P_Roloff
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Posts posted by P_Roloff
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11 hours ago, YoungCR said:
Congrats! Welcome to the world of acquiring more shit you don’t need cause you can haul anything now 😂
Thankfully, I’m out of room for the most part at my storage unit so minimal opportunities for more useless shit acquisition at the moment. Although it did come with a plow that I’m not sure what I want to do with yet, if that counts haha.
Having the lumber capacity is going to kick ass though, I’d also like to do some camping trips with it if it proves to be reliable enough. I’m envisioning an air mattress in the back, screens for the rear windows, kitchen setup on the rear barn doors, and a nice big roof rack from a plumbing van (thanks @Jdesign for the e36 inspiration on that one) for hauling a canoe, bikes or random other gear. I’ve seen some awesome setups more geared towards overlanding and while this will be very budget minded and not involve off road travel I see a lot of potential for a great travelling rig here.
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122,577
Oil change, 5W-40 Mobil 1 euro full synthetic. Also changed trans fluid with Redline D4, shifts were starting to feel notchier and trans fluid hadn’t been done in awhile so I went for it. Didn’t improve it as much as I’d like, unsure if it’s just wear or something with the replacement master/slave, or a worn clutch. Oh well.
Replaced the alternator at the same time, it was starting to whine again (voltage regulator I think) after only a year, I just sprung for a Bosch reman from FCP instead of the garbage warranty replacements I’ve been swapping out every year from O’Reilly’s. Here’s to hoping that lasts longer, the bearings were shot too already on the old alternator. I had no choice due to time when I first replaced it, but 20k miles seems pretty pitiful.
Flex disc is pretty well shot also, need to get that changed ASAP. Flying to Florida this weekend, so it’ll have to wait until the next. Already have the flex disc and driveshaft end bushing, just need to toss them in. I remember that bushing being a pain in the ass on the e30 last time I did one, anyone have a good trick for getting the old one out with minimal cursing?
In other news, I bought a truck!
It’s big and very rusty but was very, very cheap. It’s a V10 4x4 limited, so pretty capable, shockingly comfy and full of features, absolutely massive inside, and gets somewhere around 10mpg. Did I mention it has a lot of interior space? It’ll fit 4’x8’ plywood sheets with the 2nd row folded and the 3rd row removed 😂
Long story on why it was cheap, but it very much figures that the day I bought it, I got it the hour home and was running to the post office to mail the registration documents and the power steering box shit a seal. It emptied the contents of the reservoir in about 20 seconds and left a very nice snail trail in my wake from work to the O’Reilly’s parking lot. Still working on fixing that, but getting closer. Need to get one line off of the pump, then it can all go back together.
Side note, I’d like to punch the engineer who put this hose outlet in the spot he did right in the mouth. Can’t get it off with the pulley on. Ugh.
Brakes are sticky on at least one corner too, but otherwise it seems pretty okay. I’m fully expecting other things to crop up, but it was driven regularly and maintained well before I bought it so the hope is that it doesn’t become too needy. Verdict is still out on what I’ll do with it, I bought it to tow and promptly found a hidden rust hole in the hitch receiver. Tank has to be dropped to replace the receiver, so I may just do that in the spring once it proves whether it’s going to be reliable enough to invest the time into for that. Stay tuned!
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On 7/20/2022 at 10:01 AM, m42b32 said:
That's awesome!! Congrats on the pickup!
Also, what site did you order the heritage 6's from, directly from MOMO? I've always really liked the look of those.
Edit: Found it! I'd have some on the way if they did a 16. I'm thinking these might still look good in 17 on the e30... hmmm
Realized I never answered the question here! Yeah, I bought them directly from MOMO, they did a buy two-get two sale this summer and early fall with free shipping on top, so it was only around $760 for the full set. They’re HEAVY though, other than the potential centerbore issue they weigh like 25-27 lbs apiece compared to the 18 or so of the m-systems, it’s definitely noticeable. More of a street wheel in my opinion, but no less cool as a result.
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I opened that expecting a fake article, that thing looks so weird. I can’t believe this is the direction they want to keep taking. Gross.
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6 hours ago, patsbimmer1 said:
Is the shaking at all speeds? If it's most prevalent in the 55-60 mph range that sounds like a wheel/tire issue. When they balanced them did they road force them? There are imbalances that can be fixed using a road force balance then re-orientating the tire on the wheel. If you had a bent control arm/tie rod or most other suspension components you're gonna get a crooked steering wheel or a pull when you loosen your grip on the wheel. Those components directly impact your alignment so there would be another drivability symptom.
Nope, really just 55+ and gets more severe above 62 or so (indicated). At 45-50 and below it’s buttery smooth, I actually didn’t even notice until the day after I got it back because I never broke 50 on the way home.
I’m sure they didn’t road force them, I’m guessing they don’t have the capability but I know of a few shops around that can. I just find it odd that it’s worse than when I took it in, and noticeably so. They mentioned adding a half ounce or so of weight to a few of the wheels but their general vibe was that they were pretty close so I’m a little leery of that being the cause. I wouldn’t think that much weight would make this significant of a difference, but you never know.
No noticeable pull that I could feel, although e34’s tracking straight ahead is kind of a crapshoot with the box anyways. Steering wheel is definitely off center, and while it wasn’t perfect before it seems like it’s more significant then before. I might swap my old (known good) wheel set back on to see if that solves the issue, and if it doesn’t it’s going straight back to them to figure out what’s up.
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2 hours ago, patsbimmer1 said:
Is the center bore on the wheel the same as the stock e34? If not, buy a set of hub rings.
Haven’t checked with a caliper, but it should be. Ordered the standard fitment 72.56mm centerbore when I purchased, and they fit tightly when installed a few weeks ago.
I had the car flat bedded into the shop, I wonder if the tow driver strapped over a control arm and bent it? Or a tie rod? Anything think that would be enough to cause a vibration like this?
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Got the car back Thursday, the culprit ended up being the clutch master and not the slave (though they replaced the slave first) to the tune of around $900 all in with a wheel balance. Sheesh. They also charged $300 and some change for the system bleed so not really sure what that’s about, everything else seemed reasonable as far as labor and parts.
Anywho, got eh car back and everything with the clutch is fine, but my door no longer shuts well (feels like it’s bent upwards at the hinge, and that it gets forced back down to the correct position once it hits the latch) and the wheel balance is far worse than before, with some pretty violent shaking sometimes above 55-60mph. The wheels and tires were balanced very recently but had a slight vibration that I thought they could maybe fix, it was definitely made worse with their work. Had no issues with the old set of wheels so I’m thinking that it’s wheel/tire related and not mechanical, although it could be the larger and heavier wheel/tire exacerbating a worn part. All control arms and sway links in the front are around 30k old, tie rods and other steering bits are originally but felt fine last time I had it up in the air. Any thoughts from the e34 hive mind? From what I have read these cars are particularly prone to vibration from a multitude of sources.
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On 8/5/2022 at 7:33 AM, YoungCR said:
Original clutch? I’d be prepared to have them replace it, it’s at that mileage now. When the clutch went out on my 530i it would just go straight to the floor too and it really didn’t feel like it was going out before that.
Yep, original clutch. That’s the plan if they have to pull anything at all, it still grabbed well but I could tell it was getting to the very end of the clutch range it felt like.
Honestly wouldn’t be that upset, I have a whole pile of parts for them to replace if they do the clutch so it wouldn’t be that bad of a thing to happen. And then it’d be done and good to go for another 100k+!
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118,9xx: First time stranded!
Clutch pedal went to the floor leaving my neighborhood this morning, it’ll be on its way to the shop tonight. Luckily, I was close enough to walk home but definitely an inconvenience. Hoping it’s just a slave cylinder and it can be back on the road quickly, I have no time to look at it or fix it (or the e30 or e28 to drive in the meantime, I should really get on those).
Oh well, not bad for ~60k miles of ownership so far to have this be the biggest inconvenience with it so far. VANOS is starting to rattle in addition to torque loss down low, so that along with brakes front and rear are on the docket for this fall once time becomes available. Really need to catch up on maintenance with this one.
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2 hours ago, m42b32 said:
That's awesome!! Congrats on the pickup!
Also, what site did you order the heritage 6's from, directly from MOMO? I've always really liked the look of those.
Edit: Found it! I'd have some on the way if they did a 16. I'm thinking these might still look good in 17 on the e30... hmmm
Thanks! Long term, I’ve always wanted to try to drug that is boost, maybe this’ll be my muse…
Do it! I think they’d look great! A bit heavy if I’m being honest, but they’re going to be pure street wheels for me and I think they’ll do that job quite nicely.
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8 hours ago, YoungCR said:
Congrats! I got plenty of grills and headlights. condition isn’t great but I have a full blue interior.
Awesome, great to know. Provided it runs, I’ll take a headlight set and grille set. I’ll kill over the interior, I can’t decide if I want to just replace the rear seat so I can put people back there in a pinch, or if I want to go all out and put door cards and some of the other things back in. The old rear seat looks solid but has a few spots of mold at the bottom edges on the side, anyone have tips for removing that to try and save it? I’m thinking I’ll steam clean or just soap and water scrub the rest of the interior, it honestly doesn’t look bad but I want to make sure I get rid of any mold, mildew or mouse turds that are still lurking.
Diagnosis process I’m thinking is something like this: Put a battery in and check if the fuel pumps are running, and then make sure it’ll turn over (disconnect fuel pump relay and just bump the starter), drain fuel tank and put some fresh stuff in there, and replace fuel filter. Drain and refill oil with the cheapest crap I can find just to have fresh stuff again. Crank without fuel pump to circulate oil.
Check CPS to make sure the wire isn’t just cut or something. Make sure all other obvious things are plugged in and appear to be functional. Give er a crank and see what happens. If no start, check for spark and pull plugs.
I’m taking a vacation next week so I probably won’t get to it for another two weekends, but I’m excited t get the old thing revived!
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116,4xx:
Oil change and filter, used the oreilly’s house brand full synthetic because they had nothing else in 10w-40 and I figured that’d be better than running something lighter weight from Castrol or Mobil.
Replaced the two front tires with used takeoffs as a stopgap for when the 17’a go on, I’ve had approximately zero free time in the last month so that project has stalled. The fronts were down to the wear bars, rears are still okay for a little while, so just wanted to buy myself a few weeks before I can hopefully get the true summer set finished up.
In other news, I bought another car! It’s crusty, non-running, and has more damage than I originally thought, but I paid less than $1k for it (and it’s a NC car, so really no rust underneath) so I figured that at worst it’ll get parted, and at best I’ll have a fun beater to use to keep miles off of the e34.
Stats: 1988 535is, salmon silver over blue with a 5spd. All of the “is” specific parts are gone with the exception of the LSD. The only remaining seat part is the rear seat bottom, but I have a spare set of e30 sport fronts that I’ll be tossing in once I make some adapters.
It appears to have been set up for track/DE work before it took the hit, it’s rocking bilstein sports all the way around with what I believe are racing dynamics lowering springs. I noted some new suspension bits like dogbones in my inspection of the car as well, so it appears to have been already at least partially gone through. Brake is still firm, and it has braided lines throughout. Interior is partially gutted, with no door cards or carpet and an electrical cutoff in the rear seat bulkhead. Overall, not bad for a car that’s been sitting for at least 5 years.
Current plan is to try to get it running, then evaluate my costs and options from there once I can suss out the rest of the systems in the car. If anyone has e28 fenders, grilles and high beams/headlight assemblies they’d be willing to part with, I’m interested and on the lookout.
I also picked up a set of 17x8.5 MOMO heritage 6’s the other day off their site, they’re holding a buy two-get two sale thru early September and I couldn’t resist. Hoping they show up quickly, at which point they’ll be installed on the e34 with some Pilot Sport A/S 3+’s.
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On 6/15/2022 at 7:43 PM, YoungCR said:
M12 3/8 stubby impact is a beast, ratchet is still on my list. Nice work! People always dismiss the factory tools as silly or expensive but you end up saving so much time because that’s what they were designed for lol.
Highly recommend the m18 mid torque as a beefier gun for suspension/driveline/brake work, I use it arguably more than the stubby. They’re great complements to one another, especially if you ever work on anything heavier.
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110,657
Oil change and filter, just received all the VANOS rebuilt parts, valve cover gasket and a few other odds and ends so I can take care of a few leaks and the VANOS system all at once. Replaced all 6 coils with Bremi units and solved an idle misfire/stumble when pulling away from lights.
Planned on replacing rear brakes due to the “low brake pad squeal” noise starting and had all the parts necessary in hand, but pulled the rear wheels and had decent pad left. Probably going to take care of them later this summer when I have more time. New giubo is also in hand, the old one is a bit cracked and provides a good excuse to replace the shift shaft and input shaft seals on the transmission as well. Also going to be a “when I get to it” project, probably slated for this fall.
112,8xx
Took a ~800 mile round trip to the boundary waters over Memorial Day weekend, not a single hiccup and averaged something like 23-24mpg even with a big ass canoe on the roof the whole way. Had awesome weather, great fishing, and an overall good time. Got to bomb a total of around 40 miles of forest roads to and from the entry point too, which was a riot.
In other news, I finally picked up the M-Systems! Not overjoyed with how they turned out and I think I’m going to polish them out further myself, but the bulk of the work is done. The shop that did it was unable to get into the sharp corners of the lips to fully polish them out, and also managed to round over the corners of the valve stem openings so probably wouldn’t go back, but after the 2 months that I waited I was just happy to have them back.Pics:
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On 5/27/2022 at 2:03 PM, gilber33 said:
Just driving it an enjoying it.
As soon as the 850 is done, I have a small to-do list for it:
- Remove amp and subwoofer and put back in the "underseat" powered subwoofer.
- O2 sensor.
- Investigate intermittent clunk from rear. I believe it's tied to the sway bars. Either the mounts or the unsealed heim joints on the aftermarket sway bar endlinks.
That's really about it right now.
Took the car to Green Bay and back on Wednseday and it did great. It was wet and humid and then cool at night and the headlights stayed completely dry the whole time.
My only complaint is the car sitting at 3500 RPM while doing 70 on the highway with the 4.10 diff. But as I looked more into the 3.73, it sits at about the same if I were to go 80. I also read of a significant difference in feel of the car between the two, with the 4.10 being quite a bit snappier. I mean, it makes sense, I just didn't realize it would be as noticeable as others describe.
So, I will probably save $1,000 and just go 10mph slower.
Looks awesome! Details on the underseat sub?
Depending on how I feel about the 3.73 that I’m about to put into my car, I would maybe swap with you if yours is also a LSD. I’m not sure if it’ll lose a noticeable amount of pep with also going to a manual, but if I find I want something shorter I’d maybe entertain a trade. I try to do more backroad driving anyways, so ~3500-3600 on the interstate doesn’t bother me. Can’t hear the engine anyways over all the wind noise 😂.
We could also start with you driving my car once it’s done for you to get a rough feel of the difference. There’s some weight penalty on mine for sure but I bet it’ll be enough to make a rough call.
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On 5/11/2022 at 11:27 AM, Jdesign said:
I have to use one of those extractors to change the oil on my boat and I hate it. LOL
In other news, I still want a diesel X5.
Thread jack, but if you want the pro strat for boat oil changes, the next time you do it buy or make a drain hose kit. My parents inboard came with this setup from the factory and it’s slick as shit, and so easy. Just snake the tube out of the boat drain plug, put a drain pan underneath, and pop the cap off. Easiest oil change I’ve ever done.
Example of a kit: https://www.wholesalemarine.com/sierra-18-7891-oil-drain-kit.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_9PmkLjb9wIVBezjBx3cYQ45EAQYAiABEgKgXfD_BwE
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On 5/11/2022 at 11:13 AM, Jdesign said:
Only BMW I have that I would enjoy the trip in right now is my 2002. Is anyone still going?
Otherwise I would be interested next year so I can take my e30, I will mark my calendar NOW. lol
I am 100% in for next year. Bit off more that I could chew time-wise this spring so it’s looking more like mid summer when the e30 will be back on the road, but I definitely want to do this and would love to make it an annual thing.
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110,657
Oil change and filter, just received all the VANOS rebuilt parts, valve cover gasket and a few other odds and ends so I can take care of a few leaks and the VANOS system all at once. I have a full set of coils and rear brake parts also on order to go in as soon as they get here. Planning for a trip to Voyageurs NP at the end of the month and need to make sure everything is all sorted for that.
In other news, the M-Systems are in the process of being refinished, they’re at the polishers getting the lips polished out then I’ll paint the centers in the stock black. Already have a set of Michelin Pilot A/S3+’s to go on. Can’t wait!
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Looks great, definitely a worthwhile improvement!
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I believe the donut gaskets can both be replaced, however I have only ever done the one that sits loose between the flanges on the cat and cat back section.
I’d like to preface this by saying I have an aftermarket muffler so it might not be the same, but on mine, one donut is pressed onto one of the pipes on the cat side, with an inch or two of pipe extending beyond it, and the other cat side pipe ends in just a flared flange. On the cat back side, both pipe ends are flared. Thus, when you put them together, the small protruding pipe section on the cat side serves to line everything up, and once it’s nearly in place you slip the other donut in between the two flared flanges on the second side and then bolt everything together to hold it all in place.
So yes, you should in theory be able to replace them both. The donut that is pressed on will probably have to be cut off, however, if your exhaust is anything like mine was.
I also just took a closer look at your pictures, and it appears one of your bolt flanges is broken in half on the cat side, so that’ll be your bigger issue here. That’ll require fab work of some sort because those wont come off/go back on due to the flared pipe ends.
Another daily driver thread: E34 525i
in Members BMWs
Posted
Oh man, that must’ve been awesome. I had a grand marquis with a front bench in high school and thought even that was pretty great, rolling 6 deep to lunch was awesome. I’m betting that just about everyone that had one regrets selling with how much value they’ve gained in the last few years!
The saga unfortunately continues for mine, fixed the power steering system (fought with a profusely leaking remanufactured PS pump right out of the box, super fun) and then promptly blew out a caliper piston seal two days later. Sigh.
Parts should be here tomorrow and I’m hoping to fix it Sunday. Going to go through and refresh all the brakes while I’m at it, not something I want to risk happening again, especially with how many friends I might have in the car or the weight I might be towing behind it. It’s had most of the hardlines replaced, soft lines are mostly original so they’ll all get redone. Replacing both calipers on the back at once, new pads and rotors all around, and inspecting front calipers as well. One of the fronts has been replaced relatively recently, I’ll be replacing the one that isn’t new as well. Cheap insurance for preventing a breakdown far from home.