E28 - the long slog
Discussion
Thought I'd put something together on the E28 I'm working on - partly for you lot to read and comment, and partly to remind me what I'm doing!
I've had an E28 before, and loved it. The last one was a 528i auto, that needed a light resto and got to see Le Mans. I sold it, moved on to other cars, and always regretted getting rid.
Then, one morning after a night in the pub, I got an email from eBay telling me that I'd won my item. Which was novel, as I didn't remember bidding on an item, and certainly not on the 518i I'd subsequently been highest bidder on. Still, to one to shirk my obligations, a train ticket was duly purchased (one way, of course) to Coventry, and within the week I was off to collect this glorious piece of engineering. My safety net was that it was taxed and tested, so how bad could it be??
So, as collected:
Its's a Zinnoberrot 518i manual, with Anthracite cloth interior, keep-fit windows all round (rare!), no sunroof, 37 shades of pink on the body, 14" steels with wheel trims and not a lot else. It's had a bump on the NSR corner, there's a little rust on the bottom of the OS A pillar, and it's generally a bit tired. The speedo didn't work, the fuel gauge didn't work, every MOT since 2007 has the same mileage listed, and it drives like it's running on 3. On the plus side, the boot and every available bit of space in the cabin is crammed full of spare parts.
So all in all, not too bad for £375. It got me back from Coventry without complaint, although it has been a while sincere had to plan lane changes, and drop down gears for hills!
First job was to replace the coil, the plugs, the filter, the HT leads and the fluids. And after all that,it felt almost exactly no different. So, into the garage it went while I had a think about what to do with it.
All tucked up:
Now, whatever happened with the car, it was clear that steel wheels were not the future. BMW saw the good sense in fitting the E38 with 16" style 5s, and these work nicely on an E28. So, a set was duly sourced from eBay, and some appropriately sized tyres to match.
Next job was plenty of elbow grease to see if the paintwork would clean up. After hours of cleaning, cutting, waxing and polishing it was all roughly the same shade of red. On went the new wheels, and out for a quick couple of pics:
Sadly it took about 18 seconds for the pink to reappear.
In the meantime I'd been poking around underneath to see what sort of state the body was in. The biggest killer of E28s is rust, but thankfully this one is pretty good. What's not so good is the condition of every bit of rubber underneath - the subframe bushes were shot, the front TCA arm bushes were shot, the shocks were shot etc etc. So, a full rebuild of the front and rear suspension has to happen.
By now the plans are growing. Now the idea is to drop the rear axle to refurb and refit,rebuild the front struts and renew all the arms, ditch the running gear and replace with something a bit more modern, repair/repaint the outside and fit some better seats and retrim the interior. So, change everything, basically!
So, rear axle off:
I picked up another beam and trailing arms from a 6cyl model, as they have additional mounts for the rear pitman arms, that the 4-bangers don't have. That was sent off to the powdercoaters, and returned thus:
At the same time, some orders went in with various suppliers to get:
4x Bilstein B6 dampers
H&R springs
Powerflex bushes for the rear subframe and all the front control arms
All new bolts, washers, nuts and various trimmings from BMW
The front struts went off to be powdercoated too, along with the headlamp frames. A word of warning - powder coating becomes addictive!
Next delivery was from BMW - again, various nuts/bolts/washers/spring pads etc. Although there are some bits missing,the front struts are now built up:
Just need to press out the old bushes in the TCAs and then they can all go on. The parts missing from the delivery were for the rear struts, so a pause on those while I await the parts. Once the RTABs are in, the rear beam and trailing arms can go on with the new shocks, and then the car can go back down on the ground. And once that has happened, the engine and gearbox can come out.
On the body side of things, the front has been stripped down to a degree:
As has the rear:
The old bumpers were tired, and would have needed splitting and rechroming. Given the cost, it worked out cheaper to buy a pair of nearly-new bumpers instead, and that was made even cheaper by selling the originals. It'll need a couple of front wings, a new front valance and some work to the chrome trim alongside a full spray job, but its all do-able.
Oh, and today the dashboard fell out:
So, still a long way to go, but some progress at least.
At some point I'll need to decide on an engine for it. But not yet. There's an M535i LSD sitting in my garage waiting for a rebuild, so once that's in it should be able to handle a bit more poke. There are also some new E34 540i brake calipers and discs, and with an appropriate set of pads that should get it stopped, too.
More to follow as it happens!
I've had an E28 before, and loved it. The last one was a 528i auto, that needed a light resto and got to see Le Mans. I sold it, moved on to other cars, and always regretted getting rid.
Then, one morning after a night in the pub, I got an email from eBay telling me that I'd won my item. Which was novel, as I didn't remember bidding on an item, and certainly not on the 518i I'd subsequently been highest bidder on. Still, to one to shirk my obligations, a train ticket was duly purchased (one way, of course) to Coventry, and within the week I was off to collect this glorious piece of engineering. My safety net was that it was taxed and tested, so how bad could it be??
So, as collected:
Its's a Zinnoberrot 518i manual, with Anthracite cloth interior, keep-fit windows all round (rare!), no sunroof, 37 shades of pink on the body, 14" steels with wheel trims and not a lot else. It's had a bump on the NSR corner, there's a little rust on the bottom of the OS A pillar, and it's generally a bit tired. The speedo didn't work, the fuel gauge didn't work, every MOT since 2007 has the same mileage listed, and it drives like it's running on 3. On the plus side, the boot and every available bit of space in the cabin is crammed full of spare parts.
So all in all, not too bad for £375. It got me back from Coventry without complaint, although it has been a while sincere had to plan lane changes, and drop down gears for hills!
First job was to replace the coil, the plugs, the filter, the HT leads and the fluids. And after all that,it felt almost exactly no different. So, into the garage it went while I had a think about what to do with it.
All tucked up:
Now, whatever happened with the car, it was clear that steel wheels were not the future. BMW saw the good sense in fitting the E38 with 16" style 5s, and these work nicely on an E28. So, a set was duly sourced from eBay, and some appropriately sized tyres to match.
Next job was plenty of elbow grease to see if the paintwork would clean up. After hours of cleaning, cutting, waxing and polishing it was all roughly the same shade of red. On went the new wheels, and out for a quick couple of pics:
Sadly it took about 18 seconds for the pink to reappear.
In the meantime I'd been poking around underneath to see what sort of state the body was in. The biggest killer of E28s is rust, but thankfully this one is pretty good. What's not so good is the condition of every bit of rubber underneath - the subframe bushes were shot, the front TCA arm bushes were shot, the shocks were shot etc etc. So, a full rebuild of the front and rear suspension has to happen.
By now the plans are growing. Now the idea is to drop the rear axle to refurb and refit,rebuild the front struts and renew all the arms, ditch the running gear and replace with something a bit more modern, repair/repaint the outside and fit some better seats and retrim the interior. So, change everything, basically!
So, rear axle off:
I picked up another beam and trailing arms from a 6cyl model, as they have additional mounts for the rear pitman arms, that the 4-bangers don't have. That was sent off to the powdercoaters, and returned thus:
At the same time, some orders went in with various suppliers to get:
4x Bilstein B6 dampers
H&R springs
Powerflex bushes for the rear subframe and all the front control arms
All new bolts, washers, nuts and various trimmings from BMW
The front struts went off to be powdercoated too, along with the headlamp frames. A word of warning - powder coating becomes addictive!
Next delivery was from BMW - again, various nuts/bolts/washers/spring pads etc. Although there are some bits missing,the front struts are now built up:
Just need to press out the old bushes in the TCAs and then they can all go on. The parts missing from the delivery were for the rear struts, so a pause on those while I await the parts. Once the RTABs are in, the rear beam and trailing arms can go on with the new shocks, and then the car can go back down on the ground. And once that has happened, the engine and gearbox can come out.
On the body side of things, the front has been stripped down to a degree:
As has the rear:
The old bumpers were tired, and would have needed splitting and rechroming. Given the cost, it worked out cheaper to buy a pair of nearly-new bumpers instead, and that was made even cheaper by selling the originals. It'll need a couple of front wings, a new front valance and some work to the chrome trim alongside a full spray job, but its all do-able.
Oh, and today the dashboard fell out:
So, still a long way to go, but some progress at least.
At some point I'll need to decide on an engine for it. But not yet. There's an M535i LSD sitting in my garage waiting for a rebuild, so once that's in it should be able to handle a bit more poke. There are also some new E34 540i brake calipers and discs, and with an appropriate set of pads that should get it stopped, too.
More to follow as it happens!
wackojacko said:
Pretty sure, there havn't been many Red 518 Manuals on eBay in 2012.
The one consistant car want in my life is a 'cheap' E28 to stick aside "for future reference"
Need to pull my finger out....
I share the same theory, something about the E28 that just looks so "right". Would not mind an E12 M535i after seeing Olly's thread, beauty.The one consistant car want in my life is a 'cheap' E28 to stick aside "for future reference"
Need to pull my finger out....
The aim over the next week or so is to get it down off the axle stands and back onto its wheels.
The chassis spec will be:
- Bilstein B6s
- H&R springs
- Powerflex rear subframe and TCA bushes
- Either Whiteline or M5 ARBs (yet to order)
- New RTABs
- New wheel bearings front and rear
- All new nuts, bolts, spring pads etc etc from BMW
Fitting the new RTABs without damaging the powdercoat finish is proving impossible to do at home, and difficult to find a garage who will do it. In the end I dropped them off to my local BMW dealer yesterday, who admitted they've not touched part of an E28 in more than 10 years!
The plan is to just refit the front struts, rear beam, trailing arms and rear shocks for now, just to make it mobile. Once that has happened, the next job is to drop the engine and gearbox out, along with the fuel tank.
The ultimate aim for the car is for it to look standard cosmetically (albeit with shiny new paint etc) but to have more modern running gear - I'm thinking a donor lump from an E36 is most likely, along with a 6spd gearbox. The M535i diff I've got means that the ratios in the M3 Evo gearbox will work nicely, and as the car (as standard) weighs a shade over 1100kg from memory, it should end up fairly lightweight still.
So, plenty to do, although there will be a brief interlude while I wait for the parts missing from my last delivery to arrive.
Oh, and I should definitely plug Cotswold BMW here - they've been great at sourcing parts for me, with at least 10% off and free postage. It's cheaper and easier for me to use them than the BMW dealer 2 mins down the road...
The chassis spec will be:
- Bilstein B6s
- H&R springs
- Powerflex rear subframe and TCA bushes
- Either Whiteline or M5 ARBs (yet to order)
- New RTABs
- New wheel bearings front and rear
- All new nuts, bolts, spring pads etc etc from BMW
Fitting the new RTABs without damaging the powdercoat finish is proving impossible to do at home, and difficult to find a garage who will do it. In the end I dropped them off to my local BMW dealer yesterday, who admitted they've not touched part of an E28 in more than 10 years!
The plan is to just refit the front struts, rear beam, trailing arms and rear shocks for now, just to make it mobile. Once that has happened, the next job is to drop the engine and gearbox out, along with the fuel tank.
The ultimate aim for the car is for it to look standard cosmetically (albeit with shiny new paint etc) but to have more modern running gear - I'm thinking a donor lump from an E36 is most likely, along with a 6spd gearbox. The M535i diff I've got means that the ratios in the M3 Evo gearbox will work nicely, and as the car (as standard) weighs a shade over 1100kg from memory, it should end up fairly lightweight still.
So, plenty to do, although there will be a brief interlude while I wait for the parts missing from my last delivery to arrive.
Oh, and I should definitely plug Cotswold BMW here - they've been great at sourcing parts for me, with at least 10% off and free postage. It's cheaper and easier for me to use them than the BMW dealer 2 mins down the road...
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