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BK05685 restoration - a white 1991 M5

5K views 29 replies 10 participants last post by  91Champagne 
#1 ·
I bought this car a year and a half ago and had it trucked from LA to Miami. The car has 114k miles on it and has had 2 owners.
It was in good cosmetic condition except for some debadging the PO did that I didn't agree with.
For some reason they had painted the valve cover and intake manifold with a white paint that clearly wasn't heat resistant as it had yellowed severely.

So I started with the cosmetics and dismantling the interior as I didn't like the grey dash and other parts and planned to repaint them black as well as refurbish the original Silbergray leather.

here is the dash repainted with Wurth Satin Black trim Paint (yes it worked VERY well on the vinyl).
 

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#2 ·
So now onto the interior. The headliner was drooping and I didn't like the gray fabric they had used either so i removed all of the interior panels and reupholstered them in a black microsuede from Jo-Ann Fabric. I tried every 3M variant of adhesive but realized that the regular Wilwood contact cement worked best.If you can find a stretch fabric use it, this microsuede was nearly impossible to get around curves and its so thin you can't really put a heat gun to it. I began then on the interior dash portions which I realized was exactly the same as the SEM Silver Gray. It works on both the leather and trim components and is a 99% match.
 

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#7 ·
The PO had a 3 gauge black pod in the center console so I revised it using a plexiglass frame with white vinyl spray with SEM Silver Gray Classic Coat. It matches perfectly.
I have revised the gauges to include the original style matched VDO battery and oil pressure gauge and the last space is an Autometer Accelerometer with performance read-outs in white face. Its my only piece of interior flare.
 

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#8 ·
Engine update.
I am taking the time to go through the entire drivers side of the engine bay.
I replaced the Heater Fan with a VDO version, the hoses with silicone and almost anything else I can get my hands on.
The following pics are:
Intake side of head.
Valves, which look fantastic for 114k
Heater blower out, there was a nest of some kind in there.
Valve cover off, all looks well.
 

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#16 ·
do you still get time to eat and sleep?

nie work !
 
#17 ·
Who did your throttle bodies? There's a discussion on the Facebook e34 m5 group, one of the members has some vacuum leaks at the throttle shafts and is looking for a shop who rebuilds the tb's
 
#20 ·
Awesome work on the restoration! Looking forward to more updates.

BTW, I love what you did to the TB's and noticed a slight blue hue to the TB's. Did you coat it with something after you restored it or is that just the lighting effect due to the fluorescent white balance of your camera?
 
#22 ·
Here are some updates:
I have removed the entire cooling system except for the radiator which was already replaced.
I refurbbed the pipes and water pump.
I also cleaned up the front of the engine.
 

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#27 ·
I just did a compression test with a newly purchased gauge. It was performed cold as I havent put it all back together to take it for a drive.
The results are as follows:
Cylinder
1 198
2 180
3 188
4 175
5 190
6 190


I performed the test starting from cylinder 6 and moving forward and until I got to #1 I thought all was fine. The high result on #1 now throws the rest off. I find it hard to believe that all the rest wore together and #1 remained stronger and the PO had not indicated any internal work or ring replacement. #4 was the only cylinder with a little oil on the spark plug threads so it seems in place with the rest. If i discount cyl #1 they are at most 8% off but including it throws it to 11.6%.
All of the plugs look find with normal coloring and wear.

Any thoughts?
 
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