What did you do to your E28 today?

[amagansa]

Replaced the dog bones on my lunch break. They were so worn out you could use them as hot wheels! Wonder if they were original...

[austin8753]

took the M5 out last night. started pouring rain. still don't have a functioning heater fan motor.

long story short, took a nice 60 mile trip, in the rain, with the windows down.

i still love the car.

[mnnguy]

Installed sport seats I just recovered using the kit from Lseat. Took longer than I wanted to as there were so many things missing hardware wise from the seats to begin with, and having to repair a split in the bolster.
Turned out pretty good as this was my first time even attempting anything upholstery related and quality of the material seems similar to the leather from my e92. Also painted the rear parcel shelf black as it was a faded light blue with vinyl fabric paint from AutoZone.
Oh and also added LED interior dome lights so they become actually useful at night

[glowell222]

Over the weekend I replaced my blower motor. Very easy to do, all things considered, and the trickiest part is putting the two inboard squirrel cage retention clips back on. I had to use an extension magnet and a long screw driver to put the clips back. An extension magnet is a crucial tool for this job-you simply cannot perform this without one, unless you have very long, skinny fingers, very skinny hands, and a double jointed wrist.

[Dale3783]

Installed sport seats I just recovered using the kit from Lseat. Took longer than I wanted to as there were so many things missing hardware wise from the seats to begin with, and having to repair a split in the bolster.
Turned out pretty good as this was my first time even attempting anything upholstery related and quality of the material seems similar to the leather from my e92. Also painted the rear parcel shelf black as it was a faded light blue with vinyl fabric paint from AutoZone.
Oh and also added LED interior dome lights so they become actually useful at night

Wow. Those look great. I may pull the trigger on these.

[RonW]

Took it to get its state inspection. In the past year I put a whopping 72 miles on it.

[e28Sean]

After 35 years of faithful service, the interior door handle on the drivers door gave up the ghost the other day.

I ordered a replacement. Can't wait to install it... It's getting old having to roll down the window to use the outside handle.

[Mend19317]

Crashed my e28 pulled the motor and transmission I plan to put it in a E30

[Mike W.]

Installed sport seats I just recovered using the kit from Lseat. Took longer than I wanted to as there were so many things missing hardware wise from the seats to begin with, and having to repair a split in the bolster.
Turned out pretty good as this was my first time even attempting anything upholstery related and quality of the material seems similar to the leather from my e92. Also painted the rear parcel shelf black as it was a faded light blue with vinyl fabric paint from AutoZone.
Oh and also added LED interior dome lights so they become actually useful at night

Wow, those look great!

Are they real leather, bonded leather or ??? Nice and soft I assume? For the price I'm seeing at Lseat it looks like a bargain. Upholstery can get very expensive. As a friend once said, to paraphrase, the best way to restore leather is to rub it with $100 bills, then send them off to an upholsterer. With the $100 bills.

[e28Sean]

I was very ambitious indeed today. Not sure where that came from.

I replaced the drivers interior door pull, which after 35 years and given up on life.


The replacement, from Pelican Parts:


... tucked away nicely in it's new home (and yes, I need to clean that bit of trim).


I also addressed some very badly oxidized and contaminated paintwork.

Before:


After a couple of hours with a clay bar, a polisher, some microfiber towels, and some wax:


Not perfect, but, 99% better!

[mnnguy]

Installed sport seats I just recovered using the kit from Lseat. Took longer than I wanted to as there were so many things missing hardware wise from the seats to begin with, and having to repair a split in the bolster.
Turned out pretty good as this was my first time even attempting anything upholstery related and quality of the material seems similar to the leather from my e92. Also painted the rear parcel shelf black as it was a faded light blue with vinyl fabric paint from AutoZone.
Oh and also added LED interior dome lights so they become actually useful at night

Wow, those look great!

Are they real leather, bonded leather or ??? Nice and soft I assume? For the price I'm seeing at Lseat it looks like a bargain. Upholstery can get very expensive. As a friend once said, to paraphrase, the best way to restore leather is to rub it with $100 bills, then send them off to an upholsterer. With the $100 bills.

Uhh im not really knowledgable on being able to tell the difference between bonded/genuine or real leather but it feels relatively soft (hence the comparison to my e92 leather seats, similar to those but they feel softer and the grain is more apparent vs fully smooth), i notice that the leather was decently thick when installing it too. Heres another pic of em in different light.



Also this past weekend went ahead and polished all four of my style 5s that i have been putting off for too long.

[John in VA]

Also this past weekend went ahead and polished all four of my style 5s that i have been putting off for too long.

Great results on the wheels! What was your process?

[mnnguy]

Also this past weekend went ahead and polished all four of my style 5s that i have been putting off for too long.

Great results on the wheels! What was your process?

Thanks!
So In my case I left the tires on, removed all bolts and knocked the center out. I bought paint stripper from AutoZone and brushed it on all over the wheel to remove the clear coat.
Wet sanded 320 grit to remove most of the curb-rash, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 after.
After that to get the mirror finish, i buffed with a cotton wheel with brown tripoli, then white rouge. This part is important or else the wheels wont be mirror like and will end up foggy/cloudy. Finally just use a mag/aluminum polish and reassemble all the wheels, blue loctite on the bolts and torque to iirc 22/23 ft lbs.

Fyi Your hands will probably hate you after this

[knunger]

After years of putting up with a steadily increasing ATF leak in the power steering circuit, I decided to fix that f*cker.
1. Put the car on jackstands and put me in a set of dupont full body chem resist overalls (leftover from my mining days) and a full face mask.
2. Crawlered under car with garden hose and knocked off the thickest/easiest gunk.
3. Let dry, repeated process using fairly strong solution of oil eater. Let sit for an hour, hose off (what a pain getting into all of the nooks and crannys.
4. Repeat #3 two more times.
5. Next day (same outfit) carefully blast with self modified "short wand" power washer. Let dry.
5. Replaced all hose clamps on low pressure stuff (with oetiker clamps where possible).
6. Run car until drip appears in drip pan

I was expecting the worst, but when I crawlered back under the car, the only leak I saw was a drop of red on the banjo bolt on the bottom of the stearing gear! I set my torque wrench at 35 ft/lbs (spec per Bentley is 33) and went at it. The wrench moved maybe 5 degrees before it broke. Leak is gone!!

Knowing what I now know, I could have fixed that leak years ago with very little effort. Every time I looked at it, all I saw was years and years of crud from the regulator down. Oh well, at least now I have a nice clean undercarriage...

[jimoreno]

Starting to put everything back together for the rear suspension and fuel system refresh. Got the sub-frame from CEK (thanks!) as mine was really badly rusted and had a lot of flakes. The differential is from a 2001 Z3 and it was in great shape so I just cleaned up the outside, installed the new seals that I had already ordered and gave it two coats of 2K Eastwood Satin chassis black urethane paint. The fuel tank has two coats of POR-15 and then two coats of the same Eastwood 2K Satin chassis black. I'm going to drop off the swing arms tomorrow at the powder coater along with some small brackets and the rear sway bar./ I'm also powder coating the items that were originally yellow cadmium plating (sub-frame bushing hold plates and probably the caliper brackets). Have new rear wheel bearing, brake calipers, brake pads, brake rotors, brake hoses waiting to be installed (already installed the new parking brake cables as they were rusted badly). Pending are all of the sway bar bushings from PowerFlex (sub-frame are also PowerFlex). I'm having the differential cover sandblasted so I can put some satin clear on it (and hope that it stays clear longer!)

[LarryM]

I ordered a new set of center caps for my M5 wheels. The way things are going, BMW might be discontinuing the production of these anytime, and I want to be ahead of the curve (for once!) on parts that we find are suddenly NLA.

[SeattleGuy]

Paint strip + full orbital.

[davintosh]

I started it up and drove it... About two feet forward.

Landscapers need access to the sprinkler control tomorrow, and I wanted to give them plenty of room.

At least it moved under its own power; last time I tried (November-ish) it wouldn't start. Fuel pump. I have got the new pump, now need one of those Round-Tuits® to actually do the work to install it.

[rodpaine]

At least you moved it and actually had a bit of oil in the engine circulated. I understand that the person that owns my E28 doesn't drive it at all!:-( I am still driving our 2019 Audi RS 3 at least 2-3 days a week weather permitting on our country back roads, averaging 80-100 miles per drive. Certainly keeps the RS 3 happy, as well as the 81 year old bones in my body! Gotta keep at it guys... it's good for you and the vehicle!
https://www.audizine.com/gallery/showph ... 19&cat=500

[LarryM]

I had been looking for a cheap set of "rollers" to use temporarily while my M5 wheels are being refinished, but a real nice set of (5) 16" X 7" Style 29s with tires came up on the Los Angeles-area CL and I couldn't pass them up for $300. The mounted tires (215/60-16) are too tall so I might have some interference in the rear if I try to drive with them, but they might be OK if the car just sits stationary.

Style 29s, although not my absolute favorite BMW wheels, do look great on E28s especially in 16" diameter with 225/50 or 205/55 tires. Maybe I need to find another E28 to give these a more permanent home. OTOH it's kinda cool to have some extra, good looking wheels laying around in the garage.

[tn535i]

Style 29's are my preferred e28 wheel. Needing hubcentric rings is the ONLY strike I have against them. The look just right and a little more modern and much easier to keep clean than a Style 5. IMO a 205/55-16 is THE best size choice on that wheel.

[stuartinmn]

I got mine out of the garage for the first time since November 1.

[stuartinmn]

I had to buy a new battery today. The old one had lasted six years so I can’t complain too much, although they aren’t getting any cheaper - it was $170 including tax.

[Karl Grau]

[davintosh]

Snazzy new shoes, Charles!

[Mike W.]

Wow. Brand new M5 wheels? Be careful with those new tires though, doesn't look like they'll be real good in the rain.

[Karl Grau]

Brand new M5 wheels? Be careful with those new tires though, doesn't look like they'll be real good in the rain.

The wheels went up in price significantly since I had last checked but I guess it's amazing you can still buy them at all. The tires would suck on a wet surface but they'll never see rain.

[LarryM]

It's a matter of personal opinion of course but I think the M5 wheel is hard to beat for a 16" wheel on an E28. It's a nice clean, uncluttered design in the perfect size and offset.

[Mike W.]

Brand new M5 wheels? Be careful with those new tires though, doesn't look like they'll be real good in the rain.

I guess it's amazing you can still buy them at all.

Yep, agreed.

The tires would suck on a wet surface but they'll never see rain.

I kind of figured that, I didn't think it was a DD.

[Mr.3-5-7]

Sorry i never remember to take pictures.

I finally replaced my leaking and noisy G265 with a nice Metric Mechanic unit. While in there, replaced the clutch, installed a stainless clutch slave line, replaced all the shifter parts to tighten it up. Also rebuilt the axle CV joints/boots and did a drain and refill for the diff. Found a leaking and deteriorating rubber ICV hose and replaced that and my idle got so much better (imagine that!). Replaced spark plugs and wires. And FINALLY got my OBC backlight replaced.

Whew! it obviously didnt all happen in one day but thought i would share anyway.