atl530i's 540i M-Sport project thread

[atl530i]

After almost a year of not having my E34 that was rear ended last year, I finally bought another E34. I found an E34 540i M Sport with some mods but for the most part, had most of the service records dating back to early 1996. It's a 10/95 production car. The suspension was converted to the regular suspension by a previous owner which is fine with me. It was an auto car but was converted to a 6 speed in 2007. Someone paid nearly $8k for the entire 6 speed swap. A lot of suspension work has been done already but there is still a shimmy, go figure. It has rock chips on the front, I am having a friend fix it for me. The interior looks like it was hardly used. It has an alusil block. It's a really good starting point for something to work on. And yes, I know the T-stars are backwards. It will be dealt with shortly.

Pics:

[lktree]

Very nice! Great colour combo.

[Analog]

Awesome! I test drove that car about 4 years ago.

I want to say it had a 3.15 LSD?

[atl530i]

Still does.

[prash]

sexy

[M540fella]

Wow what a beautiful car! Damn that's like 4 m-sports to come out of GA in the last year. Mine included...

[clevertd]

Great pick up!

[dirtysd]

welcome to the m-sport family...unless you've had one before that is.

[atl530i]

Thanks for the kind words. This is my first M Sport. This was a perfect timing deal for sure. I was looking at 525i5's to do an S5x swap and then this popped up.

Even came with a brand new car cover and Bentley manual

[Psykick5]

Where do you find these?? I've been looking for a nice E34 and haven't found anything!

[atl530i]

Found it on Craigslist with http://www.searchtempest.com/. I would have never found this by looking through each city one-by-one.

[gixxerboy63]

Beautiful!

Be sure to post your info here too;
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...Sport-Registry

[upallnight]

The throwing stars covers are on backward. If you have directional tires, you can just remove the covers from the right to the left and the left to the right. It take a triple square bit so don't use a torx or allen key to remove them.

[atl530i]

... And yes, I know the T-stars are backwards. It will be dealt with shortly.

The throwing stars covers are on backward. If you have directional tires, you can just remove the covers from the right to the left and the left to the right. It take a triple square bit so don't use a torx or allen key to remove them.

Thanks for the advice.

[ShapeShifter]

Very nice! Congrats and enjoy!

[HE53]

Sweet ride! Can't wait to see what you do with it.

[M3 Euro LTW]

Sweet ride. Hopefully the color won't attract wrong attention!

8K swap for tranny? Yikes. Not DIY, that's for sure!

Board has shown amazing restraint.... No comments on how "it's not an M5, or, it's not an MSport without EDC, why bother". Must be early. What's on the wish list for mods?

[ShapeShifter]

It is what it is, enjoy it!

[Ionz]

Hey Justin!
Gorgeous car!

[atl530i]

Sweet ride. Hopefully the color won't attract wrong attention!

8K swap for tranny? Yikes. Not DIY, that's for sure!

Board has shown amazing restraint.... No comments on how "it's not an M5, or, it's not an MSport without EDC, why bother". Must be early. What's on the wish list for mods?

I am expecting it but also surprised that there have been no comments in regards to the EDC and M5 stuff. I read some of the previous threads and am blown away how some people can be.

I plan on fixing a lot of the issues it currently has such as rock chips, shimmy, and the typical E34 crap that I have dealt with in the past. I have a bad pulley because it makes a nice squeal at low RPMs and goes away when I accelerate. I read the 6 speed swap receipt, someone did not care how much it was and was determined to have a 6 speed I guess.

[Aradaiel]

6 speed swapped? Bah, one car further away from finding an auto m-sport

[atl530i]

Meh, I would have not bought it if it were an auto.

[gixxerboy63]

I am expecting it but also surprised that there have been no comments in regards to the EDC and M5 stuff. I read some of the previous threads and am blown away how some people can be.

I plan on fixing a lot of the issues it currently has such as rock chips, shimmy, and the typical E34 crap that I have dealt with in the past. I have a bad pulley because it makes a nice squeal at low RPMs and goes away when I accelerate. I read the 6 speed swap receipt, someone did not care how much it was and was determined to have a 6 speed I guess.

When I bought my Msport, my EDC was shot... I gave serious thought to restoring the system because I wanted to keep it all original, but it would have been an expensive endeaver. With 172,000 miles, I finally figured out that it was not going to be a collector car, so I gave up worring about the EDC and spend the money in other areas where I would get the most personal enjoyment out of my car.

[ShapeShifter]

Smart choice Tim. Functioning EDC or supercharger? You made the right choices.

[atl530i]

Hey Justin!
Gorgeous car!

Thanks!! I'll have to bring it out some time.

As for the car:

I would have eventually dumped the EDC when it crapped out if it still worked when I bought the car. Someone saved me the aggravation. Someone also saved me from having to do a swap if I did buy an auto E34.

So here is what I plan on doing so far.

Valve cover gaskets. The right bank (pass side) leaks bad.
Spark plugs, boots, and possibly coils. Full tune up even though it has been done within the last 1.5 years.
Intake gaskets (all of them), PCV stuff. Pretty much everything. I have no records of this being done except at 100k when the short block was replaced. I'm sure they are due for another change.
Thrust arms, lower control arms, and any other bushing that is worn on the front. A lot of the links and steering parts were already replaced within the last year.
Rear suspension rebuild. This was never done and I can tell from the 4-wheel steer I never thought I would have.
Shocks. It has bilstien sports but they ride like shit. Possibly replacing the Bav auto springs also since I do not like them. They sit nice but they are meh in my opinion.
Refinishing the T-Stars.
New headunit. I plan on keeping the original in case I ever sell the car. It works but there is no AUX plug or sat radio.

A lot of the regular maintenance stuff has already been done such as belts. I do have a bad tension pulley that makes noises when it is still cold. It has a new water pump, radiator, t-stat, t-stat housing (metal), and a lot of other costly items that I do not have to mess with. New tires within the last year and a brand new spare.

I bought the car so me and my son can have something to work on. That was what the last E34 was for until it was rear ended. There is only so much you can do to an E90 without breaking something.

Eventually I'll get around to the cosmetics but right now my attention is focused on functioning crap.