sumpcracker
Posted a lot
Yes, I’m still here.
Posts: 1,751
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Sept 16, 2016 22:05:50 GMT
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Hi. I buy and sell a few cars, this is one I saw local (less than 2 miles away) on Ebay. Its only a 520, but it is a manual, and first of the M50 engines, it looked worth a punt at £200. Story was, the sump was unbolted due to a crack, doesn't run, been standing for 3 years. Well, that was the description, and a couple of very bad pics taken upside down. Once delivered -    Pretty much as expected, cars always look better condition faded and leave you disappointed once polished.. What you cant see in the pictures is the smell. OMG. When I went to check the car and pay for it, I thought the smell was the house/car port, it didn't come from a very nice area and didn't give it much thought.. What the seller had forgotten to mention (among other things) is that a Rat had been living under the bonnet, once lifted, JESUS, poo and wee smell and poo and - I need 3 hours with a jet wash before I can go near it! (wearing gloved and mask at all times, as you can catch things.. you could smell the car 15 feet away. Neg feedback was left and I'm sure this car would have been scrapped had I not decided to go further than I should on a H reg 520 with no MOT that doesn't run. This was defo going to get broken or just weighed in. |
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sumpcracker
Posted a lot
Yes, I’m still here.
Posts: 1,751
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Sept 16, 2016 22:20:24 GMT
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Amazingly the guest doesn't seem to have chewed any of the loom. Jobs to do - (look for rust -1 ) 1) Jet wash engine. (actually sprayed petrol all over the bay) 2)Bolt on sump and chem metal the very minor crack. 3)Fit missing drive belt, fill with oil and try to start. 4)remove the horrid spoiler and paint boot lid or find good boot lid. 5)change grille 6)Polish paint 7)Some lower suspension and some wheels. 8) FFS I just looked in the boot.  3000 chewed news papers, and a rat house, the boot must have been left open at some point. |
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Smiler
Posted a lot
I no longer own anything FWD! Or with less than 6 cylinders, or 2.5ltrs! :)
Posts: 2,492
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Sept 16, 2016 22:35:02 GMT
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I have owned a few E34s and like them a lot.
How familiar are you with them?
As it has a sun roof check very carefully around the jacking points on the sills. They rot from the inside out but have very good stone guard applied from the factory that hides it until it is very advanced.
Rear lights in boot lid fail due to broken wires in the loom where it passes along the hinge.
If once you have it back on the road you find that it shakes under heavy braking this is a big symptom of the bushes on the upper front suspension arms being shot so don't assume it's the discs warped.
Good luck with it.
Oh, nearly forgot, if you take a look at my website (link in sig) there is a section on my stripped out E34 racer. The photos might come in useful for seeing how it looks stripped apart.
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Last Edit: Sept 16, 2016 22:37:21 GMT by Smiler
www.Auto-tat.co.uk'96 Range Rover P38 DSE (daily driver) '71 Reliant Scimitar SE5 GTE 3.0ltr Jag V6 Conversion '79 Reliant Scimitar SE6A 3.0ltr 24valve Omega Conversion '85 Escort Cabrio 2.0 Zetec - Sold '91 BMW 525i - Sold '82 Cortina 2.9i Ghia Cosworth - Sold '72 VW Campervan - Sold '65 LandRover 88" - Sold
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Sept 16, 2016 22:35:04 GMT
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Sumpcracker. I'm a fanboy of E34's and have owned a couple too in the past but personally I'd think long and hard about this car as potential project. Just saying...and hope I don't sound too negative.
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Still learning...still spending...still breaking things!
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sumpcracker
Posted a lot
Yes, I’m still here.
Posts: 1,751
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Sept 16, 2016 22:39:33 GMT
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Engine bay cleaned up well, smell is gone and this allowed me to fit the sump and repair it. Started engine and it knocked, has it been run dry due to oil leak? No, some investigation and stripping = loose spark plug! Mid sumping-  Runs well. The chewing seems to be ltd to the fan cowling and sound proofing. The paint came up ok-  And I bought a boot-  And also a battered set of wheels, I have refurbished 2 so far.  This was the worst one  That's better-  |
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sumpcracker
Posted a lot
Yes, I’m still here.
Posts: 1,751
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Sept 16, 2016 22:44:47 GMT
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Hi,
Yes I had a lot of E34, all types aside from the 3.8 M5.
This is a quite saveable shitter. Not a car I am doing a project of my own on, more to save and sell, as it was cheap and close.
The sills are decent, I'm aware of the rotting out issue, also it has fairly new wishbones.
as bad as it looks, it has every MOT since new and lots of parts upkeep until it was killed.
I wouldn't do my own build on a 520 as id need to swap the small diff, id only want an M50 Turbo car, so id start with a 525.
Woofwoof
Smiler
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Sept 16, 2016 22:58:32 GMT
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Good news, as I would have bet it was going to knock due to oil loss via the sump.
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Last Edit: Sept 16, 2016 22:59:18 GMT by Woofwoof
Still learning...still spending...still breaking things!
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sumpcracker
Posted a lot
Yes, I’m still here.
Posts: 1,751
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Sept 16, 2016 23:15:46 GMT
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Good news, as I would have bet it was going to knock due to oil loss via the sump. My thoughts also, I wanted to start the engine before anything was done on it. Was it worth saving? probably not, but here are some reasons I am doing it- 1) When I was 15 I did my work experience in a BMW dealer and later landed a Saturday job, this was the time the E34 was new and I have an affection for early 90s BMW because of this. Whenever I see a wounded one I think about when it would have been on the ramps in the dealer in pristine condition on the tiled floor, the air smelling or brake cleaner. 2) I just love these proper built BMWs, I have had 100s, I have a newish Alpina and its rubbish. I get kicks just from working on them and touching the well built and thought out over engineerd mechanics. 3) The e34 is massively under appreciated, there were so many around and then none - they were bang in line with scrappage scheme time and I have seen them on banger racing trailers, and lets not forget the budget drifters, which isn't too different from the banger racing, same end result.. 4) There are double the amount of these breaking on ebay than for sale, most of the breakers look like they should be saved. I'm quite sick of this throw away society driving round in plastic Kias and binning these engineering master pieces. Some are safe like the E30, E28 944 because they are now cool. the E32 and 34 will need a little more help, as it was peanuts and on my doorstep, it seemed right. I will make it back into a nice car. |
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Sept 16, 2016 23:32:03 GMT
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Good news, as I would have bet it was going to knock due to oil loss via the sump. My thoughts also, I wanted to start the engine before anything was done on it. Was it worth saving? probably not, but here are some reasons I am doing it- 1) When I was 15 I did my work experience in a BMW dealer and later landed a Saturday job, this was the time the E34 was new and I have an affection for early 90s BMW because of this. Whenever I see a wounded one I think about when it would have been on the ramps in the dealer in pristine condition on the tiled floor, the air smelling or brake cleaner. 2) I just love these proper built BMWs, I have had 100s, I have a newish Alpina and its rubbish. I get kicks just from working on them and touching the well built and thought out over engineerd mechanics. 3) The e34 is massively under appreciated, there were so many around and then none - they were bang in line with scrappage scheme time and I have seen them on banger racing trailers, and lets not forget the budget drifters, which isn't too different from the banger racing, same end result.. 4) There are double the amount of these breaking on ebay than for sale, most of the breakers look like they should be saved. I'm quite sick of this throw away society driving round in plastic Kias and binning these engineering master pieces. Some are safe like the E30, E28 944 because they are now cool. the E32 and 34 will need a little more help, as it was peanuts and on my doorstep, it seemed right. I will make it back into a nice car. Having had 2002's, an E12, E30's, E34's and the very unrated E32, I couldn't agree with you more. And the best daily driver out of that lot was a E34 525iSE manual. Good luck with the project, hope the next owner appreciates your efforts to keep her on the road. |
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Last Edit: Sept 16, 2016 23:52:19 GMT by Woofwoof
Still learning...still spending...still breaking things!
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Sept 16, 2016 23:36:56 GMT
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I'm with you there,not much annoys me more than people throwng stuff away that can easily be repaired,great cars and a nice save.
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Sept 17, 2016 7:14:33 GMT
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Great project - after following the 944 I'm interested to see where this one goes...
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'03 Porsche 996 C2 3.6 - Sort of Retro
'84 Porsche 924 - Definitely Retro!
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,869
Club RR Member Number: 58
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1990 BMW E34 Save.adam73bgt
@adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member 58
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Sept 17, 2016 9:30:00 GMT
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Looking forward to seeing what you do with this, you look to have made massive progress already  |
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fer4l
Posted a lot
Testing
Posts: 1,497
Club RR Member Number: 73
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1990 BMW E34 Save.fer4l
@fer4l
Club Retro Rides Member 73
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Sept 17, 2016 11:39:25 GMT
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Good news, as I would have bet it was going to knock due to oil loss via the sump. My thoughts also, I wanted to start the engine before anything was done on it. Was it worth saving? probably not, but here are some reasons I am doing it- 1) When I was 15 I did my work experience in a BMW dealer and later landed a Saturday job, this was the time the E34 was new and I have an affection for early 90s BMW because of this. Whenever I see a wounded one I think about when it would have been on the ramps in the dealer in pristine condition on the tiled floor, the air smelling or brake cleaner. 2) I just love these proper built BMWs, I have had 100s, I have a newish Alpina and its rubbish. I get kicks just from working on them and touching the well built and thought out over engineerd mechanics. 3) The e34 is massively under appreciated, there were so many around and then none - they were bang in line with scrappage scheme time and I have seen them on banger racing trailers, and lets not forget the budget drifters, which isn't too different from the banger racing, same end result.. 4) There are double the amount of these breaking on ebay than for sale, most of the breakers look like they should be saved. I'm quite sick of this throw away society driving round in plastic Kias and binning these engineering master pieces. Some are safe like the E30, E28 944 because they are now cool. the E32 and 34 will need a little more help, as it was peanuts and on my doorstep, it seemed right. I will make it back into a nice car. This is exactly why I run an e38 and a 190 I have no other justification for needing! |
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BT
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,772
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Sept 17, 2016 12:05:10 GMT
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If your 944 was anything to go by this thing will be good!
I will follow with interest.
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Marc
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,037
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Sept 17, 2016 12:56:57 GMT
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Fantastic stuff. Looking forward to progress.
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Stu
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,913
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Sept 17, 2016 14:59:03 GMT
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Good save, looking forward to (more) progress, improving well already PS. I have an E30 and completely agree with the sentiments above. |
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'89 BMW E30 325i Sport, '04 MINI Cooper S, '09 Volvo V70 D5
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sumpcracker
Posted a lot
Yes, I’m still here.
Posts: 1,751
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Sept 19, 2016 12:54:20 GMT
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Thanks guys, this isn't really a build like the Porsche, just a light resto and MOT really as well as some wheels and lowering. If it were a keeper, id have to swap rear beam, to take large case diff, then a M52 or S50 to run a BorgWarner turbo set up... causing need for Bilsteins and big brakes, as much as a 500+ hp E34 would be a fun great car, my £ is tied up in other things at the moment. I'm going to do this just to look cool and then I expect some wannabe sceneprick will buy it off ebay. I fitted some springs, I am sure they were 20mm lower on the other car? hope they settle! Also on 20mm wheel spacers as these are 3 series offset, beggars cant be choosers and all that.   I have cleaned up the brake and fuel lines and grease coated them, undersealed the sill jacking points, and aside from a couple of small jobs, it looks fit for MOT now. Jobs to do- Fit rear springs, Finish wheels, Remove tow bar, Fit new boot lid, bodywork around fuel flap and rear arch (solid, but paint bubbled) I need to refurb the rim up on this and get a boss. 340mm may be a bit small for it, but its all I have spare that will suit it.  Note , rat eaten cowling. This non vanos early M50 is a fantastic engine, no powerhouse, but endless cruising.  |
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Sept 19, 2016 14:24:29 GMT
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I ve just found an e34 518 swapped to m50b20 at a decent price.The major problem is that the car was painted with a brush...is it worth saving?
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'80 Datsun Sunny B310(totalled)
'82 Toyota Starlet DX 4door(sold)
'82 Toyota Starlet DX 2Door(sold)
'00 Mazda Miata NB(traded for
'95 BMW E36 318is(traded for
'97 Mazda Miata NA(sold)
'83 Honda Accord(now at Honda Heaven)
'91 Honda Accord(current ride)
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Sept 19, 2016 14:31:24 GMT
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I've always had a soft spot for E34s! Never had the chance to own one, but I've driven plenty enough to know that while I'm a Mercedes guy, I can appreciate the offerings that came from my native Bavaria in the 80s, 90s, and earlier.
Looks like this car cleaned up really well. Excellent work!
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'85 Euro 190E 2.3-16 '84 Euro 500SE ~100k miles '51 Euro 170S M117 Swap Project?! '97 Jeep Wrangler Sport ~42k miles '09 E350 ~51k miles '98 Dodge Durango SLT+ 5.9L Magnum V8 ~Josh |
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Sept 19, 2016 16:22:55 GMT
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Well saved.
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Currently: 1974 Beetle - Golf -
Previously: e38 735i, e34 525iSE, 1972 Beetle, 1991 Scirocco Scala, Morris Minor, 1983 Polo Breadvan, 1991 Mazda MX6
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