1986 BMW e28 520i

[Turbotechnic]

Hi, I'm new to pistonheads and thought I'd show you my daily barge, BMW e28 520i auto. I bought the car back in the summer for a good price and it made the perfect rolling restoration. When I got it was showing its age mechanically and so since the summer I've replaced suspension arms, polybush the rear subframe, new diff mount, new bilstein shocks and lowering springs, new exhaust system and a full service. Bodywork isn't too bad but I need to sort out poor MOT patches on the sills. Gradually getting better and better with every job completed. Hopefully I'll convert it from auto to manual next year. Here are some pics.

[Turbotechnic]

[Turbotechnic]

[Turbotechnic]

[Turbotechnic]

[Croutons]

Love it.

You might enjoy the 1-5k Smoker Barge thread in general gassing. Much E28 love.

[8IKERDAVE]

Well that's just stunning. My dad had one in about 1990, would love one.

[Turbotechnic]

Well today has been a productive day sorting out small niggly jobs. First up was to get the interior lights working and after some problem solving all things pointed to a dodgy wire at the back of the light switch.



Next up was to fit a new bulb to the clock.



I also took the front doors apart so I could grease up the window regulators due to the windows painfully slow up and down movement. And sorted out an annoying rattle which turned out to be a loose regulator nut.




The door membrane had been ripped and damaged at some point so for the time being I used a bin liner to prevent any water entering and stop rotting the door card.

I also sorted out the rear speaker wire which had been stuffed in the drivers door seal! Pulled it out and re-routed it under the carpet and know the seal sits nice and snug, result. There's still plenty to do on the inside but that can wait for another day.

[Sparkzz]

Welcome.

Lovely car you have. Don't make too many modifications to it, it's great as is.

[Turbotechnic]

Sparkzz said:

Welcome.

Lovely car you have. Don't make too many modifications to it, it's great as is.

Thanks, don't worry it's not going to be modified, just improved mechanically and keeping the bodywork and interior in good order.

[Paracetamol]

Dad had a brand new one of these in 1987 (E786 SRJ- later transferred to a Jag). It was a lux version (velour upholstry, 14 inch cross spokes). I recall the engine being turbine smooth but a bit slow to rev. Very solid cars though a bit tail happy. The e34 really then moved the game on..

[LanceRS]

Well done and good luck with this. My first job was at a main dealership back in the 80s just as these were replaced by the e34. There were still plenty of them around, one of BMWs best looking cars.
Looks like you are going to have a lot of fun with it.

[0a]

Turbotechnic said:

What a lovely looking old thing.

I know they are so much better (etc), but it's sad to see what BMW have become with their fleets of 318d M-SPORTS. Back in the day they were pretty rare and very special!

[Turbotechnic]

Thanks for the comments guys.
Yesterday I spent all day beavering away on the nearside sill and jacking point. As always with rusty old cars things escalate very quickly!

[Turbotechnic]

The wheel arch liner is a mud trap which in turn rots the bottoms of the wings

[Turbotechnic]

[Turbotechnic]

Front of the sill looks very tender.

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The inner sill was well on its way but luckily wasn't too bad.
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Jacking point reinforcer was salvageable.

[Turbotechnic]

The floor didn't escape the rot. This is common on e28s because there's a square plate at the front of the floor and is always mistaken for a jacking point. When the car is jacked up there the floor pushes up and cracks the undersealer thus rotting out.

All cut out and cleaned up ready for welding.

[Turbotechnic]

Inner sill welded up.
I salvaged the end of the sill by sand blasting and welding up some pin holes. Now reinstating it.


Fabricated sill repair panel and add drain holes.

[Turbotechnic]

That's that sill done. Next weekend I'll finish off the floor.