Old BMWs are like crack...e34 530i Daily Driver(for now...)

Just remember to do the ECU relearn after the intake swap. . . :)

Went ahead and chopped that giant muffler off, definitely changed the sound of the car! Thing sounds WAY faster than it is...lol I still need to run pipes to the bumper. But hoping to have time to do that tomorrow!

Probably gonna wait a minute on the intake swap, I start a new job Monday and will be making extremely good money and a good portion of that first check will be spent on making this the perfect DD/temporary civilized track toy until the 350is is done. :)

Any suggestions on how to spend a few grand on this thing? It is up to date on maintenance and has nearly all new bushings/etc. I am planning on getting some good pads, ss lines and slotted rotors, basic compromise suspension and the intake swap.

Also I picked up some wheels, 18" Beyern Mesh. Still need tires but here is a pic of an e34 on the same wheels. Got a great deal on them!

Sounds like you have just about everything in order. Brakes, suspension stuffs, wheels, maintenance . . . That's as far as I got on mine and have been pretty happy with it. You can hop on bimmerforums for some more ideas.

In reply to Strike_Zero:

Maybe I shouldnt even look on bimmerforums because I can see myself spending way more money on this thing than I should. Last time I was on there I decided I wanted that split rear seat with the center console and the euro m5 shifter surround, lol

After you ran pipes to the bumper did it quiet it down or kill a little of the raspy sound? I love the sound, but I want to tone it down just a little. Been considering putting turn downs on the pipes, or adding some kind of small muffler before it hits the bumper. It is forcing me to drive a little more conservatively though, cause at WOT that thing is LOUD!

It took a lot of the edge off. It still crackles and pops like hyper active car, but took a good deal of the ear splitting bite of the sound away. The wife drove it everyday after it ran the pipes to the bumper without complaints.

Strike_Zero wrote: It took a lot of the edge off. It still crackles and pops like hyper active car, but took a good deal of the ear splitting bite of the sound away. The wife drove it everyday after it ran the pipes to the bumper without complaints.

Perfect! Got a picture of the tips you used? I want it to look as OEM as possible on mine...

Unfortunately no. The car is 2 hours away. I used some cheapy, non-gaudy tips on it.

I saw a listing for e34 parts on craigslist that included projector fogs(mine were MIA) so I e-mailed the guy and long story short he ended up filling up his car with all the e34 parts he had and gave them to me! Hell yeah!

It included 2 extra sets of tails, which is convenient because I have been undecided on if I want all red tails or tails with a smoked signal portion or to buy tails with clear indicators. So I got to experiment here.

First I tried smoked on a pair and a pair of front signals that he also gave me, even though I ordered clear front signals yesterday. After I install these I am going to spray the ones on the car now all red and then see which I prefer. Normally I don't like smoked lenses at all, but on a dark colored e34 the tails seem to work well.

He also gave me a license plate frame that is the same as the one that came on my car, except I had painted that one back. So this one got the same treatment.

This makes me want to take a trip to the country to get the 530i . . . .

Strike_Zero wrote: This makes me want to take a trip to the country to get the 530i . . . .

Do it! haha All the better if it is out in the country, sounds like a fun drive back. :) Took mine out on some local mountain roads last week and had a blast, better believe I took full advantage of the rare sunny winter day! It really showed me how desperately I need to get tires and get 18s mounted though, lol snow tires suck for spirited back road driving!

What suspension are you running?

Pics of smoked signals all the way around, I like it way more than I thought I would. In person it looks way better as you can see lens reflection through the tint a little bit whereas in the pics they just look black. I am not even going to install the front signals that are coming today!

All stock suspension on mine. It was fun to run down and beat up smaller cars in my "bigger", stock suspensioned, all season tired 530i.