MyE28.com

Third time's the charm hopefully?

Continuing the Rear Window Shade and related weatherproofing issues for the E39:
Spent about 3 hours removing the old Butyl adhesive/weatherproofing from just one door. If you've not worked with it, it's pretty nasty stuff. It took me a while experimenting with various methods and chemicals (save yourselves some time: heat gunning does NOT work neither does lacquer thinner). I suspect straight acetone will but I didn't have any and couldn't find any on the shelves. I only had very little of 3M Specialty Adhesive Remover in liquid and some of the regular Remover in aerosol; that's the ticket. Be prepared to lose some skin on your fingertips.


Spent the rest of the afternoon putting the left door back together (including installing new Butyl adhesive tape to the vapor barrier so at least it won't leak this winter; maybe) with the new replacement door panel with integrated sun shade. Still not right and will have to pull the panel off (again) and figure out the top panel clips as well as how BMW expects you to attach the shade hooks on the window trim.

I've used mineral spirits on butyl before. Slow and messy but it does work if you scrape the big chunks off first.

gadget73 wrote: Oct 19, 2020 8:04 AM I've used mineral spirits on butyl before. Slow and messy but it does work if you scrape the big chunks off first.

Removing as much as possible with a plastic scrapper/blade is the key. I knew Acetone would have done the trick but I didn't have access to any on Saturday (at least not easily). I'm picking up the 3M remover this week and back at it on the right door this weekend.

Finally finished the rear doors over the weekend:



I stumbled my way through this install as I did not find a technical bulletin for the installation procedure (I didn't look too hard, truthfully). I pieced it all together through the parts diagrams and good 'ole Google & YouTube searches.

I also replaced the Vavona wood trim as many of the original pieces were very faded and cracked (that's what the tape is about on the door panel).

Now if I can only find these for the E28...

Wife and I took our E 21 out for an Italian tuneup, driving to a small town not far from home. Felt good to get out of the house during this COVID time.

Flushed the heater core in the Continental and made a restrictor to try to force more coolant flow through the core. Used a bit of scrap aluminum bar and basically made a 3/4 x 5/8 step bushing with a 1/4" hole through the middle of it. Nothing elaborate but it seems to have helped a bit.

Yesterday was oil change day; got the F150 and the e34 done. That meant I got to add to my O-ring & crush washer collection. (Does anybody else do that? )



Also swapped out the power steering reservoir/filter on the e34 and put the winter tires on it. The e34 is my youngest son's car, so I rarely touch it, and it's a discouragement when I do. The car just keeps losing weight via rust, and the "needs" list on that thing just keeps growing... but my son has really become attached to the car. I hate the thought of dumping a bunch of money and work into tires & suspension bits with it deteriorating the way it does.

cleaned out the inside of my subaru, husky dog life is ruff. hair everyyyywhere

A couple weeks ago I replaced the Isuzu's clogged radiator. Over the weekend I replaced the front shocks. I tried to do the rear as well, but the upper nuts were so badly rusted that they're never coming off. Waiting for some carbide-tipped bi-metal blades to arrive so I can finish the job...

Here's the crusty old front shocks:

BDKawey wrote: Nov 16, 2020 8:15 AM cleaned out the inside of my subaru, husky dog life is ruff. hair everyyyywhere

German Shepherd owner, here - can relate.

replaced the battery and alternator (water cooled, $500) on my M62 powered Range Rover yesterday. buy a Range Rover, they said - it'll be fun, they said.

I'm neck-deep in a 1968 2000 NK restoration...today more parts came. I'm drowning







Video of all the parts: http://img.duggi.net/825225AD-FCAA-4932 ... 6CEF56.MOV

davintosh wrote: Nov 15, 2020 11:45 PM Yesterday was oil change day; got the F150 and the e34 done. That meant I got to add to my O-ring & crush washer collection. (Does anybody else do that? )

No, I don't do it. But I think the insurance company was dumbfounded when they lowballed me after my first E12 was rear ended. They wanted records? I sent them, and asked how many had records of the last 24 oil changes.

duggi wrote: Nov 20, 2020 9:39 PM I'm neck-deep in a 1968 2000 NK restoration...today more parts came. I'm drowning







Video of all the parts: http://img.duggi.net/825225AD-FCAA-4932 ... 6CEF56.MOV

my mentor had a concours condition, 28k mile, '67 2000ca (coupe). i really should have bought that car. such an oddball car, but very cool in its own right. best of luck with your project.

duggi wrote: Nov 20, 2020 9:39 PM I'm neck-deep in a 1968 2000 NK restoration...today more parts came. I'm drowning

Dang... You're a brave man!

austin8753 wrote: Nov 20, 2020 9:58 PM my mentor had a concours condition, 28k mile, '67 2000ca (coupe). i really should have bought that car. such an oddball car, but very cool in its own right. best of luck with your project.

I bet that was a gorgeous car. The coupes are definitely funky in a lot of ways. Thank you!

davintosh wrote: Nov 20, 2020 10:19 PM Dang... You're a brave man!

Ha! My mom always taught me that anything worth having is hard work. I'm definitely learning that with this one.

Technically, it's not my car. But if the stars align it may be in my family some day (it is my daughter's boyfriend's boss's car).

1991 Carrera 4 - Amazongrun-pearlcolor. About 90k miles. Before we started it was a hot mess. Rode hard and put away wet.

Full paint correction and interior deep clean. Leif did almost all the work; I just showed him the ropes.

Here's a video of the unveiling (of course it was raining when we finished).

https://youtu.be/hI5hRXIROik

cek wrote: Nov 22, 2020 7:03 PM

Sweet looking car, I have a sweet spot for the aircooled 911s.

cek wrote: Nov 22, 2020 7:03 PM

a/d/s/ 300i (?) Noice.

Those who are familiar with e30s know that it's just about impossible to properly vacuum the carpet under the seat and between it and the console, without simply taking the seat out of the car. So, I took advantage of a pleasant late November day (50 degrees in Minneapolis) and did that.

I figured I'd find a bunch of change, but there was only a single penny underneath there.

Made a set of sleeves to fit the wrong rack bushings in my car. The correct ones require lifting the engine up enough to get the rack to move enough to fit them in, and thats not a guarantee. Later models used a 2 piece which fits without messing with the engine, but the later K frame had metal guide sleeves that the early one does not have. 16mm bolt, 18mm hole in the bushings. Used some electrical conduit to make up the difference. Had to slightly bore the ID to clear a 16mm bolt but it seems to work. A better fix would be to install the late style sleeves, but it would involve drilling out the hole in the K frame and I don't think I can get a drill in there straight to get it done. The early design had a metal bushing with a serrated face that simply digs into the frame to keep the rack from moving, the later design is effectively a dowel that can't move.

The E39 touring was down on the RR bump stop the other day. Pumped up, but apparently the airbag, AKA air spring, was not up to the task of holding air under pressure anymore. Both bags were just under $300, not great, but not awful. I was shocked, replacing both of them, putting tools away, a brief test drive and drinking a beer admiring my work was 3 hours. I was braced for a fight but it was an easy job.

My Mark VII dropped to the bump stops on all 4 corners last weekend too. Turned out to be a bad O ring between the compressor outlet and the drier. Pump was running but the leak was bad enough that the springs were just venting back through the gap. Baked out the desiccant in the drier while I had it apart and replaced the 4 O rings on the lines with the quad seal type that work better. I had a bag of those but lost them so I had to buy another bag. All better now. 4 wheel air suspension on that one so a leak in the wrong spot will drop the whole car. Of course it did this while I was about 10 miles from home, and that made for an absolutely miserable trip home.

Similar work project with my E39: Front Passenger Window Regulator replacement.
The window had been making some noise for a while now (rattling when open, etc.) and last week the glass decided to jump ship and slipped off the clamps (the rubber sleeves deteriorated and broke off) . I was driving around with it partially open for the about a week before a replacement was shipped and I was able to get some shop time this weekend.
All in all, it was about 4 hours start to finish with cleaning in the middle. Plenty of YouTube videos on the procedure so even going in cold having never done this before, it wasn't terrible.
The hardest/most PITA part was dealing with the butyl weatherstripping behind the inner door foam panel. I decided to do the task without removing the side air bag on the door (I was feeling lazy) which meant dancing around that foam panel. Removing the old butyl is an awful job involving scrapers, gloves, 3M Special Adhesive Remover, and lots of elbow grease. But if you don't want your doors to leak, you have to do it (at least to the bottom edge).

Nothing like working on one long-term car project with pending deadlines and having the other car throw an emergency repair at you.

vinceg101 wrote: Jul 26, 2021 2:57 PM Similar work project with my E39: Front Passenger Window Regulator replacement. The window had been making some noise for a while now (rattling when open, etc.)

The driver's window of my '03 530i has rattled if down a tad when closing the door since I bought it. It doesn't appear to be missing anything at the top of the door or door card. I guess I need to take a look at things when the door panel is off for speaker upgrade.

My 633 got a new battery today. The battery has survived since early 2014 in the Florida heat. Can't complain about that, Go Deka!

John in VA wrote: Jul 26, 2021 7:25 PM

vinceg101 wrote: Jul 26, 2021 2:57 PM Similar work project with my E39: Front Passenger Window Regulator replacement. The window had been making some noise for a while now (rattling when open, etc.)

The driver's window of my '03 530i has rattled if down a tad when closing the door since I bought it. It doesn't appear to be missing anything at the top of the door or door card. I guess I need to take a look at things when the door panel is off for speaker upgrade.

You can't tell anything until you take the door panel apart to view the condition of the regulator and glass clamps.
You could be lucky in that the screws on the clamps that hold the glass secure have come loose and it doesn't mean a whole new regulator; but with the track record of this generation of regulators, you're almost better off replacing it on spec. The Uro Premium replacement has a pretty good track record and is a fraction of the BMW price.
Had I been thinking smartly, I would have added a drop or two of Lock-tite to those fasteners before I buttoned up the door panel. Oh well.
Don't forget to lubricate all the guides, rubber seals and gaskets also as they cite friction of the glass against these parts as a major factor in the death of the regulator.

vinceg101 wrote: Jul 27, 2021 3:58 AMYou can't tell anything until you take the door panel apart to view the condition of the regulator and glass clamps.
You could be lucky in that the screws on the clamps that hold the glass secure have come loose and it doesn't mean a whole new regulator; but with the track record of this generation of regulators, you're almost better off replacing it on spec. The Uro Premium replacement has a pretty good track record and is a fraction of the BMW price.
Had I been thinking smartly, I would have added a drop or two of Lock-tite to those fasteners before I buttoned up the door panel. Oh well.
Don't forget to lubricate all the guides, rubber seals and gaskets also as they cite friction of the glass against these parts as a major factor in the death of the regulator.

Thanks for your notes. I have not replaced a regulator on the E39, but have plenty of E46 regulator experience!

More E39 Love. And I use that term loosely. Did the coolant pipes on the 525ita. I've done them before, I know it's no joy, but this time was worse. Including radiator and a pair of P/S hoses I was in 15-20 hours. I've had less time than that before removing, doing a minor rebuild, and reinstalling an engine. It's crazy. Oh well, they tell me my wrists will heal up in a couple of weeks.

I want to take my 87 635 to Eureka Springs in 2 weeks. May not make it. I have owned the car 6 years and driven it less than 100 miles since the 5-speed swap. Runs great, but tomorrow I will reattach the front swaybar, fix the gas leak on top of the tank, and call around regarding the AC.

As a fallback I may go to Eurofest in my 85 528e. Girlfriend likes it, low miles, presentable, and it should be an adventure.