Pando

Hello guys! I'm new to these forums as I'm sure you can tell and a fairly recent owner of a E34 M5 from '92, I bought the car in November and I've had no complaints about it as a machine - but I'm sure I don't have to tell you guys what a nice drive it is.

I've stumbled upon this forum a few times when searching for information about the car and decided to join as it seems like you guys can be mighty helpful.

My car is in quite good over-all shape, but there are a few things I'd like to do to it. I'd like to restore the car as close to its showroom condition as possible with a few fixes here and there.

I live in the Canary Islands now but as I'm originally from up north possible delivery to Finland, Sweden, Norway or Denmark shouldn't be a problem.

1. Gear knob - mine is quite worn and I'd like a brand new one.

2. Rear M-badge - some punk kids scratched mine off with a sharp object - nice.

3. The panel in the roof where the switches for the electric roof resides in is breaking apart. Seems to me to be made of a substance with the qualities of rotten wood. I'm sure that can be fixed without an enormous effort but has anyone had the same problem?

4. Steering wheel - the stitching is opening on the wheel - not my main concern but if it's easily replaced (or fixed) might be worth it.

Also tires - paradoxically my front ones are quite worn. I understand I have plenty of options to chose from but how much approximately would a good set of new rubber set me back? Any recommendations? As I'm still enjoying during right foot turns, I'd probably need the rear ones changed in the future as well.

Fixing scratched paint etc I should manage to take care of "myself". I'm also sending the car for a pre-vehicle inspection next week and hopefully shortly followed by the inspection itself. Any need for a heads up? The car has been working fine, apart from a mysterious "Nivel de Regulacion", roughly translated to the equally vague "Level of Regulation", flashing a few times during the past thousand km's.

Also any good general advice would be greatly appreciated!

HD91

Hi there,

1. gear knob = kind of a problem if you are restoring to original condition. It is not available anymore. You get another version in E39 style with the "M"-letter in the middle and not the left corner striping (in the Motorsport-colours) as they had when leaving the factory.

2. Badges are available, both the M and the 5. Not that expensive. You can see the proper mounting measurements here: www.e34m5.se

3. buy a new panel and switch I would say?

4. You can still get a new airbag steering wheel, I dont know if the non airbag is still available. Check with your dealer. The non airbag version was approx. EUR 380 when I bought it some 5 years ago.

When you say M5 and Gran Canaria, I have a question. Would you be able to assist with the VIN-number for this project?
How many beasts still alive (international E34 M5 register)?
We dont know about any M5s on the Canary Islands from before. Then I can also send you a detailed vehicle build sheet for your car where you can see all the extras that were ordered as well as the actual colour codes.

When mentioning tyres, have you checked this site: Ofrecemos neumticos de calidad, llantas y ruedas completas para su coche a precio inmejorables

__________________
E34 M5 international information-portal - www.e34m5.se

How many beasts still alive? = - International E34 M5 register -

Pando

Hello there, I spoke with my local dealer and they seemed confident to be able to order what I needed. I'll be crossing my fingers about the gear knob!

The prices where approx 80€ for the illuminated gear knob and 45 for the emblem, for 500 I would've got a new steering wheel too with the airbag and seemingly identical to the one it was fitted with, but that's only for the wheel itself, not for the airbag part & horn etc is separate.

I'll provide you with my VIN number when take a picture of it. According to the man I bought the car from the car is originally a German import when he, his uncle and father each took a trip to Germany to get an M5 of their own. All 3 M5's have been in Tenerife since, until I now bought the late uncle's M5 and took it here to Gran Canaria. The buttons on the center console where the clock-thingy is are all in German even though the car itself speaks Spanish.

Apart from those there are at least a handful more for sale here on the islands (2/3 on Tenerife, 1/3 on GC) that I've come across over the internet and today for the first time I saw another one on the same parking lot. It's hard to estimate how many are here though, but a wild guess would be around 10-15 on Tenerife, 5-10 on GC and 1-5 total on the other islands.

Thanks for the tyre-site, the guesstimate at my local dealer was around 300€/tyre, but I was just wondering what kind of (summer) tyres are you guys using? And what do you recommend?