Ownership Verified: My impulsive purchase of the "big six" - '88 E34 535i

larswey

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2008
Messages
48
Location
Enebakk, Norway
Car(s)
2007 Volvo XC70 D5, 2001 Jeep Wrangler Sport 2.5
This is the thread for my 1988 535i that i bought from Joe (Loose_unit) on the .fi meet.


It all started back in november when Adrian and I went to Germany to pick up his Donkervoort. We met up with Joe and Tim and after being driven around for just a few hundred meters in Joes car I fell in love. When I heard he was going on the .fi track-meet a few months later I decided to go with Adrian just to have some fun and hopefully try it out, when we got to the cabin in the middle of the finish forests I jumped in with Adrian and took it for a spin on the snowy awesome roads before Joe even got to remove his bags from the car, and I knew then that I had to bring it home with me. When we got back to the cabin I gave Joe an offer but he was hesitant because he'd already promised the car to someone, which is why he drove it there in the first place.
The day after was the track-day, I got to drive a few laps and decided that this opportunity would never exist again and pushed more and more on Joe so I could bring this baby home with me. After a day of nagging and a phone call to the buyer I finally got the message from Joe, he would sell the car to me instead! I was overjoyed, smiling from ear to ear and couldn't let my grin go :D

I got to drive it back to the cabin, and on icy roads in Finland on German-spec winter tyres this was scary as hell, I'm from Norway and used to the proper nordic winter tyres which are much softer and stickyer, even on ice.
The car felt amazing, it pulls so much better than my 525i and is alot more quiet and luxurious. The evening was spent consuming good food curtesy of DaBoom and great beer curtesy of Joe and Alexander brought in my car all the way from Germany!
The morning after we packed up and left for Helsinki, this car really eats the highways and it was a blast! After the midnight ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm we had half a day of swedish motorways, the good thing about driving in Sweden is that if I would get pulled over for speeding I would only lose my right to drive in Sweden, not home in Norway. And with this in mind the speedo did exceed well over 200kph at several occations. I also maxed it out twice and it's surprising how fast it will reach 250kph... Adrian obviously couldn't keep up in his T5 with studded tyres :cool:
After consuming a tank of fuel we had gotten to the norwegian border were I had to pay the VAT of the purchase price, and they also added the traveling cost from Finland to the border for some stupid reason. This was when the boredom began, Norwegian roads are horrible and too risky for speeding but I eventually got it home :)



CAM00240.jpg


My 525i touring in the background, along with my dads E91 318d
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CAM00293.jpg

Proof of ownership ^_^

Things I've done so far:
Registered with norwegian plates :w00t: (april 1st 2014)
New spark-plugs.
Replaced thermostat.
Fresh engine-oil and filter.
Tightened the steering box to remove play.
Fixed rear-right seatbelt.
Replaced windscreen washer-pump.
Replaced coolant temp-sensors.

Things that needs to be done:
New radiator (already purchased heavy duty type, all parts needed for install aquired)
Diff and gearbox oil.
Full detailing, some respray needed on the rear left corner.
Electric cooling fan conversion since the current viscous-fan is broken. (all parts needed has been purchased.)
Rust removal on both front doors.
Have ordered a set of BC-Racing coilovers for for a bit more low and sporty feel. (dont have any autobahn here in Norway, more bendy sporty roads, wich is what i enjoy)
Leather seat conversion with armrest, everything aquired.
Running cables from headunit to where the rear speakers will go and probably some new ones to the front speakers too.
Fuel pressure regulator.
Fuel pump.
Distributor-cap and rotor (ordered, arrived)

I will also do a MAF conversion to get some better powerfigures and to improve the mileage :)
 
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Damn those wheels suit the car.. :shock2:
 
What sort of birds do you have in Norway? That's a lot of bird-dirt! :blink:



Handsome car. I like seeing that people use a proper pre-soak when washing cars.
 
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Damn those wheels suit the car.. :shock2:

This. It looks so much better already (no offence, Joe :lol:). This car made me want one so much; I'd love to drive it again some day... :p

Also; needs continuous 80s ghetto blasting...
 
I can vouch for the purchase, I've been there when it happened. :p
Registering with Norwegian plates (this will cost me closer to 3900 euro so I will have to sell my touring)
:shock2: My whole car cost that much last year, and that's a 320i E46...

But I concur, those wheels look better than the old ones which looked rather bland.
Oh, and in Germany if you would pre-soak or wash a car anywhere other than a commercial car wash you'd be fined since it's verboten.
 
What? Pre-soaking the car on your own yard is verboten? I know from my year in Germany the nature protection rules are sometimes a over the top... But that's just weird. I understand it if you use some strong chemicals, but products like Bilt Hamber Autofoam are biodegradable. So only thing that falls from the car to the ground is dirt, dust and bird shit. Not the most hazardous things for nature.

Anyway, great looking car with those wheels. Enjoy!
 
Great car. But 3900 ? for taxes of a car this old is again insane, but not surprising for Norway :D

What? Pre-soaking the car on your own yard is verboten? I know from my year in Germany the nature protection rules are sometimes a over the top... But that's just weird. I understand it if you use some strong chemicals, but products like Bilt Hamber Autofoam are biodegradable. So only thing that falls from the car to the ground is dirt, dust and bird shit. Not the most hazardous things for nature.
It is forbidden in Finland in some places too. They're afraid of the oily stuff that might drop in to the ground (like an oil leak would not otherwise end up on the ground)... Good luck explaining to some raging neighbor grandma about how environmental friendly products you are using. :D
 
Will post proof of ownership tomorrow and if the weather allows it I will give it a nice detailing-job on the interior :)
 
No detailing today, weather is horrible.
I have removed the german aftermarket cold-start thingy and it still struggles to start when the engine is cold, but today I experienced the same issue when it was warm. Currently suspecting the fuel pump.
I also found out why it's running warm when standing still, the viscous coupling for the cooling fan is broken, I did not suspect this at first since I have already tested it but it seems like it has different moods :D Will do an electric fan conversion when I install the new heavy duty radiator.
Purchased the winscreen-washer-pump along with some new windscreen-wipers today as the old ones needed replacing about a year ago...

Hoping the weather will be better tomorrow so I can give it a good inside and outside cleaning! :)
 
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Because the weather is as bad as yesterday I'll just go and buy the electrical fan ad the components i need for it today. Proof pic will also be posted :)
 
Good news! I've sold my touring and I'm getting the 535i registered on monday :D I've also gotten the rest of the parts needed for my radiator swap so this will probably happen tomorrow or next week after registration. I've replaced the temperature sensor to see if this could help with the cold start issues but no dice, still leaning on bad fuel pump or fuel pressure regulator, but I have ordered a rotor and distributor just to see if it could help :)

Did an engine-bay cleanup today, don't have any before or after photos but I'll upload one tomorrow. But here are some photos from the cleaning process:
Nice and foamy :cool:
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Something happening here too :)
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Proof pic was also taken today:
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Massive boring update, but a short history of the purchase :)
 
Hello, fellow norwegian e34 owner ;) Dr?bak is about ~30 min on the other side of the tunnel from me :)

lovely car!
 
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Hey Smurfen, this 535i is fantastic but it still needs some work. We're friends on facebook and I'll contact you there ;)
 
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Yay! I got the norwegian plates today after paying the small fee to the norwegian government of 3852? :D

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:cool:
 
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That sort of tax is enough to make your teeth itch. I could buy a very nice car over here for that money. Still a nice BMW though, congrats!
 
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