1993 525i Touring Impulse Build

This is my first GRM build thread! I've done three or four in the past on other sites, so I know I tend to write probably too much. I'll forgive you if you just skim for pictures.

On November 6th, Stroker posted a very innocuous ad in the $2017 classifieds...in it was a sparse description reading roughly as follows, accompanied with one picture of each of the four corners of the outside of the car.

• 1993 BMW 525i Wagon
• No rust
• Bad interior
• 5 speed manual
• No rust
• Blown head gasket.

$2000, located in Kansas City.

I am a huge fan of BMWs, especially of the 1980s through about 2000, so this naturally piqued my interest. I had 3 cars already, and just a few weeks ago bought my newest vehicle ever, kind of spur of the moment - a 1998 K1500 Silverado. Not a week after buying the truck, my DD and project for the last 5 years, my '89 Caprice wagon, broke a rocker stud. Further investigation also showed that I had cracked one of the heads (the other is still TBD), and I was already trying to decide what to do about its dire need of rust repair and concerning lack of available replacement/restoration parts. I've put a lot of time and money into that wagon over the last few years, and while fun, it is a daunting task. The broken rocker and cracked head basically killed any motivation I had left, combined with now having a truck that gets better fuel economy and does all the truck stuff much better than the wagon.

So this 5 series that I don't need pops up, and because I'm annoyed, I text the seller. We go over some very basic stuff, like what is actually wrong with the car, and I get a very basic story. Essentially, something in the cooling system broke, it overheated, and blew the head gasket. It will run long enough to get it on a trailer, though. The owner bought it from Texas 6 years ago, and is just ready to move on. He sent pics of the interior that proved that, even though the outside looked great, it was really torn up inside.

I figured what the hell, I'll offer $1500, because that's in the ballpark of what it is going to take to just fix the engine in the Chevy wagon. Makes sense, right?

He said yes.

Well crap. This car is in Kansas City. I'm in Indiana. That's 8 hours of driving each way. I know, though, that if I let this one go, I'm going to kick myself. I talk to my boss to see what I can do about vacation, since I'm booked on weekends for the next three weeks, and the owner needs the car gone within a week and a half. I work out a way to get time off, and send one final text to the seller: If you'll take my offer and I can get it the morning of the 11th, we have a deal. He said that's fine, and that I didn't need to send him a deposit or anything. I was a little surprised, but said okay. He took the ad down, and I rented myself a U-Haul.

At this point I should say something about the tow vehicle. It's a 1998 K1500 Z71 (this matters because big OD tires) with 3.42 gears, a 4l60E, and 172k miles. I had owned it, at this point, for about 3 weeks, and had never really taken it on a trip longer than 40 minutes. Even if the purchase weren't interesting, the trip would be, in a totally unproven vehicle.

Fortunately my concerns were unfounded. On the 8 hour drive there, it cruised, locked in OD, at 75+ mph and returned a rather impressive 13.8 mpg average towing the 2000 lb U-haul trailer. It rode nice, never faltered, didn't give me a headache, and didn't even make my back sore. Definitely validated its purchase, which was also kind of an impulse buy. I must say, that truck really impressed me.

My personal award on arrival to KC:

At one point I had an 1992 Subaru SVX, so I thought it was pretty cool to see one parked at my hotel:

And that takes me to last night. I didn't eat lunch today, so I'm going to go make myself a massive dinner. I promise I'll actually post pictures of the subject of the thread when I get back.

Sweet! I am looking forward to this one. I have a manual transmission X5 which is about as odd as it gets so i might be biased

Go on...

Remember how the ad only had 4 pictures? Well for $1500, what those pictures showed was that I would either get an okay deal, or a mediocre deal that I would be okay with mainly because it's not rusty. Considering how much I hate rust, I was okay with that, so I really didn't ask very many questions. This is somewhat unlike me, but for some reason I went with it. Definitely an impulse buy.

This is what google street view had to say before I left:

Well now isn't that amusing... this is what it looked like when I pulled up:

So it looks like the car has been there for a bit (owner said 2 weeks) or else that street view pic is very new....the pic says Oct 2014, so who knows.

I walk into the store (auto parts store) and there are 3 guys behind the counter. I thought for sure it would be one of the ~30 year old guys, but no! First surprise, it's the older guy. Yeah yeah, stereotypes suck, I know. Second surprise is the stack of ~80% blizzaks on the stock rims that he says go with the car. And from there, it just kind of gets better. He pops the hatch, and inside are 4 extra door cards in great condition, from a 540, that match and have the leather handles. It's got the partition nets. It's got the storage cover. The dual sunroof works. The HG is blown, but apparently only such that cylinder 3 will eventually fill with coolant. It starts, runs, and drives fine, and I have found zero rust even if the paint is baked pretty well. Feeling much better about the 16 hour round trip, I hand over the cash and load up.

On the return trip, the truck managed a frankly astounding 11.5 mpg towing 6000 lbs of stuff at 65-70 mph. Due for an oil change after all that...

I get home, and it's dark, and the battery in the E34 is too dead to start from all the sitting and not running, so I jump it. Fires right up and idles perfectly...crazy. Curious to see what further digging shows. At this point I also realize it has an M5 steering wheel in it, and when I flip the lights on, I discover that it has been converted to HIDs, and nice ~4500k ones that warm up very fast.

And that takes me to right now. I took the U-Haul trailer back and am eating dinner, and after I finish that (and this post) I suppose I'll have to dig into it a little.

Threads like this make me happy.

Great score!!

Wow, that looks like an awesome car! It's nice to see someone get a good buy once in awhile.

I didn't know you went already, I was going to send you to see my old friend Wren. He has a euro junkyard on the NE side(or did) that is awesome.

I'll be watching this, especially pics like that bmw garage shot!

Wow, score on the double sunroof - those are 100% bada$$!!!

Edit: And is that also a tow hitch? It just keeps getting better!

I actually passed on a e39 touring this weekend. Doubt it was as awesome as your find though...

Nice looking wagon. Seems like the head tends to warp on overheated BMW sixes. You see plenty of ads for bmws that "just need a head gasket." The enabler in me also recalls there's a GRMer with a supply of BMW six speed manuals laying around for sale. I've been tempted to convert my e61.

Great buy! I'm looking forward to the build!

@ChandlerGTI: yeah, it had to happen fast due to work constraints. Hopefully I'll be able to find some of the more obscure parts I need locally.

@ManhattanM: almost all (sometimes erroneously reported as all) US-spec E34 wagons had the full sunroof. In my opinion, it isn't the most desirable thing in the world because they usually don't work. However, this one works, so it's cool, haha. And yes, that is a hitch, which was another selling point for me. I haul motorcycles all over the place, so this will occasionally be used for that purpose. Not sure quite what the E34 is rated for, but the most common number I have seen is 1750 kg. That number needs more research though, as does the actual capacity of this hitch.

@oldtin: Yep, I'd give it probably 50% chance that the head is warped. I will have it checked for cracks as well when I have it off. If it is badly warped or cracked, then I may need to start searching for an S52. Otherwise, I'm very motivated to just get this thing on the road and deal with swap dreams later on.

Another post will be coming soon. Need to get the dirt bike ready for the race tomorrow first...

Damn good score, sir! Hoping I stumble on something similar next year, going to need a decent daily. Will be staying tuned for updates!

I can now say I've started working on the car, though it's going to go in fits and spurts with the holidays coming up. I'm hoping to get a good pile of parts in the mail before I leave for thanksgiving, so they'll be here and ready to install when I get back.

First order of business was to vacuum out the interior. It looked like someone had been hauling hay bales in the back, so the spare tire well, side compartments, and tool storage area were packed full of the stuff. While vacuuming, I discovered that the rear hatch switch (electronic) has iffy contacts, and only actually opens the hatch probably 20% of the time. I also discovered that the back glass opens separately from the hatch, which I didn't know. There are a few trim pieces that are cracked that are wagon-specific, so I'll probably just deal with them being cracked unless something pops up for sale. Nothing critical, or super noticeable, fortunately.

Post-vacuum picture:

Both toolkits are complete, aside from the BMW traffic triangle and shop rag. The toolkit door in the hatch is broken so it doesn't swing down like it's supposed to, but it does stay shut on its own. Both brake lights are cracked, and none of the brake lights worked. The battery was dead, so I've got it on a charger to see if I can bring it back to life. It's really too small of a battery for a car with this much electronic stuff on it.

the battery hides under the rear seat in E34s:

Before tearing into the engine, I flipped through the codes on the check controller.

• low washer fluid. Ended up being a bad sensor in the front washer reservoir.
• Brake light circuit. Ended up being a failed brake light switch, which is common. I jumpered around it to make sure the lights themselves worked, resulting in a '1 brake light out' message. The LEDs in the CHMSL seem to have some bad connections, so I'll have to pull that out and resolder it.
• Shift Program. The car still thinks it is an automatic, so it freaks out a little because it doesn't see a transmission. Simple jumper wire to fix it, and another to disable the shift display on the dash.
• brake linings. The sensors probably either aren't there or aren't plugged in. I will probably just disable this system by jumpering the connectors.

And that's it! all easy stuff, fortunately.

Pic from the driver's seat. I have all the missing parts in the picture; it's taken apart to diagnose the brake switch issue.

I jacked the car up, drained the coolant, and stopped after pulling the throttle body. Next up are the intake and exhaust manifolds, then valve cover and head. Only a few issues found so far: the IAT sensor in the airbox is shattered and the wire for it is nowhere to be found, and when the manual swap was done, a second brake fluid reservoir was added for the clutch rather than using the takeoff nipple on the brake reservoir. Easy fixes, which is nice.

Pic before digging in:

I'm going to have to remember to take more pictures as I'm working...

Jacking the car up allowed me to take a look at the front suspension. Looks like basically brand new Bilstein sports and H&R springs. The springs are, unfortunately, for a sedan, which is why it has a little bit of a droopy butt. Kind of a low priority to fix right now. Bearings and ball joints are in great shape, and I'd say they've been replaced in the last few years. The steering on these is a GM-esque drag link and steering box, and the drag link is quite worn. That's the only thing I've found to replace so far though. Brakes are basically new, also.

A few more pics of the less-good parts of the interior. I'm glad it came with the spare door cards, though I do need to drive to Cinci on Wednesday to pick up a new carpet.

really nice score man! I love BMW wagons.

Great find! And glad the road trip went well!

What's to become of the Caprice wagon? Fix and flip?

In reply to maschinenbau:

That is a great question, and it will probably spawn its own thread eventually. I have so much time and money into that car, not to mention memories and shenanigans, that it will be very difficult to get rid of from both a financial and emotional perspective. I think I'm going to reserve judgement until the E34 is on the road, so that I can tell which one I'm going to enjoy more as a daily, but I see one of a few things happening.

• fix the broken stud, and sell with explicit clarity that it needs roller rockers, heads, and studs to be trusted. This would give prospective buyers proof that it runs and drives.
• Part out. Engine, trans, gauges, Megasquirt, wheels and tires, suspension...I need to do some math but from a financial perspective, this one is probably the best deal.
• Sell as-is at a huge loss
• keep it as a long term project. I don't know how annoying it will be to have 4 cars around, but it's not costing me much to have now that insurance has been dropped to a minimum, and I have a big driveway.

I really don't know. I thought I was going to keep it forever, but rust (needs all three floor pans), comfort (it's loud and there's no AC), and difficulty getting parts (it needs all the rubber seals and trim, and everything is NLA) makes this an iffy proposition. The engine issues were kind of the last straw, since I was already on the fence about how much work rust repair and paint was going to cost.

Another quick update, since I had about an hour and a half last night. Got the intake off, along with the valve cover, water pump, thermostat, etc. The car already has a pump with a metal impeller on it, and the bearings feel okay, so I'm going to reuse the pump for now. The car will get a new stat, since that's cheap and easy. I forgot just how many hoses are under the intake on these engines; it's been probably 6 years since I worked on one last. Most of them appear to be original.

Turns out there is some fluid mixing - there is a decent amount of emulsification on the valve cover and VANOS actuator.

There's also a ton of coked up sludge and oil deposits in the engine, likely a result of being an automatic for most of its life.

And just for fun, here's a picture story of the that giant sunroof. I'm kind of amazed it still works.

Closed:

Popped:

Front open:

Rear open:

Both open:

I just figured out why the head gasket blew. As with many modern vehicles, this car has a heated throttle body. In 1993 when they switched to the M50B25TU, they added a valve to this circuit, with a thermostat that mounts to the airbox. This effectively turns off the throttle body heater when it is warm out, and allows flow to heat the throttle body when it's cold.

Stupid thing was bypassed, but the valve was still mounted to the airbox. It broke in half when I pulled the airbox out, and showed signs of having leaked in the past. So the head gasket is blown because of a rather overcomplicated if well-meaning coolant circuit that failed. What a pain.

Of course, this is Indiana where it's both cold and humid sometimes, so I feel like I should fix it properly, but I really have no desire to spend $65 on an overcomplicated, failure-prone part...

The valve in question:

I'm loving this thread so far. I love BMW wagons, especially the 5-series ones. Hopefully you can get it sorted out soon.

I suggest replacing the valve with a T-fitting. It's what I did on the heater core circuit on my E30 when that bypass valve failed closed (no flow through heater core).

In reply to ShawneeCreek: Replacing the valve with a T fitting means full flow all the time. I may still do that, or may block it off entirely. I got rid of the throttle body heater plate on my 318is 9 years ago and have had no problems with it, and that would simplify the hose situation quite a bit.

I was in California for the last week for thanksgiving, but before I left, I did manage to get the head off. Unfortunately, the failure was not the head gasket - the head is cracked. Fortunately the timing chain and guides appear to be in good shape, so I should be able to get away with replacing the head/gaskets and putting it all back together.

Fortunately, the cylinder walls still look very good, even with 200k miles on it.I will clean the carbon ridge off the top, but there is no step worn into the cylinder.

Umm... ahem... and this.

In reply to Ian F:

Once I actually get to drive this thing to make sure I really like it (and make some progress on the other cars/bikes), I may start collecting parts for an S52 swap. It is so easy that it's practically irresistible...but I would have to swap to a ZF trans and put a different differential in it, so there's some cost involved. Plus, I think the M50 will be worth more in running condition than with a cracked head. There's occasionally a method to the madness, haha.

I'll be watching that BaT auction closely. My wagon is every bit as clean as that one as far as body and paint go, and the interior is getting there. Not that I'm planning to sell at this point, but it's always interesting to see what the market is on cars like this.