[Pist-N-Broke]

Hello all,
I bought a 1988 E34 525i off a mate because his partner at the time couldn't reach the clutch pedal! He was going to break it for parts, but I offered him $2K and he kindly accepted the offer. Anyway, with 218K on it, the undercarriage needed a bit of TLC, so rather than clock up a fortune in original parts I have upgraded to road/track bits, such as koni yellows and Eibach pro kit, and Racing Dynamic swaybars front and rear. Also every balljoint and bush has been renewed as well. So now the old E34 525 handles very sweet and I can drive the wheels off it. Now the M20 2.5 is the only thing slowing me down, as it has a few valve rattles in it, and even if I did a full rebuild it would still only be a M20 2.5. So what did I do? I found a 1991 E34 M5 S38B36 engine out of a German wreck, with only 131K on it, with the 280 gearbox. The next step is I have also put down some cash on a billet stroker kit with forged pistons and H beam rods.

I'll be after any helpfull information on S38B36 engine rebuilds and sources for performance bits.

When it all comes together it should be a real sleeper, and cost me less that $15K for a 300BHP daily driver.

Thanks. And happy motoring.

 

[Sebring NL]

Are E34 M5's rare to come by/?

the cheapest, easiest way to build an E34 M5 is..buying an E34 M5

W

 

[Pist-N-Broke]

Are E34 M5's rare to come by/?

the cheapest, easiest way to build an E34 M5 is..buying an E34 M5

W

Ahh, not in Australia mate. BMW Australia only ever sold 45 E34 M5's between 1988 and 1995. And they are as rare as rocking horse poo when it comes to people putting them up for sale. And when they do, you wouldn't get one for less than $25,000, and then it would need a packet spent on it. E34 525's on the other hand are faily thick on the ground at reasonable prices.

PS. I don't want all the M5 extras like sunroof, leather interior, M steering wheel, dash, badges etc. All I want is as much power as I can get and put it on the ground.

 

[Sebring NL]

Ah right. I thought E34 M5's would be rare but with so many aussie members I wasn;t sure. And too lazy to look it up

Would be nice to retrofit the bumpers though..they are 1000% improvement over normal ones.. and turbine rims.


Diff is also a very important thing, you cant just put any diff behind an S38, you;ll either shift it dead or shift it too much.. 3.91:1 is std 3.6, I'd stick with that. Seems a bit short for daily driving, but trust me, its the diff that fits the engine best

 

[M540i LE]

Sounds like a fascinating project. Please keep us updated. Who will be doing the spanner work in Melbourne?

Regards

 

[Pist-N-Broke]

Sounds like a fascinating project. Please keep us updated. Who will be doing the spanner work in Melbourne?

Regards

No problems mate, I'll let people know how its going (still waiting for stroker crank, late Feb 2011). I won't be using anyone in Melbourne for spanner work. I'll probably get this guy to do the machining, balancing, and head mods....

Port City Engines - Engine Reconditioning, Cylinder blocks, Cylinder heads, Crankshafts, Balancing, Rods and Pistons & Engine Dyno

He has a good reputation amoungst speedway a race boat customers that I know. He is also known to be very passionate about his work.

Spanner work will be my own as there are no labour costs, and it isn't trusted to an apprentice. Then I know it is right.

Cheers.