Been a Lurker for a long while...

[twisted 45]

As the title says...

been wanting one of these for ages, so finally bought one on tuesday.

1994 540ia

NZ New

215km

Grey Leather package

Service History

LSD

ASC

Centre silencer delete

K&N Pod, CAI in progress.

Amber to clear/opaque light update kit ordered.

The Bad:

Rough Idle when cold, occasional intake back firing while decelerating in S mode/or when cold. I Suspect Intake manifold gaskets have deteriorated causing lean conditions when cold/pushing it .

Headrests wont go up or down. motors run, but no movement. This is a must fix as one is low, and one is high. I'm ocd about headrest symmetry

Broken front lip. Drivers side 'scoop' is broken off and in the boot. I'll try to repair, but am on the lookout for a replacement.

Desperately needs a Drop + Dish. Currently contemplating 18" style 32 replicas. staggered.

Cheers

Sam

Edited August 28, 2009 by twisted

[Apex 693]

Nice car, best colour for an E34 IMO.

In the other thread you said it was super super tidy?

[1rotty 40]

^^^ Different car

Did you look at the Waipuk one?

Edited August 28, 2009 by 1rotty

[kiwi535 538]

As the title says...

been wanting one of these for ages, so finally bought one on tuesday.

1994 540ia

NZ New

215km

Grey Leather package

Service History

LSD

ASC

Centre silencer delete

K&N Pod, CAI in progress.

Amber to clear/opaque light update kit ordered.

The Bad:

Rough Idle when cold, occasional intake back firing while decelerating in S mode/or when cold. I Suspect Intake manifold gaskets have deteriorated causing lean conditions when cold/pushing it .

Headrests wont go up or down. motors run, but no movement. This is a must fix as one is low, and one is high. I'm ocd about headrest symmetry

Broken front lip. Drivers side 'scoop' is broken off and in the boot. I'll try to repair, but am on the lookout for a replacement.

Desperately needs a Drop + Dish. Currently contemplating 18" style 32 replicas. staggered.

Cheers

Sam

make sure wheels are hubcentric or you get the proper rings. e34 are 71,5 mm hub alot of aftermarket wheels for 5 series are 74(or so) which suit the e 39.If you dont get the rings or correct dia wheel centre you WILL get teh shimmy.E34 very fussy for front wheel balance,suspension bushes.

[twisted 45]

Perhaps a slight exaggeration, however for age and price bracket it's extremely tidy. Very few external blemishes and again, very few interior blemishes. Aside from headrests, all electrics work flawlessly.

Leather is perfect, as is wood.

For sub 4k, it was an absolute bargain.

Did you look at the Waipuk one?

No. I was interested in the AKL 530/540 conversion but this came up locally for less, and had the sunroof, which is important

Edited August 28, 2009 by twisted

[twisted 45]

make sure wheels are hubcentric or you get the proper rings. e34 are 71,5 mm hub alot of aftermarket wheels for 5 series are 74(or so) which suit the e 39.If you dont get the rings or correct dia wheel centre you WILL get teh shimmy.E34 very fussy for front wheel balance,suspension bushes.

Ohh, cheers for that. I'm well aware of the 'shimmy' issues, and the first thing i checked on this was the control arms, which look almost new.

I've now made a mental note to check hubs on potential wheels!

[Guest Simon*]

Nice buy

Always good to have more E34 owners about. Have a link for headrest fix somewhere, will dig and post. From memory it was from an E32 site

[zenetti 0]

make sure wheels are hubcentric or you get the proper rings. e34 are 71,5 mm hub alot of aftermarket wheels for 5 series are 74(or so) which suit the e 39.If you dont get the rings or correct dia wheel centre you WILL get teh shimmy.E34 very fussy for front wheel balance,suspension bushes.

actually 72.5mm. If you buy new wheels they should come with the locating rims, if not we have plenty in stock.

BTW welcome to the forums - i have always been partial to the BMW V8's as well!

[BM WORLD 1283]

nice car . also check/replace the PCV valve at the back of the inlet manifold . they fail , letting oil into the inlet manifold from the crankcase, causes white smoke at start up and a rough idle.

its well documented on the net on how to fix the headrests.

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/page_33.htm

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/5326

also a goodsite for suspension/ wheels stuff

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main.html

[twisted 45]

nice car . also check/replace the PCV valve at the back of the inlet manifold . they fail , letting oil into the inlet manifold from the crankcase, causes white smoke at start up and a rough idle.

its well documented on the net on how to fix the headrests.

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/page_33.htm

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/5326

also a goodsite for suspension/ wheels stuff

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main.html

Awesome, Thanks for that. Headrests are now FIXED!

Who's the best supplier for BMW parts?

I'm going to go and have a chat with mike page (local BMW tech) on monday, but it would be good to have input on these matters from you guys.

Cheers

Sam

[Jamez 2147483647]

looks great, what BMW color is it?

[twisted 45]

looks great, what BMW color is it?

It's Fjordblau. Looks stunning in the twilight hours.

[kiwi535 538]

Awesome, Thanks for that. Headrests are now FIXED!

Who's the best supplier for BMW parts?

I'm going to go and have a chat with mike page (local BMW tech) on monday, but it would be good to have input on these matters from you guys.

Cheers

Sam

Define best.There wont be many people who know more than Mike Page.

[twisted 45]

Define best.There wont be many people who know more than Mike Page.

Yep. Mikes a good bloke and lots of knowlege! The car is getting some love from him On wedensday.

Best i guess = good mix of availability/quality and price.

[twisted 45]

Got the call from mike. Front seal is gone on the intake manifold, as is the CCV (same as PCV?) + seal. I figure that even though the CCV can be done without taking off the inlet manifold, i Might as well have the manifold-cylinder seals replaced also. I'd rather that, than have to get more work done on the intake 6 months/10k down the track.

Right front engine mount is broken, which explains the vibrations when cold i've been getting over the last day. I suspect this has been stressed from the sheer shaking when idling cold.

Fingers crossed that the air leaks are the root cause of the idle/backfiring/popping issues, and that I don't also have fueling and/or compression issues.

On the upside, it appears that a number of bushes have been replaced in the front end recently, as have the front brakes. Hopefully from here its just a matter of shocks/springs/rear brakes and some minor cosmetic issues to get this car back up to scratch.

Edited September 2, 2009 by twisted

[Apex 693]

Parts:

Euroitalian are fantastic, needed a part, called BMW, was quoted 200+, called Euroitalian and he had the part in stock, after Bimmersport discount 88+GST, was at the Mechanics the next morning, he made it straight forward and didn’t need ten chassis codes and a birth certificate like BMW do.

Good luck with your car, lucky good stuff that a few bushes have been done, some new shocks and springs will sort it out nicely.