Quote Originally Posted by bones
hey inferno,sounds like you are determined to make this car go farther down the road no matter what.there's probably not a mech out there that hasnt been tempted to drive a car til it grenades,there is some kind of totally sick pleasure derived from hearing a engine coming apart as long as you are mashing the pedal to the floor and seeing smoke billowing from the back of your car from the rearview mirror,other drivers will pull up along side you and try to get you to be aware of what is going on.just smile at them and hold up an empty 40 ounce can of beer and give them a big grin.
What do you expect me to do? I don't have any other options. Finishing up my college and today enrolled in a university.

You would have to be pretty sick to get pleasure from destroying a car imho. I personally hate it when people destroy things of value, especially a BMW. I love my e28 and my e34, I keep them clean, treat the leather every month, clean and maintain the engine as best as I can. The car was on its way to the salvage yard before I asked to have it. It was in bad shape, I have been restoring it ever since.

Its been a long day and was tired, didn't get a chance to do that compression test. What I did get to do was remove a few plugs and check out what they look like. Except for a little oil on them they are clean(not washed like clean), no deposits. I believe they stay in ok condition until moments before they quickly begin to fail.

I'll try to get that test done tomorrow. I will follow a guide I found on bmwe34.net

Procedure:
1. Remove all the spark plugs, disconnect the DME main relay and fuel pump relay (engine with EML, remove the fuel pump relay). 535i, disconnect the ignition coil wire.
2. Install the compression gauge in the 1st cylinder, crank the engine a minimum of 4 revolutions and record the first and the highest readings. If the 1st reading is low and slowly increases to a normal reading, worn rings or cylinder walls are likely to be a problem.
Results: Minimum: 10-11 bar (142-159 Psi) - Maximum difference between cyl: 0.5bar (7Psi)