Russiankid's 525i She is gone

[russiankid]

So I picked up this 95' 525i today. Car needs front suspension work, which is very common on all e34's. The plan is to clean the car up inside and out, the exterior needs a good wax job. Further more, I am going to be replacing the tires, and anything in the front suspension that is worn out. However, first thing to address is the valve cover leak.









Edit: I found out this car is a 94', someone wrote the year wrong. Oh well they weren't much different between the years.

[Stillen GLE]

getting rid of the honda i surpose.

[russiankid]

Originally Posted by Stillen GLE

getting rid of the honda i surpose.

Nope. I am going to fix the fuel issue it has and my dad is going to drive it to work. It is very good on gas compared to his FJ.

[Stillen GLE]

yea those FJ's arent rated for the street. they're really for offroading really. i heard they only get like 12 MPG. but i dont know to much about them.

[russiankid]

Originally Posted by Stillen GLE

yea those FJ's arent rated for the street. they're really for offroading really. i heard they only get like 12 MPG. but i dont know to much about them.

My dad gets 20mpg on it, thats mostly highway.

[Stillen GLE]

yea that aint to great. iam getting 21.1 MPG with my maxima and thats not even flooring it. thats actually babying

[wheresmycar]

Nice upgrade.

Was the accord an automatic too?

[russiankid]

No the Accord is a manual. The auto isn't to bad in this one.

[russiankid]

I bought two cans of engine degreaser and went to work. Now the underneath is almost clean like new, just a few more spots to address. I'll get pics up soon.

[Oakes]

I have some stuff to clean up your wheels real nice, next exton meet if you want.

[russiankid]

Originally Posted by Nick'06

I have some stuff to clean up your wheels real nice, next exton meet if you want.

Thanks I am going to try my pressure washer and see how that goes.

[Zillon]

When was the last time the cooling system was overhauled?

[russiankid]

Originally Posted by Zillon

When was the last time the cooling system was overhauled?

The water pump was done for sure because it has green coolant. Stock BMW water pumps wouldn't have lasted to 115k because of the plastic impellers. Before I drive the car, I am going to replace the water pump with a metal impeller, replace the thermostat housing with a metal one along with the thermostat. All the cooling hoses are getting replaced as well. It shouldn't have heating issues after I replace everything.


For some reason the drivers window was unplugged. I took apart the control switch and it had dirt in it so my guess is that it had a poor connection. I plugged it back in and it works. Further more, I took the panel off the passenger rear door to see why the window doesn't roll down. I found out the window regulator has came off the sliding clip. A new clip is on its way. Funny thing is that instead of buying a $2 clip, the previous owner tried to hack the window somehow to keep it up. Obviously they failed but did leave their mark.


Moving onto the wheels. From the looks of it these wheels have not been washed in a very long time. There is brake dust caked on the mesh parts. Tomorrow I am going to put the car on jack stands to inspect the suspension and I am going to clean up the wheels. Good thing I have a pressure washer than can help me after I use some wheel cleaner. I will update with pics soon. I've been making a huge list of things I need to order and things I need to do so haven't had time to actually begin work.

[Oakes]

BMW brakes are notorious for heavy brake dust, due to soft pads. They get covered in dust so quick that alot owners just give up washing them, which is the worst idea, because the dust will literally become caked to the wheel. Like i posted earlier, i have some great stuff for caked on wheels, Ive taken some of the most helpless looking wheels and making them look virtually brand new with these products.

[russiankid]

Originally Posted by Nick'06

BMW brakes are notorious for heavy brake dust, due to soft pads. They get covered in dust so quick that alot owners just give up washing them, which is the worst idea, because the dust will literally become caked to the wheel. Like i posted earlier, i have some great stuff for caked on wheels, Ive taken some of the most helpless looking wheels and making them look virtually brand new with these products.

I'll try cleaning them up with the pressure washer and if that doesn't work I'll contact you. I am getting ceramic pads all around so they shouldn't dust as much.

[SoStock92]

Hey congrats - I have a lot of E34 525 parts in my garage. In fact, I have a metal water pump - though I think its got about 20k on it. I have a couple valve covers, and bunches more.

I'd recommend researching the auto trans fluid before you ever consider to replace it. Those autos are real touchy and have a "lifetime" fluid which usually has issues if you replace it. Valve cover is cake on that puppy. Check out your flex disc. If you've got shimmy @ 60 mph you need upper and lower control arms w/ bushings. Its not a fun job at all - the ball joints are a P A I N to get out of the lower strut plate. The brakes are great - get balo OE rotors (cheap... www.autohausaz.com) if you need them and I've been using Hawk HPS pads - they're lower dust than factory pads and work very very well. Let me know if you need any help, I've got two E34s and one of which has been completely ripped down and put back together... at least once hehe.

[russiankid]

Thanks for the info. The previous owner had the fluid drained and refilled at the BMW dealer, however I will feel safer doing the change again. Do you know what type of fluid to use? I am ordering all the parts for the cooling system tonight. As for the suspension, the thrust arms need replace, tie rod ends, sway bar end links and sway bar bushings. The lower control arms look to be fine. Where is the flex disc located?

Also, what parts do you have? I need a few misc parts, such as the rear sidemarker in the bumper, the splash guard under the engine. Let me know if you have those type of things.

P.S. As far as the valve cover I am planning on painting it wrinkle black.

[SoStock92]

Originally Posted by russiankid

Thanks for the info. The previous owner had the fluid drained and refilled at the BMW dealer, however I will feel safer doing the change again. Do you know what type of fluid to use? I am ordering all the parts for the cooling system tonight. As for the suspension, the thrust arms need replace, tie rod ends, sway bar end links and sway bar bushings. The lower control arms look to be fine. Where is the flex disc located?

Also, what parts do you have? I need a few misc parts, such as the rear sidemarker in the bumper, the splash guard under the engine. Let me know if you have those type of things.

P.S. As far as the valve cover I am planning on painting it wrinkle black.

I wouldn't change the fluid at all bro. Do yourself a favor and change the lower control arms - trust me. I'd use Powerflex urethane bushings or Grunts urethane bushings. They're not like a racecar, you can almost not even tell they're harder... but they don't fail. OE bushings have FUNKY torque procedure. You have to torque the control arms with the car loaded full of weight and on the ground (!?).

I just received my euro trim for the bumper so I have all 4 corners of trim w/ markers if you need. I wouldn't paint the valve cover - its magnesium and its hard to get paint to stick. That yellow coating is not actually paint, its called cosmoline and it sucks to get off and paint over. I powder coat stuff often - if you want I can PC your cover wrinkle black for you.

I also got my new rieger lip spoiler - if you want to try your hand at ABS repair you can have my old cracked one. If you know how or know someone who can plastic weld yo ucould fix it - its like $200

[russiankid]

The control arms look fine to be honest. I don't have the money to replace everything at once, they can probably wait till I get some money. The thrust arm bushings are cracked, which I suspect are the cause of the rattle and shimmy. Also, do you know the part number for the sway bar mounting bushings? I cannot find those.

Edit: Nevermind found the bushings on autohaus.

[russiankid]

Today I decided to clean up the paint. It was very rough, so I used a clay bar and a few other products. Heres a pic for now, this is still without polish and wax.


Just to give you guys an idea of how dirty the paint was, here is a pic I snapped after I finished the front fender.


Also, the products I am using. The pic doesn't have Mothers Clay Bar kit.