Project Big Six-y: 1991 BMW 535i/5

[Jake]

I think its cool becasue my 99 has more crazy technology based systems than some newer cars have.

You think that's crazy? The E34 has the same OBC functions as the E32 7-series, which began development in September of 1979.

Granted, the car didn't see production 'til 1986, but still. Impressive no matter what. My mom's 1988 Sentra only had one sideview mirror, let alone a "time to destination" feature. That was called "your watch" back then.

[Sully]

I tihnk one of the biggest German car features that was before most other auto makers was the One touch up/down windows. Most other companies did not do a feature similar until far into the 2000's and many still do not do one touch up.

[Steve85]

Do you have a cup holder?

[Jake]

Do you have a cup holder?

You shouldn't be drinking anything while you are focused on das driving, Steve.

[Sully]

Cup holders fall into the same category as Power Steering. Both are for non racecars. Spotted a e34 5 series or e32 7 series in front of one of the Hburg dealers, might have to stop and take a look at her.

[Steve85]

Do you have a cup holder?

You shouldn't be drinking anything while you are focused on das driving, Steve.

But looking away from the road to play with an OBC is OK - stubborn Germans.

Just messin' - I hated that my E30 didn't have them.

[Jake]

So I was having this problem where the shifter would start shaking uncontrollably in 3rd and 5th gears. If you pulled up on it by about half an inch, it was fine again. Well, turns out the bottom of the shift lever was hitting the driveshaft (!!) which is, clearly, a bad thing when said driveshaft is spinning at a million times a second.

Well, all of the shift bushings were replaced a few posts ago, right? Yes, yes, except for one. Look at this diagram:



The "rear shift arm bushing" is number 4 on there. It holds the shift lever "carrier" at the rear of the car.

And it's mounted in such a way that you have to remove the exhaust and heat shield above the driveshaft -- and preferably the driveshaft -- to replace it. I left it alone, and the rubber finally gave way enough that the rear of the shift carrier was sagging.

Dropped the exhaust -- not removed completely, just let it sag while being supported by a jack -- and snaked the heatshield around the driveshaft, and barely got the rear bushing removed/replaced.

It shifts fine now. Who knew?

Tl>dr: When you do work, do it right the first time, or else you'll end up with a rusty exhaust on your chest as you peer into the dark rainy blackness of night from under your car in your just-big-enough garage.

[BLINGMW]

bah I never replaced that one either :lol:

[Jake]

bah I never replaced that one either :lol:

Apparently it's a lot easier to replace on the E36's, so says Joey.

I was totally down to just ignore that bushing, but when the rubber cracks and the carrier arm falls down by half an inch, you start respecting the tolerances that Hans and Klaus specified between spinning driveshaft and static shift lever.

[Sully]

Mine wasn't that bad but I also had the exahust and driveshaft out. Now that I know exactly how to pop it out, could I do it without removing any of that stuff? Possibly. Would I want to? Probably not. Although fighting an entire exhaust by yourself under a car isn't exactly fun either. So its probably really just a matter of which you'd rather do on an e36. If all your bolts are fresh, id pull it personally. All old shit, leave unless I planned to replace it anyways.

Either way, glad to hear your back under the car and not driving that POS mercedes while other people fondle your big ol girl.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

[Jake]

On the E34, there is literally NO way to access this thing without taking the exhaust down. It was almost impossible with the driveshaft in the car, but I'm stubborn and Joey has swiveling sockets, so we made it happen. Joey said the E36 is easier for this same support bushing because it's not as far back on the car. Mine's right about in line with the front seat seatbacks, so pretty far rearward.

[Sully]

Yea, ours is definatley further up,

Still a pain in the ass though.

Becasue BMW

[Jake]

Joey was doing some trim touch-up today, so I took it as an opportunity to finally rid the car of the chrome trim around the doors/windows. In later years with the M-sport package, BMW included black trim and called it "shadowline." So, this is more or less a DIY Shadowline project.

I had zero desire to remove the trim from the car, so I carefully taped things off. I did the lower (straight) parts on both sides first, then did the pieces that go above the doors.



Drying and awaiting a second coat. I used Plasti-Dip, which is great because it can be peeled off at a later date if someone (an old man?) doesn't like the black trim and wants chrome again.



Finished!





One more:



I had some issues when I peeled the red tape off. Some of the Plasti-Dip came with it. It took some careful scoring with a razor blade, but there are some spots where I need to touch up. Regardless, it's way better than the chrome. Nice afternoon project and very pleased with the results...

[JPolen01]

Looks great Jake. I'm definitely going to do this come spring time.

[Jake]

I've had new front-end pieces ready to install for a while now. All of the bushings in mine were beyond shot, so there was a terrifying vibration when you braked hard and a slight shimmy at 55. Time for new things!

I replaced the sway bar links myself. The plan was to do those on Wednesday, tie rods on Friday and control arms on Saturday. Well, plans changed. Friday I come outside and start un-bolting tie rods to do this work. There are four pieces I was replacing:



I was doing both tie rods, the center tie rod and the idler arm. The pitman arm didn't need replacing.

So I get everything apart and looking like this:



Somewhere in here, Kaan had come by to help out. The two of us managed to use the tie-rod puller to pop everything apart. Well, everything except for one piece. The bushing/bolt that attaches the center tie rod to the pitman arm was STUCK. The puller tool wouldn't pop it, we bent Kaan's crowbar trying to pry it apart, and we even engineered a 2x4 + jack combo that managed to lift the car off the jackstands instead of popping this thing apart.

So then Kaan and I decide to put the wheels back on, bolt up the stock parts again and take 'er to my friendly German repair shop in Springfield. Trouble was, the nuts for the tie rods wouldn't go back on the bolts. We got the passenger one on, barely, and the driver's side just wasn't having it. We put the wheel on and lowered the car down so the weight of everything would keep the tie rod seated where it attaches to the hub.

That worked until Sylvia backed it out of the garage (Kaan and I had hands that were not suitable for touching anything clean) and turned the wheel. Pop!

She limped it into a parking space, Kaan popped the tie rod in place another couple of times, and on Saturday morning we used his AAA membership to get it towed to Springfield:



The car is almost done, they're doing an alignment as I type this and I'll pick it up today sometime. Frustrating project (and control arms aren't done at all yet) but short of just setting the whole damn car on fire (thanks, Rex, for that suggestion) we had no other ideas as to removing this stuck piece.

[Jeff]

Wow that sounds like fun. Couldn't heat it up and get it (or cut it) off?

[Kaan]

Wow that sounds like fun. Couldn't heat it up and get it (or cut it) off?

if there was space the grinder/sawzall/etc would have been whipped out. but no dice. no air and a cut off wheel... so no luck there.

[Jeff]

Don't you have an Oxy?

[D_Eclipse9916]

Wow that sounds like fun. Couldn't heat it up and get it (or cut it) off?

if there was space the grinder/sawzall/etc would have been whipped out. but no dice. no air and a cut off wheel... so no luck there.

Told you guys to call me, I have "air" and a cut-off tool.

[Kaan]

we would have needed your tow rig too

the ball joint was so fucked up i couldnt get a nut or a die on it to clean it up lol.