Some of you may remember me a couple years ago saying how I was rebuilding my m5 and I am finally done. I have spent over 1000 hours on it, getting custom parts made, fabricating mounts, getting proper heights of mounts, sourcing parts, etc. My car is a 1991 e34 m5 that was ordered individual with full leather parchment color and the outside ordered in Island Grun Metallic.
The story: I was on a highway somewhere near the beach late at night and raced a guy in a newer version Acura NSX (I know this as the headlights were updated). He had an exhaust and body kit and wanted some action. The funny thing is that I had just picked up product for my business and had probably 100 pounds of material in the trunk (lighting ballasts, tools etc) We ran side by side and started 3 races We were pretty dead even yet as speed rose I walked on him 2-3 cars by the time he blinked his lights to stop the race.
The problem: I started hearing an exhaust noise coming from below after these races. Later I discovered that a “half the size of a penny” hole had opened where the header collector meets the cat pipe. I decided that I wanted to remove the engine to remove the header and have it fixed and I then could replace gaskets and small things. Well I was sure in for it after that. The project snowballed and due to my love for my car I have gone to the greatest extent possible to make this car what I dream it to be. The BMW I get my parts from knows me all too well and I have 10 parts lists I have faxed them in order to complete my project. I changed all bolts and nuts that either serve as visually appealing or as important to the structure of the car.
I am somewhat of a perfectionist and wanted the most from my e34. I wanted it to be better than new. I know that it is probably the best car (for me) that I could buy being the most fun, being mechanical, raw, and a true driver’s car. I started to look for performance enhancing parts.
My decisions:
Suspension: I chose Bilsteins from an 850 as they have a shock tube that is larger and stronger. I also talked to Bilstein and the damper rate on compression and rebound is actually better suited for our cars. I then switched to 850 shock mounts and re-drilled and welded the shock towers for the conversion. My mounts are camber adjustable set at 1.9 degrees negative in the front. I chose H&R springs.
Rear: I think one of the best suppliers for performance suspension parts is Andy at AKG Motorsports. He is so knowledgeable and I talked to him about making poly bushes for my car as other people have far too soft bushes which they say are “race”. I have urethane subframe and trailing arm with proper adjustable bolts from BMW for toe in. I also utilized racing king delrin subframe supports as they add to the overall tightness of the rear. New springs (H&R) as well as new shock mounts in the rear.
Of course all comonents in the suspension were changed: tie rodes center link, idler arm, all bushings, control arms, etc...
Brakes: I decided to stick with BMW original size rotors and single piston calipers, but I use Turner motorsports solid guide bushings. My rotors in the front are brembo slotted and the rears are ebc combo with slot and dimple. I utilize braide lines front and back. My pads I use ebc yellow stuff which is truly intense, they provide such good braking in cold for a race pad and when they get hot they bite like crazy. I still haven’t hit them all the way down as I feel like it is stopping too fast and is almost pushing everything in my car forward. The brakes are awesome.
Clutch: I rplaced the clutch and pressure plate and mad a custome braided line for the clutch line.
Engine: remember that hole in the header. I had it welded by Frank Fahey and I then had him send them to be professionally ceramic coated. I’m not talking about jet coat guys. I’m talking about the white milky looking stuff that is the stuff f1 cars use. Had all the smog pump pipes cut and welded up to remove restrictions in exhaust port. No more smog pump! The engine was rebuilt about 40k miles ago by VAC and all I know is that they did a good job to say the least. My car uses half a quart of oil every 3k and is extremely powerful. Partly the reason is that they increased the bore and used forged pistons.
One thing that I am so pleased about is that I used solid engine and transmission mounts from Andy at AKG Motorsports. They are e36 parts that I custom fit into my subframe. Overall, my engine and transmission are lowered 15mm in the car and I have now no issues shifting while in a turn (all right). Surprisingly, there is less vibration through the shifter into the cabin than with rubber mounts. So isolated is it that teh shifter has seemingly no vibration. Due to the lowering of th engine I had to make a custom drop for the drive shaft and make sure to take my time to level it but it is perfect now. My shifter is a race style B&M and I used the DSSR from Turner.
MY wheels are genuine BMW e46 M3 CSL wheels shipped from Germany
Every piece of this car is a dream to me, most bolts are new, the intake and valve cover has been re-crinkled, I re-painted the block, etc. Rear main seal is a e30 Group N piece from turner and I changed the front hub to Frank Fahey’s up-rated version. I changed all seals on engine, differential, etc.
You guys can see how excited I am about my car. I have so much to say, so much knowledge I want to share with the board and hope that everyone enjoys what I have done; making a car that I truly enjoy; keeping the e34 m5 spirit alive. I have a couple race stories already and I even with an e46 m3 SMG from 0-100. But that isn't really what is exciting to me. I have put so much of my own work, sweat, and blood (literally) into this car, just having people give me a thumbs up or a look gives me so much pride.
Body: I do have some dents I need to take care of and some paint but that is cosmetic. My neighbor hit my car by accident and left the dent in the rear quarter. But hey, it can be fixed. I will post more when it is cosmetically perfects too.
One thing I must say is that I couldn't have done it with out my father. He is such a good dad and has taught me all I know about woking on cars. We together took on this project as a challenge and something we would be proud of. We achieved that and more. No matter what anyone else says I live my e34 m5 and I will keep it for as long as I live!
Please notice this "small project" started because I wanted to fix an exhaust leak. This always happens to me!
p.s. Sorry for this long post but I have so much to say about what I did I even left stuff out. I am just a e34 m5 fanatic and there is nothing anyone can do to change me.
As you can see, the pics with black out wheels were taken when I first picked the car up in philidelphia. My father and I drove it cross country in 3 days (Phili to California). Neither of us had driven an e34 m5 before but the we new it would be a treat. What we didn't expect is to be "bittin" by the e34 m5 "bug". We cant get enough of it. Now that it is done we want another and another for all sorts of projects. I love my e34 m5!
You can see some of our progression from the first pull of the engine to the bushing removal and so on (those are a real bugger)! Note: I know I have more pics of our progress but cant find them now. If I do I will post them.
Hope you all like it and I would love to meet with any m5 owners who happen to be in so-cal or near by.
Thanks and cheers to all M5 lovers!
(Did I mention I love M5's)
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to grune34m5 For This Useful Post:
great looking car, love the wheels and ride height.
steering wheel looks out of place imho, but otherwise beautiful. Great work.
__________________
Mike
91 M5 Alpine White II, Silver Gray 3/90 production
17x8/17x9 M system with PS2, 20mm touring roll bar; Ground Control Coilovers; EAT Chip, CD43; bmw/nardi blackline steering wheel, 3.8 Cam Gears
08 535i / 6 speed
Space Gray; Gray; Sport/Premium/Nav
00 M5 Ti Silver; Imola/black sportiv --Sold
Engine:
Supersprint Headers, Dinan CAI kit and MAFS, Throttle Bodies, Cams, Ported heads, Exhaust, Custom dinan software, Evosport Pullies, Dinan clutch and lightened flywheel; Ignition solutions plasma coils
Suspension:
Dinan Stage 3 with front and rear Strut Tower Braces, Beastpower Sway bar brackets, Dinan Wheels with 275/285 PilotSport, X5 Thrust arm bushings, Stoptech 355mm 4 piston front, 355mm 2 piston rear brake kit, Dinan 3.45 diff
Interior/Misc:
Eurodash, updated steering wheel, Bluetooth retrofit, Sirius Retrofit, hardwired V1, Widescreen Mk4 nav, M audio retrofit, Ice Link, BSW Stage 1 speaker upgrade, bmw towbar
The steering wheel thing is complicated. The car came with the ugly (imho) four spoke steering wheel. I wanted to change to the 3 spoke OEM M wheel but after buying it found that the steering column had changed parts the month my car was built. It is too big of diamater for the oem 3 spoke wheel. I like the OMP as it is suede but know it isn't for evryone.
Thanks for your compliments though.
By the way, what types of m meets are around so cal for e34 guys like us?
Yes, I am very happy but still have some surprises for my m5. Suede headliner, fix minor body problems, etc.
I want to change the cats to random technology metal matrix to free some extra hp.
I am reluctant to share this with you before I am done with it as there are haters that will say I am wrong and that "there is no way to do that", but it is not tricks it is math and chemistry: I have something (a project) I am trying to finish by the end of the summer that I guarantee will add at least 30hp and be a benefit to the engine, especially in warmer climates like USA.
Obviously I will dyno to confirm and won't stand by a claim until I see the actual results. With that said it is simple math and chemistry that allow me to know what I will gain. I would like to make it something many e34 m5 owners would want.
I will also tell you that no one sells this and that my "unit" is a compilation of many ideas and things I have thought about in the past that I have finally pieced together.
Just give me a couple months to finish, ok?
Thanks to everyone who gave me nice coments and may the e34 live on!
Last edited by grune34m5; 18th June 2008 at 13:00.
Reason: late night typing
Linear Mode
