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Heya,
I just wanted to make a little progress thread on my V8 work in my E34 540. I figured I'd make it over in this section instead of the general builds because it's not suspension related.
I do intend to do some suspension mods and bring that ride height down a bit, I even dream of bags some day (maybe not this car). I came very close to bagging my '04 Silverado that instead recieved a mild 2"/4" drop:
Now on to the BMW:
This here is very much a budget build, with the budget blown out of proportion...Hell,the clutch & flywheel cost more then I paid for the car.
Found the car on craigslist Phoenix Az, non-running. Went down (100 miles from where I live) and checked it out, the only reason I liked the car was for the V8 and manual trans. made a deal, towed it home. it even came with a bunch of fake M badging riddled all over the car that I promptly removed and a set of 18" M wheels (also fakes). I did keep the M5 doior sills though, I kinda like them. Got to diagnosing why it would crank, no fire, occasionally spit and sputter.
Long story short, I found the harmonic damper clocked incorrectly. The crank trigger uses the damper for timing, so it was trying to fire the cylinders way off in no mans land. Re-clocked the damper, it fired right up. Then revealed a bunch more work; engine oil leaks, coolant leaks, power steering leaks, exhaust leaks, noisy valvetrain, smoke out of the tail pipes.
I just kept wrenching away on it, resolving it's issues as they came up. The more I drove it the smoother it was getting. I was also modding and tinkering along the way. After a month of around town driving I then wanted to take it on a real test drive, over the nearest mountain up & down switchbacks.
The car got a bit hot and then the pressurized cooling system started spewing out the water pump gasket as I got to the top of the mountain. But, otherwise the brakes and steering & suspension and transmission felt great.
Drove it for a year+ before I finally decided to tackle the clutch, which was grabbing at the end of the pedal travel ever since I got the car running.
I opted to pull the drivetrain completely from the car. Clean things up, remove unwanted or unneeded items.
While the engine was out I wanted to dial in my own cam timing: Advanced the intake cams +4 degrees and retard the exhaust cams 3 degrees:
Added a set of stainless EBay headers, that..::cough:: needed some persuasion to fit.
For being manufactured so cheaply, they sure are expensive to purchase.
But, it's getting there. Slowly.
For clutch & flywheel I went with Spec. A lightweight single mass aluminum flywheel replaces the OE dual mass boat anchor. As wells as a kevlar full face clutch disc and their stage II 439 ft/lb pressure plate. The Spec flywheel weighs 17.37lbs, the OE dual mass weighs 32.16lbs
I also took UUC Motor Werks advice on a fluid blend for the transmission to help keep trans gear lash clatter to a minimum.
That's where I'm at, with the drivetrain waiting for me to finish cleaning up, painting and modding the engine compartment.
I've removed the ABS module and am currently making new brake lines from the master cylinder. I've also remove PS pump and hoses and converted to manual steering. I've also remove the dead A/C components.
I have been running a dual 2.5" exhaust, H-pipe, Magnaflow glasspacks as resonators into a Flowmaster Super 10 dumped before the differential.
Since the headers will need new pipes I opted this time to go with a single 3" full exhaust with tailpipe & tip. Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator, Flowmaster Super 40 muffler.
For the computer tuning, I've been running an Ostrich 2.0 chip emulator loaded with my own tuning via TunerProRT. I have also been dialing in an MAFT-PRO that will eventually replace the MAF sensor and be running a form of Speed Density with a MAP, the MAFT-PRO also used wideband O2 sensor feedback for fueling changes. Wideband info supplied by an Innovate MTX-L in the cabin.
I've also done a few other things that I've wanted along the way. Remove the broke, twisted, & torn original heeeaavvy seats for a set of buckets that combined weight less then half of one OE seat.
(The shoulder harnesses go to the rear seatbelt mounts, not depicted in the photo above)
This here has been my fav mod, because so many BMW enthusiasts strongly dislike it. Making my own grill:
Once the car is running on speed density I have a plan for a custom intake.
The "Final mod" (I say that tentatively) is to replace the 2.91:1 open rear with a 3.4x or 3.6x spool
Cheers -Mykk
I just wanted to make a little progress thread on my V8 work in my E34 540. I figured I'd make it over in this section instead of the general builds because it's not suspension related.
I do intend to do some suspension mods and bring that ride height down a bit, I even dream of bags some day (maybe not this car). I came very close to bagging my '04 Silverado that instead recieved a mild 2"/4" drop:
Now on to the BMW:
This here is very much a budget build, with the budget blown out of proportion...Hell,the clutch & flywheel cost more then I paid for the car.
Found the car on craigslist Phoenix Az, non-running. Went down (100 miles from where I live) and checked it out, the only reason I liked the car was for the V8 and manual trans. made a deal, towed it home. it even came with a bunch of fake M badging riddled all over the car that I promptly removed and a set of 18" M wheels (also fakes). I did keep the M5 doior sills though, I kinda like them. Got to diagnosing why it would crank, no fire, occasionally spit and sputter.
Long story short, I found the harmonic damper clocked incorrectly. The crank trigger uses the damper for timing, so it was trying to fire the cylinders way off in no mans land. Re-clocked the damper, it fired right up. Then revealed a bunch more work; engine oil leaks, coolant leaks, power steering leaks, exhaust leaks, noisy valvetrain, smoke out of the tail pipes.
I just kept wrenching away on it, resolving it's issues as they came up. The more I drove it the smoother it was getting. I was also modding and tinkering along the way. After a month of around town driving I then wanted to take it on a real test drive, over the nearest mountain up & down switchbacks.
The car got a bit hot and then the pressurized cooling system started spewing out the water pump gasket as I got to the top of the mountain. But, otherwise the brakes and steering & suspension and transmission felt great.
Drove it for a year+ before I finally decided to tackle the clutch, which was grabbing at the end of the pedal travel ever since I got the car running.
I opted to pull the drivetrain completely from the car. Clean things up, remove unwanted or unneeded items.
While the engine was out I wanted to dial in my own cam timing: Advanced the intake cams +4 degrees and retard the exhaust cams 3 degrees:
Added a set of stainless EBay headers, that..::cough:: needed some persuasion to fit.
For being manufactured so cheaply, they sure are expensive to purchase.
But, it's getting there. Slowly.
For clutch & flywheel I went with Spec. A lightweight single mass aluminum flywheel replaces the OE dual mass boat anchor. As wells as a kevlar full face clutch disc and their stage II 439 ft/lb pressure plate. The Spec flywheel weighs 17.37lbs, the OE dual mass weighs 32.16lbs
I also took UUC Motor Werks advice on a fluid blend for the transmission to help keep trans gear lash clatter to a minimum.
That's where I'm at, with the drivetrain waiting for me to finish cleaning up, painting and modding the engine compartment.
I've removed the ABS module and am currently making new brake lines from the master cylinder. I've also remove PS pump and hoses and converted to manual steering. I've also remove the dead A/C components.
I have been running a dual 2.5" exhaust, H-pipe, Magnaflow glasspacks as resonators into a Flowmaster Super 10 dumped before the differential.
Since the headers will need new pipes I opted this time to go with a single 3" full exhaust with tailpipe & tip. Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator, Flowmaster Super 40 muffler.
For the computer tuning, I've been running an Ostrich 2.0 chip emulator loaded with my own tuning via TunerProRT. I have also been dialing in an MAFT-PRO that will eventually replace the MAF sensor and be running a form of Speed Density with a MAP, the MAFT-PRO also used wideband O2 sensor feedback for fueling changes. Wideband info supplied by an Innovate MTX-L in the cabin.
I've also done a few other things that I've wanted along the way. Remove the broke, twisted, & torn original heeeaavvy seats for a set of buckets that combined weight less then half of one OE seat.
(The shoulder harnesses go to the rear seatbelt mounts, not depicted in the photo above)
This here has been my fav mod, because so many BMW enthusiasts strongly dislike it. Making my own grill:
Once the car is running on speed density I have a plan for a custom intake.
The "Final mod" (I say that tentatively) is to replace the 2.91:1 open rear with a 3.4x or 3.6x spool
Cheers -Mykk
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