Saved from death car... could it become the ultimate sleeper????

[ArtemLepilov]

Hello everyone, my name is Artem Lepilov. I saw your email on bimmer.info I am a Biomedical engineering major at WPI, however one of my major hobbies is working on cars. I recently got an E34 BMW 525I with a non-vanos M50 engine, more like saved it from its evident death. I bought it for about $1200 with a bunch of problems on it as is - the windshield was busted, the coolant was low, the suspension was messed up and shocks leaked completely the transmision was leaking and slipping out of drive when warmed up and two of the wheels were banged up to the point when they wre leaking air, also headlights on one side were messed up and one of the tails was busted and there was a dent in the rear. So far i have repaired the transmission, got new nicer wheels, repaired the suspension and replaced the shocks and the brakes, and the lights, well and the first thing i did was repair the windshield. Right now the car still slips out of gear when i stop at a light even though the fluid is fine, but i noticed it does that when the tranny warms up quite a bit and when i come to a complete stop and engine RPMs go to idle (which on my car is about 550RPM, when i rev the car a little higher it gets back into gear and doesnt have a kick anymore. - The whole complete repair cost me probably under $800 --> so $2000 for an E34 525I with an M50 in it, not bad, huh?

However,

I had a few questions about the car right now, some of them are actually interesting. :-) I have fixed it up a bit and now it is a million times better than it was. I am hoping to keep it almost forever - everything in the car wrks right now except for a few problems.

The complete stop tranny slip problem i am thiking relates to the ICV. If you guys know for sure that it does, please let me know how to clean that thing :-P --> I couldnt find anywhere how to clean an M50 ICV... I believe if i can make it idle at 750 it will stop slipping. Also I know it has rather worn tranny mounts.

Upgrade question: has anyone made a paddle-shift electronic forced shift system on an E34 or a similar car? Because I would be really interested in doing that.

Engine was leaking antifreeze and i believe it is probably one of the lines that is leaking. And besides - the leak is very minimal so its not a big deal.

Upgrade question: the non-VANOS (non-TU) M50 can handle boost very well so i was thinking about doing some kind of a twin turbo setup in there using possibly the Garrett T25s, now for that I would really like more info because i would have to make a custom exhaust manifold and such, now I am a member of the WPI motorsports club and these guys love a challenge, so it is possible to even machine stuff (i would really need to know dimensions and stuff in this case). I am hoping to do a boost that will cause minimal wear increase on the engine. Also I would really like to know if I will need a specal oil filter cap that could be connected to the turbo - how I can possibly make that thing. This turboing thing is kind of a bigie cause i really want the car to produce more power and i know that the engine is really strong.

Also, there is a bit of rust on the front of the car (i hate stupid people that have to jack up the car by a random point underneath when the jacking point is even though it is very clear to see a jacking point if you BOTHER TO LOOK under the car.) well anyway - there is rust now and one of the fenders needs to be replaced because a part that is about 1.5" at the bottom of it is very rusted, the fender on the other side is starting to rust as well so if you got a fender - let me know :-) otherwise I will have to spotweld a piece to the bottom of the fender where it is rusted. Also I will need to straighten out a litle piece of the body under the car because it is rusted there and bent. I might attach some pics later on... But anyway - I was wondering if there is a best way of getting rid of rust besdes sanding it off. And I want to get the door panels at the bottom of each door - ones that are the most common rust spots on the doors.

I would also like to get some sports springs for my car... Let me know if anyone has any extras ;-) - I would like my car to look a little lower from the front than it is right now...

Well I tihnk that is about enoughto make that car almost as good as it was originally...

Thank you all in advance, Artem

[Kalevera]

I admire your courageousness, but have nothing more to say on the topic than, "sell it as quickly as possible unless you want to spend lots of money on it."

My hard lesson, one that I'm still learning, is that it's smarter to buy a true enthusiast's car at a higher price than a piece of junk (piece of art?) in hopes of fixing it up.

Otherwise, most of the questions raised have been answered in the past and can be found with a quick search.

best, whit

[Alexlind123]

You have saved an e34. A truly honorable deed. Now, about those paddle shifters....

[ArtemLepilov]

well I did just find out today aobut them and its not at the top of my list right now - what is though is a possible forced induction for that car... And I suppose it is a little over the top with the shifters... So I would like to know if there is a way i can possibly do a simple and cheap turbo setup for a little under 7PSI (so i can keep my stock injectors and ECM) and keep it cheap. It can be either one - a supercharger or a turbo, however i do prefer a super since it would be so much simpler... Also - the whole getting rid of rust thing is kind ofa pain.

PS - i dont know aobut the car needing a lot of money put into it. I have discovered a lot of tihngs that were wrong with it since i bought it, however I have almost gotten done with repairing all the problems. The final steps I will do to it before it goes back to being a nice car are replacing the control arms, cleaning the ICV and getting rid of the rust.i cannot tihnk of anything else needng attention and i did look thorougly for anything.

I owned the car for about 3 months and it starts every time, drives with no probems (except for control arms) and does everything i need it to do for now.

I will post pictures soon :-)

-Artem

Oh yea - once again, if anyone's got extra sports springs, please let me know if you are willing to get rid of them and for how much :-)

[biondani]

It's a bugger to get to the ICV as it's under the manifold. You can get it off with care but be sure not to let the rubber bracket get disconnected from the block. Once it's off I just sprayed mine with carb cleaner. A lot of people have said not to do this but I thought it's buggered anyway so worth the risk. My revs were dropping to 400 or so before but now rock solid 750 at idle.

Ian

[ArtemLepilov]

It's a bugger to get to the ICV as it's under the manifold. You can get it off with care but be sure not to let the rubber bracket get disconnected from the block. Once it's off I just sprayed mine with carb cleaner. A lot of people have said not to do this but I thought it's buggered anyway so worth the risk. My revs were dropping to 400 or so before but now rock solid 750 at idle.

Ian

awesome - that is exactly what I am going to do... Please let me know how you got the carb cleaner stuff off of it. Also did you just take the entire manifold off? so you had to replace the gaskets and all...? Or did you take the airbox out and everything else and then somehow were able to take it out or what? Also - about the rubber bracket... is that the thing that the ICV sits in or did you mean one of the lines going to the engine?

BTW - At this moment the car has about 136500miles on it. Carfax verified :-)

-Artem

[pyro]

Hi,
The ICV was the first thing i thought was wrong with my car. And I made the mistake of removeing the intake manifold. you can get to it by just takeing it off but i think if you take off the air box you have plenty of room to get your hands in there and feel around to the icv. if you look through one of the holes in the intake manifold you can see a round cylendrical thingy that is your icv. there is a electrical connector on the front of it which is twards the front of the car and two pipes that come off of it. one of them is eazyest to take off underneath the intake manifold which is a little snap thing. its hard to explain but if you look at it (feel it) you will know what im talking about. folow the pipe that comes off of the top of the icv to where it attaches to the intake manifold and that piece pulls out after you move the little clip. and the bottom tube you should just remove from the intake boot before the TPS. hope this helps heres some pictures.
Also unless you don't feel like removeing the injectors and all of that don't remove the intake manifold.


Thats what it looks like under your intake manifold.

[liquidtiger720]

Your pics arnt working pyro.

[biondani]

awesome - that is exactly what I am going to do... Please let me know how you got the carb cleaner stuff off of it.

It evaporated after a few seconds.

Also did you just take the entire manifold off? so you had to replace the gaskets and all...? Or did you take the airbox out and everything else and then somehow were able to take it out or what? Also - about the rubber bracket... is that the thing that the ICV sits in or did you mean one of the lines going to the engine?

I took the cover off the oil filter and covered with a cloth and then I found had space to get inside under the manifold. I would not recommend removing it. Have you got a Bentley manual as I think that it would be wise to get one to help you out?

Ian

[infinity5]

define "cheap" turbo setup