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1995 e34 540i/6 *m60b44* - Return to Some Kind of Glory
Don't tempt me! The wood trim on those 750 seats is bad ass.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
They are!! I was looking to get that for my 740 but I have an individual Anthracite Birch wood interior and those parts are NLA and since almost no one has this wood I cant find it anywhere!
They are!! I was looking to get that for my 740 but I have an individual Anthracite Birch wood interior and those parts are NLA and since almost no one has this wood I cant find it anywhere!
r
Oy I feel your pain. I was having such a hard time getting tan interiors to line up due to them all fading at different rates, I decided I had to go 100% black on the interior to avoid that issue.
Fortunately, the trim that came with the black panels I got from the junk yard are super common so I think whatever I find should be a close match if that 1% chance of finding those 750iL seats. ;D
Oy I feel your pain. I was having such a hard time getting tan interiors to line up due to them all fading at different rates, I decided I had to go 100% black on the interior to avoid that issue.
Fortunately, the trim that came with the black panels I got from the junk yard are super common so I think whatever I find should be a close match if that 1% chance of finding those 750iL seats. ;D
Good luck! Looking forward to seeing the interior makeover.
Well, the clutch started slipping badly when in higher gears and I gave the car the beans. Typical revs go up but the car doesn't accelerate. It could be the rear main seal or just clutch wear or the combination of the two. No matter what, it needed to get fixed.
I also had a newish problem that has been plaguing me for a month and a half: My brakes went mushy and felt like the I was getting boost from the booster at a drastically lower rate than before. I checked the rotors and the lip was huge. Time to do something about it!
Another problem was I was getting check engine lights of 1213, 1222 and 1221 and rough running at idle. The car would clear up and run great at all other times besides idle. But it ran like crap. I heard a rattle and figured the Magnaflow Cats had finally given up the ghost and created a blockage.
Too much stuff to ignore, so I developed a plan.
I threw the car on four jack stands and decided to do a whole slew of work while I was in there.
Replace calipers, new pads, sensors, rotors, rubber lines and fluid flush
Replace the catalytic converters and install stamped X-Pipe
Replace rear main seal
Replace clutch with Luk OEM stuff 265mm, flywheel and pressure plate
The Brakes:
Mine were bad. The feel was awful. So I ordered a bunch of Rockauto parts. Centric for everything! New rotors, re-manufactured calipers, new pads, new sensors and 6 new rubber brake lines.
The rear main seal was leaking and I had the teeniest of leaks at the back coolant cover. One or two bolts had a little bit of weeping. Transmission and Brakes by Paul Abbott, on Flickr
So I yanked the old RMS out and popped in a new one. And I also added some Ultra Grey around the bolts that were weeping a bit. Better than nothing. One of the bolts had already broken off in the block when I did the b44 swap anyway. Transmission and Brakes by Paul Abbott, on Flickr
Oh, and while it was out, I drained the old fluid out and put in Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF. Lifetime fluid my ass.
I did all the above on Friday the 15th.
The 19th I went back out and neglected to take any pictures because I wanted to GSD (get shit done). I attempted to replace the clutch slave soft line to the slave cylinder. But it was unable to break lose the old hose from the line. Sucks.
Then I threw in the transmission, drive shaft, under pans (or whatever they are called) and the exhaust. I had to finish the back half of the exhaust so I tacked it up and then welded it on the ground. Booger welds, well not too bad. But no pics.
Went for a test drive and my brakes sucked like they did before and my check engine lights were right back within 2 miles. Plus the clutch pedal only rises halfway up. Shit, shit, shit!
Fortunately, all the stuff I did, I had to do anyway.
This eventually means that I have three places to check for vacuum leaks.
Right at the throttle body source of the brake booster line
The vacuum line itself
The booster
So I took off the line going to the booster, threw a bolt into the rubber line at the throttle body and went for a hairy drive with absolutely zero brake boost. Check engine lights are gone, engine idles fine and runs generally great!
Then I examined the line that has a check valve on one end. Sure as shit, the plastic that makes up some of the hose on both ends is not air tight at all.
The next step will be making a new hose there and seeing if my brakes come back. If so, then the booster is good. If not, then the booster will need to be replaced: which is a conundrum because they are expensive. Holy crap!
Regarding the clutch, I just need to get the thing back in the air and pull the slave out and really try to attack the soft line, check the actuator arm and take a peek into the transmission to see if the clutch fork is good.
"Ok, new vacuum line (actual vacuum line, not fuel line) and its a slight improvement but largely non-existent brake boost. The good news is that the check engine lights are gone and the idle shifting up and down is gone.
Now, I did the fast-pump-brake-at-idle thing and the idle did shift just slightly and one time the check engine light came on and then went off right away. I tried to do the smoke test and that was just stupid hard. So I am back to the drawing board. Might it be something as simple as the master cylinder needing to be gone over?
EDIT:
So I went back out to the car and did the typical master cylinder test. Pumped the brakes until firm, turned on the car, the pedal went soft then firmed up about a half inch or so farther down. Sounds like the Master Cylinder is ok. Then I noticed something when I was putting pressure on the brake pedal; it really sucked the engine rpm down and when I let off, the rpm rose a bit. Booster with pinhole leaks?
How a leaking vacuum brake booster affects engine operation and using a Tech 2 to monitor engine data.
Just saw this. The idle doesn't surge that badly, but it definitely drops a bit."
So I went out a few days later and then posted this up:
"I am throwing parts at the bitch now. LOL. I replaced the master cylinder and re-bled the system two more times. I also replaced the front throttle body gasket because it was old and tired and it was loose on the bottom bolt anyway. The engine is running better. But, my symptoms are exactly the same as before and the check engine lights come on when at idle and pumping the brakes. I can't find any new boosters available so I ordered one up on eBay used and the junkyard has another one from a 740i so I will get it too. I will report back."
Then, in response to a fella who said how much vacuum draw the brake booster was and it was significant:
"Yeah, that is why it is suggested to pump the brakes rapidly while,parked at idle and see if you can induce a vacuum leak, engine code trigger and eventual engine stumble. I personally had some leaking at the back of the master cylinder but it looked hydraulic opposed to vacuum so I replaced it anyway hoping it to be the issue. The booster is the last point of failure and last component I have to replace at this point. It is a difficult diagnosis until you equate the check engine lights with poor braking/manual braking performance. I have not 100% confirmed, yet..."
And member billyj over there posted this:
"Here's a video of me pumping the brake at idle and AFR readout.
After a short warmup to operating temp.
Turn volume down I forgot I had music playing haha
https://youtu.be/zo41nP7JlMA"
That looked like the nail in the coffin to this theory to me.
And so today, I went to the yard and plucked that booster out of the 740i I mentioned above and stuck it in the car. I now have great brakes, great idle quality, no check engine lights and I am a happy camper.
I accidentally punched the new check valve grommet INTO my old booster so I had to tear it apart. What I found was that the diaphragm that is closest to the brake pedal (opposite side of master cylinder) was fine. The other diaphragm that was located right after the master cylinder was super squishy and ultimately brittle. I looked around and sure enough there was a tear about a half inch long that must have been the source of the leak. Now, I stuck my finger in it and it tore some more, VERY easily. And eventually the tear went all the way around. The front diaphragm felt different than the rear one and I am betting that a leaking master cylinder sprayed a decent amount of brake fluid into the diaphragm and weakened it over time, causing the failure.
So now the car can get back do daily driver duty and pass smog, finally.
Next step is to begin swapping the front passenger door, front passenger fender, hood and bumper. Then I will start working on the interior swap.
My wife's A4 and my wheels are going to get powder coated soon and then the car will be close to getting new paint after I find a new bumper. Slowly but surely...I'll get there with this thing.
I have spoke about the desire to go full black on this car. Obviously the paint is grayish, but that is easy enough to sort out with a fresh coat of paint. But the interior had a million different shades of tan in it and it was driving me nuts.
I pulled a bunch of parts from a 95 525i including the carpet and various trim pieces plus the dash and center console pieces, hood and fender yada yada yada.
The gray carpet was not black enough. So I made it blacker. Two separate applicaitons of RIT dye and you can see the results below.
First application after the sun went down a bit. 0417181906 by Paul Abbott, on Flickr
First application with original "tan" rear parcel shelf for contrast. 0417181910 by Paul Abbott, on Flickr
I left those to dry out for a few days and would eventually get back to them.
But, I also managed to score ANOTHER new to me hood at the junk yard a set of black rear seats that were in great shape and a set of e46 325 manual comfort seats. Finally!
Here are the brackets I plan on fabbing up (stolen from another forum). Should be pretty straightforward. e34 to e36 Seat Brackets by Paul Abbott, on Flickr
One weekend I decided to tackle the new hood, fender, front bumper assembly and grille. Everything needs paint, but I wanted STRAIGHT body parts first.
FUN FACT! 540i cars have the turn signal indicators going a different direction than the 535s and 525s. Threw me for a loop for a minute.
Here is the picture of my rainbowblack original fender. Notice the direction of the turn signal. 0413181505a by Paul Abbott, on Flickr
And here is the 525i fender with the turn signal going the other way. 0413181505 by Paul Abbott, on Flickr
I have forgotten to take a pic of it with the new hood and fender. The hood needs to be buffed out at a minimum to even be presentable. But what is underneath is straight as an arrow. I still need to install the 525i door I got from the yard about 6 months ago and the right rocker is off because of the fender install. I need new clips for the bottom or I need to gangster them from some cars in the yard. Just didn't do it yet.
I went back out on Thursday and applied the 2nd portion of RIT to the carpets. I am pleased with the results.
With the yellow light of the halogens, it looks purplish, but it isn't. 0421182301 by Paul Abbott, on Flickr
Back seat "in." Needs to come out for seat belt install and rear deck install. But at least they aren't in the garage. 0421182317 by Paul Abbott, on Flickr
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