Minerva: The S54 powered, better than new, E28

[vandiesel]

That'll do. I'll pick it up Saturday to drive to Portland. Thanks for getting it done for me!

[stuartinmn]

Most excellent. I can tell you're another member of the more money than brains club. (I am too, although I may not be quite as deep into my car...)

[tig]

Audio. It's happening. I spent way too much time researching and thinking about it and am def spending too much money for an E28, but this car will be my daily driver and I carez about. In the end my thoughts and plans were filtered through 425 Motorsports to Dave at Hoglands in Everett, who did all of the upholstery work. We decided on what's below.

My requirement list looks something like this.

- Hand's free phone with bluetooth.
- Bluetooth for almost every type of sound.
- Great sound. I'm no audiophile (although I pretended to be one once) but I know what I like. I also know the limits of the E28 in this regard. I also know that a solid system can sound pretty darn good (the system the PO put in Vlad).
- Factory/Era look as much as possible.

Head Unit:
The new Blaupunkt SQR 46. I have procured one (thanks Ivo) and while I'm not thrilled about the quality feel, it does look great. Hopefully it sounds and functions fine.






Power Amplifier:
The centerpiece of this install is an AudioControl D-6.1200. https://www.audiocontrol.com/car-audio/ ... s/d-61200/



Small, plenty of power, and low heat output (it's going under the rear seat). Best of all I can nerd out with it as it has a powerful DSP with a PC app for configuration.

Plus AudioControl is a local company and I've loved their stuff long time.

Subwoofer:
Hans, Vlad's PO nailed the subwoofer in that car, as far as I can tell. It's an 8" sub mounted in the center of the parcel tray.



It doesn't intrude into trunk space much, and the install is clean.

I'm doing something similar in Vlad. This time I'm using an Infinity Kappa 800W, which is not as deep as the one in Vlad. We are building a small enclosure for it though.



We're using a stock E28 premium audio grill, modified to not have the sub-woofer ramp. It will retain the BMW SOUND SYSTEM logo. It'll be slightly smaller than the 8" sub-woofer, but that won't impact much.

Rears:
Infinity Kappa 60CSX 6 12/" under stock grills.


Recall rear of this car was butchered by PO, and all old speaker holes were filled in before paint. So we'll be doing some judicious cutting... Glad I have another parts car for them to use as a reference.








Fronts:
Infinity Kappa 64 CFX 4x6" behind stock grills.


The tweeters in these will either be turned off or on depending. That's because there will be another set of tweeters (just OE) in the doors as was stock in for premium sound systems. Wires got crossed between me, 425, and Dave and Dave wasn't aware of the door tweeters until I visited last week. Glad I caught that.

[muleskinner]

I was starting to worry a little about you there....glad to see you're back updating this super badass project. I've always upgraded the audio in my bimmers over the years, but this takes it to a new level.

[M. Holtmeier]

I finally got caught up on this.

Cool build!


Good choice on the Audio Control, let me know how the direct BT works for streaming music.

[tig]

Just got these photos from the audio shop. Right after they sent them they let me know:

Audio shop is being forced to shut the company down for 2-weeks. They are literally locking up shop tonight and everyone is handing him over their keys and they will not let a soul in the buildings for 2-weeks.

But, progress is progress and some of this is pure pr0n. Before anyone else asks, the center speaker housing was hand-made, not 3D printed, so there are not 3D printer files coming...





















Stay safe everyone, and stay distant.

[Tiit]

Good to see it all coming together. I do like the look of that radio.

[vandiesel]

I just installed the Bremen in my M5. My installer is serious in the biz and said it's limited in what it can do. So far I like it OK but it defaults to FM every startup so I have to push source 6 times to get to BT streaming. The other thing that bugs me is that the BT call volume is so low it's not possible to hear someone while driving. I lay no blame to the BB stainless exhaust or the S38 motor either!

[Mike W.]

Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. Wow. I know sometimes you opt for the checkbook wrench, but still, wow. I once wanted to buy one of my cars, I think well of the way I keep them up, at least up to the disposable e36/39 era. But yours, damn, I used to want one, but now I know it's way beyond my range. Tip of the hat and a bow, wow, I'm impressed.

[piperbrothers]

...updates...?

[Philo]

Cek, great job on the car and I'm following with great enthusiasm having gone down the S54 road years ago. Looking at the intake tract have you considered the M5 air filter box vs. the stock one ? I originally used a Z3M airbox but didn't like the fit with the E28 chassis so decided to adapt over the M5 box. The howl at WOT with a 4" intake is intoxicating and sets off car alarms.

The parts setup is - E28 M5 box, 4" Split Second intake flange, E34 M5 angle tube, 4" VW MK4 MAF housing, E46 M3 MAF sensor and Samco E46 M3 angle boot that I trimmed to make everything line up properly.

Here's some pics to my setup to stimulate some thought.

Again, great job.

[tig]

Yeah, I considered this. But I'm sticking with the Z3M setup; esp since I had brackets welded to fender wall to make it happen.

I am curious about your electric fans. We're struggling to get a good fan shroud solution. How's the cooling been with electric fans?

-cek

[Philo]

Yup, I also welded on a bracket, which I still need to cut off.

The fan works perfectly although I need to change the cool-down timing. Right now it only stays on for 15sec after engine shutdown. The fan is a two speed unit and we made a custom stainless mounting bracket. Also, the radiator is from the E36M3 which I was told has better cooling. Not sure if this is true or not.

Here's the radiator bracket pics.

[Foonfer]

SAUL GOODMAN but what's the deal with those wheels in the last photos?

[tig]

[muleskinner]

///Mmmmmmm.....so tasty, and so close to getting on the road. Looking forward to seeing videos/photos when you consummate it.

[jhh925]

This is inspiring me to paint the underside of my hood. Getting the details right "underneath" makes such a huge difference.

Fantastic job, really inspiring. Verry jelly.

[Kenny Blankenship]

Just checking in so I can get more depressed about how un-industrious I am...

[Foonfer]

the photos showing the A/C tie-ins make it seem like the fit of the S54 is VERY tight in the bay. Would you say it is SUPER tight, or just "a bit tighter" than the M20/M30?

this whole thread is just a friggin work of art. I would love to see it in person one day...

[tig]

On the right side (AC side): slightly tight. On the left side: moar tight.

[Adam W in MN]

So is it running and driveable? It sure looks close.

[tig]

So is it running and driveable? It sure looks close.

I bring it home Friday (fingers crossed).

[Foonfer]

Paraphrasing Kim Wilde, don't keep us hanging on!

[tig]

Listen...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ckindel/5 ... ed-public/

[tig]

Now listening to this as I type...

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ki ... &FORM=VIRE

That song was a year late (1986), but still a fitting tribute to Minerva!

I picked the car up at 425 Motorsports Friday afternoon...


Shit-eating-grins followed as my daughter and I drove her home. The seatbelt receivers we ordered hadn't arrived so the drive was sans-belts, which felt weird. But it didn't take me long to forget about that detail...


Everything felt right. From accelerating onto the freeway, to cruising at 70mph, to breaking for traffic, to the curve of the offramps. I'm not sure what I expected, but when you put a car together from the ground up, you expect SOMETHING to feel odd. Nothing like that. Just solid and smooth.

Here she is departing home July 7, 2016:



And here she is back home June 21, 2020:









I took several drives yesterday after putting Maytag's seatbelt receivers in, including a run to Costco to get Julie some flowers for our anniversary Monday (yes, I parked this car in a Costco parking lot; it is a daily driver after all). I got my first comments from others while filling up with gas .





First impressions:

- The color is a lot, and I love it. The bronze windows are a perfect touch; they add something to the car that just subtly says "care was taken building this thing". Glad I did shadowlike, for sure.
- Sounds fantastic. See video below. I had a hole in firewall that was unplugged so the initial experience had me concerned, but once I fixed that, it meets the daily driver test. Outside, it's just magical.
- Faster than snot. I had forgotten about the Sport mode switch. When turned on it's faster than fast snot. Maybe too much power for the 225s? Super easy to break the rear end loose.



- The seats are quite comfy. They have optional lumbar pads that can be inserted and I'm not sure they're needed. And, man do they look great. I was worried I did too much houndstooth, with the doorcards, but nope. Perfect.
- I love my steering wheel.



- Handling feels right. I've only tossed her a little bit so far, but so far so good. Right rear tire rubs a fair amount and the left barely at all. i have some work to do here, but I've known this was going to be a trouble spot.
- Ride height is a little lower than I'd like. The front resonator taps my lift when I drive on.

I've started collecting a healthy punch list. Dan at 425 was reluctant letting me have the car because he knows it's not really done. But I was tired of waiting, and tired of paying them to do work I am more than capable of doing myself. I am now an expert with the checkbook-wrench (achievement unlocked?) and have no desire to improve my skills there any further. So unless it's something I am really not capable of (paint/body work), I'm doing the rest myself. While this list may look scary, I have to say, reading over it actually brings me great joy!



More pr0n for y'all:


































Vote: Yay? Nay?



I had a ton of work to do reorganizing the garage so she'd fit with all the extra parts and stuff. It's still not done, but all three cars now fit.

[sail_or_drive]

Congratulations! She's a beauty!

[tig]

Congratulations! She's a beauty!

Thanks!

CJ & I went for long drive this morning on one of my favorite roads this morning. Even with the issues noted, this car is magical. The H&R coilovers are really, really good. We intentionally hit some speedbumps hard, and did a stretch of I-90 that has serious undulations. Solid.

Like a good dad, I even let CJ drive.



After a #totwaffle breakfast (look them up), we had our first real wrench session. Knocked this stuff off:





You may recall way back that I refurbished a wiper motor and then decided to go with an Amazon.com bought Chinese knockoff, just for the heck of it. We'll see about longevity, but after adjusting everything properly, the Chinese unit works great.

The powder coating on the wiper arms, esp the driver's side with the "because race" wing, made installing the cap challenging. But we got er done. Having CJ help me was the best father's day gift ever.

[GoNoles]

Congratulations. Have enjoyed the hell out of this thread. Thanks for taking us along.

[tig]

Congratulations. Have enjoyed the hell out of this thread. Thanks for taking us along.

Glad you've enjoyed it! It's been a fun adventure doing a ground-up build. I sure learned a lot. I'll definitely be taking a different route on my next total restoration project (hopefully a 1968 Datsun Roadster).

Here's the final as-built data sheet. I'm probably missing a few things, but this is mostly everything:

[vinceg101]

Congratulations, Charlie!
She looks fantastic and can't wait to see it in person.