Brilliant red E34 M5 mini restoration thread

[Benji]

So this thread is way overdue and a bit of a long story with not enough pics, but should keep you entertained for a good couple minutes...

First a little backstory. Ive never really been a BMW fan, but myself and my partner in crime (Mark) were on the lookout for a fun/cheap track toy project. It had to be RWD, so we started looking at a Cressida V6 just to be different. After doing a little research, we decided to get a 2 door E30 and chuck a E36 M3 motor in there and have a little fun. While searching for the perfect project car, we came across a really poorly advertised E34 M5 that had been in a front smash. It did not look promising, but as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So off I went to go have a look at the car.

First signs were not so good. Car was in a township in what I am pretty sure was a chop shop. The guys had driven it into a wall after what must have been a few too many cold ones. They had started stripping the front of the car and could not start the car because the radiator and oil cooler had been removed. However, there was some promise in other areas. Good matching tyres all round, interior dirty but in good condition, almost complete toolkit etc. Basically the car had been well looked after before the current owners got their hands on it.

After some background checks and concentrated haggling, the car was on a trailer and heading to its temporary home (thanks Uber) to await its fate. Onto some pics

 

[Straight six]

Well you are right about few cold ones

The wording on the bonnet translates to "Be careful We drunk"

 

[Benji]

Im going to do this in stages so the pictures follow the story...

Going over the car properly, we found that it had a full service history (serviced every 10000km), had protective carpets over its protective carpets and the interior still smelt like new. Previous owner had a really nice Rockford sound system installed and it had been done really nicely (before the guys we bought it from ripped it out). It had narrow and wide throwing stars and had really been well looked after in its life even though its owners had some questionable hobbies. We found a box of bullets hidden behind the carpet in the boot. The decision was made to restore the car back to original condition and put the track toy idea on the backburner for a while.

First things first - get the car running. New radiator, cross member and front suspension as the impact had knocked a front wheel backwards.

Car ran a bit rough, but it ran and sounded good! So we drove her around like this for a while

 

[individj]

i like this...thanks

 

[KPM3_30]

Very interesting bud, love the story and very much looking forward to more!

 

[Benji]

Next up was a mechanical refresh. New engine, gearbox and diff seals. [font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]New oil, spark plugs and filters. [/font]New radiator hoses and complete refresh of the vacuum system.  It was quite the wild goose chase to find all the vacuum leaks - all hoses replaced, new intake manifold 0-rings and new intake boot. Car was running much better, but there was still a misfire at idle. So we balanced the throttles to ensure each cylinder was seeing equal vacuum at idle. Still, the thing kept idling like a pig. We took her in to Peter to have the valve clearances adjusted but we still remained with the poor idle. Happily, all these little jobs did contribute to better running at WOT  :biglol:

Now the throttle position sensor seemed like our poor idling culprit. Further investigation revealed that the TPS in our car was from a M30 535i motor and basically worked in reverse to the S38 motor. This means the ECU was not getting WOT and idling signals from the TPS. New TPS is 8k from BMW...luckily we had just bought our second M5 which was now destined to be our track day toy...more about that some other time. A quick TPS swap made the car run a lot better and smoother, but still we remained with out poor idle  :fencelook:

Doublechecking the ignition system showed all spark plugs and ignition ignition leads to be in good condition until we opened up the distributor cap and found it to still be the original item with 230,000km on it and it was badly worn. We popped a new cap and rotor on and the car now runs beautifully!

 

[gavsadler]

Glad you finally got round to posting a thread for one of your collection

Looking forward to the updates.

 

[Benji]

This review isnt really in chronological order, but onto the cosmetic items we go

We acquired a new to us bonnet, front bumper and grille and drove around with a multicolored car for a while. I'll never forget when I was cruising on the highway and came past a very clean M5 with turbines on it. The look of shock and horror on the drivers face when he saw the front of the car with the Sjangalala still on the windscreen  :smilebounce:



We found a good set of matching sport seats and swapped the passenger seat leather onto our drivers seat. This is technically not a hard job, but you require the patience of a saint, hardened fingers and a steady supply of cold ones to get the job done. Interior was cleaned, steering wheel restored, and the seat twist fixed.

We painted the bonnet, bumper and fenders and gave the whole car a quick polish. The plan is to repaint the whole car as every panel on the car has a little dent or scratch on it. 

Outstanding work includes figuring out why the sound system doesnt work, sorting out a gearbox whine (gearbox was very low on oil due to the leaks), new headliner and getting the wheel refurbished before putting her up for sale  :fencelook:

---

And this is how she is at the moment

 

[Ga-3M]

Awesome stuff bud!! Great to see an epic classic being brought back to life!

 

[Benji]

Well you are right about few cold ones

The wording on the bonnet translates to "Be careful We drunk"

Yeah its ironic hey...they are the ones who should have been careful

 

[GoCart]

Well done Benji, awesome work so far !

 

[///Dees]

Great work so far - keep it up!

 

[maleven-GP]

Well done on the restoration.. it looks good already, should be greater with you done

 

[husaindindar]

On behalf of all BMW fans around the world,
We thank you!


Well done so far on the resto!

 

[Spanky]

This reads like erotica!

Well done, Benji and Mark!

 

[Rick_29]

Benji & Mark, really well done guys!

Car is looking great.

 

[UpNcOmiNg!]

This is a good news thread!
Well done on restoring a LEGEND!! :inlove:

 

[Benji]

Thanks for the positive comments guys. Its been a steep learning curve, but we do not cut corners, use only OEM parts (thanks ABM) and do all the work ourselves where possible. We like to think because we are both engineers, we can figure everything out, but sometimes experience is needed and this is where Uber and his dad have been invaluable with their advice and assistance. Its been a 2 year journey to get the car to this point, but its been an absolute pleasure and the car feels rock solid

 

[Benji]

Your eyes do not deceive you. That is a 30 year old BMW that does not leak oil. My garage mop is besides itself with grief since it has now become unemployed like so many other South Africans. Busy with UIF applications for the redundant member.

Onto the car. All gearbox seals replaced, sump gasket replaced, timing chain tensioner replaced. This was actually the main proponent of the auto-oil-change feature on this engine.

A few other time consuming items were completed: Replaced cabin air filter (what an absolute c*nt of a job), found the battery drain, recommissioned electric rear headrests, recommissioned sound system etc...Car is off to Auto Lounge for the paintwork, super excited to start putting things back on the car for a change

 

[individj]

lovely update man im excited.