out for you. My new touring has heeated seats and very cold AC yeahhhh, and a overheating engine.

Cool. When you're sure you don't need the harness (in case there's something wrong with the one in your Touring) let me know how you want me to send you some $ for the harness.

[Qube]

What, dropping Dave's turbo into the race car isn't taking enough of your time already :) Heh. Good stuff!