The story I got from the PO is that he took it to a shop up in the DC area. They had it for a complete suspension overhaul and decided to go the extra mile and clean the motor. Unfortunately, they used something flammable which caught fire on the cat. The shop paid for the car, which he retained. He sold it to someone I know for a pittance, who stripped a few parts off of it before selling it to me (for the same pittance, that SOB.) Anyhow, it has about 130k and has had the timing chain job done. It has been patiently waiting for me to have the time and money to fix it. I now have some of the money and almost none of the time. It'll be ready for the next V@V for sure.
Last edited by mooseheadm5 on Jun 15, 2012 8:34 AM, edited 10 times in total.
I have made substantial progress. I towed it to the shop last week and started messing with this Saturday.
Saturday:
I installed the velocity stacks and intake, and put everything back in the engine compartment that had been undone/removed. The PO had kept/lost a lot of the hardware (lucky me) but happily I keep a bucket of spare assorted BMW hardware. Also replaced a few hoses while I was at it. Lubed the throttle linkages to make sure they returned properly (I have had them stick on my old M5, and it is no fun.) Got it rolled into the shop, examined it a bit to see where I stood, and gave up for the night.
Sunday- the big push:
Noted all the carnage. Guibo burned away. Shift support rod melted. CSB burned. Burned undercoating and sound deadening insulation and rust from sitting unprotected. Trashed poly trans mounts. Fried reverse light switch and wiring. Noted other problems, too. Trashed poly upper control arm bushings. Ripped upper sway bar link mount on pass strut housing. Various common rust spots - nothing too bad, though. No front calipers (I knew that, though.) Brand new rear cross member bushings not pressed fully into the cross member. Would you expect any less from a shop that lit this car on fire?
Pulled the heat shields and driveshaft. Noted the front U -joint was stiff and the bearing boots were charred. Lubed it and it was smooth again, for now. Replaced the CSB and splined plastic collar insert.
Started cleaning, but the rusty burned area continued above the trans, and I could not remove the shift support because the bitch clip pin had seized from heat/corrosion. Decided to pull the trans (glad I did.) The release bearing was about shot, but the clutch has many miles left on it. Happened to have a spare release bearing, so I installed that after cleaning all the crap off the trans and installing a replacement reverse light switch. Got the bitch clip all the way out and polished it up.
Scraped all the rust burned shit off the tunnel and painted it with Wurth Rust Guard, followed by a layer of undercoating. Reinstalled the trans with ease (a used input shaft is waaaaay better than the plastic alignment tool you get with a clutch kit.)
Decided to go for it rather than call it a night. If I had given up then I would have to push the car back out into a muddy parking lot. Installed the shift support with all the SSK parts and the reverse light wiring that Bennetts22 sent me (thanks!!) which, quite coincidentally, came from an M5 that was totalled by fire. Reinstalled the driveshaft with replacement guibo. Forgot to install the rear heat shield, but since I am lazy, I rolled it over the driveshaft and bent it back into shape before bolting it in. Got that buttoned up, then bolted up some very good used trans mounts with a 528e cross member. Turns out, that doesn't fit. Put on the M5 cross member (same mounts, though) and got the trans back up into position. Sensors in, flywheel cover on, heat shield on, and the car is ready to come off the lift.
Push it out or try to start it on 5+ year old gas? I checked the fuel (drained a little out) and it was in fine shape, so I decided to try to start it up. After connecting some stuff I forgot (like the main battery cable to the starter, duh) I got some popping out of it after a few cranks. Hosed it down with carb cleaner several times and got it to fire while cranking. Tried a few more times, and it was running on a couple cylinders while cranking. Loaded the purge line up with carb cleaner, tapped all the injectors with a socket extension, crossed my fingers, and it fired right up, running on 5. It very quickly picked up on all 6. What a racket it makes with open headers! I shut it off, closed up the hood and trunk, and fired it up for the drive out to the muddy lot (still no front calipers installed, BTW.) I'm so happy, and now it is easy for me to pull into the shop and work on it that it'll be no sweat getting it ready for V@V. Pics of underbody carnage when I get home.
I certainly did sleep well. All these pics were taken yesterday.
That would be the torn upper sway bar link mount
That would be one of the two cross member bushings which have not been properly installed. Never would have guessed that a shop that can light a car on fire would be this incompetent.
Great job Please keep us posted! You go boy It reminds of some of the all nighters I've done on way to many projects. I used green for envy. I need another project!
Please keep us posted! You go boy 
It reminds of some of the all nighters I've done on way to many projects. 
I used green for envy. I need another project! 
