Living with a Legend ///M5: Year Seven 02/10/20

[Pavel]

Nice! Glad I had an extra alignment tool for you

Saved the day, right there!

[Pavel]

The injector results are here.

Before:



After:



#4 was a little weak as you can see. MEPEH did a good job, and communication was very easy. The package should be at my doorsteps pretty soon. All set and done $55ish dollars with sending them to CA.

Last night, I was able to wrap up with the underside - guibo, drivershaft, shifter console, sway bar, transmission mounts.

I can see the neon light at the end of the tunnel.

[Pavel]

Almost there. Last night, I was able to finally muscle in the cats back in. After some significant rework, I was amazed they fit from the first time.



All that left is harmonic balancer, new belts, radiator, intake, fluids.

[tschultz]

Excited for you!

[dsmith]

I'll be down there over Easter next month. Hopefully I can see the "finished" project!

[Pavel]

All the fluids are in. I should fire it up tonight. All that is left to install, fingers cross all is good, are the hood, front and rear strut towers and the skid plate (and the windshield washer fluid reservoir).

And then from tomorrow on DD duties. First things first are inspection and registration renewal. This will be the best birthday present

[Pavel]

IT'S ALIVE!



First day of DD duties. The engine fired up right away, on Friday! This was a pretty exciting moment. I was slightly nervous after all the work done to it, if I have not messed something up. This was my first ever engine refresh. The chain rattle was nerve-racking but after a good 10 minutes idle-ing it started going away, as expected. I still have a slight rattling noise, which I believe might be a loose heatshield or probably exhaust leak somewhere in the area of my homemade welded flanges from the cats to the headers. The sound mostly goes away after the car gets moving. I can still hear it when at idle at a traffic light.

I still kick myself for not buying Supersprint track pipes in November, when TMS had them on sale in the mid $200..

The list of improvements goes like that:

- ~96k miles S38B35 + Matching Cluster
- S38B36 cam on the intake side
- A100 gear set on Advance, paired with Jim Conforti
- M88 headers
- Valve Adjustment
- New Chain
- New Guides
- New S52 tensioner
- New Throwout bearing
- Reconditioned Injectors
- All gaskets/seals/o-rings on the engine replaced - minus HG.
- Some auxiliary hoses

From the date of delivery of the engine it took me almost 10 months to finish this project. Took me a few months to accumulate all the parts, and reading all the little details of how am I going to achieve this end result. Thanks goes to all the people that have contributed to this community and the yahoo group with their S38 knowledge. To name a few of the guys that I talked to directly - Phil Conrad, Doug Park, Dean Caccavo. Of course Sherman with having me work on his S38B36 earlier in 2015, and all the other numerous tips and tricks he has taught me.

Next project - get my AC working. Going to keep it R12.

And get on with the 745i...

[leadphut]

[dsmith]

So cool. Congrats. You must have the most expensive/cheapest M5 by now.

[Pavel]

So cool. Congrats. You must have the most expensive/cheapest M5 by now.

They definitely don't make them that cheap anymore

[1st 5er]

Swing low, sweet chariot...

[Pavel]

Trouble free few days of driving. I went to an exhaust shop based on some local BMW-buff's recommendations.



We ended up tightening up the flanges between the CATS and the headers a little more. There was definetely an exhaust leak there, plus I had some small pin holes in my welds that got fixed. The rattle noise turned out to be a piece that I added to change the curve of the CAT pipes. So I think I decided to go ahead and get a track pipe made for now, and later in the year get the VSR Dual Cats from Mario.

As nice as it is to have a lift, I also found out that my transmission is still slightly dripping. Not sure if it's from the selector seal that I just replaced or is it rear seal around the output shaft.



Also I noticed at really low speeds when going about 5 mph when turning hard left or right there will be a grinding noise from the rear.

[wkohler]

Nice work! Check the level of the oil in the diff.

[wkohler]

I have been informed that my last post could lead to confusion. I would check the oil level in the REAR diff. Good luck.

[LeiseyJr]

Glad to see Manny hooked you up on that exhaust work. S38 looks nice!

[1st 5er]

When my LSD failed, I

When cornering, it sounded like the exhaust was dragging.

[Pavel]

I have been informed that my last post could lead to confusion. I would check the oil level in the REAR diff. Good luck.

Thanks Chris. I will look at this over the weekend. I had that flushed and refilled a few years ago - probably 2 now.

So far in my troubleshooting I have noticed if I am going slow in a circle almost full lock, the sounds will be there (no matter direction) however if I press the clutch - nothing.

Bare with me here but if it's the diff it should still make soundtracks regardless if the transmission is separated from the engine, no?

And I think I know why transmission is leaking - almost positive it's the selector seal and mainly because of the delrin bushing in the back of the shift arm. It's probably time to revert back to a stock setup with a rubber bushing.

[rmiddendorf]

Could also be trailing arm bushings.

[Pavel]

Glad to see Manny hooked you up on that exhaust work. S38 looks nice!

I need to give you back your clutch tool.

Could also be trailing arm bushings.

Those are still the original ones, I have not touched them. I can see this possible, too if pressing the clutch is not actually doing anything and I am just losing speed hence not noticing the noise.

I did notice my passenger rear side tire has lost a bit more thread than the left side. And I know it's usually a problematic area for the E28s without mods to the rear subframe.

[LeiseyJr]

Does your diff fluid have the limited slip additive in it?

[Pavel]

Does your diff fluid have the limited slip additive in it?

Pretty sure it does. Per Sherman's suggestion this is what we run in our cars - http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=43&pcid=8 Red LIne Lightweight Shockproof.

[Pavel]

Two weeks ago or so the car started acting weird. At first I though it's spark related, at high RPM. Then i checked the ref sensor, seemed like they could have had an intermittent connection.

To my biggest surprise, last week I was finally able to replicate the problem. The car would die when I would open the glovebox really hard I know, it's funny. I wasn't laughing so much a week ago.

It was the ECU. Pretty much tapping on the case of the ECU would make the car die. I was ready for the big bill, however luckily I was able to fix the problem very easily. Turned out to be the large transistor legs, that had cracks in the solder joints. I had those re-flown and voila.

http://e28-535i.com/technical/e28-ECU_Repair.php



Found this DIY by sheer luck!

Also the stock CATs are now gone. Running track pipes with the O2 sensor installed. The result are excellent. I should plan on getting some dyno graphs I guess out of curiosity.

And last but not least, its official now - its our M5.

[Pavel]

The 2400 miles from Houston to Ashville and back, through the twisties was the true test of the car!

Apart from the clutch slave cylinder dying on the first day, the car performed flawlessly! 23 mpg average on the way back with 0 burnt oil, on a decent cruise speed.

We were lucky to have found the slave in stock in Hoover, AL and replaced under 15 mins. Sherman was the man of the day.







Working on some GoPro footage from the roads to the Tail of the Dragon.

Does your diff fluid have the limited slip additive in it?

We both learned that the Redline doesn't have LSD additive in it!!! Swapped fluids in our 3.91 and voila.

[MicahO]

Great shots! I hadn't heard that the clutch slave went out on the way to Vintage. Mine went bad on the way home in 2014, but I was able to limp home. Glad you found one in stock on the road!!!!

Redline gear oil is okay for LSD's, but you don't want the Shockproof. Use these, which have the LSD additives in them - http://www.redlineoil.com/Products.aspx?pcid=4

[Pavel]

Great shots! I hadn't heard that the clutch slave went out on the way to Vintage. Mine went bad on the way home in 2014, but I was able to limp home. Glad you found one in stock on the road!!!!

Redline gear oil is okay for LSD's, but you don't want the Shockproof. Use these, which have the LSD additives in them - http://www.redlineoil.com/Products.aspx?pcid=4

10-4

[white chocolate]

Really enjoy these updates.

Its always a great feeling to put a car together and rack the miles up, enjoy it!

[tig]

Congrats on the "our M5" part!

[Pavel]

Congrats on the "our M5" part!

Thanks Charlie.

Enjoy a RAW ride in the mountains under the sounds of the S38.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47J4q-rjOtY

[Karl Grau]

Congrats on the "our M5" part!

Ditto!

[Pavel]

Wow took me a whole month to come and update this with a photo, but better later than never right.

On Feb 10th 2018, my mind was elsewhere to even realize it was 5 years of ownership. Primary reason was - my daughter was born! So this year when she turned 1, Facebook reminded me with a photo of an epic trip. Coincidence?



And here we are at TexFest X, behind the wheel Jay and Aaron chased by Greg Nelson.





If you want to experience similar thrills in 2019 - Join us at TexFest XI!

Not much has been done since the last update 2-years ago. I have rear camber adjustment done to the subframe. New windshield from Ivo. Back to stock 16" wheels. Next on the agenda is the interior, and AC functionality.

[BenGerman]

Seems like the nicest cars come from CO!

The car looks a lot better with the 16" wheels in my opinion!

[Pavel]

7 years, time flies! Right before TexFest 2019, I got the AC finally fixed. The interior is really my next step of the revamp process. Otherwise, the car doesn't see much road as it used - life gets in the way. Hopefully it will be at Vintage this year, and myself with it too.

I got in touch with the original owner, on Linkedin. That was really cool. I wish he had some photos to share.

M5 in 2019 by Pavel Vasilev, on Flickr

M5 in 2019 by Pavel Vasilev, on Flickr

M5 in 2019 by Pavel Vasilev, on Flickr

M5 in 2019 by Pavel Vasilev, on Flickr

M5 in 2019 by Pavel Vasilev, on Flickr

M5 in 2019 by Pavel Vasilev, on Flickr

TexFest 11 by Pavel Vasilev, on Flickr

[M. Holtmeier]

Love that last pic...

[1st 5er]

"You've come a long way baby.