At least for one little BMW E34.
Having bought this car from it’s original owner last December, I’ve been taking every chance I get to modify it to suit my needs. And what I need is a great handling car with a low stance and a classic Euro look. Until the past few months I haven’t been in the best position to bring the car up to my standards of performance but have managed to modify a few aspects of the car that favor my intentions nicely. A set of 6500K HIDs were first and foremost, followed by Euro trim, black kidney grills, and a set of E31 8-series wheels. More recent additions are a set of staggered 18″ BBS LM replica wheels with a bit of a stretch on the tires, Euro M5 tail light assemblies, and of course the German tag for the front.
onto why the car has a bright future….
A few months ago I had a chance to get in on deal with LowTec Suspension Ger. through the BMW car club of America. This deal was for full suspension kits (complete spring and strut assemblies at least) for which we were able to choose our own spring rate, ride height, and dampening/rebound characteristics.
Now one may say “why not buy full coilovers and have adjustability?” I chose this route for two reasons: One being that there are currently only two brands in the world that even make fully adjustable coilovers for this particular BMW and both kits are quite aggressive for the street as they are designed for heavy track use, and this car will never see the track. The second reason for not going with coilovers is that I wanted to preserve a certain aspect of the car that is the very foundation of it’s design: luxury. Everything that makes this car luxurious would be thrown out the window with coilovers. The cushion of the leather seats isn’t enough to make up for an infinitely bouncy ride due to track spring rates and heavy dampening.
Because I’m not one for the way my cars sits about as high off the ground as a small SUV I naturally chose the lowest ride height available through LowTec, which should get rid of most of the fender gap. With those of you unfamiliar to the BMW realm this will provide a slight “raked” stance as well, giving the car a very low nose. Just my style. Below is another E34 with a similar suspension setup:
In any case I’ve been waiting for my suspension to be made for a few months now and it’s finally made it’s way to U.S. shores. I should have it all by this coming Friday and will have to set aside my plans this weekend to put it all on the car. No complaints here.
Also on the way are some Euro Ellipsoid projector headlight assemblies which I will be taking apart to paint part of the insides black for a “smoked” look. In addition to the lights I also have a few small additions en route such as an older M5 steering wheel and a smaller shift knob. Future projects for this car include converting all the exterior lights to LED array to match the more modern BMW’s as well as many new cars today. The lights will look completely normal when they aren’t lit but will house small a small LED array for the brake light, turn signal, etc. Nothing major, but will be the only E34 of it’s kind. The distant future holds more major modifications (performance!) but enough on this non-Porsche car for now….
[...] Tearing out the E34’s stock suspension and installing all the new Lotec components. Though the springs will settle a bit lower after a few hundered miles I’m happy with the way it sits[...]
Wonderful looking e34. Nice color and nice rims. Actually they express aggression, natural to my seeing of all bmw cars. Would you please tell me what these rims are?
The black E34 (mine) has a set of staggered BBS LM replica wheels. As for the red E34, I’m not sure what wheels he has on his car.
I was wondering if you are presently running the Lotek set-up or the set up you fabricated? I am hoping to get my 540 down low enough to make 16’s look good on it. Your coilover set-up would be ideal. I was also hoping for a cleaner side picture so I can check out your fender gap. Anyway, I noticed you are in KC and work with Porsches. You probably know my friend Eric Brown from BHR. Thanks for any info you may have.