BMW E34 TOURING TRANSMISSION SWAP / RESTORATION

[doyfola]

Hi Guys
Just figured i put my project out there. I have owned a 1993 525it for over six years. It was originally silver with a silver grey interior. The interior was trashed when i got the car. I took the entire interior out including the seats, carpet, dash, pillar covers and center console, and door panels and replaced them to black. The interior took me about two years to complete due to nonavailability of black touring rear seats at all the local junk yards and ebay. I have the car painted black 5 years ago. Over the years i have gone with the bigger 540i brake system, H & R lowering springs up front with bilstein sports struts, headlining reface, front bumper air ducts.
I figured i will wait till the GM transmission go out before doing a 5 speed swap but the bitch will not die. So at the end of the march, i figured it was time to do the 5 speed swap. And so it started.


images before the project started

[doyfola]

And so it begins
Hood is unhooked




Front headlights, grills and radiator support undone.





Engine and transmission pulled out


close-up of empty engine bay


Engine on the floor

[doyfola]

Well since the engine is on the floor. I might as well repaint the engine bay?



that doesn't look too bad. Let me try the other side!


that's a mess and will take forever to clear. But i will give it a short.




Not too bad. I think i will take off the subframe




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[doyfola]

Sub frame cleaned, painted and installed.



Front tire well




cleaned




Painted




Next strut housing reconditioning

[BadM535i]

Very nice, what did you use to clean the wheel wells? I was thinking of using Por 15.

[mooseheadm5]

What did you use for headliner? Mine is gone.

[shagrath]

Ambitious! Makes me want the e34 touring I've been craving for years.

[doyfola]

Hi Guys
Thanks for the feedback. I used a product called purple power to decrease both the engine bay and tire wells. I can't remember the name of the material i used but i picked it up from Hancock fabric. It was said to be headline material but it has a suede fluffy feel to it. Hope that helps!!!!

[mooseheadm5]

Perfect! What about adhesive?

[doyfola]

Just got in from working on the car and decided to do some updates.

Here is a better picture of the finished tire well


I figured sine i was under the car, might as well start cleaning it for repaint







Here is what the other side looks like before cleaning





Here are some of the refinished goodies







Time to start putting the strut back together





Got a little lazy and just repainted the calipers, they looked really bad. So today i spent an hour wire brushing them. Here is a look at what some extra effort yields.

[doyfola]

I purchased some adhesive from home depot. It was in a can, can't remember the name but i will check and get back to you tomorrow.

[mooseheadm5]

Thanks. Last annoying questions. Did you pull the roof liner out to do the headliner or did you do it in place? If you removed it, was it difficult? I've never done one and I need to do my wagon and my wife's ti.

[wkohler]

It's not hard to remove the headlining. There is a procedure to doing the roof panels that involves having a working roof.

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

It's not hard to remove the headlining. There is a procedure to doing the roof panels that involves having a working roof.

Yep. It's a pretty simple task, made easier by it being in multiple pieces. It's also quite affordable to buy the pieces new, although the side's are NLA in black colour. You do need a working sunroof, though, or at least a non-stripped out manual override nut.

Car looks great, it's amazing what a simple clean does to the appearance of the underside!

[Pistonbroke]

Subscribed. Want to see this baby finished.

Love seeing inspirational work, eagerness and thoroughness like this.

GL moving forward

[pleasefixitup]

duuuuuuuuude
you do some great work.
be proud !

[darksideracer69]

Perfect! What about adhesive?

I only use 3m super 77, I've had bad experiences with other sprays. Even with different 3m products.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Super-Multipur ... m+super+77

And yes you have to remove the headliner from the car.

[shagrath]

Hi Guys
Thanks for the feedback. I used a product called purple power to decrease both the engine bay and tire wells. I can't remember the name of the material i used but i picked it up from Hancock fabric. It was said to be headline material but it has a suede fluffy feel to it. Hope that helps!!!!

Purple power is the shit.

[cddallara]

I applaud your efforts!!
I'm doing a 5 speed swap soon, but certainly can't take it to this level
Great to see a long term enthusiast with the wagon.

[Dinan e28]

Thats a serious amount of work. Looking good so far.

[RDAvena]

Nice job! brings back many memories. A touring is a hell of a car with a manual trans.

The hardest part on mine was grinding a friggen slot on the head of the fracture bolt in order to remove it so as to be able to change out the pedal box. Aside from that the manual trans install was a breeze. Best of luck on a worry free completion.

[cddallara]

Nice job! brings back many memories. A touring is a hell of a car with a manual trans.

The hardest part on mine was grinding a friggen slot on the head of the fracture bolt in order to remove it so as to be able to change out the pedal box. Aside from that the manual trans install was a breeze. Best of luck on a worry free completion.

I learned yesterday that those bolts will unscrew with a pair of channel locks ( or tongue and groove pliers).

[RDAvena]

I learned yesterday that those bolts will unscrew with a pair of channel locks ( or tongue and groove pliers).

I decided to quit that route after producing a couple of wonderful blood blisters with the channelocks.

[doyfola]

Hi Guys
I truly appreciate all the positive feedback. It has kept me motivated to keep this project going.

So far I have been able to install the manual pedals. True to the comments, the bolt under the steering was a true nightmare to get out. I also finished the wiring for both the cruse control, reverse lights and removed the automatic transmission computer.









Strut are installed on the car

[doyfola]

I was originally going to stick to the original engine and do a the 5 speed swap. But as it is it has turned to a full resto. I was thinking it would not complete without dong some engine modification of some sorts. I have been seeking the advice of some of my gear head buddies. And the con-censors was to do a 3.0 smoker. That would entail pistons and rods from an m54b30 block, crankshaft and intake cam. I set out to the junkyard to find a 3.0 block and found this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!









Thats right a 1995 e36 m3 . I proceeded to gut that bad boy.
I took the engine, transmission, drive shaft, front and rear brake calipers front and rear, steering wheel. Got back and stripped it down.

[davintosh]

Nice find. That's what I'd call a turn in the right direction!

Subscribed

[pleasefixitup]

lucky find!

[Greg E34]

Nice. The S50/5 speed is the way BMW should have built the E34 touring.

I love mine!

[AlpinaE24]

Top notch

[1st 5er]

Great work and motivational thread.

[Pavel]

Awesome work sir! S50/5 iT is my next E34.

[fastcrs]

This is getting good...

[doyfola]

Hi guys
Once again thanks for all the positive feedback. You keep me going when i'm about to quit on this project.

I decided to tear down the engine cause i wanted to know what i was dealing with although it was said to have 89k miles on it, and possibly wanted to do some upgrades.

So here we go





Looking good so far


That's a good looking block? No slug?




impressive




Head off


Now i'm impressed








What the Hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forged pistons???????????????

Time for purple power and paint






I think i need some bling

That's right, 2 hours of fine wire brushing and a bout with the dremel tool, then clear coat. What an effect!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[doyfola]

Let's see how it looks on the block ?

Now that's sexy






I think i'm in love!!!!!!!!


E34 oil pan after overnight deep in purple power.




nmmmmmmmmmmm not too bad lets try the wire brushing effect





I'm going for it




Hell ya. Please note this is not for the faint of heart. Oil pan took 4 hours to get the effect and then heat resistant clear coat. This is what the block looks like















Head cleaned and ready for machine shop

[Pavel]

[doyfola]

I think i time i started finishing this part
















These are the products i picked up from the local parts store. If you are thinking for doing something similar, take the time to mask off all the bolts and mounting points. You don't want this in your bolt holes. It is rust resistant, paint-able, sound insulating and rubberized. I will be taking a couple of days off this project. It has taken 4 hours every night and all of my weekend for the last 3 weeks. I NEED A BREAK. Lol

[fastcrs]

Wow, that engine looks sweet!

[doyfola]

Hi guys
I am sorry it has taken so long to do an update. It has been really hectic working on the project nights and weekends with not much rest. And being that i wasn't originally planing to do a full nuts and bolts restoration, which it has very much turned out to be. Plus i did not have much of an original budget ($1000.00) for the 5 speed project. I have gone way north of that. Total spending has now entered + $4000.00 and climbing. Plus delays in parts arrival. But who really cares (Wife). lol

At any point i'll take off from where i left this. New 3.0 m3 gaskets finally arrived





Head and cams finally installed to specifications




loving the look




Since i wire brushed all the brackets, lets see what the cover would look like?



Vanos rebuild kit finally arrive


Engine is almost done


Refinished the power steering / Self leveling suspension

[doyfola]

Alternator prior to refinishing


New engine mounts

[doyfola]

Hi guys
Here are images from most recent updates

Engine is finally done and harness is back on