Post by Hammer on Sept 7, 2016 12:16:50 GMT
Lol ok that was just RC-style clickbait title.....none of you were waiting for this. But this is my personal diary for my E34 thread.....opinions (constructive/destructive/plain ol jackassery WELCOME) and feedback would be great, especially from the car guys. Even those "porsche" fans are welcome in the Ultimate Driving Car thread.
SO this is a project I was hungry to get underway like more than 2 years ago, but have now officially begun.
Car current specs:
She looks tough but underpowered. This is the 1996 batch (yes, 20y anniversary!!!), the last of the E34s to roll off the line, single vanos (or V tech in German speak). Engine is the M50b20 (2L lol) with a 4 speed GM gearbox. Apparently, the locally made cars came with this retarded GM gearbox which is locally assembled, no other E34 around the world uses this shit, and the GB contributes to the underpowered-ness. In heavy traffic it drags like a mule. You get decent kick once the car passes the 60km/h mark. Anyway, all this is going to be solved pronto.
The Queen in flesh:
^ That puddle ain't from my honey, I almost got an embolism when I saw that long ago but it ws left behind by another car.
So....what's being changed? I'm glad you asked.
1) Got the biggest process underway - spoke to a guy who does only old BM swaps, he's sourcing a halfcut now with an M50b25 and a 5 speed ZF gearbox. HP goes from current 140hp to about 181hp. Phase 1 is to do this swap, it's almost plug and play except the wirings which need to be taken from the halfcut as well as upgrading all 4 disc brakes - the current batch won't do. Phase 2 comes after 6 months....I want to sample the 25 first before Phase 2, which is getting a stroker kit for it. Stroker gets it going to 32 which delivers about 260hp. Now that sounds a lot more reasonable doesn't it.
Just a heads up on the TAX for the different cc though, in this god forsaken country:
What I'm paying now for a 2L - RM350
After the upgrade for a 2.5L - RM8xx
Stroker kit - RM8xx (no change, that's right take that you corrupt government bastards)
I played around the idea of putting in the M54 double vanos, belonging to the latter batches of the E39....however, the guy advised against it for two reasons - the work involved, too many things can go wrong since a lot of machining needs to take place by 3rd parties, and the fact that the M54 is a full aluminium block while the M50 is the last of the cast irons. And the cast irons are designed to run till our grandchildren walk the earth. And the M54, while being more efficient with fuel has to drag a chassis which weights almost 200kg more than the E34, so in the end even the E39 2.5L is said to be slightly on the heavy side. Enthusiasts are still running M30s which are a spec older than mine, and are happy with the consumption since all they require is regular service intervals. I liked what I heard and thought I'd stick with the M50.
2) Rims - These 15 ain't baller enough. Going for the BBS 17", a balance between looking baller and also being able to deal with the occasional pothole even on the major highways.
3) Bodykits - Front, rear, and sides - Front and sides though I'm just getting the lips at the bottom, rear will need to be changed completely since the new engine will command twin exhausts en pic (currently just the 1 outlet) and instead of cutting a hole, am going for a complete set custom made.
Ridiculous rims......what a loser. Anyway....moving on,
4) Interiors - As you can see, the seats seem a bit worn and the rear door panels seem to be all coming undone....the inside feels very tired and nothing short of a full refurbishment will do. But I have some sort of idea of what I want, although I'd be looking around for that.....this part comes last, since I want all the exteriors to be done first.
5) Small stuff - upgrading the speaker system (which is pretty good already) and a new alarm system. Oh and custom made BMW front/rear logos (en pic) which I've already purchased! Made of chrome so they are resistant to heat and wear, even better than the originals by BMW.
Total investment for the project: RM25-28k. Which I have no sweat for, since this car has carried me for 10 years and given me almost no headache. And the price of a locally made (new) car here is no less than RM40k. Yep, that's the price damned Msians need to pay for a piece of shit car. So paying half of that to custom design my black beauty feels like a bargain.
I told the boss man at the workshop that I want to be hands on as much as possible, so to let me know when the work is being done and I can come by and watch and help with stuff....he was cool n said yeah no worries, I get this a lot from enthusiasts.
Oh....LRW, if the pics are too heavy let me know.....any pics from here will be much lighter I promise.
Thanks for reading!
SO this is a project I was hungry to get underway like more than 2 years ago, but have now officially begun.
Car current specs:
She looks tough but underpowered. This is the 1996 batch (yes, 20y anniversary!!!), the last of the E34s to roll off the line, single vanos (or V tech in German speak). Engine is the M50b20 (2L lol) with a 4 speed GM gearbox. Apparently, the locally made cars came with this retarded GM gearbox which is locally assembled, no other E34 around the world uses this shit, and the GB contributes to the underpowered-ness. In heavy traffic it drags like a mule. You get decent kick once the car passes the 60km/h mark. Anyway, all this is going to be solved pronto.
The Queen in flesh:
^ That puddle ain't from my honey, I almost got an embolism when I saw that long ago but it ws left behind by another car.
So....what's being changed? I'm glad you asked.
1) Got the biggest process underway - spoke to a guy who does only old BM swaps, he's sourcing a halfcut now with an M50b25 and a 5 speed ZF gearbox. HP goes from current 140hp to about 181hp. Phase 1 is to do this swap, it's almost plug and play except the wirings which need to be taken from the halfcut as well as upgrading all 4 disc brakes - the current batch won't do. Phase 2 comes after 6 months....I want to sample the 25 first before Phase 2, which is getting a stroker kit for it. Stroker gets it going to 32 which delivers about 260hp. Now that sounds a lot more reasonable doesn't it.
Just a heads up on the TAX for the different cc though, in this god forsaken country:
What I'm paying now for a 2L - RM350
After the upgrade for a 2.5L - RM8xx
Stroker kit - RM8xx (no change, that's right take that you corrupt government bastards)
I played around the idea of putting in the M54 double vanos, belonging to the latter batches of the E39....however, the guy advised against it for two reasons - the work involved, too many things can go wrong since a lot of machining needs to take place by 3rd parties, and the fact that the M54 is a full aluminium block while the M50 is the last of the cast irons. And the cast irons are designed to run till our grandchildren walk the earth. And the M54, while being more efficient with fuel has to drag a chassis which weights almost 200kg more than the E34, so in the end even the E39 2.5L is said to be slightly on the heavy side. Enthusiasts are still running M30s which are a spec older than mine, and are happy with the consumption since all they require is regular service intervals. I liked what I heard and thought I'd stick with the M50.
2) Rims - These 15 ain't baller enough. Going for the BBS 17", a balance between looking baller and also being able to deal with the occasional pothole even on the major highways.
3) Bodykits - Front, rear, and sides - Front and sides though I'm just getting the lips at the bottom, rear will need to be changed completely since the new engine will command twin exhausts en pic (currently just the 1 outlet) and instead of cutting a hole, am going for a complete set custom made.
Ridiculous rims......what a loser. Anyway....moving on,
4) Interiors - As you can see, the seats seem a bit worn and the rear door panels seem to be all coming undone....the inside feels very tired and nothing short of a full refurbishment will do. But I have some sort of idea of what I want, although I'd be looking around for that.....this part comes last, since I want all the exteriors to be done first.
5) Small stuff - upgrading the speaker system (which is pretty good already) and a new alarm system. Oh and custom made BMW front/rear logos (en pic) which I've already purchased! Made of chrome so they are resistant to heat and wear, even better than the originals by BMW.
Total investment for the project: RM25-28k. Which I have no sweat for, since this car has carried me for 10 years and given me almost no headache. And the price of a locally made (new) car here is no less than RM40k. Yep, that's the price damned Msians need to pay for a piece of shit car. So paying half of that to custom design my black beauty feels like a bargain.
I told the boss man at the workshop that I want to be hands on as much as possible, so to let me know when the work is being done and I can come by and watch and help with stuff....he was cool n said yeah no worries, I get this a lot from enthusiasts.
Oh....LRW, if the pics are too heavy let me know.....any pics from here will be much lighter I promise.
Thanks for reading!