Some rushed snaps after the respray!

[E34-520iSE]

Just a few pics of my car taken during and after it's long overdue respray.

Regards,

Shaun M

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3999254350 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3999254350)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3999254258 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3999254258)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3998490801 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3998490801)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3999254570 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3999254570)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3998471531 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3998471531)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3999235104 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3999235104)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3999235836 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14856562@N08/3999235836)

[whiskychaser]

Looks like somebody did a lot of prep on that. All your own work? See you have your US bumpers on too. The side markers work on flash? Results look pretty damn good to me!

[Interceptor]

Looks great!

What brand of paint did you use?

I'm planning to respray mine with AlpinWeiss III (Sikkens/BMW CC: 300).

[LunatiC]

Holy moly that E34 looks like a million bucks! Good work!

[E34-520iSE]

Thanks for the great comments guys! Nooo I never painted it - I left it to the professionals. I had it sprayed by Alex and Steve and Chameleon Coachworks in North Shields, UK. I've sent Alex a link to this site so he might come along soon and tell you more about the paint etc.

Cheers,

Shaun M

[tim eh?]

looks great!

[Sam-Son]

car looks fantastic...

wow a 2liter m20? whats that like?

[Interceptor]

wow a 2liter m20? whats that like?

Slow motion :D

[E34-520iSE]

Slow motion :D

Ahem - it's like this:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4MdnRLjjmw

;)

Regards,

Shaun M

[Sam-Son]

Slow motion :D

i was thinking the same thing.....a 2.5 m20 is terribly slow..i cant imagine a 2.0

[whiskychaser]

The 520s are very popular here. I imagine they are lower geared than the 525i which will give a 535i a run for its money any day. I drive on the same side of the road and I'm still not playing cat and mouse with you on that road Shaun! :D

[E34-520iSE]

^^Oh go on! Lol ^^


The 520s are very popular here. I imagine they are lower geared than the 525i which will give a 535i a run for its money any day. I drive on the same side of the road and I'm still not playing cat and mouse with you on that road Shaun! :D

[DaveVoorhis]

i was thinking the same thing.....a 2.5 m20 is terribly slow..i cant imagine a 2.0
My first BMW was a 520i E28 with the 2 litre M20 and manual transmission. It wouldn't win any drag races, but keeping the revs up would deliver surprisingly respectable performance.

Now the 518i with the slushbox, that is slow...

[E34-520iSE]

My first BMW was a 520i E28 with the 2 litre M20 and manual transmission. It wouldn't win any drag races, but keeping the revs up would deliver surprisingly respectable performance.

Now the 518i with the slushbox, that is slow...

I agree Dave, once you 'wind up' the M20B20 it is quite lively, though obviously the larger engines perform much better. The downside to keeping the revs up is that fuel economy is a joke!

Regards,

Shaun M

[632 Regal]

looks great, like it came off the showroom floor!

[Interceptor]

I agree Dave, once you 'wind up' the M20B20 it is quite lively, though obviously the larger engines perform much better. The downside to keeping the revs up is that fuel economy is a joke!

E34 is a pretty heavy car, city/spiritual driving will up the consumption.

In my experience, small (2.0) and 2.5 non-VANOS engines are simply not torquey enough for a heavy car. It's too bad E34 never came with an ETA engine as a fuel economy option.

By putting in an M52B28 things got much better. Improved performance AND fuel economy. Alloy block engine is lighter, increased displacement and VANOS improve driveability at low/mid revs.

[E34-520iSE]

......by putting in an M52B28 things got much better. Improved performance AND fuel economy. Alloy block engine is lighter, increased displacement and VANOS improve driveability at low/mid revs.

Now that sounds like a seriously good conversion. Has anyone else done it?

Cheers,

Shaun M

[E34-520iSE]

looks great, like it came off the showroom floor!
Thanks! All the hard work over the last few months has paid off, though my neighbours probably thought I was a bit mad doing all this work on a tatty old car that was only fit for scrap. The thing is it's a pleasure to work on. Some parts of the build were horrible though, like changing the full wiring loom while it was lashing down with rain, or doing a 250 mile round trip to get some decent red doors etc. Just a couple of moments I want to forget!

Regards,

Shaun M

[Interceptor]

Now that sounds like a seriously good conversion. Has anyone else done it?

Many people have done it, but not in an E34 :) Mostly E30 or E36.

I've done it because I wasn't satisfied with the choice of engines in an E34. M20/M30 engines are pretty outdated and require more maintenance. They lack a lot of modern stuff like distributorless ignition, hydralic valve lifters, knock sensors, variable valve timing, etc. M50 is a pain to drive under 3500 rpm and M50TU just didn't seem like a step big enough to be worth the hassle. V8s and M5 are too expensive and somewhat an overkill for a daily driver.

If anyone is interested in such a swap I can help with advice.

[E34-520iSE]

Well I am for a start - could be something for me to do next year. Was there any major setbacks in the swap? What ECU did you use? Any guestimates on BHP?

Regards,

Shaun M

[Interceptor]

Well I am for a start - could be something for me to do next year. Was there any major setbacks in the swap? What ECU did you use? Any guestimates on BHP?

You need:
- M52B28 engine (without oil pan, A/C compressor and power steering pump)
- E34 M50 oil pan with level sensor, M50 A/C compressor, M50 power steering pump (M50 intake manifold optional but recommended)
- engine loom with code-matched M52B28 ECU, EWS and transponder (located inside the key)

Schematics on how to wire up the engine loom to the car can be found at: http://www.e3024v.com

It's best to do the swap in a M50-engined car since M50 and M52 share a lot of common parts, or at least have a donor car.

M52B28 has 193 HP stock, with M50 manifold it's around 215. After a good remap, 230 is possible.

After the swap, you get 535i-like performance with 525i consumption and a maintenance-free engine.

[whiskychaser]

M52B28 has 193 HP stock, with M50 manifold it's around 215. After a good remap, 230 is possible.

My M50 2.5 non vanos is supposed to be 192 bhp stock. Do you happen to know how much more torque the 2.8 has? Been looking at E39s but the alloy block has a bit of a bad rep here as it pulls the head bolts out of the block if it overheats. Seems people still havent got the hang of not letting BMWs overheat

[Interceptor]

My M50 2.5 non vanos is supposed to be 192 bhp stock. Do you happen to know how much more torque the 2.8 has? Been looking at E39s but the alloy block has a bit of a bad rep here as it pulls the head bolts out of the block if it overheats. Seems people still havent got the hang of not letting BMWs overheat

M50B25 = 245 Nm @ 4700 rpm
M52B28 = 280 Nm @ 3950 rpm

Just by looking at the numbers you cannot really feel the difference in torque, but if you have a chance, do a test drive of E36 325i (non-VANOS) and E36 328i. There's a massive difference in off-the-line grunt. You can be fast without the need to shift at 6500 rpm :D

Regarding the alloy block, they do have a bad rep when overheated, but then again, if it overheats, there is a high probability your head will crack in the near future. I've seen more M50/M50TU/M52 cracked heads than any other BMW engine. Cooling system care is a no.1 concern for inline-6 owners. If it pulls the bolts out, you can always rethread to 1 mm thicker Mercedes bolts (a trick my mechanic told me).