Seems like I only get the chance to really work on the cars in big bursts lately. Mrs. MTechnically has been out of town on business for the better parts of both this week and last, so there is very little time or energy left at the end of a day of single parent life. Needless to say the E34 is still not fully back together. Most likely I'll get it done on my bi-monthly project day, this upcoming Friday.
I did make the brilliant decision to give myself more future work and ordered up a big steaming pile of parts. And wouldn't you know it they arrived today.
A pretty sizable order even for me. Going with the Costco mindset and buying parts in bulk with this order. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to save anything at checkout.
Here is the pile o' parts out of the big boxes to show how they come in slightly smaller boxes...
As you can see there is a theme with these parts, suspension. When I bought the M5, I had a PPI done by a dealer local to the seller. It came back with some minor issues, but nothing that seemed like too big of a deal at the time. I had driven the car previously, but it had been cold and rainy, so I didn't exactly push the car during that drive. The car felt good at the time, but it turns out I should have been a little more diligent in my inspection process. It's clear after living with the car for awhile that the suspension is pretty well worn out. Worn enough that any mechanic with eyesight greater than a naked mole rat would have spotted. I've learned a somewhat valuable if not expensive lesson. Don't trust a mechanic that you don't know or hasn't been recommended by someone who's opinion you value. Once I had the car at the independent BMW mechanic that I trust, they confirmed that some obvious things were missed in the inspection, like the driveshaft and usual wear items for the rear suspension. I'd hazard a guess that the struts are original to the car too.
Since I have been a long sufferer of While You're in There Syndrome, I decided not to take chances and cover all the usual bases for these cars. Essentially, I'll be replacing all of the wear items in the rear of the car: swaybar end links, integral links, ball joints, control arms, and struts. And I'll be replacing the struts, strut mounts, sway bar end links, and thrust arm bushings for the front. Just a little work on the daily driver.
Hoping to get the E34 done Friday so I can start tackling this mountain of parts. Most of the repairs are straight forward, but there is a decent amount of work to do. I'll need to have a local shop press the bushings out of the thrust arms and press new ones in, but otherwise I should be able to tackle the rest of the work in the garage.