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Chris’ e34 extravaganza


ChrisO

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Well I ended up putting in a offer on the 93 M5 @Jdesign had found last year and yesterday after class I went to pick it up

the drive was about 2 1/2 hours from Eau Claire, I rented a U-Haul pickup and trailer and it was a perfect day for the drive down. It was my first time towing anything ever and it was super easy, even with a 4000lb car on the back. Everything felt very planted. It was a great deal I thought at $220 for the 24 hours and 300 miles I had it.

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Everywhere south of Arcadia, WI had some pretty impressive roads, hills and bluffs, especially closer to the Mississippi River. I’m definitely driving down that way this summer.

The seller was a great dude and was a huge help getting the car on the trailer

Its a 93, Schwartz II with a less desirable dove type interior. The only option it has is power seats, everything else is standard. The car is dead, but has around 190k miles on it

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The full rig

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I got back to Eau Claire around 9pm and unloaded the car, it then took my roommate and I two hours to push it 8 feet into my garage because the entire parking lot was ice. It was horrible, zero traction to push

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secured in the garage

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I haven’t even had the chance to look at it yet, this afternoon after class I’m going to dig in. A few things I’ve noticed so far, the car has no severe rust except for a area up front by the driver fender in the floor pan, a hole about the size of a ping pong ball. It’s surprisingly clean, rust wise. Honestly tho the car is beat to shit. It’s been sitting for 11 years, it last ran in 2008. The coolant reservoir is empty, and the oil almost seems sticky... maybe it’s just 20w50 in 19° weather? Just about every rubber line and hose in the engine bay is dried out.

This car/thread could go a few different ways

1. The motor hasn’t suffered some kind of catastrophic failure and I get it to run and drive and enjoy it 

2. The motor has suffered catastrophic failure and a s50 gets swapped in or something  (eh)

3. I part the car out, keep the wheels, mirrors, bumpers, skirts and rear trunk panel to put on a 530i/540i that I’ll daily (this is probably going to be the winning option)

Im pretty much looking to replace my Passat as my daily driver. Either way I want it to be a e34. For now I’ll post me messing around with the m5 and all my findings 

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21 minutes ago, Jdesign said:

SO MUCH YES!! I assume you got a killer deal on it since its been sitting for so long and needs so much work.  

CONGRATS!!

I feel pretty good about it, my expenses are just over what you had him at. I just really wanted the full aero and wheels, no matter what direction this goes I'm holding on to them!

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^^ Same. They are fairly straight forward, and I have had my hands on just about every part of an S38 minus the bottom end internals. 

Fun Fact: the S38's have a few variables in the castings, components, and other features from Model to model, year to year. Not everything will bolt from one S38 to another. Example: S38B36 may have different engine mount tabs vs. S38B38. (kind of typical for BMW though)

 

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Real promising start here, took me 3 seconds to see the crank position sensor wires are cut clean in half, not sure how or why that happened. Also I've noticed inside of the oil cap, the head has a nice creamy sludge pooled at the bottom off the head bellow the cams in those pockets. It's pretty thick gunk... I know moisture can cause stuff like this but it's pretty thick. PO told me he changed the oil last year when he tried to get it to run, and the oil in the pan looks perfect (although very thick). One observation I made is the oil is way overfilled. I wonder if the motor was filled with sludge that wouldn't drain completely when he added 8 quarts of fresh oil?

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Under no circumstances does it seem normal to me, but I might be mistaken? the car did sit with the same oil in it for 10 years... I can't run most of the blown headgasket tests thanks to the car being a no start, and the cooling system being completely dry/ probably not holding pressure due to old hoses. I can do a leak down and compression test. Opinions? When I have more time I'm going to pull the valve cover gasket to better get a look at the inside of the head. 

also I discovered some subs and a amp under all the garbage in the trunk 😂

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Looks like it has some kind of custom box for e34's, if anyone wants it all for super cheap let me know haha

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On 3/12/2019 at 6:51 PM, ChrisO said:

I can do a leak down and compression test.

I don't know if I read that correctly in context but how can you do a leak down or compression test if you can't crank the engine?  At this point the only option I see is to disassemble the engine, clean it, reassemble and hope it starts.  10 years worth of oil not running will absorb moisture over time so milky color doesn't surprise me.  There's not an effective way to clean that sludge without a running car and I wouldn't try to start the car seeing what's in that engine right now.  Not an easy task but that would be the right way to do it.

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the oil mixed with condensation, acidic goo, etc etc is obviously no good, but draining it the best you can and filling with fresh oil (maybe with some cleaner with it, like seafoam) and running the engine for a little while to clean the rest shouldn't hurt. maybe putting some oil directly into the cylinders days prior would be helpful.  then just change the oil again with fresh stuff. i'd think disassembling the engine would cause more problems than it would help.

 

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40 minutes ago, patsbimmer1 said:

I don't know if I read that correctly in context but how can you do a leak down or compression test if you can't crank the engine?  At this point the only option I see is to disassemble the engine, clean it, reassemble and hope it starts.  10 years worth of oil not running will absorb moisture over time so milky color doesn't surprise me.  There's not an effective way to clean that sludge without a running car and I wouldn't try to start the car seeing what's in that engine right now.  Not an easy task but that would be the right way to do it.

Oh my bad, the car cranks, has spark, but no fuel. Of course the crank/pulse sensor wire is sheared in half. I was planning on wiring it up on Saturday and trying to figure out the no fuel issue. But really just the consistency of the sludge in the head is what concerns me and I was wondering if it could be possible from just moisture. I can’t make any assumptions based off coolant consumption/oil in the coolant/air in the coolant because it has none nor could I put some in it and bleed it as it won’t start. 

I agree tho, it seems wrong to try and start it as it sits. 

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Here’s just a few more pics of the car and some interesting things 

PO gave me a bucket of stuff from the car and these diagnostic tools were in it, along with a custom ground down spark plug socket (s38’s have very narrow spark plug holes)

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also in the bucket was a 12v adapter that plugs into where the glovebox flashlight goes 

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Car has all the keys it came with from the factory, I think. Also has full documentation from the dealer 

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Break in period sticker from when the car was new, assuming this is pretty damn rare to see

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full size m system spare and a almost complete tool kit

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Few interior shots 

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Yes! 

I love that they even suggest the idea of running at max speed for a long duration in the break in label.

amazing to see keyless entry from that vintage as well.

id squirt some oil/atf down the cylinders and look into priming the oil pump before firing it up. 

 

Fun project

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That documentation alone would be enough for me to try and save it.

If I were you, I would fill that motor with marvel or a detergent and let it sit a day or two. Then I would drop the pan and remove the VC. Thoroughly clean it and pour new oil through the head and allow it to flow through the motor until its clean and no longer gross. Rotate the oil pump and motor by hand till it seems to spin free and easy. Then reassemble and do the basics. Motors are pretty durable, its just contaminants and lack of lubrication that usually cause failures.

Also: http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=123682

    

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1 hour ago, Jdesign said:

If I were you

I would pull the engine, just because it appears to be my favorite activity. 
Maybe even put it in a lifted E30. 
Who knows. 

But for real. This thing is cool and uncommon. 

I know a mix of ATF and Seafoam with the oil is good for clearing stuff out (only let it run for a bit). 

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