Minerva: The S54 powered, better than new, E28

1st 5er · Post by **1st 5er** » Dec 22, 2018 7:16 PM

cek wrote:Jake's been busy.

I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

Noice.

BenGerman · Post by **BenGerman** » Jan 15, 2019 10:10 PM

Man that color is insane. Can't wait to see it in person.

Are you going with the Autolutions shifter on the 6 speed?
I remember Ron had something pretty fancy for those transmissions.

Post by **tig** » Jan 15, 2019 11:28 PM

BenGerman wrote:Man that color is insane. Can't wait to see it in person.

Are you going with the Autolutions shifter on the 6 speed?
I remember Ron had something pretty fancy for those transmissions.

Current plan is to use the stock E46 shifter.

Post by **tig** » Jan 24, 2019 10:53 PM

Meh. I'll be putting a different cover on there. Not at all happy with the way the 'light media blast' worked out.

Tempted.

Somewhere the metal trim parts that go here have gone missing.

Yum. Like new.

Thanks Kohler.

SS SS.

I'm debating the look of this. We soda-blasted it. All that I've found look too scratched. Alternative is to fabricate something metal.

Expansion bung used to be on other side of rad. We moved it over here. Much better, but I think we can come up with a simpler hose connection.

750i MC

SS. Yes I'm going there.

Erect. E23 shocks.

When we're done, I'm gonna have a lot of plated parts for sail. Plate all the things. All the time. I say.

Hi Ben.

No confusion here. Still confused about Vlad's rears.

Bronze.

1st 5er · Post by **1st 5er** » Jan 24, 2019 11:05 PM

Sweet dreams.

BenGerman · Post by **BenGerman** » Jan 25, 2019 8:24 AM

We should rename this thread to: manual how to rebuild an E28 to better than new.

Stunning work Charlie. Thanks for taking all the pictures! I will need them at some point as well.

Post by **tig** » Jan 25, 2019 10:14 AM

BenGerman wrote:We should rename this thread to: manual how to rebuild an E28 to better than new.

Stunning work Charlie. Thanks for taking all the pictures! I will need them at some point as well.

Good idea. Done. Sort-of.

Thanks Ben.

T_C_D · Post by **T_C_D** » Jan 25, 2019 11:12 AM

The Recaros are totally awesome! Love them.

Ordnator · Post by **Ordnator** » Jan 25, 2019 11:43 AM

Great thread with exemplary attention to detail which is very well documented.

Are you able to rotate the expansion tank 180-degrees? This could give you a cleaner looking hose run.

Keep on keeping on.

Regards,

Mick

delvin · Post by **delvin** » Jan 25, 2019 5:19 PM

Ordnator wrote:Great thread with exemplary attention to detail which is very well documented.

Are you able to rotate the expansion tank 180-degrees? This could give you a cleaner looking hose run.

Keep on keeping on.

Regards,

Mick

But then the lettering would be upside down

Ordnator · Post by **Ordnator** » Jan 25, 2019 5:30 PM

delvin wrote:
Ordnator wrote:Great thread with exemplary attention to detail which is very well documented.

Are you able to rotate the expansion tank 180-degrees? This could give you a cleaner looking hose run.

Keep on keeping on.

Regards,

Mick

But then the lettering would be upside down

Not if you are standing at the front passenger wheel looking at the "BMW" engraved on an M20 / M30 rocker cover, it is the wright way up then

linen grey ghost · Post by **linen grey ghost** » Jan 25, 2019 7:58 PM

I'd keep the plastic OEM nose beauty piece, maybe heat it with a heat gun and then lay some books (weight) on it to flatten out the 'humps'; the texturing you created from the soda blast look period to my eye.

LeiseyJr · Post by **LeiseyJr** » Jan 28, 2019 5:41 PM

Looking tits as usual!

I think for the expansion tank, find a welder and block off the current bung and relocate that one or another one where the circle is on this picture. If that's the expansion tanks final resting place.

31926153477_fd999c36a6_b by samleisey, on Flickr

Spen · Post by **Spen** » Jan 30, 2019 10:53 PM

Jeez Charlie, you are a huge gangster. What an effort!

BTW isn't 425 Motorsports in Bellevue off 140th a bit? I know Cory at the wheel repair shop, Sound Wheel Works. Known him for many years. I see nice stuff outside 425 and didn't know they did work for you. Not that you couldn't do it yourself =) As always, thanks for adding a lot to the E28 community. I am glad to have known you from the basic beginning of your foray into E28's. Certainly taken it a lot further than me on many many areas! Bravo amigo

Post by **tig** » Mar 18, 2019 2:32 PM

Moar progress & pics. I have to say it is absolutely KILLING ME that I'm not doing this work. So far, all of the work meets my standards, and the team at 425motorsports has been great to work with, but I love doing all this kind of work...and I actually KNOW I could do it well. But, alas, other aspects of life mean I simply don't have the time and if I want this car done (which I do!) I have to continue using my checkbook-wrench.

That said, I guess this is part of learning the checkbook-wrenching skill...

Enjoy the pr0n:

Oh, what wheel to use? Never loved the look of the Mtech 1. Love the Mtech 2 (385mm) thats in Vlad. Maybe I'd like a 370mm more? Regardless I'm getting this MTech 1 restored to full glory as the baseline.

I have two sets of front belts. One old (currently on car) and one new style (here). I'm guessing receptacles for new style are easier to come by (don't have a good set yet). Thoughts?

2019-03-11 15.02.07 by Tig, on Flickr

Upper door trim are all in fine shape except driver's door. Sourcing...

2019-03-11 14.59.35 by Tig, on Flickr

Driver's inside door handle is broken. Also sourcing...

2019-03-11 14.59.06 by Tig, on Flickr

We couldn't remember where these go. Then I remembered. (front door jambs)

2019-03-11 14.58.00 by Tig, on Flickr

Ugh. Based on this, I'm going to go with my old-style, Sofica, heater box. The wiring harness we're using is old style and would need to be modified to support the new style anyway, so this is just simpler.

2019-02-23 12.09.13 by Tig, on Flickr

One of the most critical components. My son asked "what's the most expensive, non-power train OE part". This is the answer.

2019-03-02 10.03.51 by Tig, on Flickr

Little plastic covers that go here are missing. @bengerman got me a set in Sandy Eggo!

2019-03-02 10.04.31 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.04.37 by Tig, on Flickr

Just test fit. These are now off at upholsterer....

2019-03-02 10.04.48 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.07.32 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.04.51 by Tig, on Flickr

Euro lenses (new).

2019-03-02 10.05.37 by Tig, on Flickr

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2019-03-02 10.05.58 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.06.01 by Tig, on Flickr

Based on conversations this weekend, I may switch from this 924 booster to a 528e, which I now know fits.

2019-03-02 10.06.05 by Tig, on Flickr

Intentionally going simple on brakes for now (E34 BBK that came with chassis) knowing that once the car is driving we'll want to Get The Balance Right (channeling Depeche Mode).

2019-03-02 10.06.15 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.06.36 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.06.40 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.06.51 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.07.00 by Tig, on Flickr

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2019-03-02 10.07.24 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.07.28 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.08.11 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.08.13 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.08.19 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.08.45 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.08.59 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.09.03 by Tig, on Flickr

So far the only thing that really pisses me off about this build. I wanted antenna delete.

2019-03-02 10.09.11 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.09.29 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.09.32 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.09.51 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.09.57 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.10.20 by Tig, on Flickr

I had to scramble to find a rear seat. Spen as awesome in helping, delivering directly to shop. The base is beige. At upholsterer...

2019-03-02 10.11.01 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 11.25.01 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.12.52 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-02 10.52.00 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-11 14.44.28 by Tig, on Flickr

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2019-03-11 14.44.55 by Tig, on Flickr

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2019-03-11 14.46.08 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-11 14.46.14 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-11 14.48.45 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-11 14.48.36 by Tig, on Flickr

2019-03-11 14.48.13 by Tig, on Flickr

Nick1984 · Post by **Nick1984** » Mar 18, 2019 2:40 PM

Respect!

Tiit · Post by **Tiit** » Mar 18, 2019 6:13 PM

Thanks for sharing. Looks great.

BenGerman · Post by **BenGerman** » Mar 18, 2019 6:34 PM

Rolled fenders?

Post by **tig** » Mar 18, 2019 7:52 PM

BenGerman wrote:Rolled fenders?

Yep. Whew. Thanks for asking.

vinceg101 · Post by **vinceg101** » Mar 18, 2019 9:50 PM

We didn't get a chance to catch up this weekend, and I know this is a silly question, but will this be unveiled at 5erWest in July?

delorean175 · Post by **delorean175** » Mar 18, 2019 11:02 PM

Man that color

Its gorgeous! When the day comes (unfortunately it will) when I sell my car, I hope someone with your passion and resources buys it. That way it can be fully restored to its former glory. I've been struggling to justify spending the money to have it painted because of other mechanical issues and other cars with issues. As time has passed I am coming to a crossroads where I'm almost done with mechanical stuff, but paint is by far the most expensive project for me. Anyway, I always look forwards to seeing what car porn you post.

Post by **tig** » Mar 18, 2019 11:13 PM

vinceg101 wrote:We didn't get a chance to catch up this weekend, and I know this is a silly question, but will this be unveiled at 5erWest in July?

I did get to show off your engine bay for CJ though!

Yes, the goal now is 5erWest (2019).

Foonfer · Post by **Foonfer** » Mar 23, 2019 11:40 AM

Nice workaround on the expansion tank hose. Good to have some slack.

Did you consider doing a leather-wrapped dash (stitches and all) - what made you go the way you did?

NedNorton · Post by **NedNorton** » Mar 23, 2019 1:12 PM

Charlie,
Great build! Very inspiring. I had a quick question on the S54 swap. I have read through the thread and was unable to find answer. Are you keeping the secondary air pump or are you deleting it? I am leaning towards the S54 for my project, but living on the front range of Colorado, the swap would need to incorporate it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Post by **tig** » Mar 23, 2019 8:18 PM

Foonfer wrote:Nice workaround on the expansion tank hose. Good to have some slack.

Did you consider doing a leather-wrapped dash (stitches and all) - what made you go the way you did?

Yes, I considered it. However I've never found a leather wrapped e28 dash that I thought looked good, even OE M5. I'm too anal retentive about stitching.

Post by **tig** » Mar 23, 2019 8:20 PM

NedNorton wrote:Charlie,
Great build! Very inspiring. I had a quick question on the S54 swap. I have read through the thread and was unable to find answer. Are you keeping the secondary air pump or are you deleting it? I am leaning towards the S54 for my project, but living on the front range of Colorado, the swap would need to incorporate it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Uh, good question. I don't actually know. Well, I certainly haven't ordered it deleted. I will have to check if along the way it got deleted. Heck, I don't even remember what it looks like.

With the possibility of this car being in the SLC area I will have to get clear on the topic. Thanks for stressing me out.

wkohler · Post by **wkohler** » Mar 23, 2019 11:40 PM

How many OE E28 leather dashes have you seen?

Post by **tig** » Mar 24, 2019 8:08 PM

wkohler wrote:How many OE E28 leather dashes have you seen?

Quite a few. Including that amazing red interior in Ivo's shop. I've looked closely at every M5 I've ever gotten close to.

Foonfer · Post by **Foonfer** » Mar 27, 2019 2:00 AM

cek wrote: I've never found a leather wrapped e28 dash that I thought looked good, even OE M5. I'm too anal retentive about stitching.

well you got me there. Who would have thought?

Philo · Post by **Philo** » Mar 27, 2019 5:50 PM

Chuck, great meeting you and your son in SD and chatting about S54 swaps. I hope I was helpful. Your car is looking amazing and wish you the best on its completion.

Regarding the secondary air pump question, I deleted mine and now have to creatively work around CA smog. Not sure about how others will get around this in other states.

Let me know if I can help with anything else

Philo.
310-766-1923
phil@infostreet.com

Post by **tig** » Mar 28, 2019 10:24 AM

Philo wrote:Chuck, great meeting you and your son in SD and chatting about S54 swaps. I hope I was helpful. Your car is looking amazing and wish you the best on its completion.

Regarding the secondary air pump question, I deleted mine and now have to creatively work around CA smog. Not sure about how others will get around this in other states.

Let me know if I can help with anything else

Philo.
310-766-1923
phil@infostreet.com

Hey Phred, feel free to call me Chuck. Once.

It was awesome meeting you too, and I really appreciated your insights and offer to help. I poured over your engine bay and took many photos of it!

Why did you delete the secondary air pump in the first place?

NedNorton · Post by **NedNorton** » Mar 31, 2019 7:49 PM

cek wrote:
NedNorton wrote:Charlie,
Great build! Very inspiring. I had a quick question on the S54 swap. I have read through the thread and was unable to find answer. Are you keeping the secondary air pump or are you deleting it? I am leaning towards the S54 for my project, but living on the front range of Colorado, the swap would need to incorporate it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
Uh, good question. I don't actually know. Well, I certainly haven't ordered it deleted. I will have to check if along the way it got deleted. Heck, I don't even remember what it looks like.

With the possibility of this car being in the SLC area I will have to get clear on the topic. Thanks for stressing me out.

Sorry Charlie... For the added stress. Any work on it? All the engine bays I have seen delete the pump and remove it from the programing. Hence the question.

Cheers,
Chris

piperbrothers · Post by **piperbrothers** » May 03, 2019 1:39 PM

A whole month with no updates? Rude!

Post by **tig** » May 03, 2019 4:59 PM

piperbrothers wrote:A whole month with no updates? Rude!

You know what's rude? "Jake" deciding he had to move to CA to care for his dad right as we were getting so close.

Work picked up again this week. I have some nerves because I've not met the new wrench.

RonW · Post by **RonW** » May 03, 2019 9:07 PM

I hope you reinforced the clutch pedal bracket while you had the chance. I had someone weld a bead at the usual failure point, plus I installed one of those brackets.

Post by **tig** » May 04, 2019 5:44 PM

RonW wrote:I hope you reinforced the clutch pedal bracket while you had the chance. I had someone weld a bead at the usual failure point, plus I installed one of those brackets.

Yep. Did both.

jhh925 · Post by **jhh925** » May 13, 2019 9:41 PM

Charlie: Maybe I missed it, but what is (and what's a source for) that material that you've put on the back "firewall"? And what is its purpose? (I assume sound-deadening?)

Post by **tig** » May 14, 2019 11:51 AM

jhh925 wrote:Charlie: Maybe I missed it, but what is (and what's a source for) that material that you've put on the back "firewall"? And what is its purpose? (I assume sound-deadening?)

Sound deadening. Same basic stuff as dynomat but made an a (likely) un-ecologically-friendly way in the USSR.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074Q ... =ceklog-20

Post by **tig** » May 14, 2019 12:26 PM

Not that I have the time, but this should be a fun project painting this Arrowblau and assembling it. I've never built a diecast model before...

I had given the shop an ABS unit they could use to size brakelines correctly, but had stripped inlets. I wasn't going to let someone else rebuild an ABS unit and this meant I was now blocking project progress. So this weekend I dug into my rebuild and finally got it done. I had dreams of sending most of the parts off to plating, but I didn't do it when I had a chance. So, at least for now, the unit is going in looking somewhat cosmetically challenged. For something like an ABS unit, function is far more important. That's my story anyway.

I had previously disassembled a full pump but found the strap that holds the casing together was horked. I sourced two additional pumps in order to get the parts to ensure I could build one good one. This weekend's job was to disassemble one of those and finish the original...

Pro-tip (and I'll update the ABS pump rebuild thread with this info), the screws that hold the pump motor on are heavily locktite'd. Be super careful or you'll strip one of them:

None of the rebuild threads have good pics of the pump pistons. I've fixed that.

I took the pump and some other new parts (e.g. new headlights) by 425... With Jake gone, progress slowed to a crawl.

We're going back and forth on brake lines. Original plan was to do all new stainless. But these are in fine shape and just need to be painted.

Original plan was a 924 brake booster. Then I found out that the 528e booster fits fine and is available new vs refurbished. So we swapped to that.

Headers have been built...

Vroom! Vroom! Snick! Snick! x6

I'm sooooo happy with the color.

Adam W in MN · Post by **Adam W in MN** » May 14, 2019 9:50 PM

Wow so much fun to watch.