Minerva: The S54 powered, better than new, E28

[Tiit]

Congrats on hitting another milestone. Have no idea how you feel since I’ve never done anything like that. I bet you’re happy.
Since you asking opinions, I’d vote against that spoiler.

[tschultz]

Great work, a lot of planning and effort on your part to get things organized in the build! So even though you may not have done everything on it mechanically, be sure to take some credit!

It looks excellent. I'm still not sold on the color, but I can't deny it grabs your attention!

I for one think the small lip would offset the M5 front spoiler nicely, but as we know everybody has an opinion.

[tig]

The lip spoiler would be perfect in the trash or you could affix it to your recycling bin. It screams eBay and muddies up one of the best lines on the car without adding any sort of flair. I think the paint sticker should go there too, with a proper sonderlackierung (490) sticker replacing it, but that’s me. :P

Do you have a pic of the sounderlakierung sticker?

You were more than capable of doing the lions share of the assembly work on this car yourself and I was disappointed you didn’t as I think you wouldn’t have had as many of the challenges since you have more E28 experience than the people you had working on it. Hopefully as you have time to go over the car and adjust things and finish it how you want instead of paying someone else to learn as I’m sure you’d be back in there again anyway.

My sentiments exactly.

I am curious what your concerns are with the SQR-46 reboot. I figure there are several limitations with the newer technology in the old form factor but you can’t argue with how it fits the interior aesthetics of the car. Have been considering one of those but radios mostly just fill the hole in the dash for me. I use my earbuds for just about everything.

Not a ton on seat time with it so far, but here are my initial impressions:

- Looks great (until you open the faux cassette flap and see the el-cheapo USB plug).
- Sounds fine
- Doesn't seem to remember previous source, and always comes on in FM mode. Super annoying having to select BT every time as that's ALL I ever use. If I can't find out how to address this (maybe there's a fw update coming; it's such an obvious error) then I'm going to go with my original plan A, which was my Klienze MCR 1016BT. I'll sail you this thing cheep.

Also would like to see the car on the Fikses. I think those might actually be the ticket.

Soon. Sadly the tires on them are even more stretched and you know how I feel about 17" wheels on E28s and handling. I bought them knowing they'd be for show only.

[tig]

Congrats on hitting another milestone. Have no idea how you feel since I’ve never done anything like that. I bet you’re happy.

Thanks!

While we're on the topic of Milestones:





First start at 000,000 miles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hbzwYgBbyI


This exercise involved:

• Fixing the light bleed through on indicators caused by a broken tab on the cluster case I was using.
• Better clear plastic from another cluster I had that was from a 66k mile car
• Addressing the odometer error (Ivo shipped it to me with 25 miles showing)
• Cleaning and polishing the snot out of the cluster.
• Slightly tweaking starting location of speedo indicator; car shows a 5-7% fast on speed. I have another speedo that has the potentiometer (from the 66k mile car) that may get put in later if I continue to find the speedo being incorrect annoying.
• Putting a rear defroster switch in OBD
• Wiring the S54 ECU speed input into the speed output from the cluster (Pin 21). I didn't take any pics of my beautiful crimp & heat shrink, but trust me: It was perfect.
• Adding an RJ11 wire for Valentine 1 pre-wire up to overhead console
• Moving the bluetooth mic from steering column to overhead by sunvisior (i find it works better up there)
  Inspecting how Mitch installed the harnesses in the dash; it's all very neat and tidy. A few minor tweaks were required, like finding the ABS light wire.

Next up was the door fir. Earlier this year I had Ivo buy 11 meters of this for me, which I transported back from Amsterdam in my suitcase:

https://gummi-metall-puffer-shop.de/kan ... ours-wolle
(From this thread: viewtopic.php?p=1477709#p1477709)

First step was to see how the short corners could be made to work. It took several attempts and I finally settled on this: Two 45 degree cuts using some Swis shears. Kohler suggested cutoff wheel might work even better. I'll try that for the right side.



I did the driver's door first:






Then the left passenger door.


I'm extremely happy with this stuff. There's a very small risk of water ingress at the corners where the cuts are needed, but if the door seal is in good shape, this should not be an issue. Some gasket maker, carefully applied might seal it up, but I'm not doing that here unless I know I have to.

This stuff is a bit bulkier than the OE stuff. The doors close fine, but you can tell its a little tighter. The B pillar covers fit on tight.

That rear seat fitment just looks terrific.

My shakedown drive after all this was epic. I did my first 'real' burnout and goofed around with chirping the rears in 3rd gear...without sport mode on. The best part of the drive was this section of of road though:



I now have 8 miles on the car.

[wkohler]

You’re missing the bit of fabric that covers the gap between the seatback and bottom at the corners of the rear seat.

Are you going to enter the CHOP car show this weekend at Car Tender?

[tig]

Are you going to enter the CHOP car show this weekend at Car Tender?

??? Link? Or is this a joke i'm not getting.

[VZehn]

Stunning. What an amazing set of work. Very inspiring. Well done and now go enjoy the experiences in Minerva.

[tig]

The punch list is getting shorter (and longer).

Yesterday afternoon I knocked off:

• Put TRE fuel pump back in (this was actually already done, I misunderstood)
• Window switches illuminate whenever the doors open. Something isn't wired correctly. (Nope, as the Oracle informed me, on Euro cars the switches illuminate when the driver's door is opened!).
• Door jamb wiring loom plates were never installed.
• Install mouse fir on left side
• Install door sill panels
• Check tune - is rev limiter set right? (No, it wasn't. It was set to 8250. Dinan says I could do 9k, but I'm sticking with 8k which was the E46 M3 default)

This was all followed by several great shakedown drives. It was hard to tell if the rev limiter was set right because my tach only goes to 8000 and going above that while driving was scary. So I did one drive with it set to 6500. Yup, that works. I also turned on "Burble/Pop" in the ECU just to see how it worked. It's fairly mild and stupid (but fun), so I have turned it off.

So far I really do think this car handles better than Vlad, which is hard to do. The key is this car has an 3.0 turn, lock-to-lock, M5 steering box, while Vlad has the 3.5 standard version. I'm going to source another M5 unit for Vlad. Gotta get the tire rubbing sorted and all will be good.

Turns out 11 meters of the aftermarket door fir mentioned above is just about right for one car. Even with a few screw-up this was left over:







Yep, that piece of fabric is missing. Will fix.



I've searched high and low for a suitable replacement for the front door-jamb wiring covers. F4 tape wrapping them is the best I've come up with so far. Looks like ass, I think. I keep looking at modern cars for something that would fit. Any ideas anyone?



The rear versions of these are NLA. Glad I ordered 4 of the fronts so I could cut to length for rear:


Of course my scroll saw, which was used twice 30 years ago, died while doing the first cut. I had to move the saw blade up and down by hand to finish the cuts. But it did a nice job that a little emery paper finalized.





I may put this in. It has one set of RCA line-level outs. And I know it functions well. Does not look as good as the Blaupunkt, but at least it stays on Bluetooth mode between starts.

[vinceg101]

I've searched high and low for a suitable replacement for the front door-jamb wiring covers. F4 tape wrapping them is the best I've come up with so far. Looks like ass, I think. I keep looking at modern cars for something that would fit. Any ideas anyone?

Replacing those three items (the sleeve and the two grommets) is a challenge; one that I have to do as well.
Are the two grommets still available? If they are, I might do the following:
1. Use something like this: https://www.heatshieldproducts.com/lava-tube 1/2" or 3/4" diameter, whatever covers the loom.
2. Heat shrink tape the ends over the wires
3. Slice the new grommets on the back side, slip over the ends to cover the shrink tape & lava tube connections.
4. Epoxy the grommets back together, spin them around and press them back into the body and door.

Some issues:
1. I've used the lava tube before for it's intended purpose in larger diameter (the A/C return line next to the exhaust manifolds) and it doesn't like to make tight turns as the velcro strip gets bunched up. The two elbow turns in the loom covering may cause some problems. But maybe the smaller diameter covers might work better?
2. Color and texture might be a turn-off.
3. All of that might be a bit "fussy" to do in a tight, cramped space.

There might be better material out there (in fact I'm sure there has to be) than this stuff, but that would be my main avenue of research pursuit.

[tig]

The door internals need to be pretty much disassembled to get the loom out. But it can be done.

The grommets are NLA (they were never a separate part, but part of the loom.

I've seen a modern Toyota rear hatch on (on a 4runner IIRC) that looked close.

[tig]

T'was a productive day.

Well, beyond cutting the tip of my finger off wile making a sandwich, and spending most of it on "work"...



My goal for the evening was to tear into the passenger door and address why the window regulator is so slow. Of course, I ended up fixing the fact that the outside temperature sensor was awol instead. I had ordered a new one from Blunt ages ago, but it's nowhere to be found. I think I put it on Vlad. The one I could find was clearly Vlad's because it had red paint all over it from when I painted Vlad's spoiler with a rattle can.



This led to a search for the wires in the car the temp sensor connects to. I pulled back all the bedsheets and pillows but couldn't find it. Head scratcher. I got out the other harness I have and went through it looking for a "BU/Y" wire. Sure enough...



With the help of my daughters BF (he's somewhat useful) I got the wire fed through the appropriate firewall grommet, which looks like this:



It wasn't hard finding where it plugged into:



Jake wrote this when he disassembled the car. He then moved to CA. Mitch obviously didn't get hint when he reassembled things.

But it was a good excuse for me to get intimate with a bunch of the wiring on the car. The good news is Mitch did a fine job other than not installing the temp sensor and putting the cruise control module in (which is clearly not needed). He also dutifully left the seatbelt "gong" unplugged. I simply removed both reducing the GVWR by 42lbs.



In tidying up the wire to the temp sensor I found these guys, which I know are "unused" but wish I new what were "unused for".





After buttoning every thing up I had a minor heart attack when the car wouldn't start. It turns out C101 needs to be plugged in for that.

Because I messed with the ECU program last night, my shake down drive required I do a burn-out or two. Burn outs are not really my style, or at least haven't been since I had my C63...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu1C1AzeGoo

Some P0rn for ya'll:

[tig]

Good progress on punch list. It's not really growing anymore.



Set about fixing the pass window regulator.



Of course this broke (it was already on death bed).


This stuff is supposedly the thang (according to @dsmith) but a) its past its shelf life and b) I don't have the gun to squeeze it, so the repair will have to wait for Amazon.


(I *am* a professional, FWIW).

Still looks like ass, but a much nicer ass than before:



I can only find two of these. Need two more. You got some? I want. Let me know.



These are not connected. Thanks again @sherman.


The fact these went in dirty just about killed me. So I spent the afternoon detailing all of it.


Which led to this:


I tried making one good out of two, but the electrical part that looks good doesn't work and the electrical part that looks burnt, smoked. So ISO a like-new (or new; they are still available but $$$) defrost switch.

[boomvader]

Charlie, Minerva is absolutely stunning. Bravo! I almost have a hard time peeling my eyes from the photos!

Question: How is the cabin noise compared to Vlad and Maytag? Not sure if you also used sound deadening materials on the other two cars, so my question might be moot.

[tig]

Charlie, Minerva is absolutely stunning. Bravo! I almost have a hard time peeling my eyes from the photos!

Question: How is the cabin noise compared to Vlad and Maytag? Not sure if you also used sound deadening materials on the other two cars, so my question might be moot.

I'm going to hold off making a call here. Without the center console in, it's not apples to apples.

Recall that on this car I used a spray on sound damping material (this). Plus some 80mil stick on mat in key places.

On Maytag I went all-in on the 80 mil mat. Vlad is basically stock.

I suspect I have more work to do on the firewall of this car.

[1st 5er]

[tig]

For anyone who has a parts bin and wants to help me polish this thing off:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=154509

[tig]

Vote for Minerva's shoes. But remember this is not a democracy.

They all rub. In order from worst to best: RZ, Fikse, RS.

RS feels the most nimble, but def has more understeer (being 205s up front). Fikse's feel the heaviest, but not by much (being 17", which are never good on an E28).

Fikse 8.5x17 Profil 5S, E28 Fitment (ET13, 2.5" lip)






BBS RS 005 7x16 ET11 / RS 006 8x16 ET24






BBS RZ-394 8.5x16 ET13 (5x120)


I got no room up front for any deeper offset, that's clear.
RZ:


Fikse:




Detailed a bunch of stuff today including the console that goes below the HVAC and around the shifter. @ahab got me one with great carpet and a cracked upper. I had two other uppers and was able to pick the best parts for all.. Dug into the ashtray I have and was thinking it was salvageable, but one of the lenses broke so I gotta find another.

[Adam W in MN]

I love looking at this car. I vote RS with RZ's a close 2nd. Like you, I prefer 16" wheels on an E28.

[Ordnator]

If you do not smoke then there is a storage tray alternative, item 10 in the link.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpa ... Id=51_1089

I will take some photographs of this both in and out of the car and send them to you for comparison.

Plan B, the storage tray has the same orange plastic windows as the ashtray.

The ashtray is NLA whereas the storage tray is still listed as available from the main stealers.

I may also have an ashtray kicking around as I have fitted storage trays to two of my Eta's.

Best regards,

Mick

[tig]

If you do not smoke then there is a storage tray alternative, item 10 in the link.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpa ... Id=51_1089

I will take some photographs of this both in and out of the car and send them to you for comparison.

Plan B, the storage tray has the same orange plastic windows as the ashtray.

The ashtray is NLA whereas the storage tray is still listed as available from the main stealers.

I may also have an ashtray kicking around as I have fitted storage trays to two of my Eta's.

Best regards,

Mick

I've never seen the storage tray. Thanks!

[vinceg101]

If you do not smoke then there is a storage tray alternative, item 10 in the link.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpa ... Id=51_1089

I will take some photographs of this both in and out of the car and send them to you for comparison.

Plan B, the storage tray has the same orange plastic windows as the ashtray.

The ashtray is NLA whereas the storage tray is still listed as available from the main stealers.

I may also have an ashtray kicking around as I have fitted storage trays to two of my Eta's.

Best regards,

Mick

I've never seen the storage tray. Thanks!

I have one in my M535i. Works great although mine is a tad loose, but nothing some shims can't fix.

[tig]

Are you STILL using that Zune? I love you man.

[vinceg101]

Are you STILL using that Zune? I love you man.

Oh yeah, that one AND the larger 30GB as well as a 16GB HD also!
They're the last bits of MS gear I have.

[wkohler]

RSs are the winner. I do like the Fikses though. Very surprised the RSs rub since they should work with unmodified arches. Something must be wrong.

[vinceg101]

RSs are the winner. I do like the Fikses though. Very surprised the RSs rub since they should work with unmodified arches. Something must be wrong.

I agree: can't go wrong with a good set of RS's.