The unlikely donor

[Sankekur]

In the end of February 2012 an ad was posted on gumtree with an e34 540i individual for sale, this being the super rare 540i's that came with a whole bunch of m-sport bits and (the most important of all) a manual gearbox.
The ad was actually posted on this forum as well (Andy posted it during the rebuild of his 540i)
Link: http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=27206&pid=314093#pid314093
The picture was wrong, the mileage high, the interior black and the price low.....this would make a perfect donor car.
So me, my brother and Mr ford went to have a look at the car, turned out it was in fact an individual 540i. The interior and the M-tech kit were both in good condition....paint and motor in a bit of a sorry state.....so perfect donor car.
While looking the car over the owner asked if we are planning on stripping the car. To which we replied "Heck no" :mmm:













So this is the car more than a year and a half later, right after doing a over 1000km road trip just to go do some spirited mountain pass driving.

In the end even considering the generally the sorry state that the car was in I couldn't get it over my heart to kill it.....so i decided to save it.
What I have done so far:
-new battery
-new crank position sensor
-new springs
-New shocks
-new rear shock mounts
-new M5 lower control arms (saved about 700g worth of weight, and you can feel it)
-new thrust arms
-new drag link
-new tie rods
-new bush for the idler arm
-new anti-roll bar links
-freeflow exhaust
-cleaned the ICV
-took preventative measures to stop the oil pump from rattling loose
-new inspection sump gasket
-new oil for the gearbox
-new cap of the clutch fluid reservior
-flushed the clutch fluid
-new front discs and pads
-electric fan conversion (easily freed up about 40-50 wkW, can now easily light up the rears in fourth gear.......)
-new radiator
-new gasket and o-rings for the waterpump and thermostat housing
-new proper coolant
-two oil and filter changes
-different wheels and new tires
-rolled the rear fenders (for aforementioned wheels)

And there is still much (oh so very much) more to do.

Thanks for reading.

 

[RAArmstrong]

raise: congrats on saving this icon!!

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[ChefDJ]

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

Big ups to you for saving a legendary car :=):

 

[Shabz]

raise: :drool: speechless :inlove:

 

[Kyle]

:inlove::inlove::inlove:

 

[Rayzor]

Awesome stuff :bravo:

 

[M-power]

:shoesmiley:

:inlove::inlove::inlove:raise:raise:raise:

 

[Dippies]

:bravo::bravo:

 

[herr bmw]

well done sank,glad you decided to save the old gal,and i guess there is more to come,keep us updated:thumbs:

 

[moranor@axis]

e34 is a very special car...

 

[ClassicB]

:inlove:raise:

 

[AcidBurn]

:bravo::bravo::bravo::bravo::bravo::bravo::thumbs::thumbs::thumbs::thumbs::inlove::inlove::inlove::inlove::inlove:

 

[Pho3niX90]

WOW!! after seeing the pics I was looking for the selling price, til I saw that you bought it...

Very beautiful car!!!

 

[JodyD]

wow looking awesome :thumbs:

 

[Fordkoppie]

You forgot about the most important and expensive maintenance/mod item.

It was a critical part made from pure copper and substituted a starter replacement:fencelook:

It was so expensive and ingenious that Sank could not get it over his heart to hide it and left it visible for all to admire:rollsmile:

 

[Pho3niX90]

I seriously want one of these now! :fencelook:

 

[OppositeLockMT]

No words can describe how an E34 with M-Tech makes me feel.

 

[Clownshoe]

 

[abmi0000]

Love it :bravo:

 

[Wes]

Very nice

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