George's slow road to death

[Benji]

I think its time I created a post on my poor 540/6 and document his rise and fall on his steady path to the scrap heap. As far as I can make out, the car was owned by a "collector" who kept the car standing in a field somewhere near Durban. The ever resourceful tin worm saw this as an opportunity and got stuck in, eating its way through the windscreen scuttle (the bit under the windscreen) and generally making a nuisance all over the car. The end result is the VIN number rusted away, so the car has AAPV numbers and constant fresh air coming from the dashboard at any speed above walking pace. So for now I am just having fun with the car while I work up the courage/time/finances to break this car and transfer the drivetrain to a E34 touring. A pity really as this is number 68 of 72 made here and is the car I enjoy driving the most, but on to what everyone wants: pictures.

How the car was found

This is how I bought it, sight unseen in Cape Town from a very cool dude who kept the car for me (fighting off many other higher offers) and came to fetch me from the airport. He was honest about the condition of the car and I had no surprises. I filled the car up, left Muizenburg at 4am and arrived in JHB at 2pm, not too bad going with no hiccups except the car used about 3L of oil on the drive up. I figure most of that oil consumption is from oil leaks that would put WikiLeaks to shame and a bit from that monumental cloud that comes out the exhaust on every startup (probably valve stem seals..?)

First thing was to do a service on the motor, change gearbox and diff oil and then do an interior colour change from brown to a little less brown using nothing but elbow grease and sheer determination. Some before/after pics

 

[Salt]

I think car needs to be restored and saved...don't use it as a donor!

 

[Benji]

Moving on to the exterior, I gave the car a quick polish and fitted smoked indicators. At this point, to my utter surprise, shock and horror, I found a little rust hole in the rear exhaust silencer. After some judicious use of a screw driver, I successfully enlarged said hole to unleash a bum-dyno-certified 100 of your best german horses and probably the best V8 sound I've ever heard. Grumbly around town, throaty at high revs and disappears into the background when cruising. Side effects include smiles permanently affixed to faces I hated the 4 bar steering wheel, so played around with some different wheels, the Alpina one seems to have stuck even though it obscures the top of the dials.

I sourced a 3.15 LSD from a 750iL to replace the 2.91 open diff BMW tragically fitted to these cars. The slightly lower ratio really transforms this car and the LSD makes you feel good as these things usually do...

Time to play. Besides the occasional global warming inducing cloud of smoke, the car was surprisingly reliable and dare I say it, more fun on the skid pan than the red M5...


Tried playing with some different wheels, but I really love these style 14s, they suit the car so well and are super rare.

 

[Benji]

I think car needs to be restored and saved...don't use it as a donor!

I wish it could be saved, but with AAPV numbers it will never be worth much and the whole body needs to be sandbasted, lots of welding etc etc. Restoring it just doesnt make financial sense.

 

[Benji]

So this past weekend I did a silly thing and bought another set of wheels...style 37 reps. So i figured while I had the wheels off, I may as well fit the H&R springs and 340mm F30 brake kit I had collected for the car. Was a relatively quick and painless Saturday well spent
Worship at the altar of M-pars I love this car so much, stance is so perfect now, the brakes feel stock but bite so much better than stock. Updates will be slow but steady as time and budget allow.

Thanks for reading my ramblings

 

[Crash_Nemesis]

Such a beautiful car! Amazing.

Well done on saving it.

 

[Twinz]

Well done in restoring it in such a short space of time.

 

[J-Peter]

I wish it could be saved, but with AAPV numbers it will never be worth much and the whole body needs to be sandbasted, lots of welding etc etc. Restoring it just doesnt make financial sense.

Keep it as an occasional track toy then

Car looks absolutely beautiful man!

 

[AshG108]

Well done on the save...man it is coming along damn well!!!!

 

[modocrat]

Loved reading this! funny as hell

 

[Peter@AEW]

Super write up Benji!
Thoroughly entertaining!
Smart brake conversion.

 

[Spanky]

Looks great, Benji!

 

[individj]

mmmmm that brake conversion...thats a head turner

 

[danieltau]

Awesome thread. Pity the car cannot be saved

 

[Riaad]

M Parallels

 

[KPM3_30]

I always look forward to your threads, thanks for sharing @Benji .. I love the E34's and the 540i/6 is special, I wish it could've been saved...

 

[Benji]

Thanks gents, its a pity to break this car, but Im enjoying it and having fun doing the "dry build" on this car before transferring everything to the touring project if I ever get around to doing that. This is my learning curve and hope to get advice from this forum so that the touring can be done to the best of my abilities. The touring is going to be something really spectacular, specifically for people that know that wagons are best

 

[applehero]

Looks great. Really shines now that you've put time into it.

 

[Benji]

Well, since the last update I have not driven this car, but I have managed to spend large amounts of money on it. Not sure how that works, but will blame it on the price of OEM wheels.

 

[General.Massacre]

This is a great thread, and the car is so good looking.
there is a great panelbeater in the South (Vereeniging) that would do wonders fixing rust and getting the car back to full glory, maybe contact him? i know the AAPV numbers is now a headache however.

the places name is Redline Panel Beaters, owners name is Orlando, look him up if you consider the route.
But, i like the project so far, looks really good.