Re: My (first) E28, 1988 535is 5spd
Posted: Sep 08, 2019 12:55 AM
I posted a bunch of these photos on facebook and Instagram, but here I can add more detail and talk more about the build challenges Chris has been fighting. The good news is, the car is done (except for the a/c which I'll deal with later). The bad news is, as of this post, I still don't have it because Intercity hasn't given me a date. I'm getting incredibly impatient.
Chris took a bunch of glamor shots last week when it was all done and boy does the car look amazing in my opinion. It's going to need a repaint but in these photos after Chris buffed it, the Zinno looks about as good as possible. Chris spent a tremendous amount of time to deliver on my ask for a fully functioning headlight cleaning system. Chris went through a horde of parts to get a functioning system, and spent hours on the wiring and setup. Throw into the mix the new old stock lights I bought, and the right bulbs, and you get the French look. Chris even threw in yellow lights in the lowbeams for the full effect.
Other highlights of this work include the completion of the rear sway bar fixes, welding in new mounts and painting them. Chris may have pictures of that. The a/c was a huge chore and in the end still didn't work after a rebuilt compressor (twice) and hours of Chris's time blowing out the system and troubleshooting it. In the interest of time for all the other checklist items still on the car I told him to leave it and I will work on it next year here in Minnesota with a trusted BMW shop if I can find one. Maybe I'll do the Sanden compressor I think it is called?
The car also had an oil leak and hard starting issues which he corrected (oil pan bolts were not snug and fuel filter was installed backwards and fuel pumps were old maybe original to the car). New fuel hose was also installed.
Wherever possible when doing something if Chris saw old parts (or shoddy parts) he replaced them with the correct stuff. There is a TON of dunn-right in this car.
Then there's the front suspension, oh my god. Chris had this thing apart so many times in the end we just replaced everything. Turns out the crappy Ireland Engineering front camber plates were digging into the shock towers. He at first thought maybe it was the shock mounts which had the locator tab drilled/dremeled off. But it was the camber plates. Not only were they digging into the shock tower, they were causing the spring to bind and then spring back when making turns (the steering would spring back to center). New front shock mounts were purchased, the camber plates were ditched, and the tie rods, drag link, and center link were all replaced before the car was aligned. Finally it drove right he said after the entire front suspension was replaced pretty much! And the alignment did wonders.
Chris installed the seats and a center e-brake console without the seat power controls. They weren't cut, but are tucked inside if I ever want to go back to E28 power sport seats (not likely with these Recaro beauties). He also installed the steering wheel I had recovered.
The Racing Dynamics strut brace was one of the final things installed. I waited about 3 months to get that thing since it was on backorder. It dresses up the engine bay nicely.
Speaking of the engine bay, Chris cleaned up the install of the b35 where the AFM was flopping around. He used a BMW part from the later E24 I believe. He also re-routed the a/c lines using 533i parts I think so they weren't so close to the header. The car has an Ireland Engineering exhaust which I'll evaluate keeping. The Supersprint system with header may be calling to me when the 10% off sale hits this Fall.
I couldn't leave well enough alone and even though the car is "done" I ordered a Ron Davis racing radiator which is being made now. With any luck it'll be done soon enough to put in the trunk before the truck picks the car up for shipment to Minnesota. Otherwise they'll ship to me and I can figure out when to install it.
The car doesn't have a stereo currently but I bought a refurbished Alpine tape deck from Europe that has been converted to have an aux port and bluetooth. That can go in this winter and I'll take my time getting the sound good. I also bought a 4 channel Xtant amp to go with it.
Other things Chris did include wiring in the map light mirror, adjusting the sunroof, installing a new trunk floor mat, putting in a new front grille because one was cracked, working on the mirrors so the power functions aren't so slow.
I'm probably forgetting a lot of stuff but Chris can fill in details.
Chris has overcome a lot with this car, and discovered some bad stuff like this crack in the head.
Not sure what I'll do about that, but it hopefully won't have a huge impact on the way it drives. Now taking it to a track day may be another question (too much stress on the head)?
2020 plans: Figure out what to do about the cracked head, a paint job, new windshield, black alcantara headliner, leather surfaces like door panels, center console, and maybe dash the way that car was done on bringatrailer would be nice. The Supersprint exhaust system I mentioned could be done. And then....nothing else, but I don't intend to do any projects that put the car out of commission for long because I want to DRIVE THE PISS OUT OF IT AND ENJOY IT!
Chris took a bunch of glamor shots last week when it was all done and boy does the car look amazing in my opinion. It's going to need a repaint but in these photos after Chris buffed it, the Zinno looks about as good as possible. Chris spent a tremendous amount of time to deliver on my ask for a fully functioning headlight cleaning system. Chris went through a horde of parts to get a functioning system, and spent hours on the wiring and setup. Throw into the mix the new old stock lights I bought, and the right bulbs, and you get the French look. Chris even threw in yellow lights in the lowbeams for the full effect.
Other highlights of this work include the completion of the rear sway bar fixes, welding in new mounts and painting them. Chris may have pictures of that. The a/c was a huge chore and in the end still didn't work after a rebuilt compressor (twice) and hours of Chris's time blowing out the system and troubleshooting it. In the interest of time for all the other checklist items still on the car I told him to leave it and I will work on it next year here in Minnesota with a trusted BMW shop if I can find one. Maybe I'll do the Sanden compressor I think it is called?
The car also had an oil leak and hard starting issues which he corrected (oil pan bolts were not snug and fuel filter was installed backwards and fuel pumps were old maybe original to the car). New fuel hose was also installed.
Wherever possible when doing something if Chris saw old parts (or shoddy parts) he replaced them with the correct stuff. There is a TON of dunn-right in this car.
Then there's the front suspension, oh my god. Chris had this thing apart so many times in the end we just replaced everything. Turns out the crappy Ireland Engineering front camber plates were digging into the shock towers. He at first thought maybe it was the shock mounts which had the locator tab drilled/dremeled off. But it was the camber plates. Not only were they digging into the shock tower, they were causing the spring to bind and then spring back when making turns (the steering would spring back to center). New front shock mounts were purchased, the camber plates were ditched, and the tie rods, drag link, and center link were all replaced before the car was aligned. Finally it drove right he said after the entire front suspension was replaced pretty much! And the alignment did wonders.
Chris installed the seats and a center e-brake console without the seat power controls. They weren't cut, but are tucked inside if I ever want to go back to E28 power sport seats (not likely with these Recaro beauties). He also installed the steering wheel I had recovered.
The Racing Dynamics strut brace was one of the final things installed. I waited about 3 months to get that thing since it was on backorder. It dresses up the engine bay nicely.
Speaking of the engine bay, Chris cleaned up the install of the b35 where the AFM was flopping around. He used a BMW part from the later E24 I believe. He also re-routed the a/c lines using 533i parts I think so they weren't so close to the header. The car has an Ireland Engineering exhaust which I'll evaluate keeping. The Supersprint system with header may be calling to me when the 10% off sale hits this Fall.
I couldn't leave well enough alone and even though the car is "done" I ordered a Ron Davis racing radiator which is being made now. With any luck it'll be done soon enough to put in the trunk before the truck picks the car up for shipment to Minnesota. Otherwise they'll ship to me and I can figure out when to install it.
The car doesn't have a stereo currently but I bought a refurbished Alpine tape deck from Europe that has been converted to have an aux port and bluetooth. That can go in this winter and I'll take my time getting the sound good. I also bought a 4 channel Xtant amp to go with it.
Other things Chris did include wiring in the map light mirror, adjusting the sunroof, installing a new trunk floor mat, putting in a new front grille because one was cracked, working on the mirrors so the power functions aren't so slow.
I'm probably forgetting a lot of stuff but Chris can fill in details.
Chris has overcome a lot with this car, and discovered some bad stuff like this crack in the head.
Not sure what I'll do about that, but it hopefully won't have a huge impact on the way it drives. Now taking it to a track day may be another question (too much stress on the head)?
2020 plans: Figure out what to do about the cracked head, a paint job, new windshield, black alcantara headliner, leather surfaces like door panels, center console, and maybe dash the way that car was done on bringatrailer would be nice. The Supersprint exhaust system I mentioned could be done. And then....nothing else, but I don't intend to do any projects that put the car out of commission for long because I want to DRIVE THE PISS OUT OF IT AND ENJOY IT!
