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My chronicles with GD55498

27K views 180 replies 13 participants last post by  Bleedsblue 
#1 ·
So this is a follow up to my original post looking for advice on a new (to me) E34 M5. I ended up purchasing the car about 10 days ago and figured I should introduce myself.

Never been a life long BMW guy, in fact, this is my first one ever. A guy at work actually got the bug going. He bought an 03 E500 and while I was driving in I thought it would be neat to have a German Sedan of my own. I do not like MB's nor Audi's so I started looking at BMW's. Initially this led me to E39 cars and specifically E39 M5's. Due to my location finding one is pretty close to impossible and I also started looking into E34 cars as the intrigue of the "hand built car" was something that appealed to me. I also knew that I would be doing most (if not all) of my own work so wanted something I could actually work on. This also led me towards an E34 car. I found this one locally and although the seller did not inspire much confidence, all of the snooping I could do on the car turned out to be spot on.

The car itself has just under 180,000 original km's. The cylinder head was rebuilt as well as the engine re-sealed at approximately 172,000km by a previous owner, who is/was also the shop manager of a performance shop in Edmonton. A bunch of other stuff was also done at that time which including the clutch, the water pump, thermostat and the vacuum hoses. I have receipts for all the parts that were put on the car at that time and once I pried the glove box open all of the original Japanese records (Eero you were right) from new until the car was imported to Canada in approximately 2009, with just over 100,000 km on it. What happened during that time period and how many owners it has during that time I cannot say for sure. I am going to inquire at the shop in Edmonton and find out exactly how long he had the car and that should help piece things together a little bit. I had the car checked and a diagnostic run by the dealer and the only two things that came up were a burnt out tail light and torn intake boot, both of which were replaced when I picked the car up by me.

I ended up driving the car home from Winnipeg to my home in Brandon (about 200km) with no issues on what is one of our hottest days of the year. The temperature outside was steady at 30C. The car performed flawlessly and the oil temp stayed right at 80C and the water temp stayed right in the middle.

The car itself is nicely equipped. It has auto climate control, extended leather and heated front and rear seats as well as the "hi-fi" stereo system. The SLS has previously been deleted and replaced with Bilstein shocks. This to me is a bit of a bummer but is what it is.

My plan with the car is to keep and or return it as close to stock as I can and maintain it to a tee while driving it regularly throughout the summer months here in Manitoba. So far the only warnings I have gotten are the brake linings warning and the f/fog lights.

The brake lining warning was verified by the dealer I had inspect the car a week prior to purchase. So, I have all new rotors, pads, sensors, fluid etc on the way from Pelican Parts. That job will happen this week. I will grab some photos.

The f/fog lights I have traced down to bad caps to the fog lights. It seems the wiring has been twisted so many times it is not making a great connection. If anyone knows a good repair that would be great, or I can just order two of them (about $30 each) and call it good.

That should take car of the warnings I get. The equipment inside the car is mostly working. Right now I have a broken glove box latch (on order) a broken fuel door hinge that broke on me when I went to fill up the first time (on order) as well as the driver's headrest that will not go up and down or correct operation of the electric sunblind. I pulled the sunblind out to see what it would look like and then had to take apart the whole rear seat to get it back to where it needs to be. I am going to lave it for now and will take a closer look at it this winter when I park the car. The headrest will be the next thing I look at when I get an afternoon free.

Here are some pics of the car from the last week or so. They are not great, I will have to get some better ones.
 

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#3 ·
I bought an oil filter and air filter as well but the air filter looked brand new (so I left it in) and the oil had just been done. Currently the car is running Valvoline VR1 20W50. Which I will leave until the next oil change. I have available to me (at a reasonable price) Shell Rotella T (both mineral and synthetic) which is a diesel oil but I know some guys run as well as Mobil 1 15W50 synthetic or Royal Purple 15W40 synthetic. I will try and decide which one to go with and stick with that as the oil for the car. Previously it looks like it was run with Red Line 10W40.

Once I get the car up in the air I will have a look at the suspension, but most likely I will be looking at doing the plugs, wires, rotor and distributor cap next spring as well as changing the fuel filter, air, cabin and engine filters. I will look at rebuilding the suspension over the following winter if it looks ok.

I need to get a tool to reset the factory plug as well as study up on how to do the valve adjustment. I am assuming it would have had to be done when the new cylinder head was put on at 172,000 km and will assume I am good to about 15,000km after that, but again I will call and verify that information for myself.

I have got a copy of the wiring diagram as well as the Bentley manual for the car already and about 15 years of previous experience wrenching on an old 67-68 Cougar prior to this.

My original dream was to build the Cougar into a car with very similar form and function to this M5.

So far I love the car, the way it drives etc. and am looking forward to getting to know it better. The "nanny" system on it is a little different as I have never had that before on a vehicle.

At any rate, so far you guys have ben super helpful and knowledgeable. Hopefully I can repay some of that down the road a few years.
 
#7 ·
The seller pointed that out to me as well, that the TS were put on backwards. I will correct when I do the brakes this week. Maybe one day I will hunt down a set of turbine covers, I actually prefer the TS covers though. As noted all vacuum hoses seem to have been replaced, with BMW parts. I will double check and confirm. It does do the self check at start up as well.

Thanks for the link on the valve adjustment article. I will definitely look into it. As well as the tools.
 
#5 ·
Nice car, and a great color. I'm not new to BMW but am fairly new to the M5 (bought mine in Feb.), and have found it to be pretty reasonable to work on. I had a 65 Thunderbird for a long time, and what you'll find different about a 90s BMW vs a 60s Ford is the level of engineering, precision, and thought that went into every aspect of every part is orders of magnitude better. Anytime I took some part of the Ford apart I wound up with stripped fasteners, broken bolts, and stuff that never went back together the way it came apart. It's the exact opposite with the BMW ... things come apart in a logical fashion (with a few exceptions...I'm looking at YOU, blower motor) and because all of the fasteners are plated and were tightened to a specific torque, things mostly go back together just fine.

I have heard that the aftermarket (URO) gas door hinge is crappy, if that is what you ordered you might want to consider springing for the OEM one.
 
#12 ·
I was going to do the brakes as well, however they sent mismatched brake pads to what I ordered. I had originally ordered Akebono pads and Meyle rotors and they sent one set of Akebono pads and one set of ATE pads. I got the proper Akebono pads on Friday and finished up installing the brakes yesterday. I used a litre of fluid in total but now reading the bleeding procedure I am going to go back and get my helper to depress the pedal. Not a big deal and should help with pedal feel. I had thoughts of cleaning the inner fender, rebuilding the callipers and cleaning everything else up but elected to not do that right now. The car will likely be parked for several months and up on stand in the winter in my heated garage and I can putter away with that task at that time over the course of many weeks. For now I am driving the car. Sometimes you get stuff too far apart and then it does not get put back together for months..........at least for me. Here is a picture with everything back together. Was relatively straight forward.
 

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#13 ·
I also spent a good deal of time last week cleaning the exterior of the car including clay bar and wax of about 2/3 of it (still have to finish) as well cleaning the inner door jambs. It looks like I will be replacing the inner weatherstripping piece on all four doors this winter as well. I took some shots of the engine bay, mostly because it is clean and still in relatively good shape. I was able to get under the car and look at the exhaust and the suspension/steering and saw nothing glaring for right now. Here are some engine shots.
 

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#14 ·
One other thing I noticed missing is the quarter window sun blinds that came original to my car. The cover ? looks to be present on the right (passenger) side of the car but the one on the left is not. I looked on realoem and the blinds are still available as well as what appears to be the hardware but not the covers ? I would like to put that stuff back if I can at some point.

The other thing I noticed was my drivers seat appears to be twisted as well so I will try and do a repair on it at some point.

I have the front M5 badge (missing) on the way and the fog light buckets I need to get those working properly again.
 
#19 ·
Actually the parts can be ordered through ECS or Pelican parts, just make sure you get the right stuff as it is non-returnable.

I ordered a few other little odds and ends today. I would say that I have somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1,000 left to spend to get the car mostly back to where I want it from missing stuff or items that are not working exactly as they should (i.e. my rear electric sunshade, the remote side mirrors and my finicky speakers) That does not include doing some work inside the car on repairing the sagging headliner or refinishing the leather on the seats. I have made a list of stuff that either is missing or is not working properly and will address them one at a time over the next twelve to twenty-four months.

I will also be looking for turbine covers and hopefully at some point track down a rebuildable SLS to put back on. I will remain on the lookout for a leather owner's case (although I may never find one) and the original service booklet. I have an english owners manual and I plan on putting in a CD43 in the next year or two as it matches the car

I was able to talk to not the guy I bought the car from but the previous owner to him and the guy who did the majority of the work to the car. The valves were adjusted at 172,000km (or so) so I am good for while before I need to worry about that. I found out that the reason all the engine work was done was due to a blown head gasket. A valve job was performed on the head at that time (even though it did not need it). It was nice to get some re-assurance as to what I bought. Does not change the rebuilt status that the car has but in talking with him and via my own inspections it appears that the front passenger fender and bumper being the only panels replaced holds true, so oI am happy about that. It affects the resale on he car but that is assuming you actually sell it.I feel like this is going to be a more long term labour of love for me and hopefully something I have until I am 50. (I am 40 now).

Will update as I continue to do some small fixes. I may give the rear sunshade one more go this weekend. I think I know exactly what to do, this time !
 
#20 ·
I can tell this great car has ended up in good hands :)

Love what you've done with it so far. My 540iT is also Japanese-delivery, pretty cool! Though I don't have that cool sticker inside the fuel door, just the ones on the sunshade and under the hood.
 
#21 ·
I read your entire thread a couple times before buying the car and it helped to give me a feel for what I was getting into. I was actually emailing back and forth with Paul a bit about his beater car as well prior to buying this one.

Plus I love wagons ! I would love to DD an E34 wagon to go with the M5, alas I am not sure it would like the Manitoba winters but maybe I will sell my truck and look at it anyways.
 
#23 ·
I believe our cars had very similar engine work done prior to sale, which is very nice to know.

Where I live gets down to about -40C in it's most coldest form. That is usually not for long or as often but we have very harsh wintery conditions. Snow is not the issue, it is the cold.
 
#24 ·
-40C? :dead:

My only concern then would be finding the proper oil for an S38 to safely crank and come up to temperature in that crazy environment. I was set on a high ZDDP 10w-60 synthetic as a good all-year oil, from -20 to 55+ C.
 
#25 ·
The M5 will be safely tucked away in my insulated an heated garage when the temps get down there. It will likely stay in full time hibernation for about 3-4 months. It should be safe and sound in there and allow me to do some work if I get a chance. I was mostly looking at a 525T or something like that, but again not sure how it would like the winters. I know my truck does not mind the cold.
 
#27 ·
Eero, that is good to know. I am thus far enjoying my E34. I know that parts are a little easier to find for an E39. My current daily is a 2010 F150 Supercrew. It is big and brawny and thus far has been very reliable and cheap to operate. It actually needs some rust repair at the cab corners which makes me sad.

I am actually looking for a little advice. I was trying to operate my sideview mirrors. Only one operation works on my drivers side mirror and it will not switch side to side. I took the glass off last night on the passenger side and the motor is there and appears to be ok. At this point I will have to assume that the switch on the drivers door would be the likely issue and a good place to start.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. I used the search and I found parts for the drive, motor switch etc and had a look in the Bentley Manual as well.

I have the memory mirrors as well for note. I have yet to test the memory function on either the seats or the mirror. I thought I should get all the functions working correctly first.
 
#29 ·
Just found this thread, great to see a new owner getting into it, welcome to the club.


Re the mirror switch my advice is to get familiar with a multimeter and the Electric troubleshooting manual. Should be easy to test whether the switch is sending voltage down the right wire.
 
#30 ·
Matt,

Funny, yesterday I printed out the sheets from the electrical troubleshooting guide for the mirrors yesterday. I need to print out the whole thing on paper I can actually read, mostly I just do not want it to wander off out of cyberspace. Had my multimeter out already a couple times. I think I am going to get really familiar with that manual and using my multimeter.

I already know what the first problem is and that is there are only four wires at the switch where there should be six. I am going to have to take the door panel off to check it out.

I still have 3 other little things I am working on already before I get to the door wiring. The sunblind motor, finishing up fixing my fog lights and the head rest actuator. Then onto the mirrors and getting the memory seat functions working properly.
 
#31 ·
Jason - FWIW I have never heard of s switch having two wire missing. The ETM takes some getting used to as there are a number of variations based on models etc - I would double check you are reading it right.


Quick tip on doorcard removal. There's a screw near the top of the handle, and another behind the door release lever. You also need to unscrew the internal lock switch. Then the card lifts out and up. A plastic bracket may get left behind attached to the metal bracket on the door. IIRC it is much easier to replace the doorcard if you remove this plastic bracket and attach it to the card itself before attempting re-assembly.
 
#32 ·
So.......I had some back and forth with David (from here) about his heating issues which led me to my own car after reading. Since I bought it it has run about one needle tick to the right go centre albeit in very hot conditions for the most part. I got concerned with things when I started to notice the needle tick up ever so slightly while sitting in traffic, not totally unusual but as I read some other information got me concerned.

I do get the occasional "whirr" sound from starting which apparently is my properly working fan clutch but I don't get it all the time. I went out tonight after a few days of the car sitting and stung the fan both directions with no resistance.......which I assume form what I read is no good. So, looks like I might be putting a new fan clutch on ?????? While I am at it I am going to check my auxiliary fan, and check to see if I actually have one.

ON another note I sort of did and did not get the rear unblind working right. I took it all apart again to find that the larger aluminum gear is busted up and was likely the cause of why the blind did not want to go up and down really easily. That and the fact that the grease inside of it was really nasty likely are the culprits. So I am going to leave that apart and order the steel gear to do the repair and then will grease everything and make sure it is all sliding nice and easy and go from there. I cannot afford the entire assembly so I am stick with what I have for now.

Any other advice on the cooling front is much appreciated.
 
#33 ·
you can test the aux fan by tripping the terminals of the female (iirc) socket that plugs into the radiator. Shorting two of them will test the low speed. Shorting another 2 will test the high speed. It is very common for the low speed not to work due to a blow fan resistor. Soldering in a new one is about an hour or so's work with the front bumper removed. I think there are some pics on my 20 jahre thread.
 
#35 ·
I traced it to the low speed relay. Which made sense. It was clicking like crazy when I tried to jumper it from the radiator temperature switch. I put the jumper at the relay contact points and viola it works fine. Weird that the relay would go and not the resistor, but then again maybe I am wrong. Unless my relays are in backwards..........The four pin one is in the middle and the 5 pin one is to the right when looking from above the ETM shows them in that location so I have to assume that it is correct. I guess $33 later I will find out for sure sometime next week when I put it in.

I went out to check my fan clutch and according to the Bentley manual it is working as it should. My thermostat is also working correctly as I can feel heat (quite a bit) on the upper hose. I will try this relay and then if that does not work, the resistor. It will cool off here in about 2 weeks to the point I will not have to worry about it again until next year anyways. I am thinking I should flush the coolant and the radiator maybe over the winter ?

As stated I run about a needle width to the right of centre, has since I picked the car up. The thermostat is rated at 79C. The water pump was rebuilt about 8,000km ago, and the radiator front is not plugged at all.
 
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