Re: 1985 Arktisblau M535i Renovation - Progression

[Spen]

From what I've seen from a mellow glance, it looks pretty spectacular. I'm sure even the most die hard self absorbed restoration guy would commend you on your extreme detail oriented cosmetic and functional works.

I like that Arctic Blue color (I'm partial, but mine is so blown out it's starting to look kind of cool on top... But I'd prefer it shiny I figure like yours).

Surely I will be looking more later at your tome of work documented here!

[maybeillbuyit]

Very nicely done. I just read through all of the latest install pics. Love the seats of course. Seeing that Taurus makes me wonder why nearly every e28, e24, e12 is always black , beige or blue. I surprises me more people didn't opt for some of these other colors. I'm hoping to see this car in person some day. Congrats

Maybe I missed it , whats your feeling on all the sound deadening etc. Is the car a quiet as you hoped? I assume its made a fair bit of difference.

[vinceg101]

Maybe I missed it , whats your feeling on all the sound deadening etc. Is the car a quiet as you hoped? I assume its made a fair bit of difference.

I have only driven it short distances, both street and freeway and it is noticeably quieter (or at least I really want it to be). Of course, I have no real scientific method of comparison since I didn't create a baseline. I have also not driven any long distances yet and that is where I tend to notice the differences.
I could have likely skipped one or two items I used but overall, I have to say it is making a marked difference and probably worth the cost expense in the long run.

[stuartinmn]

Do you have a part number for those door wiring boots from Ivo? I looked around on his website but wasn't able to find them.

[vinceg101]

Do you have a part number for those door wiring boots from Ivo? I looked around on his website but wasn't able to find them.

That was harder than it should have been to find: https://www.e28.nl/en/product/bmw-e28-f ... 121380229/

[stuartinmn]

Thanks for the link! I'll order a couple of them today.

Back when I restored my M535i I was able to find an aftermarket part that doesn't look original but worked reasonably well for the rear doors, but nothing that would have worked for the fronts. It was a part from Spal, but it appears that one is NLA. https://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=3 ... 8&p=758424

[vinceg101]

As I mentioned in the last post, supposedly Ivo has reproduced the rear boots (or at least the prototypes). However I looked all over the site couldn't find them; it doesn't mean they're not there, look how hard it was to find the fronts, but maybe they're not ready for primetime sales yet.

[stuartinmn]

I placed my order. The front boots are reasonably priced, but shipping costs to the US...oof.

[stuartinmn]

As a followup to my previous post, the door wiring boots from Ivo arrived today. They appear to be very good quality, and I was amazed at the fast shipping time (only nine days from the Netherlands to Minnesota.) Thanks again for the tip.

[vinceg101]

As a followup to my previous post, the door wiring boots from Ivo arrived today. They appear to be very good quality, and I was amazed at the fast shipping time (only nine days from the Netherlands to Minnesota.) Thanks again for the tip.

Glad to hear it. I am continually amazed at how fast shipments from EU (usually via DHL) get here. My latest order from Schmiedmann in Denmark to Los Angeles only took about 4 days. And yet orders within the continental US (doesn't matter which carrier), takes a week or more to go from one coast to the other. Go figure.

[philipj]

Beautiful work, and the new color/leather interior is stunning!

[tig]

<3

[Alberto89]

What brand of brake pistons did you use? And did you cover the inside where the piston comes in during the zinc/galvanizing process, or is it not necessary?

[vinceg101]

Brake Caliper Pistons: Stock ATE that came with the calipers
Plating Protection: Not sure what the plater did but the zinc didn't get into the shafts/wells. There was a discussion on that before that it was perfectly okay for the zinc coating to line the shafts/wells; so I would say it is not critical.

[Alberto89]

Okay thanks. Have you sanded or polished the cylinder walls? I can't find Ate pistons on the internet hence my question.

[vinceg101]

Okay thanks. Have you sanded or polished the cylinder walls? I can't find Ate pistons on the internet hence my question.

No I didn't have to, if I recall I might have sourced these as rebuilt units and sent back my cores (I didn't want to clean the old ones). Then I disassembled them for plating, then rebuilt them myself. The interior cylinder walls were in good clean condition (so were my old ones since the fluid was regularly changed). I did a minor upgrade change when I did this by replacing the rears with E34 540i calipers in lieu of the E32 735i ones that my car came with (it mattered what rebuild kit you use).

I am not sure you're going to find the cylinders separated for sale individually at this point. Your best bet might be to do what I did and buy used rebuilt clean units and plate those and use all the parts that come with them.

[Alberto89]

Okay, thank you for the information!

[JoelTell]

I'm trying to do only a partial part of what you did and just need to get the carpet pulled up in the driver and passenger footwells but it seems like I'm going to have to dismantle the entire center console to get the clearance. Any advice on locating hidden fasteners in the center console? I can get things mostly loose but it feels like it's going to break tabs and such if I pull harder. Not sure if the wiring harnesses are holding things tight.

[vinceg101]

I'm trying to do only a partial part of what you did and just need to get the carpet pulled up in the driver and passenger footwells but it seems like I'm going to have to dismantle the entire center console to get the clearance. Any advice on locating hidden fasteners in the center console? I can get things mostly loose but it feels like it's going to break tabs and such if I pull harder. Not sure if the wiring harnesses are holding things tight.

Understandable, there are several blind connections that you don't find until you start taking things apart. You can see some of them in my photos.
The first thing to do is disconnect all the various cables, wires, clips etc. including:
-Window Switches, push the wire harnesses through the holes to free up the console.
-Seat Switches (if you have power seats)
-HVAC Connections
-Shifter and Boot (if you have a standard, if an automatic, you need to do some research on how to get the selector apart)
-Glove Box including the side panel against the Center Console
-Cigarette Lighter plug
-Driver's Side Knee Bolster

Next, remove the Radio/Head Unit. Disconnect speaker fader switch (if you have the factory Premium Sound, it's the little wheel thingy next to the HU).
The center console is in four separate components, see them here in this diagram: https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showpa ... Id=51_1096

Separate the HVAC Control Panel and Radio Surround from the Center Console (Part #2) via removing the two small screws you see on the sides. Push the panel through the hole to break the bond. There are four connections holding this whole thing in: 2 small screws in the top of Part #2 which screw into the dashboard (accessed with the HU removed they become exposed), and 2 similar screws that hold the bottom down to the transmission tunnel (you access them through the shifter hole, they go through the clearish plastic bridge).
To remove the Center Console, remove said four screws and begin to carefully lift the rear of the console tilting the whole assembly up. The bond between the top of the Console (Part #2) and the dash might be strong after 30+ years, so it's best to use a plastic trim tool to separate it first. From there rotate it to clear the shifter, dash and parking brake and pull backwards; be sure to feed any cables and wires through holes and around stuff.

The other item that needs to come out is usually the Parking Brake Console. In theory it shouldn't have to since they aren't connected, but they kind of lock together with the Center Console lapping over the PB Console. With it out you have some more room to work in without fear of damaging the PB Console. There are two screws in the back under those flush tabs then another towards the front (can't recall exactly where at the moment).


This gives you clear access to the the HVAC Bowden slider cables connecting to the Control Panel. They are connected via eyelets on the cables that lock onto pins on the sliders then they are snapped into brackets on said sliders. With a little leverage they will easily pop off. Carefully disconnect the bulb holders and fan control plugs that go to the back of the HVAC control panel as it comes out. With all those connections off, you can pull the panel out and bench it for later. This now exposes the HVAC Condenser/Blower Box.

Without stating the obvious, removal is WAY easier and faster than re-installation. Photo everything, label everything and go slow. And be careful.

[hubble1953]

Hi Vince: Any news on the m535? It is always a lot of fun to see what you are doing to your car:).
thanks,
jm

[CanadianMiniFan]

Read through this thread over the course of about a week. Bravo Vince, it is rare to see a car refurbished to this level of detail, the zinc plated bolts and fixings really are the finishing touch work like this needs. You started with a car that most people, myself included, would be ecstatic to own, a really nice driver and have taken it to the next level. I hope all your work hasn’t deterred you from using the car, it happens with so many restorations and it’s a shame, so I hope it’s still getting to stretch its legs!

[vinceg101]

Hi Vince: Any news on the m535? It is always a lot of fun to see what you are doing to your car:).
thanks,
jm

...I hope all your work hasn’t deterred you from using the car, it happens with so many restorations and it’s a shame, so I hope it’s still getting to stretch its legs!

Update coming soon. I didn't realize how many small projects, punchlist and troubleshooting items I have been doing over the last 12 months.
And yes: the urge is strong not to drive this out in the wild as it should be, but I have been trying to make an effort to drive it more and more. It's our winter here and has been raining a lot this year (as I am sure you have been hearing in the news, in fact it's raining and snowing AGAIN this week), so the weather hasn't been so conducive for driving in general let alone getting this car out. But I just returned from our St.Paddy's Day Meet in San Diego this past weekend and put another 400 miles on the odo. Looking ahead to the various events this spring/summer/fall and mapping routes.

[vinceg101]

And here it is, or at least the first part of it. Turns out going back and documenting all of what I did is taking some time, so I will split it up into several posts. These are not necessarily in chronological order.
Yes, it has been a while since I updated this thread. And yes, the work has been progressing, although in small degrees. I spent most of 2022 focusing on work (damned annoying that), tackling a punch & troubleshooting list, and just plain enjoying the car. Took the car to some shows and events also: here are some those, there were two others also but undocumented:
June: 2022 BMW Takes Flight, Lyon Air Musem (John Wayne Airport, Irvine, CA):



June: 2022 Huntington Beach Concours:


September: 2022 The Biggest Little 5er Event (aka RenoFest):



November: 2022 SoCal Vintage BMW Meet:


I made mention to the mountain of punch and troubleshooting items I had leftover when I “finished” the interior project in November 2021 (but when is any car project finished, really?). It’s a list I’m still working on, but it is getting smaller. Since I can’t help myself, I have rolled in a series of upgrades and other improvements (it’s the whole “while you’re in there…” scenario) so that list is growing as fast as it is shrinking.
So here is the recap for all that to date:
Most of the items were simple stuff that revolved around just completion and installation, changing a piece/part, final adjusting and the like. Pretty much all of it un-documented but for a list:

-Final Seat Trim & Adjustments:
This was just installing the last of the seat rail covers after I sourced the clips that hold them onto the rails. You can see it here in the is image of the Door Sills (more later on these):


-A/C:
A/C decided not to work at the worst possible time: road trip to Reno in September in the middle of one of the biggest heat waves to hit California. I spent 6-7 grueling hours sweating my b*lls off driving through the Central Valley and into Reno the next day in misery. Went through the litany of possible reasons from major to minor; turns out that all-too-critical relay under the dash was the culprit (the one item I did not change during the whole overhaul ). Sourcing the correct relay (the Behr with the mirrorized label) and replacing it was the solution. I am still keeping an eye on the OEM Condenser since it has a very slow leak. The next step will be a total upgrade with a new aftermarket parallel flow system, but that is likely a ‘next year’ item.

-Lighting:
Had an annoying issue of the headlights turning on and off intermittently while driving, so it was obviously a loose connection somewhere. I don’t normally drive this car in the dark, so the first time I noticed it was during a really early morning drive to a car show last July (the San Marino Classic Concours). Really disconcerting driving down a dark freeway only to have all the lights just magically turn off. The issue was finding the loose connection; I went through every connection on the lights and the harness and through all my separate relays I have controlling the headlights to no avail. Turns out this is also a leftover issue from when I replaced the Fuse Box back in 2016. While the box was new, my wire harnesses were original and many of them had the bad/damaged terminal connectors. The big issue was their inability to lock into the box lid so the relays make strong positive contact. After some investigations, a few of the ones under the low beam relay had dropped back into the box. Now to fix them. I wasn’t easy getting in there as I had to lift the box lid up (the wires kept it from coming up more than a few inches), find the wires, then look at the terminals and see what can be done. On a few of them the locking clip were still intact and with a really tiny pick was able to pull them back into usefulness. A few others no luck; the only solution short of a wire splice (which I should have done when I replaced the box in 2016) was to drop a spot of super glue to hold it in place. I know, not ideal and not the best solution but it works. (I had to do this same thing with a few of the terminals for the wiper relay as they suffered the same problem). This solved the problem, at least for now (of course I haven’t driven at night since then…)

Head Unit & Antenna:
The whole Audio System in this car has been an evolving beast unto itself. It really deserves its’ own entire multi-page, multi-year thread it’s been going on that long. There are so many moving parts in this system, any problems require a lengthy diagnosis process. The issues this time revolved around the Head Unit and the electric Antenna. I replaced the HU in 2021 with a new Continental unit which initially was a good fit into the car: the faceplate style matches the E28 fairly well (at least it’s not overwhelming and garish) with matching colors and easy controls. I swapped this in for the vintage Blaupunkt SQR88 Woodstock I had in before this project. I was having signal and balance issues with it so I wanted to try something different. The issues with the Continental were that the signal connections are via speaker wires only not RCA like the Blaupunkt (well, RCA via a DIN adapter) which meant I had to run a separate set of speaker signal wires in the car (which I did during the project. I had the flash of wisdom to install a set of RCA signal wires also at the same time just in case…). The other issue was after using it for a while, the Continental just didn’t have the range nor the deep sound quality of the Blaupunkt. Also, for whatever the reason, I couldn’t get the Antenna to work with it as I would have needed a special adapter to fit the Hirschmann connector. So, I went back to the Blaupunkt with improved connections which seems to have fixed most of the previous issues. Sounds so much better than before and the Continental (and is period correct for the E28). I’m still having issues with the Amp Board overheating in the trunk which is focus of an entire sub-project to address this and upgrade some of the system components (new sub-woofer speakers and control chips in the Processor). I just got back from a road trip to San Diego for the 2023 St.Paddy's Day Meet and can attest to how sonically wonderful this system is when it's working. Even at freeway speeds I still can't listen to it past level 4 on the volume. Oh, but what a joy it is.


Air Filter Box Restoration:
Long time back, I tried my hand at applying a 'crinkle' finish to the cover of my Air Filter Box. I had been meaning to fully complete the engine bay work and repaint that, but it fell low on the priority list. I finally got around to dropping it off to a powdercoater nearby and had them do their magic.


More soon...

[Mdreamer]

Thanks for the update. Do you mind sharing which Continental head unit you discarded? I ask because I am on the fence about purchasing this one:

https://www.continental-automotive.com/ ... -Bluetooth

I like the way it looks, the matching amber lighting, and the fact that it has a CD player and Bluetooth. If the sound suffers, however, I'll pass.

[vinceg101]

Thanks for the update. Do you mind sharing which Continental head unit you discarded? I ask because I am on the fence about purchasing this one:

https://www.continental-automotive.com/ ... -Bluetooth

I like the way it looks, the matching amber lighting, and the fact that it has a CD player and Bluetooth. If the sound suffers, however, I'll pass.

It was the TR7411, the real bottom of the line version without CD or BT.
I wouldn't say it sounded bad, it just wasn't as 'deep' as older headunits if that makes any sense. The low end was a little light and maybe the midrange was soft as well. And I was pushing it through a dual amped a/d/s/, 6 speaker setup so I'm not sure what it would sound like on its' own.