E34 550iT....The Gristle Hammer

[slammin.e28]

Parts hauler is awesome, I love older trucks

v12 e34 is insane, good luck with it!

ps if I was to daily drive a v12 7 series it would cost me about 5k a year just in taxes in Belgium..

Jesus! That's insane.

I have $0 in taxes on the cars..they're all old enough now that they fall under some older vehicle tax relief thing.

[bostonvert]

Jesus! That's insane.

I have $0 in taxes on the cars..they're all old enough now that they fall under some older vehicle tax relief thing.

I know, if older then 25 it falls back to 35 a year but they are raising the minimum age to 30 so a lot of people are fucked pretty soon. Engine swaps are illegal to

[Walter]

Because I had this car in my garage for a detailing to pay back Jeff for his help with my E28, I took some pictures and video of this thing.

First: Exhaust video
https://youtu.be/C3LyP92QzoM

[slammin.e28]

E34 550iT....The Gristle Hammer

So, got the shifter all fixed, now I have access to all 6 gears.



Before it was flat and about 3/4 an inch shorter. When shifted into 5 or 6 it was rubbing on the guibo. Also lowered the trans another 3-4mm.....long story. Also re-bled the clutch, it's a lot better now. Must have had a minuscule amount of air in it.

Then I decided to put the spare tire back in. The car had gotten REALLY smelly, like BAD. I couldn't figure out where....but I found out...



8 or so dead baby mice in the spare tire well.....removed them and cleaned the well. Smell is gone now.

Decided to take the car to C&C on Sat morning. Started up just fine and drove 40 miles to C&C. Went to leave and the injectors wouldn't pulse, also the fuel pump would cut off when cranking. Tried jumping it, but still nothing. So had to tow it to the shop and properly diag.



Turned out the 3 year old battery was marginal, and the power junction for the aux relay box (which houses the fuel pump/injector relays) was bad. Corrected that and started driving it home.

THEN I was like 5 miles from home and decided to show off to the panhandler at the interstate exit....

I launched the car and immediatly there was a pop and the engine reved....but car would barely move. So got it out of the road and had dad call AAA.



Tow driver was super cool, and talented with that roll back.

Got the car home and on the lift and diaged.



Did that with a used, stock, e39 528i clutch...

Then....since there was a drive down Skyline Drive the next day (Sunday)....I went to the shop (40 miles each way) to grab a replacement axle. This is where I learned that 535i axle are larger than the 525i ones....so I had to crawl under a parts car and harvest the axle.

Done and done...did the drive and it was awesome.

I think after getting the car cleaned up, I'm more into it now. It's a blast since I got the shifter BS and clutch bled all proper.

Now I've got some fueling issue going on, I think. I'm going to swap in the brand new dual fuel pump setup from the 750 and all that jazz. The stock 525i pump seems to not be able to keep up when the tank gets low, so I get all kindsa misfiring etc....plus it's loud, and has been loud since I bought the car.

Also going to swap in the rear trailing arms from the 750 and larger axles from the 535.

Then I'm gearing up to swap in the other M70, since this one uses a ton of oil and smoked on decel, and install the new M5 clutch and have VAC put a new gall plate on the flywheel.

[delamaize]

You're not helping me....

I still have that 750iL I bought, and with the bad gas tank and fuel lines, I'm even more tempted to find a 5 touring....

[Anthony B]

I honestly love this thing, looking forward to the updates

[Walter]

In this video we see the elusive V12 E34 quickly scurrying through a tunnel to catch its prey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGIWp7s97Ms

[elcoy]

I'll have you know I am going to look at a cheap 750il today just because of this thread...

I might shelf the dream of a S38 touring if I can pick it up cheap.

[docleary]

wow, this touring is wicked.

[slammin.e28]

I went ahead and got my euro hitch installed. Just have to get the cover for the hole in the rear bumper before I get that wrapped up.



Also did an aesthetic thing:




Gearing up to pull the engine from the other 750 to put into this thing. Going to tow the Jensen home from Vintage this year.




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[MrBurgundy]

The best part about this car is the "Where's your v12, Peasant?" sticker

[Northern]

Is that the famous "Horse Cock" hitch?

[slammin.e28]

Is that the famous "Horse Cock" hitch?

Yessir!


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[slammin.e28]

New engine tear down.







....annnnd when the head didn't wanna come off I went about tapping it with a rubber mallet....tapped just right in the just wrong spot...dumbass.




Oh well....two more heads at home w/~90k miles or so....so no biggy.




This weekend I'll go through the heads, lap the valves, do guide seals, etc, then it'll be really close to going back together....should be one more weekend to get it assembled...then I'll bring the Hammer in and do the switcheroo...

I sold the 318Ti too, so I've got more capital to dump into the Hammer, so I'm going to get a new flywheel and clutch. May even address some other issues with the chassis. Going to swap in the rear from the 750iL. 7mm wider (at the hubs) and I can run the larger axles. Also need to do the hatch wiring. It's started to short and kill fuse 1, which controls, among other things, the cluster and brake lights.

[slammin.e28]

E34 550iT....The Gristle Hammer (3/8 update)

Heads all done up two weekends ago. Valves lapped, new guide seals.....fresh.



Block is 100% torn down, but I've started bolting bits back onto it. Waiting for my bearings to come back from coating and for main bearing bolts to come in from Germany. The tensioner guide is wild...that little gear is kinda cool. Pricey little bugger.



Pistons all cleaned, rings are all free and the lands are free of debris, etc.



I totally disassembled the oil pump and cleaned it. Good thing to, as the pressure relief was stuck shut. Got that all freed up and perfect, lubed everything and reassembled.



I have had every nut/bolt out of this engine. Every. Single. One.
....and there are a lot.