E34 540i 9 Month Update

[Kees 598]

It’s not been 9 months with my E34 540i, so I thought since its lock down and what not, its time for an update.

 

In the last 3 months I haven’t done a heap. I had predominately just been going out and enjoying the car, as well as going to a bunch of car meets to put some decent kms on her.

 

In the 9 months I’ve had the car, I have put around 5000km on it, which I think is rather impressive given that it’s a third car, gets stored at a place that is 20 minutes from my house, so I actually have to plan when I take the car out.

 

Things done in the last three months:

I managed to source a new resistor sword for the blower motor meaning I now have control over my fan speed, and it isn’t simply just full blast or nothing, which is rather nice. I also did a few cosmetic things like replace the badges, re-glue the rear door cards, polishing paint, deal with paint transfer and further source the bits required to complete my tool kit (if anyone has a spare screwdriver or tow hook let me know lol)

In July it was also the much-dreaded WOF time. Seeing as it had failed on a couple things last time, I had a quiet confidence it might pass first time or fail on a couple easy things, especially since the place I was taking it was hardly VTNZ. SPOILER ALERT: It failed on 4 things that were neither easy nor cheap to rectify.

My car failed on:

- Rusty Tow Bar

- Play in the right front wheel (lower control arm related)

- Play in the left front wheel

- Power Steering Leak.

The easiest to deal with was the tow bar as I could do it myself. I dropped the rear bumper and removed the tow bar which had rather shockingly completely rusted away (after a lot of swearing and what felt like many litres of WD40 due to the 20-year-old seized and cross threaded bolts).

I then sent the car to my mechanic who is known to be a legendary BMW mechanic, especially with E34s.

Power steering leak was luckily just a hose clip. The play in the right wheel just required adjustment of the lower control arm. However, the play in the left front wheel required the replacement of a rod connected to the steering box, which of course was not cheap. But hey, it's only money, right?

My car also developed a pressure related coolant leak in June. In typical BMW fashion it was leaking in two places which meant it required the replacement of the heater control valve, and an octopus looking pipe which had a pin sized hole in it which is connected to the control valve. Once again my mechanic was superb as he had good used parts available in his workshop. With the heater control valve replaced, my car now doesn’t blast hot air at your feet when you turn the AC on which is also another bonus. I now [almost] have functioning climate controls which do what you want… what a luxury!!

 

Next on the list is to get my replacement sunroof painted body colour, as its starting to really annoy me. I also want to get a nice stainless muffler to replace the stock one to make the V8 sound like a V8.

Included are some before and after photos from the day I picked the car up compared with how it is looking now. Also included is the difference between the good resistor sword and the bad one, and a photo showing how badly corroded the tow bar was. She is looking quite a lot better I reckon. 

[Palazzo 478]

Nice looking car, I still remember driving a demonstrator when they  were first launched, seemed unbelievably quick, which it probably was for the day.

[Kees 598]

1 hour ago, Palazzo said:

Nice looking car, I still remember driving a demonstrator when they  were first launched, seemed unbelievably quick, which it probably was for the day.

Yeah with 400nm and 286hp it still gets up and moves, although I got absolutely obliterated by a Mercedes EQC the other day, and an F10 550i overtook me like my car was standing still 😂

[Eagle 1679]

Certainly not fast by today standards but still adequate for everyday usage. Most F10 550's will be standing still in the wreckers yard in the near future so i wouldn't worry too much about it. Least you got the only reliable V8 BMW has or ever will make.

[Kees 598]

6 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Certainly not fast by today standards but still adequate for everyday usage. Most F10 550's will be standing still in the wreckers yard in the near future so i wouldn't worry too much about it. Least you got the only reliable V8 BMW has or ever will make.

Yeah very true, my car is a testament to that idea having done 371,xxx km. Can't see many F10s/E60s/E90s doing that!

 

[Michael. 2313]

Having taken apart most of my M60 at the moment, I love what a simple design most of it is, yet nicely made and put together. 

Everything is so serviceable and relatively easy to work with. 

I value those kinds of things over efficiency or peak performance. 

[Kees 598]

3 hours ago, Michael. said:

Having taken apart most of my M60 at the moment, I love what a simple design most of it is, yet nicely made and put together. 

Everything is so serviceable and relatively easy to work with. 

I value those kinds of things over efficiency or peak performance. 

I'll have to start learning how to do some stuff to my car. I guess parts rarity has always made me leave any mechanical stuff for professionals as I am worried I would break some part exclusive to the M60 and then be faced with the headache of trying to find a replacement part with a non-functioning car. 

 

[Simca 49]

On 8/26/2021 at 5:16 PM, Kees said:

I am worried I would break some part exclusive to the M60 and then be faced with the headache of trying to find a replacement part with a non-functioning car. 

 

Surely that can't end up being too big of a problem? There is enough parts to go around online still... I can find most everything I need for my 535 on FCPEuro for a good price, albeit it takes a while to get here. And if you do end up breaking something, you said it's a third car right? No worries in having it sit a bit. I say go for it, with a basic socket set, some screwdrivers and the Bentley manual you can honestly do 90% of what needs to be done on an e34 yourself. It's why I love mine so much.

[Kees 598]

10 minutes ago, Simca said:

Surely that can't end up being too big of a problem? There is enough parts to go around online still... I can find most everything I need for my 535 on FCPEuro for a good price, albeit it takes a while to get here. And if you do end up breaking something, you said it's a third car right? No worries in having it sit a bit. I say go for it, with a basic socket set, some screwdrivers and the Bentley manual you can honestly do 90% of what needs to be done on an e34 yourself. It's why I love mine so much.

Yeah very true I really should get into it! The garage where I store it is big enough to comfortably work on it so there really isn't an excuse for me not to. And yeah if I break something I still have a Peugeot and a Smart Car to drive so it is a no brainer.