P_Roloff

Update: It runs! I pulled the fuel pump assembly thinking I might’ve pushed a wire so it was shorting, and noticed my wires going in were opposite the ones on the pump body (brown to red, and brown to green/purple). The connector was busted partially so I just zip tied the two piles together when I put it back together; I must’ve reversed those somehow. Corrected it, was able to jump the fuel pump normally, and the car fired off almost immediately! Now for the clutch slave, driveshaft, and exhaust! Nearly there!

Had an interesting issue today I’d like to pick everyone’s brains on: reconnected everything on the e30, engine back in, cranks but no start. Cool. Engine and entire fuel system have been removed and out back in, so not that surprising. I started with the fuel system because it was the fastest - I pulled the fuel return line on the FPR, and it was bone dry even with cranking for a cumulative 20+ seconds. Didn’t smell like fuel either (new lines). Tried jumping fuel pump relay, no dice, so it’s something with fuel delivery. Found that the fuse is blown. Replaced, it blew again when I cranked it. So a short of some sort or a bad pump. This is where it gets interesting. I used a Milwaukee M12 battery to directly power the pump - ran fine. I then put my multimeter in-line and got something like 2-3 amps. Cool, so not the pump? Not so fast! I then used the multimeter on both pin 87 at the relay socket (feeds power to fuse and then the pump) and tested resistance to ground (with the pump unplugged) expecting to see low resistance indicating a short somewhere. No dice - seems to be normal with no completed circuit. After a lot of double checking of that result at various locations, I hooked up a jumper wire from the power wire of the fuel pump to the positive connector on the pump itself - but NOT connecting the ground on the pump to body/harness ground. I then jumped the fuel pump relay again, and POP goes the fuse again. So it appears my pump is faulty and shorting out internally? Anyone ever experience this? I’ll be ordering a new pump from FCP tonight but just seems weird. The car did sit for three years since it last ran, but it was inside and dry. No fuel pump issues before I parked it and the existing pump has about 10 years and 20k miles on it only. No idea of brand. Anyone have any thoughts?

Update at about 140k: turning the rotors and installing EBC Yellowstuff pads seems to have completely eliminated the braking shudder issue. I’ve put a little over a thousand miles on it already after the change with no issues. I will update if anything changes. I haven’t really gotten on them yet but I have zero complaints so far. Good cold bite, easy break in, and the 335i brakes with any pads have great power - I can only imagine that these will haul the car down like the hand of god. It still has a mild vibration at highway speed that comes and goes that was improved after the front brakes were done, but I’m going to start with a wheel balance and go from there. Pretty sure there’s a bad ball joint somewhere in the rear suspension too so that likely isn’t helping. If the front pads were this prone to pad deposits it could be that too but on the rears, but since there’s no pulsing anymore when braking it seems less likely.

I believe it’s just the performance aero stuff. M sport and regular are easy to get, so not sure how many people would pay for it. I certainly kept the old one though!

138,802: Oil change completed, swapped in new wishbones on the front due to a ball joint clunk I was hearing, and found that while they definitely weren’t perfect, those weren’t the problem. After some poking around, I concluded that the 1-year old tension struts were the issue. The passenger side arm had a bad ball joint already. Brake shudder is I believe still the culprit, I replaced the drivers side rotor and it improved, but now when I spin the passenger side rotor that one has a very obvious high spot in it. For now, I just replaced both tension struts again and am going to order new brake pads (EBC yellowstuff, going to get something with more bite to hopefully keep pad material from building up) to hopefully solve this permanently. Planning to just turn the rotors for the new pads since they’re almost new still. Front shocks are mega blown out, their replacements arrived a few days ago courtesy of @patsbimmer1. Went with soemthing a little spicier than OEM, I’ll share more details when they’re installed. Oh - last update: had a semi back up into this car in traffic in April, and I was extremely disappointed. The hit wasn’t too hard but it put a large crack in the front bumper, which is NLA and basically unobtanium (genuine performance aero bumper, and would’ve made the car have an incomplete kit) Through Reddit and a bit (read: a stupid amount) of luck, I found one on German EBay of all places, bought it, had it shipped here (in only bubble wrap 🙃) and finally painted and installed a week or two ago. I managed to snag a euro model bumper too without headlight washers, so I got to delete the ugly covers and the ugly side markers all in one fell swoop.

131,050 Well, my time with this car has come to an end. What a wonderful car and one I’ll truly miss, but it was time. It sat nearly all summer and was just getting to be a pain to maintain on top of the truck, e30, and e91. It went to a local guy who was looking for a neat older car to learn to wrench on, so I think it’ll suit him well. It remains the quietest, most solidly built car I’ve ever owned, it was seriously a tank. Hung the tail out in the snow pretty impressively too. Replaced the blower motor before I sold it, and sent two sets of wheels and most of my e34 spares along as well. I’m excited to have the space back, one less project, and to be able to focus more on the E91 and E30. I still have the MOMO Heritage 6’s and the m-systems, if anyone was wondering haha. MOMO’s will be listed as soon as I wash them, and the M-Systems will hopefully get their restoration completed once the e30 is back on the road. Farewell to the E34 club, it’s been a good ride!

I love that you drive it through this, how does it handle snow? Yeah, that was an experience. I nearly buried my truck trying to help some poor fella who butmried his civic on shitty tires in a 18” snowdrift on Capitol in Brookfield. I then went home, unburied the E34, and proceeded to rip big slides through the business park for an hour. Good times.

Images are below, I have more I can send but didn’t feel like clogging this up with them.

SOLD WIBimmers Price: $4500 Snow got you stuck? Don’t want to rust out your nice car/truck? Want an affordable fun car? This might be the car for you! It’s a 1995 BMW 525i with a 5-speed manual, 130,xxx miles. Purchased by my dad in 2018, I purchased it in 2021. Only selling because I bought @m42b32’s E91 and don’t drive this anymore. This car has an extensive maintenance history, please see the end of the ad for a full list. Lots of work in the last two years. I also have a few options for wheels and tires. The paint/body on this car is fair for its age, it’s not show car quality but doesn’t have any clear coat failure evident; mostly scratches, dings, chips and a few small dents. Rust is present on the door bottoms; the rest of the car is pretty clean. Couple small spots on the underside but nothing wild. Wasn’t driven in the snow often before it came to WI (lived in Jersey from new to ~2017). Nose of the car was repainted at one point I believe. Issues include small windshield crack, A/C stopped working this summer, drivers rear window and lock actuator not working, couple small tears in drivers seat bottom, slight stitching pull on the top of the rear seatback, and drivers door brake removed due to it tearing the bolts holding it to the door out (common e34 issue, not due to hitting something with it). Blower motor just went but will be replaced before sale. I have a full booklet of maintenance history going back to the early 2000’s, and have roughly 80 images of various points on the car as well - just ask if you have any questions at all. Things I’d probably recommend eventually would be shifter refresh, rear shocks, diff oil change, and eventually rear subframe bushings; they were all always on the list but I never got to them. Definitely doesn’t need them anytime in the near future but I’m picky about my shit. All my spares will be included for the asking price; mostly interior switchgear and trim bits. WIBimmers asking price w/ spare parts and no extra wheels: $4500 OBO. No trades unless @wasnt m3 wants to swap for his clownshoe… Current wheels: Car will come on stock 15”x7” bottlecap wheels and 205/65R15 Continental VikingContact winter tires; these are superb in the snow. I’ve driven through 20”+ drifts and foot high unplowed streets without issue. Date codes are I believe from 2021; tons of tread left. Maybe 12k miles on them? Purchased in late 2021 Extra wheel options include: - Full square set of 17x8.5” MOMO Heritage 6 wheels in satin black; purchased new by me in 2022. Good tread on the 235/45R17 Michelin Pilot A/S 3+’s that are mounted, I want to say date codes show 2018 or 2019 but not positive. I’d ask an additional $800 for the set with the car or $1000 separate for you guys. Retail price when they were still available was roughly $325/wheel. Neat wheels, and in good condition with only a few bucks here and there. No rash or bends. I also have a set of stock 15x7” style 5 basket weaves with two good and two trash tires, $100 extra for those. I’ll throw them in for free if you have a set of wheels and tires that hold air and fit a e28 well enough to roll it onto a trailer. Final wheel set option is a partially complete and partially refinished set of style 20/21 M-Systems. I have four forged wheels, 3X complete turbine covers in good used condition, and 4 caps - I’m missing only a left side cover and fan to complete the set. Wheels have been stripped/blasted to bare metal, checked to ensure they’re perfectly straight and true, and the lips polished out; a few lips need some final finish polishing but they’re generally very close to ready for paint. TBD on asking, I’d like to finish them myself and sell them but if you’re serious and interested, shoot me a message and I’ll send photos/details. . Completed Maintenance and Upgrades This likely isn’t an exhaustive list and doesn’t include a lot of the little trim bits, clips and minor stuff done over the years, but these are the heavy hitters: General: OEM BMW roof rails will be included with the car Chrome door trim has been “shadowlined” with vinyl trim tape; easily removable if you prefer the chrome look Interior/Exterior/Electrical: General module New sunroof button panel Auxiliary audio input wired into CD changer; completely reversible (I made a custom wiring harness) and exiting below stability control button Drivers front window regulator New midsection door trim Trunk shocks New battery last winter Various side trim pieces replaced - all with genuine BMW pieces Blower motor replaced and fuse de-rated to 20A to fix common wire melting issue - no evidence of problems with this car Rear headrests added from an E32; rare to find on US model E34’s I have a E32 rear motorized sunblind kit that I can include; it’ll require cutting to fit but would be an awesome upgrade Steering and Suspension: Upper and lower front control arms replaced in fall of 2021 - used E31 and M5 arms (spherical/solid rubber) for improved handling and longevity. All Lemforder components. Front shocks, shock mounts, and all related hardware replaced in fall of 2021 with OEM Sachs/lemorder components Front sway bar links changed in 2020 I have a set of new Lemforder tie rods to go with the car as well; I never got around to installing them Brakes: All new OEM pads and rotors last year all the way around Both front calipers replaced (and slide pins regreased before install) New front soft brake lines Hardlines all look good Engine/Driveline: New clutch master and slave last year Z3 shift lever - shorter throw. I believe I have the original still and can include it. ZHP shift knob Giubo replaced last year; CSB was fine but I have a spare I didn’t install that I’ll include with the car Transmission shift shaft and output shaft seals replaced this summer - major job Alternator replaced last winter with an OEM Bosch unit Serpentine belt, tensioner, and pulleys replaced in 2021 VANOS seals replaced this summer; valve cover gasket replaced at the same time New serpentine belt, a/c belt, pulleys, and tensioners in summer of 2021 Metal impeller water pump installed in 2017-ish

Great notes - looks like this car is a 528e, so M20? He’d want a kit from a 528e. I’ll second the single piece clutch line, I bought one from ChaseBays but it’s effectively the same as what @YoungCR did. The only other upgrade I might add would be a single mass flywheel conversion, and then get it lightened by Ireland engineering - they offer a resurface and lightening for about $210, very reasonable. Not sure what your goals are but it’ll make it rev faster, easier to heel-toe, and more fun, at the expense of a bit of forgiveness in stalling. Definitely start a build thread!

Welcome! I’m actually in the middle of a 5-speed swap on my m20 powered e30, so a pretty similar swap! I’d recommend getting the swap parts from one single car so you can be sure that stuff will fit; I had a driveshaft issue with mine because I bought a new replacement without realizing it didn’t fit my transmission output flange. Otherwise, just do the “while you’re in there” stuff and let us know if you have issues! Glad to have another m20 on the forum!

Not sure if Santa missed the chimney this year over here haha, I’ll keep my eyes peeled!

Hey all - realized that I bought a early G260 with the larger output flange, and bought a brand new later model 325i driveshaft with the smaller giubo, and am long past the return window. I’d like to try swapping on a late model smaller flange (some have had success, some haven’t) before dropping coin on another transmission, although if anyone has a good one of those I might be interested. If you have a 325i trans sitting around with a bad synchro or similar, this would be perfect - I’d be willing to buy the whole transmission. For reference: the eta cars all came with the larger giubo, while the i cars got the smaller one. Thanks!

134,6xx Coolant leak saga is over - took it into Kummrow as the leak started to get worse and I never was able to figure out exactly what was leaking - turns out the radiator itself was leaking. Apparently, the Behr e9x radiators commonly fail at the crimps on the driver’s side end tank near the bottom - I can’t remember the exact % they said their supplier has taken back under warranty, but it was a lot. Anyways, got it replaced with a Genuine BMW one, that should hopefully solve it permanently. Hope this knowledge saves some of the other e9x guys here some pain, this is one of those cases where the OE supplier part just doesn’t cut it.

Replaced the passenger side door pull - it was all nasty like most of them are and left sticky black stuff on your hand when you pulled it. Not ideal. I bought the Amazon special version, as much as I want the OEM look I couldn’t bring myself to spend $100ish on a new door pull that’d break down in the exact same way in a few years. The black plastic definitely looks cheaper on the outer cover, so maybe I’ll get an OEM replacement for that, but the inner feels fine and it all mounted solidly. This version uses screws instead of the heat-staked originals.