Vlad: The Zinno '87 535is

[jhh925]

Is this an addition to the fleet?!?



Credit: Reddit

[muleskinner]

Who buys a f'n rental car and then spends money on a personal license plate?

[m-racer]

That's hilarious

[tig]

A little Milestone, coming up on a bigger one. Car remains a dream.



Admission: I never really mounted my ECU after installing the M30B35. It was held in place with zip-ties.

Over the past 2 years, I've spent many a late night in bed (actually a great technique for actually putting me to sleep...takes my mind of work) fabricating a fancy bracket/plate thingy in my head.

Then I noticed these brackets sitting with all my picture hangers and other misc house hardware. Took 20 minutes and required zero fabrication skillz.

[bkbimmer]

I love it when a plan comes together.

[tig]

[geordi]

You short of cash or utilizing the in-tank pump as a debris filter?

[tig]

You short of cash or utilizing the in-tank pump as a debris filter?

The point of the photo was not to illustrate how shitty my gas mileage is, but to illustrate that I'm now 'due for service'.

[Spen]

Charlie, I seriously doubt your car is ever due for service. It looks pretty serviced to me. I wish my serviced car was as serviced as yours.

[tig]

[Karl Grau]

Just getting broken in.

[piperbrothers]

Good God. What a beautiful car and an epic thread. I just "invested" two hours reading all the way through. My first BMW was a 535is. I spotted it in traffic and followed the guy until he pulled into a bank parking lot, where I jumped out and said, "Hey- would you be interested in selling your car?" And he sold it to me! I sold it a few years later to buy a 911SC but have always wanted another E28. I even tried buying it back from the guy I sold it to a couple of times in the past 17 years, but he doesn't want to sell. But soon I will have another; I am buying Alex's Euro 525. Charlie, I look forward to meeting you and Vlad (I've already met Minerva). Here is my old E28.

[tig]

Good God. What a beautiful car and an epic thread. I just "invested" two hours reading all the way through. My first BMW was a 535is. I spotted it in traffic and followed the guy until he pulled into a bank parking lot, where I jumped out and said, "Hey- would you be interested in selling your car?" And he sold it to me! I sold it a few years later to buy a 911SC but have always wanted another E28. I even tried buying it back from the guy I sold it to a couple of times in the past 17 years, but he doesn't want to sell. But soon I will have another; I am buying Alex's Euro 525. Charlie, I look forward to meeting you and Vlad (I've already met Minerva). Here is my old E28.

Looking forward to meeting you too! And seeing that silver 525 at KD. :-)

[tig]

Tee-hee. Found this under the wiper after arriving at Sea-Tac from CES this morning.



I am embarrassed by how dirty the car is right now.

[Karl Grau]

^^^

[leadphut]

Tee-hee...I am embarrassed by how dirty the car is right now.

Dood. No.

[unknXwn]

Sigh, someday my 535is will be up to spec and cleaned up...and painted nicely, and and and...working on getting a stable job right now. Things been rough.

[tig]

Sigh, someday my 535is will be up to spec and cleaned up...and painted nicely, and and and...working on getting a stable job right now. Things been rough.

Keep at it!

[tig]

Now that Maytag's off the lift, I can get to the long-overdue maintenance on Vlad.

• Alternator - Replace with reman unit as, unit I rebuilt puts out ~12V vs ~13.5 to 14.2
• Oil change - ~7400 miles
• Flush brake fluid - My records don't show when I did it last, but i know it was in last 2 years.
• Bleed clutch slave - Feels like air's in there
• Replace transmission fluid (MT-90)
• Replace belts
• Other Inspection II stuff - I'm at 22k on the new M30B35
• Swap wheels - because I"m bored with the RZs

Today I got the alternator swapped and started on the brakes. But my powerbleeder's adapter cap is leaking and the low-brake fluid sensor on the master reservoir broke when I tried to unscrew it. New one ordered. Flushing the brake fluid has been abandoned until a new cap comes from blunt and I can get a new adapter cap for the Power Bleeder.

Kinda sad my pretty, powder coated, alternator will go back as a core. I considered pulling the 'new' reman'd (Bosch) apart and swapping the case, but it's just not worth it. New alternator is putting out the right voltage; this should help with my blowing through batteries problem.






Also adjusted the hood release. It was getting harder and harder to get the hood opened and that's not good.

Finally, I took the RZs off and put the Alpinas on. They've been on Maytag, and the tires are about due to be replaced, so this way I can wear them down faster as I daily Vlad. I also was getting bored of the RZs...which will go back on Maytag. Note I have a set of 16" RS that I have had refinished, but have not gotten back yet...

I didn't take a picture with the Alpinas back on the car because it's dirty, but this is what it looked like last time he wore them...

[tschultz]

Looks good with the Alpina's!

I've always had success flushing brake fluid by using the jar and hose method, to the point that I don't have a pressure bleeder...

[tig]

CJ bought me one of these things that makes it so you don't get water spots for Christmas. He's a great kid.

I gave it a try this morning and I like.


https://www.amazon.com/CR-Spotless-DIC- ... =ceklog-20

[knunger]

When I ran a chem lab we used one of those to generate DI water for all of our lab water. We had to change the ion exchange resin a couple times a month so we ended saving mucho dinero by buying in bulk. I think we used these guys:

https://www.resintech.com/ion-exchange-resins

I know, 300 gallons sounds like a lot, but you will find that you end up using that DI water for all kinds of things other than washing your car. Your coffee maker or espresso machine will never need cleaning again!

[tig]

Fudge.

Clutch pedal went loose almost all the way to the floor this morning.

[tig]

Fudge.

Clutch pedal went loose almost all the way to the floor this morning.

Well, that explains that.



I was going to inspect this as part of my "Inspection II" stuff that I started over the weekend.

Based on this, and reviewing the PO records, I'm replacing the master too (it was replaced at about 90K miles). Also going to install a SS hose since this one looks original.

We know now why Vlad's clutch was disengaging so close to the floor too...

[travisj]

CJ bought me one of these things that makes it so you don't get water spots for Christmas. He's a great kid.

Nice! Water spots make the worst Christmas gifts. I got some in a priority box one year.