Butler's E34 M5 Barn Find Restoration

[2mAn]

VERY nice! the e34 M5 is one of the best M cars for daily use.

I disagree with this 100%, I daily drove one for a year and other than the one redline pull I would do its horrible. My eta was a much better daily driver. It IS a great sedan, but the cry for rpms isnt daily friendly. Of the M-cars, I would say a E39 M5 would be 1000x better. V8 torque

fun story: when I test drove the one I eventually bought, the test drive didnt sell me. I kept it under 3500 rpms max to be respectful to the owner, and also not wanting to crash this car on the test drive. I go out, not impressed. Then the owner took off. redlined 1st and 2nd and with the B&B exhaust, THAT is what sold me. DD'd it for a year, took it on a few road trips and it was nice, but sold it and havent really looked back.

OP: nice purchase. has it had a top end rebuild?

[2002jm]

fan clutch

The fan clutch is where I would start to look first
Can't believe how many nice old bmws come up in the Portland area.
gl, this is a keeper for sure!
jm

[Butler]

To reglue that leather you best bet is to try and use spray headliner adhesive. The 3m stuff is good.
http://www.amazon.com/3M-38808-Headl.../dp/B004MEBENM

I would pull the whole leather piece off and spray it with the adhesive though, kinda hard to get an even coat in that little space. Just wait till the adhesive is tacky and it'll stick without creating wrinkles.

Thanks. I'm afraid to pull the vinyl off without a plan! I've used that stuff when re-doing my headliner in my E36M3 a few years ago.

This thing's awesome man, loving the detailed pics of the condition it's in now. Once it's cleaned up those pic's will be a constant reminder on how much work you've actually done.

Thats the plan! Also, thanks for the tip - of course I should call the dealer for the radio code! How did I not think of that!?!




Thanks for the encouragement everyone! I'm super pumped on this car. I put 25 miles on it yesterday and it was great to drive, even when being gentle :D

I did find that its wants to over heat after getting to full temp. The needle sits at the 12 oclock position and warms up smoothly but I was idling for a long time waiting for a train when I noticed it started to creep to the left. I killed the motor right after I saw that it was heating up! Once I started moving again the needle settled back down to center. That sounds like a fan clutch, no?

[e30austin]

Call Austin (or Bill, who is now parts manager) down at BMW Portland parts counter. He's very helpful and loves these old cars. You'll need to pop the radio out and give him the serial number off the back. Sometimes they'll do it with just the last 7 of the VIN, but that doesn't always work.

[KIRIEIW]

I moved on to the trunk. There I found the new car binder. Had the owners manual, accessories brochure (which is ridiculous and 90s), the radio and CD changer operating manual as well as some random bits from the dealer it came from. The one and only thing it doesn't have is the radio code! Am I SOL? What other options do I have to reset the factory radio?

original spare tire!

I've called my local dealership numerous times asking for radio codes of the various older BMW's my Dad and I have bought over the last few year's. Call your dealer, otherwise call mine there pretty nice and should help you quickly. "Peter Pan BMW". The key here is the car needs to be 20yr's old or older, otherwise they won't give you the code with out a title/ some sort of proof of ownership shown in person.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

so lucky... cant wait to see where this goes

[KIRIEIW]

This thing's awesome man, loving the detailed pics of the condition it's in now. Once it's cleaned up those pic's will be a constant reminder on how much work you've actually done.

[jhaurimn]

Man, that m5 just got more love in 24 hours than it has in years. Its probably so happy :)

[bostonvert]

Lovely writeup! I always enjoy reading stories like that here.

Glad to see this car is getting some much needed attention, e34 m's just look so right!

I should really pay a visit to a local old guy with a neglected e24 in his yard..

[dude8383]

Love the story behind this... kinda motivates me to talk to a few locals around with some cool cars in their driveways.

Car still has a way to go but it looks like its on the right path! Congrats on the purchase man :up:

[Eric]

Well done man! Some days I miss my old M5, it was a great car

[dishwab]

Nicely done! It's amazing what a little hard work will do to make a car look presentable again

[Kershaw]

Pressure washing your paint does irreparable damage to it. Good job. If you don't care about the car, sure, pressure wash and drive through car wash it. If you do care about the car, you should be hand washing only.

[Porthos]

Bro I feel you on the interior. I had a 525i Touring a couple of years ago and the interior was just horrible. About as bad as yours and it took me 4 full days of cleaning the exterior and interior to get it clean. There was baby formula that had been spilled on the carpet in the back and I think there might have been vomit too. There were Fruit Loops everywhere(fuck that cereal I will no longer eat it because of that) and broken toys and cigarette ash in everything. This slime/spooge took me shampooing and vacuuming the car out to get it done. Though damn it was clean when I got done.

TL;DR
Care was filled with body excrement and I cleaned it.

OP you got a sweet ride and I am looking forward to your restore.

[pandaboo911]

To reglue that leather you best bet is to try and use spray headliner adhesive. The 3m stuff is good.
http://www.amazon.com/3M-38808-Headl.../dp/B004MEBENM

I would pull the whole leather piece off and spray it with the adhesive though, kinda hard to get an even coat in that little space. Just wait till the adhesive is tacky and it'll stick without creating wrinkles.