E34 Touring Family Wagon

[legend]

that's quite a bargain.

what are the calipers off. Last time i calculated it all the standard sliding calipers had the same piston area as the E38 4 pots, so there was little advantage in swapping to them. the 324 diameter discs and stock 530 calipers are really strong

[pauly22]

Mar 10, 2022 10:15:05 GMT legend said:

that's quite a bargain.

what are the calipers off. Last time i calculated it all the standard sliding calipers had the same piston area as the E38 4 pots, so there was little advantage in swapping to them. the 324 diameter discs and stock 530 calipers are really strong

Yeah, it’s not a massive upgrade, currently it has 300mm discs on front and will be 316mm when finished, rears are same size but vented, but should look smart through the wheels,

[pauly22]

Steering wheel turned up after the re trim, and sorted a new gear knob, I’ve got all the bits now pretty well, just need to find time to refurbish the calipers then get on with fitting it all.

[pauly22]

Before


After



Also got the bonnet rams changed. Stay open now




And managed to give it a good clean.

[adam73bgt]

Looking really good, working under the bonnet with less than perfect struts in windy conditions got a bit sketchy! There's a lot of weight ready to come down on your head 😂

[Alpina99]

That really is a stunning looking E34, the colour suits it really well and when it's finished and had its "transplant" the colour will also help it to look so understated,
(Still miss my E34 but am now enjoying the E39,)
Nigel

[ChasR]

I do like the look of these in Touring format. They look great. A friend's dad had a dead ringer of this car but as a saloon. That was good fun.

As a daily however, I'd definitely get on top of rot issues with a decent quality underseal

Feb 11, 2022 12:33:51 GMT legend said:

lovely, had a boggo manual 6 cylinder for a week, was really fun for a big old barge. E36 evo motor will be ££££££££, would a N53B30 268bhp be any cheaper?

N53 is direct injection which, unless the stock ECU could be made to fit in without needing other 'bits' to make it work, would be expensive (From memory, Pectal wanted £2k for just an injector driver set, as DI injectors run at 52 Volts); I think a dedicated ECU was almost £10k, as the options were very limited (most standalone ECUs can be ruled out). The N53 also has a varied reputation to the early incarnation, the N52. That's a lovely engine, but again Valvetronic may make getting it running tricky, unless the factory ECU can be used.

Then again, S54 engines are now well North of £5k for something worth buying, but are relatively simple to bolt in .

Mar 3, 2022 21:41:14 GMT pauly22 said:

Picked, up the 540/M5 rear callipers, ordered the USA marker lights and trims from BMW, didn’t make sense trying to find a second hand set and get them shipped from America, bonnet ram struts, and a used steering wheel which will be sent off to be re covered.

Not sure if best to send calipers off to be refurbished, or do it myself.

Nice progress.

Calipers, assuming the piston bores aren't too bad, I'd do myself . Some Bilt Hamber rust powder stuff will have those looking lovely.

Mar 10, 2022 10:15:05 GMT legend said:

that's quite a bargain.

what are the calipers off. Last time i calculated it all the standard sliding calipers had the same piston area as the E38 4 pots, so there was little advantage in swapping to them. the 324 diameter discs and stock 530 calipers are really strong

I did this with mine , albeit in an M3 CSL format being an E46.

The calipers may flex less, which could give the advantage mind you to them, and the unsprung weight may be better, depending on the material of them.

I say about the flex, from something adam73bgt mentioned a while ago, as well as some folks using Boxster calipers on E46 M3s, but with almost everyone being happy with the result, despite the caliper piston area being smaller!

[surprisingskoda]

Mar 27, 2022 23:46:36 GMT ChasR said:

The calipers may flex less, which could give the advantage mind you to them, and the unsprung weight may be better, depending on the material of them.

I say about the flex, from something adam73bgt mentioned a while ago, as well as some folks using Boxster calipers on E46 M3s, but with almost everyone being happy with the result, despite the caliper piston area being smaller!

As the OPs list has caliper adapter brackets listed, it'll be aluminium 728i ones, which are very lightweight, but have tiny little pistons in them so the surface area is low, but with the big gaps in the parallels, a bigger brake caliper does stand out well. It'll be lost behind throwing stars though!

The colour is a good shout if you do go M5 replica later.
My old Avus Blue 540iT/6 was easily mistaken for an M5 with just some grey accents...



Personally I'd enjoy the M50 you have, and avoid an S engine which doesn't have the necessary torque for the heavier 5 series. But, your car, your choice. But then, I don't like them anyway - just brought an M3 Evo in today for breaking and I let the youngest member of staff drive it back and even he thought it was gutless, and less low end pull than his E92 320d.

One tip by the way, get on to BMW and order yourself a diagnostics cap from an early E39. They are resistor-protected, but the E34 one isn't and more and more lately there's been instances of E34s catching fire because of a constant live to the port burning out behind-dash plugs & wires.

[legend]

Can't remember exact sizes, but the e39 4 pots have the same total piston areas as the 540 single pot calipers, so no more clamping force but they do look cool. They are the same piston size as Audi A8 4 pots too,. only factory 4 pots with bigger pistons are some Lexus ones that I think are 44 dia each. All porsche 4 pots have less clamping force, so there is a lot of nonsense on some forums

the e39 530/40 calipers are monsters, well up to the job if all in good order

[pauly22]

Mar 30, 2022 0:04:44 GMT surprisingskoda said:

Mar 27, 2022 23:46:36 GMT ChasR said:

The calipers may flex less, which could give the advantage mind you to them, and the unsprung weight may be better, depending on the material of them.

I say about the flex, from something adam73bgt mentioned a while ago, as well as some folks using Boxster calipers on E46 M3s, but with almost everyone being happy with the result, despite the caliper piston area being smaller!

As the OPs list has caliper adapter brackets listed, it'll be aluminium 728i ones, which are very lightweight, but have tiny little pistons in them so the surface area is low, but with the big gaps in the parallels, a bigger brake caliper does stand out well. It'll be lost behind throwing stars though!

The colour is a good shout if you do go M5 replica later.
My old Avus Blue 540iT/6 was easily mistaken for an M5 with just some grey accents...



Personally I'd enjoy the M50 you have, and avoid an S engine which doesn't have the necessary torque for the heavier 5 series. But, your car, your choice. But then, I don't like them anyway - just brought an M3 Evo in today for breaking and I let the youngest member of staff drive it back and even he thought it was gutless, and less low end pull than his E92 320d.

One tip by the way, get on to BMW and order yourself a diagnostics cap from an early E39. They are resistor-protected, but the E34 one isn't and more and more lately there's been instances of E34s catching fire because of a constant live to the port burning out behind-dash plugs & wires.

The plan is sport bumpers with dolphin grey bits added, are you willswheels in Ireland, as it popped up on my Facebook they had a m3 in for breaking in the last day or two.

Engine wise it’s up in the air, I want to get all the body and interior done before that,

Mar 31, 2022 8:58:23 GMT legend said:

Can't remember exact sizes, but the e39 4 pots have the same total piston areas as the 540 single pot calipers, so no more clamping force but they do look cool. They are the same piston size as Audi A8 4 pots too,. only factory 4 pots with bigger pistons are some Lexus ones that I think are 44 dia each. All porsche 4 pots have less clamping force, so there is a lot of nonsense on some forums

the e39 530/40 calipers are monsters, well up to the job if all in good order

Yeah, I’ve gone for the brembos partly because they look a bit more special through the wheels, painted the silver the other day but might change to black will look less scruffy in black

[pauly22]

Had a day on the car yesterday. Switched rear bumpers so no more tow bar and fitted the USA marker lights.

I wanted the marker lights on my 1st e34 10+ years ago but never did it. So glad I have. Love how they look

The USA trim was a smooth finish and my current stuff was textured so ordered a new rear bumper strip and front number plate trim.

Didn’t realise until I fitted it, it’s a USA size plate holder too. So need to see if they can get a uk plate trim in smooth finish.

[pauly22]

I haven’t seen the car in 2 months. It’s been at a specialist for a full check over as it’s 30 years old and I want to put my family in in safely.
its had some welding and awaiting fuel
Pipe replacements and then hopefully will be back in a week or two.

In the mean time today I discovered two easy steps to get your misses in a mood with you.

Step 1. Drive off with an empty trailer.


Step two return a few hours later with a full trailer













Sport bumpers, m5 kick plates, m parallel wheels and bilstein shocks plus loads of other good stuff I can sell on and keep all the good bits for the touring.

[Woofwoof]

Great cars. Had two 525i SE's both manuals, even the first one with the M20 was o.k. power wise for fast cruising. Really like the fact that this is a Touring and the colour looks fab. Keep up the good work. Bookmarked.

[pauly22]

Gave it a clean, need to research what’s parts are worth and start listing them forsale,

It’s a bit crispy underneath

[adam73bgt]

Those look like standard leather seats with an "M" style badge pressed into them, not worth as much as the Sport seats, but still in good condition and black leather is a desirable colour so worth some money.

Sport bumpers always seemed to sell well, I can't remember what I got for mine when I was breaking a Sport but had plenty of interest, I even sold the full sunroof cassette out of my touring to someone so if the sunroof on that car works it might be worth considering!

[welshpug]

Still amused/irked by people that say don't use an S engine for a 'heavy' e34.

My TDS is 1480kg, an E46 M3 is 1570..

[pauly22]

Aug 8, 2022 21:00:59 GMT adam73bgt said:

Those look like standard leather seats with an "M" style badge pressed into them, not worth as much as the Sport seats, but still in good condition and black leather is a desirable colour so worth some money.

Sport bumpers always seemed to sell well, I can't remember what I got for mine when I was breaking a Sport but had plenty of interest, I even sold the full sunroof cassette out of my touring to someone so if the sunroof on that car works it might be worth considering!

Yeah it’s only an SE model as half the interior is still grey. Last owner changed to black seats and door cards.

Yeah sport bumpers are best part of £400-£500 each now.

I’ll try and sell everything I can.

[pauly22]

After waiting 5-6 months to find a donor car with sport bumpers. Another has turned up which I should also be collecting on Saturday morning, although I’ve paid a deposit the seller is trying to back out now saying he’s had a better offer, but I’ve told him we’ve agreed a price and I’ve sent a deposit and he should honour that and sell it to me, the car is pretty rotten and the other offer is way over the top for the value of the car. So I won’t be upping my offer and will see if he doesn’t cancel the sale.

[pauly22]

525i sport. Might aswell have two cars to break. Now I’ve defiantly got all the bits to make the touring a full sport touring. And got loads of stuff to sell on.

[pauly22]

That the end of the road for the silver one, bits are coming off, will try and get rid of it fairly soon, can’t have it sitting in the drive for ages

I found an app where you sell catalytic converters, it’s gives a price of £308 each, ive got 4 between both cars, is that what these things are with these days?

And the last owner wasn’t lying, £1000 quid set of blisteins and eibach springs.

Selling parts is a pain though, total idiots, time wasters or stupid offers,