MyE28.com

Thursday replaced the front sway bar bushings. Also tightened up the motor mounts. The continued cliunking is at a minimum. Today I plan to remove a rear spring and see if I can get it to sit correctly.

This week or maybe when I order my diff mount I will do sway bar links and bushings in the rear as planned.

I drove them both today. Other than the power difference due to the totally awesome S38 the largest difference between these two cars seems to be the flywheel. Shifting Heinz is totally different than shifting Bandit. You can definitely be lazier when shifting Bandit.

And I love how involved the E28 ///M5 is compared to the E34 ///M5. Those cars are night and day. That's the single best piece of advice I received about driving them- I was told that the E28 ///M5 is more involved than the E34 ///M5 and that is so true. I feel so connected with the E28 when I'm driving it. The closest other car I've driven to Heinz was my 2002 Honda S2000. That was also a very involved car.

rmiddendorf wrote:And I love how involved the E28 ///M5 is compared to the E34 ///M5. Those cars are night and day. That's the single best piece of advice I received about driving them- I was told that the E28 ///M5 is more involved than the E34 ///M5 and that is so true. I feel so connected with the E28 when I'm driving it.

^^ This. ^^ What a great way of saying it.

On Saturday, I installed a new heater blower, figured out the issue with the cigarette lighter plug (PO had forgotten to re-connect both wires *facepalm*), put on a new shift knob (no black eye ), and put a new lock knob on the driver's side door. All in all, a good way to spend a Saturday

Well, actually it was yesterday. Sold it.

C.R. Krieger wrote:Well, actually it was yesterday. Sold it.

although I hate to see grown men cry.

My instrument cluster died for like 2-3 min then worked then the the same... only speedometer worked in the out of order "mode" ... I really don't have the patient to have another cluster problem again....

Cleaned the ALPINAs. They aren't quite as bad as basketweaves, but still a pain.
Also installed the front euro plate bracket (FINALLY), but no plate...

May install the tow hook covers tomorrow morning, as the car will be a prop for fambly photos. (photog requested my car as a prop!!)

C.R. Krieger wrote:Well, actually it was yesterday. Sold it.

So what are you gonna replace it with?

I drove it today. It's been kinda down for the last year. I've replaced the exhaust system, repaired the CV boots, treated rust with POR15 in the battery box, adjusted the valves (still noisey)... I'll probably drive it to work tomorrow too!

Need to figure out why the sunroof won't open (it pops, but won't retract), idle is a little unstable (not bad, but doesn't purr), A/C doesn't work (a complete, expensive project by itself). Oh yeah, and I'm going to get the windows tinted. I'm going to pay someone who's good at it rather than do it myself (very rare).

The new exhaust may be dronning a bit. I'll look into some chrome extensions to push the end beyond the bumper to see if that makes a difference.

It rained pretty hard this morning, so photoshoot was put off.
Last night, I went tearing through the garage for the extra wiper and cruise control stalk. My cc stalk has been hanging limp since I started driving the car last spring. Also, the wipers seemed finicky. I bodged it together by tying the two stalks together.

Got the steering wheel off, then the covers for the column, and saw the issue immediately. The screw that holds the ground for the wipers AND anchors the cc stalk had backed out. That was easy...

Then, while i had the wheel off, i decided to take the cluster out and see if i could swap in the odometer with the good gears. Then i noticed that mine is a 160 gauge, the replacement is a 140. Guess i'll have to rely on the Escort when I'm over 140...

Switched them out, and I'm officially putting miles on my 5er after 5 years! Woohoo!

P.s. The cruise control works, too!!

Installed my brand-spanking-new front turn signals......sweet. I also decided to tackle my inop 3rd brake light and found some bad solder on the circuit board, re-soldered and all is well, no warning lights on the overhead! That went so well I decided to find out what was wrong with my remote lock. It would flash the lights and close the windows and sunroof but not lock the doors. I had already pulled the kick panel when I traced the bad connection down behind the speaker, I coulda fixed that in 5 minutes. Oh well, all repairs would be faster if they didn't involve trouble-shooting.

We are thinking of making the 12 hr drive down to Conroe for Easter. I think the Fraulein is ready.

freetoride wrote:We are thinking of making the 12 hr drive down to Conroe for Easter. I think the Fraulein is ready.

If this is the same Conroe I'm familiar with, keep us posted with some sort of schedule,
and if time permits, maybe a short meet & greet could happen with a couple of us. Always looking for excuses...

And/Or if you have any trouble while in the area, that ain't gonna happen, but just in case...

Euro speedometer install a few days ago.

Flipped a spring the right direction and installed washers I forgot initially.

I washed them both today. I'm going to have to reverse the car seat in Bandit from rear-facing to forward-facing but its dark and that will have to wait until tomorrow. Ellie's not really comfortable with it reversed anymore.

rmiddendorf wrote:I washed them both today. I'm going to have to reverse the car seat in Bandit from rear-facing to forward-facing but its dark and that will have to wait until tomorrow. Ellie's not really comfortable with it reversed anymore.

Allright!! I cannot wait to turn Bash around.

Yesterday at lunch, I decided I was going to get the dash lights, passenger running light and license plate lights going. All bulbs good.
Check control was fine.
C206 (under kick panel, 29 pin connector) looks okay, couple wires may need attention.
Fuses LOOK okay, but I still messed with one or two.

No dice.

Then last night after I get the kids in bed, I exercise SURCH for about an hour, and come to the conclusion that fuse 9 is probably the culprit. I think I messed with fuse 8. Also see that using the plastic bullet fuses is verboten. I have plenty. So, I follow Kohler's advice and buy a 30 piece assortment from IPD. $6 for 30! Nice.
I get in the car at 0545 for my trek to the gym, and no check lights.... Weird. ALL of my lights work!! (okay, I have a bulb out in my reverse lights, I think.)
Now I'm going to install my +4 Mo Brighta Mo Betta lights! FINALLY.

rmiddendorf wrote:I washed them both today. I'm going to have to reverse the car seat in Bandit from rear-facing to forward-facing but its dark and that will have to wait until tomorrow. Ellie's not really comfortable with it reversed anymore.

We put Iain in fwd facing and devin doesnt need a seat anymore. Richie is in a booster.

Another interesting thing I learned yesterday is that the ///M5 has a much higher tire pressure recommendation than the 535i.

Another thing- and I haven't investigated it thoroughly- is the bolt for the oil filter on the bottom of the canister on the S38B35? It doesn't look like fun to access from the top. If its on the bottom does anyone have a tightening torque recommendation for the filter housing bolt and the oil plan bolt on the S38B35?

I probably don't need to do it for a few months but thought about it last night.

Finally got my wheels and tires mounted 225/50/16...no spacers

I've been driving Bandit this week grinning from ear to ear. Truth be told I'm looking forward to driving Heinz more too but that will have to wait until I don't have the munchkin with me. The darn car seat stretches the leather.

Been poking around at it to get it running again; no joy. But... I've been looking into the possibility of doing an e to i conversion on it, and put out a feeler on the local sports car club website for some bits that I'd need for it, and scared up a guy with a cheap '89 525i 5-speed that might end up in my driveway & serve as a donor. Sounds like it runs, and had some recent head work done on it, so maybe I'll just do a quick & dirty swap... I'll have a look at it this weekend, but I'm thinking it's a go, even if I get it just for the parts.
If I did the swap, would it be wrong to just slap the 525i from the e34 onto the trunk lid?

davintosh wrote:Been poking around at it to get it running again; no joy. But... I've been looking into the possibility of doing an e to i conversion on it, and put out a feeler on the local sports car club website for some bits that I'd need for it, and scared up a guy with a cheap '89 525i 5-speed that might end up in my driveway & serve as a donor. Sounds like it runs, and had some recent head work done on it, so maybe I'll just do a quick & dirty swap... I'll have a look at it this weekend, but I'm thinking it's a go, even if I get it just for the parts.
If I did the swap, would it be wrong to just slap the 525i from the e34 onto the trunk lid?

Oh com'on- if you're gonna do a swap at least hunt down a M50B25. That's at least good for 192hp (vs 170 for the M20) and better fuel economy. Additionally that's also more power than the M30B34 made in the E28 as well. Or find an M30B35 car for a swap. I'm just saying if you're going to swap something set the bar at the M30B34 or higher, that's all.

Just my $.02

Good points all, Rodney, but the beauty of the M20B25 swap is that it pretty much just bolts in; no extra modifications other than getting the wiring harness and ECU in place. That motor puts out ~165 HP vs the M30B34's ~185. The B35 would be a great choice IF I could find one within a reasonable drive from here and for a reasonable cost.

And the M50? That sounds like a real adventure to me... One that I'm not really up for right now (and one that my wife definitely isn't up for; I'm sure you can understand!)

davintosh wrote:Good points all, Rodney, but the beauty of the M20B25 swap is that it pretty much just bolts in; no extra modifications other than getting the wiring harness and ECU in place. That motor puts out ~165 HP vs the M30B34's ~185. The B35 would be a great choice IF I could find one within a reasonable drive from here and for a reasonable cost.

And the M50? That sounds like a real adventure to me... One that I'm not really up for right now (and one that my wife definitely isn't up for; I'm sure you can understand!)

Great points. The M30B34 in stock form is only 181hp, FYI and the M20 from the E34 is apparently rated at 170hp. And yeah, my wife wouldn't be up for that either.

Ahhh sell that 528e and come buy Bandit!

That thought has crossed my mind, many times in the last few days.

Finally replaced the leaking power steering reservoir and low pressure hoses. Then went to the pressure wash bay. Much better !

My son-n-law had trimmed up a pretty large pile of fallen limbs and we needed them moved today.
My son wrapped a long chain around them, I climbed into Snob and backed up to the pile.
My son hooked the chain onto the rear tie down point and off I went.
I think she liked it.

rmiddendorf wrote:Another thing- and I haven't investigated it thoroughly- is the bolt for the oil filter on the bottom of the canister on the S38B35? It doesn't look like fun to access from the top. If its on the bottom does anyone have a tightening torque recommendation for the filter housing bolt and the oil plan bolt on the S38B35?

Ah, the old 'drain it all over your arm' dagger bolt? On the Bavaria's M30 with that ridiculous setup, the smart procedure was to take out the bolts that hold the whole thing to the block and undo the dagger bolt to change the filter on the bench.

You do it from the bottom (at least that's that you do for the Euro M30). You can actually get to it with the M30, though. How do you like your individual throttle bodies now, eh?

M90 is another kettle of fish and something I'd rather not talk about at this time.

wkohler wrote:You do it from the bottom (at least that's that you do for the Euro M30).

Thanks. Clearly its different than the other M30s I've owned.

wkohler wrote:How do you like your individual throttle bodies now, eh?

Hey, at least I don't have to take half the air intake apart when I have to do a valve adjustment. Always look on the bright side of life!