MyE28.com

We hope to fix her. Need a little sheet metal, fender(s) and sport air dam.

Finally received my new in tank pump so I installed it and it seems to work- at least according to my ear and a long handled wrench! My only advice- clean the area thoroughly before you unbolt the sending unit or pump from the tank. I did a quick brush crap away and then after I got the sender out I realized how careful I was going to have to be after it was removed. And centering the gasket for the pump is a little annoying when installing so I'm sure I kicked a little dirt around. Not enough that I'm going to take it apart again but I would have done it differently. Have the shop vac ready for this job folks!

EDIT: Dropping the tank would help with cleaning. Truth be told I think its hard to access the area within the trunk access for cleaning and if I was worried it was going to be judged for a show or something I would have dropped the tank. And drained it as well to get any remaining crud out of it. And given it a good cleaning all around the outside. That may be a winter project if I get bored.

DDing Snob again.

Found out that my broken driving lights were indeed Hella and the nice Bosch replacements I ordered from Autohausaz do not fit.

Great noob error there.

I don't wanna spend $120 on lights that close to the road, not sure what to do now.

I changed the all belts including timing belt and water pump...oil change too! Going to tackle cruise control this weekend. Lever is all over the place.

Tcran716 wrote:I Going to tackle cruise control this weekend. Lever is all over the place.

Mine was as well. I picked one up at a yard while I was there getting something else. When I finally got around to taking apart steering column, it was just the stalk mounting screw that had backed almost all the way out.
I now have a spare cruise stalk.

Within the last month, I've repainted my hood and trunk, replaced front rotors and brakes pads, installed a yakima roof rack, had a major dent and several minor dents fixed.

Before:



After:





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Cleaned and re-tensioned the a/c and blower fuses.
Gotta keep that a/c chillin'.

Nice work. Looks great.

Installed a new trunk roundel and then started troubleshooting the lousy idle. I think I found the cause, 2 of the vacuum ports on the throttle body are loose. I think I'll pull the throttle body and work it over and fix these while I have it out.

Push started it twice. She's a heavy bitch to get moving fast enough to do this on my own.

Tested a main and fuel pump relay for a friend.

OK, I admit it... I'm just posting here because I want to be the first one on Page 100.

Well, today, I washed the E39 and put it away, and then I washed the E28 and started driving it again. And I finally put my Obama 2012 sticker on the passenger rear window (so that you'll know it's me when you're shooting at me) and my Nürburgring sticker on the trunk. Finally!

Regards,
.steve.
NYC
1988 528e, 5-speed, 93k miles, The Time Capsule
2001 530i, 5-speed, 116k miles, Almost a Time Capsule

Narrowed my problem down to either a bad WAR chip, or ECU after installing a replacement MAF. I'm leaning towards warchip.

Well yesterday Heinz got a good detailed wash- his last planned one before The Vintage. Then I pulled the grilles, lost a tab that holds the grille in (swallowed by the bumper), replaced the left headlight, and cleaned the grilles for paint. I also started to re-attach the trim on the driver's side b-pillar.

Today I'm hoping to paint the grilles and finish gluing the b-pillar trim- it needed done in two stages. I still need to change the oil and finalize my in tank pump seals though. We're getting close to ready!

garageboy wrote:OK, I admit it... I'm just posting here because I want to be the first one on Page 100.

Washed and drove the car to work for the first time in months.

replaced all the rubber grommets and plastic bushings in the accelerator pedal assembly

Just got my BBK on order.
It's gonna be close... I don't think I'll be sleeping much next week...

I put some funny little stripes on my car...and red! I'm such a rebel.

BuzzBomb wrote:I put some funny little stripes on my car...and red! I'm such a rebel.

I like it, subtle and tasteful. We need more pics though.

OcCoupe wrote:
I like it, subtle and tasteful. We need more pics though.

Subtle and tasteful? I gotta try harder to avoid that next time.

Drove it last night for the first time since they started sanding and salting the roads at the end of October. I sometimes cannot believe how much joy this car still gives me after 28 years.

Replaced the oil cap. Third oil cap in three months. I should buy them in bulk, but this time I got the metal one from NAPA. Looks so wrong, but hopefully this one won't break. And if it proves its worth I'll get a can or spray paint out and make it look like it fits.

What have you been doing to the oil caps? By the way, all metal oil caps are nothing but a cruel joke.

I have a nice plastic square cap from a M50, the E36 M3 caps are sweet and say ///M for a little more jazz.

AlpinaE24 wrote:What have you been doing to the oil caps?

I think its just been cheap plastic.

AlpinaE24 wrote:By the way, all metal oil caps are nothing but a cruel joke.

Can you enlighten me as to why? Forgive me if its obvious.

AlpinaE24 wrote:I have a nice plastic square cap from a M50, the E36 M3 caps are sweet and say ///M for a little more jazz.

Sounds like I know what's going to be in my next order from BluntTech!

Last monday I jumped in to the front suspension and rear struts and springs. My car is an '88 '35is. I put in Chris Kohler's UCAs with Grunt's HD bushings. Also lowers, idler, center link and tie-rods from his car that I bought last year and finally put on. Bilstein Sports with Spax springs from Moosehead all around.
This project was hell without a lift or air tools. One day turned into a week. Looks like all parts except for the rear struts (KYB) were original. Only broke one rusty bolt (on the crossmember) and was able to get all others loose with a cheater bar and lotsa cussin'.

What I learned:
1. Loosen the collar that holds in the strut insert on the fronts before removing from car. I learned this after they were off.
2. I would consider loosening-a tiny bit- the strut top nut before removal from the car. More experienced folks here would probably disagree. I had a lot of trouble holding the insert still while trying to loosen the nut, even with channel locks and rubber for more friction. I got one side, but had to take the other to a local shop.
3. I used a pickle fork and a sledge to break the rear struts free from the trailing arm.
4. I used the OEM brand $40 spring compressor without any trouble. Worth the investment.
5. The spring mounting plate on rear bilsteins is height adjustable. I guess people with more experience know this, but I saw no mention of it on the site while doing research.

Car looks good with Spax springs, IMHO. Rides well also. Rear might be underdamped as many have said, but it's ok for me. I don't find the setup much harsher than stock "is" suspension. Will post pics in some suspension thread somewhere. Airdam is very low now, however, so I gotta watch it. No more shimmy and the clunking sound I had at low speed over bumps is gone in the front. Still some light clunking in the rear, but it might even be gas sloshing in the tank-not sure.

rmiddendorf wrote:

AlpinaE24 wrote:What have you been doing to the oil caps?

I think its just been cheap plastic.

AlpinaE24 wrote:By the way, all metal oil caps are nothing but a cruel joke.

Can you enlighten me as to why? Forgive me if its obvious.

AlpinaE24 wrote:I have a nice plastic square cap from a M50, the E36 M3 caps are sweet and say ///M for a little more jazz.

Sounds like I know what's going to be in my next order from BluntTech!

They get extremely hot, not a good thing if you need to add oil

Found more rust

Over the last month I got a new car to replace the road warrior.
Made the mistake of not seeing the new paint job for what it was, a smoke screen

replaced the failed hood struts
removed the hot air intake
replaced the passenger sport seat that had duck tape on it
drove it like a drift king till i realized it didn't have a LSD like and "is" should and went to swap in my suspension components
the rust at the sway bar propagated a crack all the way up the frame rail.
the first layer of the subframe mount has rotted away
and i spun a brake line when I wasn't being careful
luckily I have a welder and can repair the damage but this is not what i was looking forward to.

fortune cookie say:
"haste in car puchase, lead to rust in eye"

in other news, the early euro valance is on its way