Lunched the M30 motor. Time for an upgrade.

[BigTim]

Hi there everyone,

Been a long time since I dropped in here. Nice to see the board still going strong.

The venerable 535 shat itself a few days ago. Damn, I thought this motor was bulletproof. Accellerating nicely, shifting into third at about 5000 rpm and 'thunk'... compression gone, weird sounds up front, sudden death! F**k. Had the car towed to my mechanic and he gave me the news - dropped a valve, munched up the insides.

Well, enough of the bad news. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Spare E34 engines are pretty thin on the ground out here in New Zealand, but it turns out my mechanic has a donor motor from a 740i, complete with computer and exhaust and can transplant this into the 5'er for about $4K (that NZ dollars - lets say $2,500US).

Unfortunately he doesn't have the six-speed to go with it, so he's going to bolt my old 5-speed onto this beast (with a new bell housing)

Got a few questions if anyone can enlighten me:

1. I'm pretty sure this motor is shared with the 540i?
2. Will my 535's 5 speed gearbox/clutch handle this motor? I just had my clutch replaced at huge expense about 6 months ago & would hate to have to do it again soon.

If anybody's done this I'd be interested to hear. Will let you all know how it goes. :-)

Tim

[Derek A.]

You are going to need to use a flywheel/clutch setup off a 540i, the parts off your m30 will not work. I am not sure if the transmission is the same dimensionally

[BigTim]

Yes, all sounded too good to be true. Getting the full work description and final quote tomorrow from the mechanic - let's see what he has to say...

Tim

[Mr Project]

The engine compartment has things in different places on the E34 V8 cars. Off the top of my head, you'll need a coolant expansion tank, brake booster, brake MC, and I'm not sure the PS system is the same either.

I don't know if you can swap the pieces off of a 740, but I'd be very surprised if you could. Sounds like a lot more work than it's going to be worth. What about an S50 or S52? Might be cheaper, and it would sure be easier.

[winfred]

if you have hydro boosted brakes it will be easyer to fit the motor, some of the early us 535s had hydro boost caryed over from the 735, not sure whets on the euro cars, then they figured out a vacuum booster system that cleared the intake, the 540/740 has the booster mounted behind the left headlight assy in the front of the engine compartment connected by a linkage. the flywheel will have a different bolt pattern and the v8 uses a larger diameter ring gear anyway

[Warren N.CA]

to this failure?




Hi there everyone,

Been a long time since I dropped in here. Nice to see the board still going strong.

The venerable 535 shat itself a few days ago. Damn, I thought this motor was bulletproof. Accellerating nicely, shifting into third at about 5000 rpm and 'thunk'... compression gone, weird sounds up front, sudden death! F**k. Had the car towed to my mechanic and he gave me the news - dropped a valve, munched up the insides.

Well, enough of the bad news. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Spare E34 engines are pretty thin on the ground out here in New Zealand, but it turns out my mechanic has a donor motor from a 740i, complete with computer and exhaust and can transplant this into the 5'er for about $4K (that NZ dollars - lets say $2,500US).

Unfortunately he doesn't have the six-speed to go with it, so he's going to bolt my old 5-speed onto this beast (with a new bell housing)

Got a few questions if anyone can enlighten me:

1. I'm pretty sure this motor is shared with the 540i?
2. Will my 535's 5 speed gearbox/clutch handle this motor? I just had my clutch replaced at huge expense about 6 months ago & would hate to have to do it again soon.

If anybody's done this I'd be interested to hear. Will let you all know how it goes. :-)

Tim

[Craig]

Would it be possible to just get an engine from the US and ship it? I know they can be had here for less than $1000 (used). Even if it cost another $1000 to ship to you you're still coming out ahead.

[G Feller]

Even if it cost another $1000 to ship to you you're still coming out ahead.

[BigTim]

Hmm, no idea what caused this failure. The valves were getting out of adjustment and (as is always the case) the car was due to go in for servicing in a couple days.

I drive the car enthusiastically, but not without mercy. The engine was just about to tick over 200,000 miles and has always been reliable.

My mechanic gave me the full run-down of the damage this afternoon - seems the valve punched a hole in one of my pistons and there's a nice big hole in the head too.

The V8 idea is sounding a lot harder than initially thought. There's some guy down country who has a 535i motor with 40k miles on the clock that sounds like a better (and cheaper) proposition. Might spend the money saved improving other aspects of the car instead.

Cheers,
Tim

[Unregistered]

wasn't there someone on this board saying there was a LHD M5 in NZ that couldn't be registered - or the owner had lost interest in registering - now that would be a nice donor car!

[BigTim]

wasn't there someone on this board saying there was a LHD M5 in NZ that couldn't be registered - or the owner had lost interest in registering - now that would be a nice donor car!
Ah yes, but there's not just one, but TWO white LHD M5's the owner is trying to sell. Stop it. That kind of fantasy will keep me awake all night...

[Paul in NZ]

I Have a BMW wrecker down my way too.Sorry to hear that.Was it an import?Do you have any suspicions re the actual mileage?.The v8s have a much higher ratio and different diff too.They produce huge tourque compared to the 535.I think your clutch gearbox driveshaft and diff would soon cry enough even if you could make it fit

[SamB]

Ah yes, but there's not just one, but TWO white LHD M5's the owner is trying to sell. Stop it. That kind of fantasy will keep me awake all night...

My god it's a small world, I went to look at one of those with a friend who was getting info on it for the guy who's brought it and lives way up country!!

There was just one though, no sign of another one, could be a different one??

Also how much does the guy want for the low mile M30?

[BigTim]

Hey Paul,

Yeah, it was a UK import about 9 years ago. Who knows how accurate the mileage was - I had a compression test last service & everything as perfect. Was using a fair bit of oil though, and the top half was pretty worn. Still, with 320,000km on the clock it's a fair innings.

Turns out my low mileage donor was a bit dodgy (and Hokitika is long way to go to be dissappointed). My mechanic has found a 535i with a stuffed trans, the guy will sell me the whole car for $2800. If it has leather and the engine checks out I'm way keen - a donor car will be perfect for all those other things I've been meaning to work on: door locks/air conditioning (my fan blower has been dead for 2 years)/etc etc. The mechanic is checking it out on Monday.

Will keep you posted
Tim

[BigTim]

Saw the two M5's advertised in an Auto trader about 2 weeks ago (not the red one that was for sale for about $30k either). They had photos taken on what looks like Oriental Parade in Wellington, one had a some Motorsport striping on the bonnet. Some woman (Jane something from memory) was selling them. (POA)

That low mile M30 looks like a bad deal - but he wanted 2 or 3,000 for it. Got another lined up here in AK with a stuffed transmission. Will see how that goes.

F***. I just want my BMW back. If I have to drive my wife's MX5 for much longer I'm going to have to see a back specialist (I'm 6'4 and 110kg)!

Tim

[Paul in NZ]

I would be keen to help.And as i say brent in NZ is no stranger to the intracies(sp) of the m30 motor and finding parts for em.....my guy down here has five or six e34s and im am sure he has a couple of 535 in there,and i think SD eurppean are quite good too.

[BigTim]

Cheers Paul, appreciate your offer. If the whole car deal falls through here I'll get in touch.

Tim

[Alan_525i]

Why not rebuild the M30 with performance parts? You'd have a really nice engine and not have to worry at all about all the problems associated with engine transplants.

[Warren N.CA]

40K is really low mileage.



Hmm, no idea what caused this failure. The valves were getting out of adjustment and (as is always the case) the car was due to go in for servicing in a couple days.

I drive the car enthusiastically, but not without mercy. The engine was just about to tick over 200,000 miles and has always been reliable.

My mechanic gave me the full run-down of the damage this afternoon - seems the valve punched a hole in one of my pistons and there's a nice big hole in the head too.

The V8 idea is sounding a lot harder than initially thought. There's some guy down country who has a 535i motor with 40k miles on the clock that sounds like a better (and cheaper) proposition. Might spend the money saved improving other aspects of the car instead.

Cheers,
Tim