MyE28.com

Hey guys, thought some might get a kick out of seeing this thing. I just got the car a few days ago. Some may recognize it. Drove an hour to look at the car over the holiday weekend and was impressed with the fairly original condition and uniqueness.

Loaded and ready for the trip home:


From what I can tell, it was sold by a Munich dealership to be exported to Central America where it probably lived in El Salvador from 1986-1992 or so before being imported to the US. This is based on my examination of the original service booklet and the shop stamps. Based on an old insurance card with a unique name, I'm guessing it remained with the original owner until about 2005 in the Atlanta metropolis. Another person owned it for a number of years in the metro area and sold the car last year.

The 518i is very basic and has quite a few differences when compared to the higher-spec and larger engined E28 models. I will try to document those differences during the course of repairs. For a 518i, mine has the unusual option of factory A/C. A 1985 ordering catalog I have from BMW the shows that green insulating glass (like a US car) was recommended in conjunction with A/C to improve the cooling performance and this car was so equipped. Other options are central locking, power mirrors, power steering (although this might have been standard), and a factory installed radio with power antenna.

Despite the cars current mechanical needs it appears to have been taken care of over the years. I have found rather new Euro headlamps & grilles, tail lamps, AFM, all ignition components, radiator & hoses, and catalytic convertor. It probably had to pass Georgia Clean Air emissions up until 2011 so it had to run well. Right now I have to look forward to a clutch job, brakes, shocks & struts, shifter bushings, LCAs, and rehabbing the driver's seat structure to make it a safe and comfortable E28. I would also like to obtain a more correct size tire for the 5.5" steel wheels. The 185/65s on there now are a bit short; a 185/75-14 would be a more appropriate substitute for the original 175R14s.

As far as my plans for the car, I would like to keep it original as much as possible. It has survived this long without molestation. Obviously I will be myself and go through the car, cleaning and detailing along the way while fixing things. While not detailed it is very clean throughout, including the undercarriage as would seem indicative of a lower mileage car.

I have not driven the car much to get a good feel for it, but my impression is that it is not as slow as one would think. The M10 runs a bit higher compression than the ones sold here and with such a lightweight body, it still beats the diesels. The owners manual shows a base 518i, ready for the road with a full tank of gas, as weighing 2560lbs. I don't know the weight of the A/C system, but I'm curious and have some corner balance scales.

Anyway, it will probably be a while until I get around to working on the car and sorting it out. Just for grins, I decided to clean up a section under the hood. Single stage tends to stain as it is more porous, but I'm happy to see it cleans up fairly easy with some elbow grease and a non-abrasive product. Here was a couple minutes of work on the front corner of the fender and hood latch support:



The rest of the original paint should come out well. Unfortunately the driver's side doors, rear quarter, and trunk lid were repainted and the color match is off. All panels including doors appear original and show no evidence of filler, so it was likely more innocuous reasons for the paint work. The color difference is a bit less noticeable in person depending on the light. Something to address eventually.

Here are some pictures of the interior from the seller's ad since I haven't taken any:

Awesome Justin. That car needs boost!

I'd leave that thing stock as a rock and the daily the shit out of it. Awesome.

My car's little brother!

Slicktops unite!!

Das_Prachtstraße wrote:I'd leave that thing stock as a rock and the daily the shit out of it. Awesome.

Same here. There is something beautiful about the simple and utilitarian nature of that car. Nice find!

Mother of God . . .

That is great Justin, bring it to this months Bakery Run!

I'm stoked you picked this car up Justin. Hoping some assbag wouldn't buy it to completely ruin!

T_C_D wrote:Awesome Justin. That car needs boost!

I think that would be fun, but don't know this car well enough yet.

I still grin thinking about the ride in your S1 535i, Todd. Hard to believe it was 9 years ago! My '88 535is is the perfect candidate. Would like to actually own a quick vehicle for once...

Cool car Justin, lots of potential. What are your plans?
It is interesting that lately two other members (Adam and Graham) have end up with couple of nice condition lower powered euro e28s as well.

Coldswede wrote:That is great Justin, bring it to this months Bakery Run!

Gosh, do you guys plan these in secret? LOL. I probably won't be up for the trip this go around, 200 miles each way is still a drive.

I couldn't take the 518i, it just isn't safe right now until repairs are made to the suspension and brakes.

That interior...

B7Turbo wrote:Cool car Justin, lots of potential. What are your plans?
It is interesting that lately two other members (Adam and Graham) have end up with couple of nice condition lower powered euro e28s as well.

Sia, I have no plans, really. Base-lining the car and making it a mechanically solid driver would be a good starting point! Probably use it here and there as a daily driver when the weather isn't super wet and rainy.

It does need a nutria dashboard, since it is cracked. Very difficult to find, so I might have to switch out for a black dash and door caps.

Very cool and appears to be in wonderful shape!

Sunning car, looks like a lot of fun. That interior...

Very cool that you plan to leave it mostly original, so glad you decided to pick that one up!

-Graham

Nice find I would leave it stock, thats a nice example of euro.
Congrats.

I wonder how easy an m42 swop would be, mounting points etc?

Congratulations. Looks like a great find!

Justin, very nice, the perfect fair weather daily driver.

Any idea of the final drive ratio?

Justin_FL wrote:

Coldswede wrote:That is great Justin, bring it to this months Bakery Run!

Gosh, do you guys plan these in secret? LOL. I probably won't be up for the trip this go around, 200 miles each way is still a drive.

I couldn't take the 518i, it just isn't safe right now until repairs are made to the suspension and brakes.

Sorry Justin, I do not have your e-mail address to copy you the Bakery run planning questions. I just sent the email out anyway, so not much secrecy there. There will be a thread in General when we decide if/when most of us can make it.

That is a neat find!

symmat001 wrote:I wonder how easy an m42 swop would be, mounting points etc?

That could be fun but not sure about motor mounts and oil pan. Many M10 items appear specific to the E28. Probably less work to turbo the engine in the car if I need more HP.

Coldswede wrote:Sorry Justin, I do not have your e-mail address to copy you the Bakery run planning questions. I just sent the email out anyway, so not much secrecy there. There will be a thread in General when we decide if/when most of us can make it.

Hey Randy, I was just joking. You probably have my address but don't realize it from the emails Tim sends out. We should use a Yahoo group or something to manage an email list. I did set one up a couple years ago but that was when Randy C. was still involved in the pep rally duties so I never pushed for its use. This way you just send a single email to one address and the distribution goes out to everyone and you don't have to worry about keeping your address book up to date and people can come and go as they please. I could also run something on our server here and let other groups use it if they see fit (with their own dedicated email list, of course). Most of the free services will have ads and what not.

Mark in Toronto wrote:Any idea of the final drive ratio?

I believe it is a 4.10.

Very cool car! In Taxi car beige too!

Congratulations Justin!
That's one sweet ride!

Justin_FL wrote:

T_C_D wrote:Awesome Justin. That car needs boost!

I think that would be fun, but don't know this car well enough yet.

I still grin thinking about the ride in your S1 535i, Todd. Hard to believe it was 9 years ago! My '88 535is is the perfect candidate. Would like to actually own a quick vehicle for once...

Time flies! I have a nice tubular m10 manifold that I have been saving for such a project. 15psi and MS on that car would make it really fun, allow you to install a 373LSD and possibly achieve 30mpg and 220hp. That would be very cool.

It would be faster than a stock e28 M5.

Congratulations! I live in FL and saw this car online and I couldn't believe it lol. Had I not already had my 535i I probably would've tried for that car.

Justin_FL wrote: I couldn't take the 518i, it just isn't safe right now until repairs are made to the suspension and brakes.

Does your 518i have the rear drum brakes?
How about a rear sway bar? Mine does not even have mounting points for the sway bar on the trailing arms.

Does it have the 4.27 differential in it? How about the CV joint connecting the driveshaft to the differential?

Interesting car Justin, Congrats. I do have a stage 3 M10 (with a worked head, 2.3 crank, a 305 Alpina cam and twin 45 side drafts) in storage. It makes about 170 hp, so pep is possible with an M10.

I am in love!!!

Hope that car cover comes in handy for this!

Very nice. Glad it went to someone who appreciates it for what it is!

T_C_D wrote:It would be faster than a stock e28 M5.

Ha, I wouldn't doubt! You'd definitely need some balls to leave the brakes and suspension all stock.

Crazy_Canuck wrote:Does your 518i have the rear drum brakes?
How about a rear sway bar? Mine does not even have mounting points for the sway bar on the trailing arms.

Does it have the 4.27 differential in it? How about the CV joint connecting the driveshaft to the differential?

Correct on the brakes (solid discs up front, drums in rear), no rear sway bar nor any trailing arm mounting tabs to support one (and no dog-bone links either). The owner's manual shows the 4.10 as the only differential choice, but I've not looked at the differential closely. Haven't put the car up on a hoist yet, so I'm not aware of any driveshaft differences, but it appears to possibly be of a smaller diameter from memory after a quick glance last week.

m-racer wrote:Interesting car Justin, Congrats. I do have a stage 3 M10 (with a worked head, 2.3 crank, a 305 Alpina cam and twin 45 side drafts) in storage

That would wake things up, but then the rest of the car is so inadequate!

shagrath wrote:Hope that car cover comes in handy for this!

Yup, at least until I get a second lift installed so the car fits in the garage. I'm out of floor space, so up we go! The '87 535isA will be going, though. I actually like the auto but the car just doesn't fill any need of mine at this point.

Justin_FL wrote:

Crazy_Canuck wrote:Does your 518i have the rear drum brakes?
How about a rear sway bar? Mine does not even have mounting points for the sway bar on the trailing arms.

Does it have the 4.27 differential in it? How about the CV joint connecting the driveshaft to the differential?

Correct on the brakes (solid discs up front, drums in rear), no rear sway bar nor any trailing arm mounting tabs to support one (and no dog-bone links either). The owner's manual shows the 4.10 as the only differential choice, but I've not looked at the differential closely. Haven't put the car up on a hoist yet, so I'm not aware of any driveshaft differences, but it appears to possibly be of a smaller diameter from memory after a quick glance last week.

Your right on the 4.10 for your car, seems BMW changed to the 4.10 on 9/1984 for the 1985 model year. My 83 518 has the funky drive shaft, and the 4.27 differential.

My car at least has the mounting tabs on the body, so I can change the trailing arms and install a rear sway bar. I also installed vented front brakes on my 518.

Could not tell from the pictures, but does your 518i have a tach or a clock?

One of these days we'll meet somewhere in the middle of this vast country. You in your Taxi 518i and I in my Polizei 518i....

http://s121.photobucket.com/user/tjones ... brary/518i

That will take forever. Haha.

Yes, but we'll get 34mpg or more doing it.

I can reach San Diego from Vacaville on one tank....

Holy crap, you could house an entire family of illegals under that hood!

Justin, I am glad to hear or see that you are very well aware of what other steps and upgrades are involved in order to drive the car safely and enjoy the added power!

tjones02 wrote:One of these days we'll meet somewhere in the middle of this vast country. You in your Taxi 518i and I in my Polizei 518i....

Will have to see once I get it whipped into shape! I was thinking that a trip to the Northwest part of the country would be nice (perhaps in time for 5erWest); might ship the car west and fly out for a one-way cross country trip, since a round-trip journey could take too much time. But I don't know, since it would be a good chunk of change for all that. Not sure if I'd pick the 518i for such a trip (cruise control is nice on boring highway stretches). I would like to retrofit the OE stuff off a donor car. And I really have no idea how the car drives on the highway as it hasn't gone past 40mph. The seized front struts and toasted LCA ballpoints make for a frightening experience. Hopefully once it is back in shape the car drives around like any other sorted E28, but slower.

It is neat to see another 518i in North America! Besides a 518 that a forum member on here owned years ago in Canada, I don't know of any others besides our two examples. Who knows what is out there, though.

B7Turbo wrote:Justin, I am glad to hear or see that you are very well aware of what other steps and upgrades are involved in order to drive the car safely and enjoy the added power

Yeah, I'd have to find a 528e donor for a big brake upgrade. But I don't really want to change the car a bunch. Part of what attracted me to the car is that it is basically original and quite clean. And probably the least desirable of Euro E28s in a color combo most would consider ugly.

Kyle in NO wrote:Holy crap, you could house an entire family of illegals under that hood!

After always owning big-six E28s, I thought the M20 looked "cute" under the hood especially on the Euro cars with the small radiators. But the M10 is definitely smaller! Everything is easy to reach.

Justin_FL wrote: Besides a 518 that a forum member on here owned years ago in Canada, I don't know of any others besides our two examples.

This one:



My 518 is still around, waiting for me to finish my MASc.