what I picked up today

[freerider]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to the forum, I'm from Cape Town, South Africa and I just picked up my first e34 today :) always had e46's and still have my 2003 320i



So after searching for quite a long time I finally found that deal I have been looking for.

These pics are to illustrate the condition I got her in and to base my progress on.

Its a 94 model with 226k kms (140k miles) on the clock. I picked her up for ZAR5k ($500US)
Car hasnt been started in 6 months, hence the spots of mould on the leather.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140044.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140045.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140046.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140047.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140048.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140049.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140050.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140051.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140052.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140053.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140054.jpg

[freerider]

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140055.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140056.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140057.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140058.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140059.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140060.jpg

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/Day%20I%20got%20her/P2140061.jpg

[Mordan]

500 dollars lol. cheap.how does it run?

by the way how is life in Cape Town? I hear people get murdered, robbed and life has become a nightmare because of crime.

[freerider]

I havent even started it.

I saw the car when it was running and wanted to buy it, the owner said he would never sell.

After not starting the car for 6 months, he jump started it on friday morning and went for a drive to charge the battery, car stalled and wouldnt start again.

Basically, he sold it to me because he never drives it anymore.

I will tow it on to the indy shop on monday, and they can diagnose and fix whatever the problem is, and give her a good service at the same time, as the last service was in 2007 and the car has only driven 2000kms since then.

For the price I paid, I figured who cares whats wrong with it :)

[Luftpost]

No wonder you got such a great deal. They installed the steering wheel on the wrong side. See if Indy can fix that!

[///Sniper535]

Very nice find.

Could you take some more pictures of the rear sun shade down? I'm in the process of doing this modification. pics would help a lot, thanks. Do you have them on the side too?

[632 Regal]

looks like you got a great deal there, car is pretty good condition too.

[BigKriss]

the right side is always the RIGHT side :)


No wonder you got such a great deal. They installed the steering wheel on the wrong side. See if Indy can fix that!

[freerider]

Very nice find.

Could you take some more pictures of the rear sun shade down? I'm in the process of doing this modification. pics would help a lot, thanks. Do you have them on the side too?

I dont mind at all, I'll snap some pics later this afternoon and post.

If there are any angles in particular that you would like me to take, then just shoot me a pm and let me know.


Thanks guys, Monday she goes to the shop and I cant wait!!!

[Uber Soldat]

freerider - That is a fantastic looking 540i. Mine was in worse shape than yours when i bought it and cost about 6 times as much as yours. Glad to see another South African on board. :D

///Sniper535 - I hope the pictures below can help you.

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/6015/img3260cw9.jpg

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/9646/img3261cx0.jpg

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/6868/img3262vy1.jpg

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/831/img3263ic9.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4791/img3266lz4.jpg

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/685/img3268re1.jpg

[freerider]

Hey, another South African, whereabout are you in SA?

[bmwrp8]

very nice ride. congratulations :)

[freerider]

Thanks man!

Seems one of the first things I will be doing is shocks, coils, control arms and bushes, and RTAB's. Should drive like a new car after that

[freerider]

500 dollars lol. cheap.how does it run?

by the way how is life in Cape Town? I hear people get murdered, robbed and life has become a nightmare because of crime.

sorry, completely forgot to answer the rest of your question.
Although South Africa is not as safe as it once was, it is far from the worst place in the world to be :) I love Cape Town and I'm sure anyone who has ever been here would agree that its one of the most beautiful cities to live in.

[Uber Soldat]

Hey, another South African, whereabout are you in SA?

I'm in Gauteng. Would rather live in Cape town though. :D
If you ever decide to visit the concrete jungle, let me know. :)

[freerider]

Haha, last time I was in JHB was to host a detailing day for the Ford ST Club of SA and to go to the Motorshow :)

Should be popping through in the 3rd quarter again, if not sooner.

BTW, what size battery does the 540i take? I have to go buy a new one tomorrow morning, as the old battery had already been removed when I collected her yesterday

[freerider]

Right, so she went to the indy shop yesterday afternoon, they should start with the diagnosis today. Lets hope that there is no major damage and that the no start problem is something minor.

depending on how the budget is effected by the indy shop bill, I will be settling with 19's, I'm looking for a nice deep dish at the back, just not sure what I'll be going with yet.

Does anyone know who does lowered coils for the e34? I would love to get some coilovers, or groundcontrol, but that is just WAY over priced here in SA

[freerider]

Word in, car is starting but no oil pressure. Before stripping the engine, the sump is going to come off tomorrow, oil pump checked and cylinder walls scoped for scoring.

Will let you guys know what the outcome is

[Elekta]

Word in, car is starting but no oil pressure. Before stripping the engine, the sump is going to come off tomorrow, oil pump checked and cylinder walls scoped for scoring.

Will let you guys know what the outcome is
Take the oil pan off...good chance the pump is just laying in the bottom of it...just bolt it back in...change the tranny fluid, pentosin, brake fluid, radiator...all liquids should come out

[freerider]

Take the oil pan off...good chance the pump is just laying in the bottom of it...just bolt it back in...change the tranny fluid, pentosin, brake fluid, radiator...all liquids should come out

Thanks man, thats actually exactly whats going to happen tomorrow, provided the car was not run for long in that condition by the previous owner, hopefully it will survive this :)

Apparently the top of the motor sounded extremely dry

[freerider]

It Lives!!!!!!

[M20Turbo]

It Lives!!!!!!
Congrats.....

[freerider]

Oil had turned to sludge, and was flushed. The coolant system was not circulating coolant, that was also flushed which sorted that out.

I then changed the plugs this afternoon, and she runs 100 x better now, there is however a noise in the top of the right side bank, it sounds almost like a noisy lifter, but it comes and goes.

[russiankid]

Oil had turned to sludge, and was flushed. The coolant system was not circulating coolant, that was also flushed which sorted that out.

I then changed the plugs this afternoon, and she runs 100 x better now, there is however a noise in the top of the right side bank, it sounds almost like a noisy lifter, but it comes and goes.

Could be a sticky lifter.

[Uber Soldat]

freerider - Glad to hear its running! Does the noise go away once the motor is warmed up?

[freerider]

No its the same all the time, its strange though, she will run totally quiet and then every so often there is that "tick tick tick tick" from the top.

I used to have a Mazda MX6 which had a noisy lifter and it sounded very similar.

[Old Man Pete]

Great lookin' car, as for the ticking my mechanic says it's entitled to tick a bit at my mileage (your's too!) One day I'll maybe change them all and have a really quiet engine!

[freerider]

I did a little more work on her today, at the prospect of taking a nice 200km run out to Langebaan and back this morning with whatting, I popped into Conti partner this morning for some wheel balancing. It made a nice difference, and the car was still smooth past 200

Getting the wheels balanced
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/SNC00156.jpg

When I got home I decided to sort the back of the car out a little, started by de-badging the car, I prefer the clean symmetrical look
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/SNC00157.jpg

I also took out the lights so I could clean around that area properly. Then I decided to tackle some panel beating and tried my hand at the dent in the back corner just above the bumper
before
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/SNC00158.jpg
after
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/SNC00160.jpg

I also removed the black rubber thing that used to be around the number plate
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii115/e46fanatic/my%20540i/SNC00161.jpg

The "c" shapes you see is silicone that I cant get off, will pop into builders warehouse tomorrow and see if I can get some silicone remover

[freerider]

I just popped in to Zeemax, and the mechie that worked on my car took it for a drive and was almost speechless, he says that I am damn lucky that the engine is still fine and is very impressed that its going so well.

My suspicions have been confirmed that the noise is a lifter, he reckons after the next engine flush it should come right.

Next flush goes in today, and the oil gets changed again on Thursday.

[Uber Soldat]

Your paint looks fantastic! What did you use to get the dent out? I have one in the same spot but on the other side.

I tend to wonder if flushing my engine would get rid of the lifter noise i have. What oil are you using in yours?

[freerider]

Your paint looks fantastic! What did you use to get the dent out? I have one in the same spot but on the other side.

I tend to wonder if flushing my engine would get rid of the lifter noise i have. What oil are you using in yours?

Thanks,

I just pulled the boot liner out and knocked the dent out from the inside, I used a wooden handle from a hammer and another hammer to hit that with, then I simply knocked the dent out from the inside and felt where there where still indentations and tapped them out :)

wrt the wash, I havent fully detailed her yet.... but she was washed with Chemical Guys - citrus wash and gloss.

I run an online detailing store here in SA :) will pm details

[freerider]

well today that annoying noisy lifter decided that it was going to stop its sh1t and become quiet :)

Engine sounds so great now! no more tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick