E12 M535i Project - 08-21-19 Update

[wkohler]

Haha. This particular building is sketchy city. Mike's shop is actually pretty decent, but this whole complex is just weird. This building is actually really cool, but I like dark, rundown spaces.

[wkohler]

So, I showed these fenders earlier:



I took them over to "Clean Metal Industries," formerly Redi Strip.



Dropped them off on Tuesday, told I'd have them Friday. Called Friday and told I'd have them Wed. Called yesterday and was told today. They called this morning.

I picked them up and took them over to Mike's shop. They came out well. Well enough. They need plenty of work, though. I am tired of explaining things to people that only appear to be listening.



I don't know when he's going to do anything with them as he's got a couple of insurance jobs and has time limits on those, so the doors are just going to sit there, I guess. The phosphoric coating should be good for at least a couple weeks, but I asked that if he was going to be priming anything, he may as well do these.

I don't really care anymore and at this point, I hope the new fenders don't show up since I really don't feel like spending $500 on stuff I don't need. I would like it if the trunk gasket and hood rollers would show up, but I only ordered those two weeks ago so it's obviously not enough time to go by yet for parts that aren't Euro-specific. I have no idea how this car will ever get finished if I can't even order parts that are "available." Fuck it. Not worth the aggravation or the added expense to have to ship everything from overseas. I'm in over my head.

[bkbimmer]

It's just a car, guy. Not worth stressing over. It will get done when it is meant to.

Your zen hypocrite.

[wkohler]

Received news on my fender order today.

Left fender would be here June 28th. Right fender August 18th.

I cancelled the order but was informed that I cannot because somehow, "they are already en route."

So, now I get to spend $500 on fenders I cannot use and however much on the bodywork to make these other fenders okay to use.

[Karl Grau]

The other E12 M535i Project thread has a little bit catchier title.

[Adam W in MN]

The other E12 M535i Project thread has a little bit catchier title.

I'm sorry Chris, this does really blow. Are there any other saps restoring E12's out there that need euro fenders? There's bound to be someone foolish enough to undertake this that will buy those fenders from you.

Hopefully you won't need any other small parts bits from BMW that require you to submit copies of your birth certificate, title, and registration going back 5 years (in triplicate).

[leadphut]

The other E12 M535i Project thread has a little bit catchier title.

[bkbimmer]

At least you didn't have to repaint your roof! I'm so depressed.

[wkohler]

We did on the other car. :/

[bkbimmer]

We did on the other car. :/

That was then and this is about my feelings.

[wkohler]

The other E12 M535i Project thread has a little bit catchier title.

I'm sorry Chris, this does really blow. Are there any other saps restoring E12's out there that need euro fenders? There's bound to be someone foolish enough to undertake this that will buy those fenders from you.

Hopefully you won't need any other small parts bits from BMW that require you to submit copies of your birth certificate, title, and registration going back 5 years (in triplicate).

I still have to order a rear bumper since the one I got just isn't good enough and the seller was very careful with the truth about it. Also, once I get into the engine, like for the head gasket and what not, I'm sure there's going to be some more Euro-specific crap there too. I just cannot believe I have to wait FIVE MONTHS for one fender that was supposedly in the US at the time the order was placed. Also, both fenders were ordered at the same time, so why is one two months behind the other? What did I do?

[bkbimmer]

I have been waiting many months for a few rubber 2002 pieces, sit is redonkulous.

[wkohler]

This morning, I decided I needed to exercise the E28 M535i and the E12 530i, so I ran them up the freeway a few miles from the storage unit. While I was driving the E12, I got a call from Mike, which I missed since my phone was on silent and the car is kinda noisy compared to the E28. I was surprised to hear from him on a Sunday. He had sent me a couple of photos and he wanted to make sure I got them. Between coats on one of the cars he was working on, he decided to mount the rear doors. He has a helper on the weekends and figured that it would be a good time to try it in case he needed his help. Turns out he didn't. Says they fit well. He has all of the shims I took off the car, so he should be in good shape there.

Also, an interesting thing I never paid attention to with the new trunk lid is that there are no holes for the roundel. We don't need them so I told him to just not worry about them and drill the four holes for the rear spoiler.

I also filled him in on the news I got on the fenders. He said that it was ridiculous (Whew. I was afraid I was alone in this.) and that the pair I brought him are just fine and probably need just as much work as new ones.

It's not much, but this car hasn't had a door on it for 18 months or so. I guess it's interesting. It is progress.

[bkbimmer]

Is that the new trim on the rear doors? If so, how big a pita was it to install?

Btw, that beast is looking great.

[wkohler]

That is the new trim on the doors. It was a giant pain in the ass. Probably wouldn't have been if I had the right tools. Had to install that trim to put the door seals on. We basically straightened out all of the tabs, I got it clipped on over the lip and then Mike has a chisel and a hammer that we used to push the tab into the groove on the trim. It worked pretty well but it took a few tries. The driver door was by far the hardest as there was a difference in the apex of the door frame and the trim piece. I think once the window guide is in, it probably won't make a difference. Either way, I came away from that with some very sore hands, very angry at the German eBayer that wouldn't sell us the tools.

[leadphut]

fuuuuuuuuuug. so much win.

[bkbimmer]

That is the new trim on the doors. It was a giant pain in the ass. Probably wouldn't have been if I had the right tools. Had to install that trim to put the door seals on. We basically straightened out all of the tabs, I got it clipped on over the lip and then Mike has a chisel and a hammer that we used to push the tab into the groove on the trim. It worked pretty well but it took a few tries. The driver door was by far the hardest as there was a difference in the apex of the door frame and the trim piece. I think once the window guide is in, it probably won't make a difference. Either way, I came away from that with some very sore hands, very angry at the German eBayer that wouldn't sell us the tools.

I know the feeling, I wake up most mornings with my hands in the shape of claws. Cool you got it handled though. I'm ready to throw in the towel so to speak with my projects... Keep up the good work.

[funfunfer]

The other E12 M535i Project thread has a little bit catchier title.

I'm sorry Chris, this does really blow. Are there any other saps restoring E12's out there that need euro fenders? There's bound to be someone foolish enough to undertake this that will buy those fenders from you.

Hopefully you won't need any other small parts bits from BMW that require you to submit copies of your birth certificate, title, and registration going back 5 years (in triplicate).

We saps might be offended, but no. "Need" euro fenders? Maybe not, but if I ever get my E12 on the road I might think about it. Chris sets and awfully high bar, though.

[Adam W in MN]

I meant that I feel bad for anyone deciding to undertake an E12 restoration, especially a euro car.

[funfunfer]

I meant that I feel bad for anyone deciding to undertake an E12 restoration, especially a euro car.

[wkohler]

These are my thoughts on the Euro E12 restoration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn0WdJx-Wkw

The date was apparently moved up on the Fenders to the 20th, but I'm not holding my breath. Either way, it doesn't seem they will be used on this car.

[wkohler]

Last Wednesday morning (around 2am), I was looking at some stuff on Walloth and Nesch's site and realized they were having a sale on suspension stuff, so I ended up ordering a bunch of parts.

-Front strut mounts (accidental, but glad I did)
-Bilsteins
-new hardware for front and rear subframes
-sway bar mounting hardware

I was going to order a bunch of other stuff like wheel bearings and the like but they don't list brands and I can get that stuff here since fronts are the same as E23s and rears are standard E12, so no reason to pay international shipping, customs fees and duties on stuff I can get here.

Then I decided that since I need a new rear bumper and BMW hates me for owning a car like this, I didn't want to wait three months, so I ended up ordering a new rear bumper (all five pieces) from them as well as the brackets and hardware kit for it. I had the shipping offer (116 Euro) within half an hour as well as confirmation that the bumper parts were genuine. I accepted and everything was shipped by Friday. It all arrived today and in good shape, too.

Mike called in the afternoon and I was heading his direction anyway. He had the trunklid mounted and the seal in place and was just getting started on the left front door when I showed up, so I gave him a hand. I need to find a few more shims which sucks since I had a big stack of them left over from the B7. I guess I will have to pull them out of the doors on the super eta.







Mike also painted the fenders, which I wasn't expecting. They still need some fiddling which will likely be taken care of when they're attached. They're only held on with one bolt in these photos:

[OcCoupe]

Nice update Chris!

[Adam W in MN]

Beautiful work.

[Karl Grau]

Very nice.

[Pavel]

The dedication... love it.

[wkohler]

Mike threatened me with having to help install the hood, which is fine, but I wasn't looking forward to it as it took Scott and I over two hours to adjust the one on the Golf car when we put it back on. That said, after that experience, I knew my way around it and figured it really was best if I was there. Mike called me to tell me he got the fenders fitting well - or at least as good as they will fit and one of the door issues we were having went away when he rearranged some shims, and he actually ended up with shims left over once the fenders were on. I figure that once the car is back together, more tweaking will be needed but as long as the doors and fenders are plumb to each other, then fine. He also told me about a couple of things he needed and I made sure to bring those.

I installed the hood hinge, the notches for the fenders and the guide rollers on the hood. The notches and guide rollers are the original ones from the car. The notches will be re-plated with all the other crap and BMW is continuing to show me the love I deserve by holding onto parts they think I don't need, which is also how they essentially ruined my project forcing me to use used fenders and still pay them for the new ones I can't use.

Mike, his helper and I installed the hood on the hinges. I worked to get the bolts roughly centered in the slotted holes to give me a place to work from. When I set it down, it ended up perfect fore/aft, but it was a touch to the left. Mike had to show the shop for rent to the new renters, so, I made the necessary adjustments to the notches (moved them slightly to the right) and we ended up with pretty much perfect fitment relative to the doors and cowl. I had to adjust the right front corner of the hinge, and it's possible the left might need to come up a tad, but it's pretty good relative to the fender but once the grilles are in, I will know for sure. Of course, until the car is on it's wheels with a drivetrain in it, I'm not excessively worried about it.

I didn't install the torsion bars since that is one of those things I'd rather not waste Mike's time with since it's a fiddly, Mickey Mouse setup and it isn't necessary now. I might install the hood insulation first. I did install the latch and it took a bit of adjusting, but it works well, though I haven't run the cable through it's proper channels.

I also brought the NOS rear spoiler to set on the car and check fitment and we installed the fuel door so it can be cut/buffed on the car. The front spoiler is going to need some massaging where it wraps around the front fenders to allow it to hook around the leading edge of the arch, but Mike's compressor shit the bed, so until he gets someone up to fix it, we're in a holding pattern on that. I marked the areas on the body that need satin black applied.

[bkbimmer]

Looks awesmazing!

[tig]

Drool.

[Adam W in MN]

It's a new E12, 34 years later!

Just found out my rear bumper fasteners for the rubber molding were never sent in the (3 months late) package I got on April 30th. The body shop is putting it on and called me to track them down. What recourse do we have here, through the BMW Car Club or something? BMW likes to use their heritage and vintage car track record to enhance their image selling new cars, but their support is going to shit in the last year or so.

Edit: Chris this will give you a headache, others, this is the sort of bullshit BMW is pulling right now. From Blunt tech:

BMW conversation:

them

Looks like they are blocking these:
51-11-1-826-894 CLIP
They have them in U.S. but they are now blocked
51-11-1-860-064 FASTENER

Me
even with the euro title we provided?? How can that be?

them

AHHH…THAN NO ETA.
I’M JUST LOOKING AT PART # AND AVAIL

me

ok well if they are in the states and avail can we reorder or
something?? I dont know how they can be in the states and no ETA