Project e34 525i touring

[FireFight]

Well that was a pain to do in the dark but it's done.


so personally i like a bit of rake, and with the rear arches lower then the fronts, even though its level(the rockers) it looks alittle to low in the rear compared to the front.
With that being said, the touring rides night and day compared to how it did, it shifts smoother, and it can finally lay some tire marks. After reading all the bad reviews on JOMs from other e34 guys, i was a bit scared that i wasted my money, but they couldn't be more wrong! i have sedan coil-overs in and the rear is pretty firm. it corners nicely now and I would recommend this to any guy in a touring, specially if you still have SLS. i don't bottom out, even at this low in the rear.

[FireFight]

Sick EMPI hat, dude.

thanks dude! Vw guy all the way:dot:(never again)

[Blake B]

Damn you sold that e21?

[FireFight]

Damn you sold that e21?

Yeah😭 it was a sad day, we have had that car for a long time, and it was the best handling car I have owned, and was a blast to drive, but this wagon has become my favorite car, so much that I don't enjoy drivingy e30 much anymore

[goarmy]

See if you can keep a log of how much your are spending and post at the end as a completed project for reference to others like myself : D

[FireFight]

Alright time for an update, I'm horrible at taking pics and keeping up on these threads but here is what I have done recently


First with a bit of help Luke I built a harness adapter to rid the factory stereo but keep the stock amp and speakers(and all the wiring). Works great was a bit of a bitch to tuck the harness in the dash, but sounds great.
next I fixed a rear wheel issue, they where tucked to far in, so with some 20mm ECs spacers they sit a bit more flush



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[FireFight]

Got my euro trim in, quick and easy
I went to the local junk yard cause the just got 4 e34s one which was a touring, I was stricking out on LSDsor anything I really wanted until I found a 540i with mtech side skirts on it, one was already removed, but the other was stuck under the makeshift stands they have there. But I was able to do some sketchy things and got them both

Again I took no pictures of the install but I was able to get all the hardwear and installed them properly with all the clips and grommets ECT

The plan is to paint them next summer white to match the car

Also went to my local shitty part store and got some chrome tips, the kind with 3 set screws, I shorten the , welding them together

Cleaned the muffler
And welded the SOBs on there, a little flashy, but I hated the tiny short black tips that where coming out of the back muffler

Here is some all around shots


Also the whole reason I got the wagon, I Introduce Carter Robert Ripley
and let's just say he has been tiring hahah


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[noypi2]

First old roundels wont do for my child's main source of transportation, all the other babies would make fun of him/her
front

after

hatch

after

now that was taken care of, the inner high beams looked a bit funny...

after


and of course a good wash.

now some interior work.
the steering wheel offered nothing in grip

good bye, hello a wheel from Austin! 540i


next the wood wast just to 1992, time to bring it to the 2015

trash

next the headliner needed some band-aid work until i redo the whole thing
Before: choking hazard

after

i also tossed new rotors and pads all the way around.
no pics, i wasn't in the mood

Nice...what did you use to replace the wood?

[FireFight]

Nice...what did you use to replace the wood?

My car didnt have it factory so it was all a sticker so it just peeled off. it was tan under

[FireFight]

little christmas present for my touring, ditched the ripped to shit rear seat


for a nice clean set



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[FireFight]

Alright, so i recently installed JOM coilovers to my touring, the front was half an inch taller than i would like it to be, even with the adjuster all the way to the bottom. I wanted to be where im at now but at the top of my adjuster. Id also like to have more suspension travel at this height(and lower)So i decided to shorten my strut housings. I couldnt find a thread on how to do this in a e34, but using thread for e21 and e30, i felt comfortable enough to give it a try, but the problem was i didn't know what strut to use.
After a long day of looking at catalogs trying to find a strut that was exactly the same except 3-2in shorter. the struts I took out of the housings ( my JOM ones) where Three different size diameter, slightly tapering down, the smallest section being ~46ish mm and the largest being ~49mm. i contacted KYB and they informed me that the largest diameter of cartridges they make is 46mm, which they said is the diameter of they're e34 ones. i asked them to try to find me a strut that was the same diameter but around 15-14 inches in tube length(stock e34 being ~17.625") they responded with part number 366006 which is out of a bunch if early 90s Audis, I ordered two in to measure and compare to the JOM.
Comparison Photos
(please note that im comparing the Audi KYB to the JOM strut insert, not a e34 KYB)
Length of tube


length of piston is resting

diameter of strut

diameter of piston

length of mounting section

**see below on how this will still work**
As you can see, 4in drop is way to much, so to correct this I found that old Aircooled VW axle spacers and the same diameter as the strut and are a little over a 1/2 inch, so adding two to the bottom of the housing before I install will make up for that


the exact measurements are as followed
the stock strut tube length-447.675mm (17 5/8in)
the Audi strut tube lenth-350.8375mm (13 13/16in)
spacer size-15.43mm(3/5 inch)
total length to be cut out(using two spacers)-
65.9775mm
or
2.59753937in removed,
but to make sure the new strut doesn't rattle around when the top is fully tightened, we will be cutting it at 2.8inch, so the housing will be a little more shorter than it needs to be and new strut slightly sticks out and it will tighten down fully(controlled error) and put more pressure on the strut inside the housing removing any wiggle room for rattling.
also to remove a bit of the diameter issue use a BMW sensor oring (part number below) around the thin section of the audi strut.

the thickest part of the JOM strut(which is very snug) is 49.58

the o-ring on the thin part of the strut puts the diameter of 50.97mm

below i will show how i installed it.

Parts List
-2x KYB 366006
-4x Empi axle spacers 2252817
-2x e30 style strut mounts 31 33 1 139 452
-2x bearing dust shield 31 33 1 110 196
-2x mount caps 31 31 1 139 453
-2x washers 33 31 1 125 916
-2x washers 31 33 6 776 760
-2x e90 drop hats 31 33 6 764 093
-2x bmw sensor orings 12 61 1 277 129

I ended up having to run the e30 style strut mounts ( I believe its what early sedans came with?), the solid one piece that my 92 is supposed to have, the part that goes though the mount is to short
**see picture of mounting length above**
but was the exact same length as a early model e34 strut insert.
(see thread about the changes in mounts over the years of e34 production run)

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1196646-The-end-all-e34-front-strut-mount-reference-thread

Once all the parts are gather time to tear things apart



Start Fab Work
First thing you need to do is disassemble and then the spring perch needs to be removed


I used a large chop saw, this works but getting the cuts perfect it pretty tricky. using a hand pipe cutter would be alot more precise but it would take longer. making the first cut can be really anywhere aslong as its below the threaded part.




next I made a template that was the 2.8 inches and marked with a sharpie

after you mark it make your second and last cut. this piece can be tossed. I kept it around to balanced while i weld resting the housing on it.

next clean off the section of metal that you will be welding. also you may find that your cuts where not a perfect right angle, smooth it out as flat as possiable and line them up. i used the old strut that fit in there snug as a guide to make sure the where as true as i could get it.

Next Tac it in place, making sure that after each tac weld that the strut can still be rotated in the housing, getting you weld to hot and getting a bubble of it in the housing wont be good.



next with the fill in the spots between your tac welds, the strut i used as a holder was blown and all the fluid had been expelled, so i kept it in, rotating it after every weld, DONT WELD WITH A STRUT THAT STILL HAS PRESSURE! the heat can cause it to exploded(worst case) also be careful to to weld to hot and weld the template strut to the housing .

Using a grinding wheel clean of any slag or just to clean it up a bit
remove the strut from the tube and check inside to make sure your weld didnt get inside the tube.


Now put the axle spacers in the tube(make sure its sitting flat) and install the new strut, i ended up only using one of the axle spacers.
now put the oring down in the tube, using a small flat head to push it down a bit.

now install the retainnig colar(mine being my adjusters for my coil-overs) tighten down and give the strut a wiggle, it should be very snug and give no movement.
primer and paint your welds to prevent rust!

now finish the install of the springs, spring pads, spring hats, big washer, bearing dust cap, strut mount, small washer, and nut.
the nut that came with my struts was a but to long so it didn't get in to the nylon section of the nut. it need to go in to the section to keep it tight, so go to you local hardware store and find a shorter one or use two thin non locking nut and but them up against each other


I reinstalled them(sorry no pics) and with the coilover at the top i was at the same ride height so i gained about 3 inches of adjustment downward and more suspension travel at my desired height.
problem though.
My wheels where rubbing the adjuster.

so i ended up tossing in stock housings and putting these in storage until the summer when i can play with them alittle more

[e30austin]

Buy my style 5s, doggy.

[FireFight]

Buy my style 5s, doggy.

take monthly installments and you got it

[stonea]

Sub'd for e34 touring evny

[straight6pwr]

do you have any idea on specs for those struts?