Topic: BMW Help

Hello, My name is Brett Meservey, My team and I have just entered a 1992 BMW 535I into the 24 Hours of Lemons at Louden NH. We are looking for help from people who have experience running BMW's in the Lemons races, We would like to know what we should bring for spare parts and what should be bullet-proofed or replaced before we even show up at the track. any information to help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Re: BMW Help

this is a list for all cars... extra brake pads, especially if you are using cheap auto parts store brake parts. Extra oil, grease, trans fluid (if auto), rags, brake kleen, battery box or charger,  belts, hoses (if not already new), Tools, as many as you can, better to bring stuff and not use then try and find something in the paddock.  What is the set-up? What tires, if you are using standard "street tires" you might want to bring extra.

"get up and get your grandma outta here"

Re: BMW Help

From out Sponsor's team (Yokohoma) recent experience, spare Giubo if so equipped.  Sit down and mentally go through any known to fail on your car that cannot be purchsed at 9 AM on Sunday morning and you cannot race without...for many BMW's that is the fragile ECU.  A lot of the spares you create just getting the car ready to  reliable are still usable (cap, rotor, coolant lines, belts) in a pinch for an emergency repair while making a parts store run so don't toss them in the trash, toss them in a box.

Not sure the era but one of the most successful cars of all times in Lemons is the 5-series BMW of a Cerveza out in California so I suspect there is a wealth of information out there.

Re: BMW Help

For those who might have experience or suggestions specific to our car, it's an E34 1992 BMW 535.

Re: BMW Help

dudutzu wrote:

For those who might have experience or suggestions specific to our car, it's an E34 1992 BMW 535.

Find a 4.4 and a stick from a 540...lol

"get up and get your grandma outta here"

Re: BMW Help

Hi Brett, been racing an e28 for 10 years with over 30 Lemons weekendscompleted.  The platforms are similar enough that I can share some experiences with you.  Feel free to call at 914 490 7683 and I can share some ideas with you.   Andy

'17 /  '16 Nj - Ct  - NH,  "15 - There Goes the Neighborhood, Doin Time in Joliet, Ct, NH     
'14 / '13 / '12 / '11 - Halloween Hooptifest, The Real Hoopties of NJ, There Goes the Neighborhood
'10 + 09 Boston Toe Party and Overhead Cam Bake - IOE at Toe Party
Other distractions including  K1200RS,  99 Speed Triple,  65 Corvair 455ci,  65 Corvair Corsa,  84 633csi, 85 XR4Ti Rapido, 01 e46 Touring

Re: BMW Help

You guys looking for some help or maybe a team member? I don't need/want to drive. Have plenty of track experience, had a competitive spec e30 (under old rules) for a few years. I've never done a Lemons race before and would be happy to help as support to wrench or prep just to get the lay of the land. My gear is probably all expired. Not sure how strict Lemons is with current vs. expired gear for non-drivers.


Even if you aren't looking for team members, I'm in RI and thinking about a crazy entry (based on an e36) for 2019. I have never wrenched on an e34 or an m30b35 (the engine in your car) but I have built many M10 and M20 motors (race and restorations), have welders and fabrication skills, tons of parts, lots of BMW factory tools, etc. Would be willing to donate/help where I can if you guys are local to me.

Re: BMW Help

1215 wrote:

You guys looking for some help or maybe a team member? I don't need/want to drive. Have plenty of track experience, had a competitive spec e30 (under old rules) for a few years. I've never done a Lemons race before and would be happy to help as support to wrench or prep just to get the lay of the land. My gear is probably all expired. Not sure how strict Lemons is with current vs. expired gear for non-drivers.


Even if you aren't looking for team members, I'm in RI and thinking about a crazy entry (based on an e36) for 2019. I have never wrenched on an e34 or an m30b35 (the engine in your car) but I have built many M10 and M20 motors (race and restorations), have welders and fabrication skills, tons of parts, lots of BMW factory tools, etc. Would be willing to donate/help where I can if you guys are local to me.

Not sure how local would you consider Cape Cod to you, but that's where HQ is. If you wanna visit the cape this summer let us know. And when it comes to bmw type of stuff we need all the help we can get! I'm pretty sure we're all set with gear and stuff but we appreciate your offer!

Re: BMW Help

With the gear I meant my personal gear is expired so if you guys need team members to help in the pit/maintenance I'd be willing (if personalities fit, etc.) but that I'm not looking to join a team to drive. So I wasn't exactly offering my gear to loan or anything.


Cape is kinda far. Well, depends on how far from the bridge you are. Welfleet/P-town is crazy far. Sorry... But I have a good buddy in Carver and close to the bridge isn't terrible.


Can any of you weld/fabricate or did you hire out the cage? You can do a pretty cool brake-booster delete on those motors. Usually guys do it to run ITB's but even if you kept stock intake your braking would be better than stock (for super cheap) and you'd have one less thing to fail. Not sure what your exact car/setup is but you also may be able to do a power steering delete and also depending on what you have you can do cooling for diff and transmission pretty easily (almost free).

Re: BMW Help

That's a lot of cool ideas! Brakes are the most exciting. Being a heavy car, not sure if deleting power steering is a good idea, especially for endurance... I guess right now we're trying to gather more info on how to make the engine reliable and keep it from blowing up.

Re: BMW Help

Those motors are pretty stout. If you look at the M10 motors (4-cyl in all the 2002's and 320's/e21), the M30 motor is literally an M10 with two extra cylinders. Or the M10 is an M30 with two fewer cylinders. Same rod ratios (bore to stroke ratios), same oiling, same pistons, valve sizes, cam profiles, etc.

A lot of guys will put baffles in the M10 pans to help with oiling or sump pickup. If you can weld I'd recommend making the sump as big as you feel comfortable. Stupid shit on all those cars go --stuff like driveshaft center support bearings. Weld an O-Ring around the d-shaft CSB so if it goes out mid-race stuff doesn't come up through the floor. Same with the flex disk (guibo) between the transmission and the dshaft. Do yourself a favor and weld a ring around that too. Whatever you do, don't reuse flywheel bolts or head bolts on a BMW. Ever.


If you guys have the budget for the wire, stitch welding helps a lot (not seam welding, that'll warp the frame, calculated stitches to keep the body panels tight). That'll keep your suspension geometry solid. Front & rear strut top mounts are huge. Fronts can be failure points. Not sure I'd go solid but maybe see if you can find the budget to replace with at least new OEM. I'd do new OEM and slot the strut towers over spending the $$ on adjustable camber plates.


Water pumps and tstats are huge. idk much about the m30 but in the m10 & m20 motors guys drill out the tstat but keep part of the housing to restrict flow. You need the coolant to flow slowly across the radiator or else you won't pull the heat out. Lots of guys just ditch the tstats and have overheating issues. Some people weld their oil sprocket nuts. I usually drill them and use safety wire. Water pumps and belt fans are ticking time bombs, especially with suspect engine mounts. Usually you can ditch the manual fan and run electric AC fan only.


Do you know about www.realoem.com? Enter your VIN and it'll give you exploded diagrams of everything. Do you have an automatic or manual?


Vacuum lines are a royal pain in the ass on those cars (that vintage). Tear out as much as you can --but don't be dumb about it. Make sure you know what you are taking out and why. Don't over-rev it. Some of that throttle body housing coolant line crap can go but some of it has sensors associated with it so just pay attention and don't tear everything out. Those rocker arms LOVE to break. Keep the RPMs down. If you can afford it, a rev limiter might be smart in case someone misses a shift. Depending on what rear end you have, if you are ballsy, a lot of guys will weld the diff. Rear driveshafts are a dirty, nasty pain in the ass to rebuild (to get the balls back in) but easy, cheap and straightforward. Most of the time you can reuse the boots. If you can weld/fabricate you can lower the cars well and mess with rear geometry easily. Some model cars had issues with rear diff carriers failing. not sure if your car is one of them but Google it.


That's a big, heavy car but pay attention to weight and balance. The motor is heavy and as you gut it, make sure you don't end up with too much weight up front. Bump steer will be a bitch and they can get tail happy.


Physically pull out, remove and then put the emergency brake lines back in the tubes with lube/anti-seize. They can build up rust and shit in there. Last thing you need is a hot parking brake to heat up a rear wheel bearing or rotor.


Oh --also, BMW is weird with transmission and power steering pumps. They run weird fluids (like ATF in some power steering pumps) in weird places. It's probably worth a flush just because.


Watch out if you need to weld around the area where a mud flap would hang off the front left quarter panel. A shit-ton of wires run down the driver's side right there... Easy way to start a fire before you get to the track (ask me how I know this smile.


I'd make a bigger oil sump. Maybe 2-3qt bigger (think about cornering and oil starving). Then over-fill your oil by a quart or so. Everyone runs full or a little over-full. Lots of guys build battery boxes into rear strut braces. Again, not sure what your team budget is. Pretty easy/cheap to fab up something. That'll keep weight back too. Clean out your timing chain tensioner.


Sorry that got long. Kind of a brain dump. Hope it helped. Keep in mind when you race, slow is fast. That's a really stout motor. A well sorted car should get you through the weekend. Then it's up to the driver from there. Hmm... What else... Don't be afraid of welding up cheap/ghetto solid tranny mounts but don't mess with the engine mounts unless you know the arms are solid.


Happy to answer any questions. I don't know it all but I love BMWs...

Re: BMW Help

E28 for us as well.  In addition to the above info, fuel pumps.  I'm convinced their design philosophy at BMW is that a fuel pump is a consumable item.  30 years later and fuel pumps are a common failure on our daily BMW, too

We had lots of charging system issues (just on the fringe of test values in the Bentley) that finally were cleared with a new alternator.  And, the belts are pretty tightly packed in there.  It'd flip over and wear on hoses.  The belt wear seems to be high through a weekend, but they're cheap.

Any of those suspension bushings or mounts that are rubber will be severely aged. Not going to probably cost you a race, but replace them as you go.  Even cheap new rubber engine mounts are better than the old one that'll break on you.  Flex discs included (like stated above) in all of that rubber stuff.

Plain Jane '86 BMW 535i - Current
RIP People's Elbowed Protege - 2010

Re: BMW Help

1215 wrote:

My gear is probably all expired. Not sure how strict Lemons is with current vs. expired gear for non-drivers.

The only safety gear that expires is helmets.

I still use my old helmet for pit stops.

Full race gear is required to be in pit lane.

Troy

#35 LRE
1973 Datsun 240Z

Re: BMW Help

Change the guibo now, or bring a spare to the track so you can swap it out mid day on saturday when the old one on the car shreds itself. Btw, the mid day swap will cost you a fair amount of track time, it won't keep you from winning because your rookyness will have already precluded you from a win, but it will force you off track for an hour.

Butt Sweat & Beers.