The newest parts car: Glacier Blue ’90 535i

Jan 3, 2023: The E34 finally left, donated to an anonymous buyer. It was a worthwhile investment in parts. Not only did it supply a rare & critical part to bring back a sentimental favorite (a buddy needed the ABS pump for his Dad’s old 735i), but it also recouped the investment by providing many reasonably priced used parts to other enthusiasts. I held onto the engine just to see what an M30 looks like with 300K+ miles. Updates will follow!

Sept. 25, 2022: A new E34 arrived. I found this one for sale locally on Craigslist, an offer was soon accepted. It’s a 1990 535i with the desirable 5-speed gearbox. Other goodies are a relatively decent interior, a Miller MAF conversion, some fun interior upgrades, three nearly-new snow tires on E60 wheels, and a tall LSD. It’s not all sunshine & chocolate, sadly. With 315K miles, it’s seen some stuff. Massive rust and the suspension is completely gone. The engine is barely running. There’s a significant coolant leak and it appears to have been overheated. Basically, it’s just a parts lot in one mobile package. There was one completely new tweak with this project…I brought it back to the shop myself. It was less dramatic than expected…just rented a van & dolly locally, asked my buddy Dan to “ride shotgun” and provide significant moral help. It all went off without a hitch. Here’s the result in pictures:

June 5, 2022: The E34 chassis finally left. The damaged engine, radiator and gearbox, made it uneconomical to save. I’d considered a manual swap, but a used transmission was not available at any reasonable price. The used car market is still somewhat unstable due to collector interest & pandemic related chip shortages. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are still many parts available. Please contact me with inquiries!

March 27, 2021:

Well, now that the E24 left, I needed to fill the space. Now it’s an E34!

Plenty of good used parts are still available from this car, please inquire for details. I’ve pulled much of the car apart, there some nice goodies left. Check out my listings on eBay, they’ll all show up there eventually!

July 19, 2020:

Last week, it was an E34. This week, it’s an E24:

Lots of great parts were saved, check them out here, in the E24 section of our eBay store. You can also check out our home-grown live feed here too.

July 7, 2020:

Despite the overwhelming heat, July has started out well. An ad on Craigslist for a free E34 will always get my attention, regardless of condition. Hard to pass that up, eh? Seller was a heck of a guy, even delivered the car and brought a crew to unload it! Feast your eyes on this rusted-out disaster:

I’m keeping the suspension parts, selling the rest. Anyone need parts? How about a nice M50B25NV with that hard-to-find front oil sump & oil pickup? It’s complete…send any requests my way.

I’m also using the fuel tank to create a fuel bowser. That might be an English word, I’m not sure (if it was good enough for the Battle of Britain, it’s good enough for me). I like to fill up on cheap quality fuel, when available, so I needed a little extra space for storage. I do use a few 20L/5 gal ‘Jerry’ cans for transport, but I needed something more substantial to prevent leaks. I kept the entire tank & pump assembly, but also the vapor recovery tank and associated hoses. While I’m familiar with the smell of raw gasoline, I’m not a huge fan of it. The vapor recovery system does an outstanding job preventing my shed from smelling like a gas station. It also comes with an integrated delivery system already in place! The integrated 12VDC pump makes it a very convenient & safe method to store an E34 US tank’s worth of fuel (80L/20ish gallons?). I’m planning on upgrading it with some stainless braided racing hose, a shutoff valve and maybe a little hose spool. It’s oddly relaxing to fill up at home, although for safety’s sake it’s a slow process.

The odd thing about the E34 tank is the shape. It looks normal from under the car, but there’s a tall hump and a large, flat “beaver tail” that extends under the spare tire well.