///M Back w/ Pictures (big) Part 1

[Matt P]

Here I am arriving at BMS about 4pm Friday afternoon.

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_1.jpg


Hmmm.. I wonder where my car is...

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_2.jpg


Ahhh! Found it! Now, where is somebody?

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_3.jpg


Found John, fighting a broken door latch. Wayne is out for the moment.

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_4.jpg


Ok, got the key, let's walk back over to the M5

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_5.jpg


A bit dusty inside.. I'll need to get it cleaned up.

Those white buttons to the upper left of the shift lever? That a remote control for my new Stereo.
http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_6.jpg

More to follow...

[bahnstormer]

looks good!

[Matt P]

A few more shots of the M5 sitting at BMS

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_7.jpg

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_8.jpg


Notice the EDC switch on the right of the console. For the first time since I bought the car, it should ride like new.

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_9.jpg

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_10.jpg


And a couple shots of the engine bay. Wouldn't you know it, I went to start it up and the battery was low. John had to give me a boost.

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_11.jpg

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/bms_12.jpg

Now on to the Stereo....

[Matt P]

This is my new Rio Car / Empeg head unit installed in the dash.... The remote is sitting down below it.

This Empeg is equipped with twin 30gb laptop drives for 60gigs of MP3 storage.

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/empeg_1.jpg


Notice it is a standard DIN sized removable unit. You can take the Empeg out and hook it up to your computer network. It has an ethernet port in back and runs Linux.

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/empeg_2.jpg


Here is the empty docking sled. There is an AM/FM tuner module connected to the back of the docking sled by a cable.

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/empeg_3.jpg


Here is the head unit sitting in the passanger seat.


http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/empeg_4.jpg


More Stereo Pics to follow....

[Matt P]

Here are the boxes that held the new stereo components I had installed.

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/stereo_1.jpg


In the rear are 2 new MB Quart 6.5" coaxial speakers

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/stereo_2.jpg



Here is the amp and speaker crossovers mounted in the CD-changer compartment. Those big crossovers are full of LEDs that light up.

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/stereo_3.jpg


Now I have driven the car from BMS in Ft. Worth to Classic BMW in Richardson. The Friday afternoon rush-hour drive was hell. Though I did get to take the on-ramp from North I-35 to East I-190 at about 85mph. The EDC suspension now has 2 flavors controled by the dash switch: stiff and really, really stiff.

Here is the car in the Classic BMW service bay. Nearly everyone is gone, but the manager knew I was coming has made sure someone was around. He and a few others came out to look the car over.

I'm leaving it at the dealer because they have a great detail department. While it's there next week the dents will be taken out, the oxidized paint made to shine and touched up, the interior detailed, and basically the whole car made over as if it was going to a magazine cover photo shoot. :-)

http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/classic_1.jpg


Here I am transferring stuff out of the M5 Touring into my trusty 1990 535i. I'll be back.... soon.


http://www.biginthesky.com/users/matt/pics/BMW/classic_2.jpg



That's all for now.... Comments welcome.

[George M]

My comment is...what a rare and exceptional car! Congrats on getting it back Matt.
The moons must be aligned with all the M5 karma falling into place :-)
Enjoy that bad boy!

[ScottyWM]

Another one too nice for the virtual car show!!! Just jealous actually...

[Elekta]

<boiyoing>

Uhhm, be back in few minutes.

[JR'Z 525]

Matt,
Beyootifull car! What a lucky man you are!
John R

[Phil M]

matt, whats the m5t's performance figures compared to a m5 sedan? does the styling improve or take away from this? or is it just about the same?

BTW, that is one bad mofo you got right there. once you get it lookin spiffy i think we got another competitor for JR and Dmitry for the upcoming car show

[Matt P]

The 0-60 times given by BMW for the 3.8L M5s are the same at 5.9 sec for both Sedan and Touring. I'm not sure about top speed though. I know BMW says ~170 mph max speed for the Touring.

I'm not sure though how the changes to the 95 models (transmission, final drive, wheels) may have affected the numbers. Probably only very slightly if at all.

After seeing Rob Levinson's M5T, I changed the final drive on my car from 3.23 to 3.45 and added a Quaife diff, same as Rob did. That puts 7% more torque down. Top speed wasn't impacted because of the 6-speed -- 6th gear is good for 187mph down from 200mph at redline (7250 RPM).

That, plus the fact the engine is broken in, gives my car a 0-60 time somewhere around 5.4 - 5.5 seconds. This I've verified by racing Neon SRTs -- a dead tie in the 0 to 80 sprint with neither car ever getting more than a few feet ahead of the other.

Once I get a G-tech or similar, I'll try to get some more precise timings.

I still plan on upgrading the Cams and ECU software. With that I should be close to 5.0 flat in the 0-60. If not, I may just tweak the rear end up to 3.64 just so I can say a naturally aspirated 6-cylinder station wagon does some insane 0-60 times like 4.97sec. :-)

[AllanS]

Dieses Wagon ist oh mein Gottbonbon!!!

[Elekta]

Matt, love the stereo conversion. Am wondering why you didn't add two more to the rear headliner, like I did. It was just a simple matter of cutting in the grills, and my sound man making little wooden frames to mount the speakers in.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/ggil-tx/bmw/DSCN0771.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/ggil-tx/bmw/DSCN0950.jpg

[1992 BMW 535i]

Hating you too.

[Jr ///M5]

Dang Marc...why you hate so??? =)

The wagon looks great Matt, I can't wait to see it when they get it all detailed. Really enjoyed your pictures. Thanks for sharing with us.

Jr

[Matt P]

Hopefully you mean that as a back-handed compliment. :-)

At least that's the way I took it.

[Elekta]

I love the mb quarts...was there a reason why you only did the two in the back?

I bet it sounds great.

[632 Regal]

Matt, once you get to a point your traction will throw yout times or ET off even more than if you didnt opt fot a deeper gear. The benefits will become shadowed after poor traction, poor highway performance and mileage. Your car was designed to tug hard at gears, torque band in mind. You take that away and theres not much left.

[1992 BMW 535i]

Matt, pure envy that's all! :) I can't find the E34 M5 up here, so I am jealous of all those who have the good fortune to own the real thing. I plan to make a clone of the M5, but it's not quite the same thing.

[1992 BMW 535i]

Update: Have had a job offer in SoCal so I may be down by October. If so, I too will have an M5! :):):)

[Matt P]

Our 525iT had the extra pair of forward facing speakers (but no sunroof). I considered modifying the rear headliner but couldn't find the exact trim pieces needed in the ETK to support 4 speakers in the rear.

Considering how infrequently I'll be in the second row, and my desire not to alter the interior much (I guess I'm not confident) from stock, and the advice I recieved here, I put my money and effort into the front speakers and just put coaxials in the rear for fill.

[Elekta]

Our 525iT had the extra pair of forward facing speakers (but no sunroof). I considered modifying the rear headliner but couldn't find the exact trim pieces needed in the ETK to support 4 speakers in the rear.

Considering how infrequently I'll be in the second row, and my desire not to alter the interior much (I guess I'm not confident) from stock, and the advice I recieved here, I put my money and effort into the front speakers and just put coaxials in the rear for fill.

Those pieces are in there. I was afraid to cut those in also. When winfred was breaking a touring many moons ago I bought the headliner and the left CD size interior door. My stereo guy thought my headliner was cleaner and he said there were indentations for where the forward cutouts were supposed to be, so he just cut them my oem headliner. I've been pretty serious about retaining the stock look (other than clear markers), so I kept my headunit and put the cd changer back where it lives normally, but I have all new speakers behind the stock grills, the 5 channel amp under my seat, the eq in the glove (w/ipod aux input) and the plug and play sub.

here's my write up again (http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=2379&page=2&pp=10&highlight=alpine)