Resurection of an E38 - bloody lockdowns

[B'stard Child]

OK opening statement I've owned this car since 30th November 2006

BMW E38 740i short wheel base 1998 manufactured (Actually manufactured on my birthday) 99 model (facelift) registered in Jan 1999 on "S696 GRR" as a dealer demonstrator for 5 mths.

Before it's sale on 1st May 1999 to first real owner it was fitted with some individual option wheels which was a bit unusual (not shown on build spec)

First owner put his personal Plate on it JE 6570 and ran it to 26th April 2006 with full BMW Dealer servicing then part exchanged for a Merc (spoke to the first owner who wished he'd kept it but the accountant has advised him to change)

Then 7 months with a new keeper who put his personal Plate on it S21 VGS who I think got himself into a little bother money wise and needed to raise some cash in a hurry so it was a bit of a bargain.

So I bought it for £6,000 with 94,797 miles in Nov 2006

Spec from VIN Decode

Type code GG82
Type 740I (EUR)
Dev. series E38 ()
Line 7
Body type LIM
Steering RL
Door count 4
Engine M62/TU
Cubical capacity 4.40
Power 210
Transmision HECK
Gearbox AUT
Colour COSMOSSCHWARZ METALLIC (303)
Upholstery STANDARDLEDER/SCHWARZ (N6SW)
Prod. date 1998-11-18
Order options
No. Description
216 SERVOTRONIC
265 TIRE PRESSURE CONTROL (RDC)
288 LT/ALY WHEELS
302 ALARM SYSTEM
358 CLIMATE COMFORT WINDSCREEN
401 SLIDING/VENT ROOF, ELECTRIC
416 SUNBLINDS
428 WARNING TRIANGLE
438 WOOD TRIM
441 SMOKERS PACKAGE
456 COMFORT SEATS, ELECTRIC. ADJUSTABLE
494 SEAT HEATING F DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER
495 3. HEADREST REAR CENTRE
500 HEADLIGHT WASHER SYS/INTENSIVE CLEANING
508 PARK DISTANCE CONTROL (PDC)
609 NAVIGATION SYSTEM PROFESSIONAL
625 CELLULAR PHONE(MOTOROLA) CPL PREPARATION
670 RADIO BMW PROFESSIONAL
672 CD CHANGER BMW FOR 6 CDS
676 HIFI LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM
812 ENGLAND VERSION
850 ADD FUEL TANK FILLING FOR EXPORT
863 EUROPE/DEALER DIRECTORY
877 DELETION CROSS-OVER OPERATION
880 ENGLISH/OWNERS HANDBOOK/SERVICE BOOKLET

Series options
No. Description
202 STEPTRONIC
210 DYNAMIC STABILITY CONTROL (DSC)
853 LANGUAGE VERSION ENGLISH

Information
No. Description
459 SEAT ADJUSTM., ELECTR. W. MEMORY
473 ARMREST, FRONT
488 LUMBAR SUPPORT DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER
602 ON-BOARD MONITOR WITH TV
694 PREPARATION FOR CD CHANGER

Advert pictures

Back



Side



Front



Inside (A little dark but Mrs BC has a bit of a thing for black leather)



Then on the way home I called into a mates house (he wanted me to buy his V12 E38 but it was a LWB model and it was never going to fit in the garage so I'd looked for a SWB model) and relieved him of some parts that he had upgraded his car with and was selling separately as he was reverting to std



And






Well it stayed std for 15 miles

The tyres were toast so alternative wheels and tyres were needed to keep it legal and On new years day 2007 I drove from Norfolk to Tenby in Wales and back to Norfolk in a day to collect a set of basket weaves with decent tyres

I also transferred my senator plate (A3.0 CD) to the car and fitted the basket weaves

Car Park Shots







I love basket weaves but they are such a bugger to keep clean so I found four wheels to match the original spare that was in the boot

I fitted a full tow bar (fixed not removable) and modern towing electrics connector (BMW kit) - I have a BMW adaptor which converts the socket to the old style.

I'd like to say I only towed the odd box trailer but it had a towing capacity of 2100 Kgs



This was the style of wheel it would have originally been supplied with

The trailer I borrow is 800 kgs and my track car was 1200 kgs so it tugged a bit more than a box trailer

So I stripped the 18's (for some reason they look really good in the pictures proving that bloody cameras do lie - they were awful condition - corrosion and water had got under the lacquer and they really were in poor shape)



Became



I needed to make sure I didn't lose the bolts



And the centres got blasted and coated



The alloy once the laquer was removed seemed to be black to the core and wouldn't polish so I threw it all in the garage loft and forgot about them..... Till PH'r Gewy (Paul Christian) wanted to try one of the rears on the front of his project car so I had to put one together roughly (with four bolts - I hadn't lost them)

Anyway the wheel at 9 1/2 J x 18 was too small for what he needed FFS and as the alloy had gone back to grey I thought I'd better finish them......

And finally I had.

After



Detail



I haz dish



So where is this thread going well just after I fitted the refurbished wheels in 2013 I got a st load of advisories on the MOT in 2013

Date tested 30 March 2013 - Pass
Mileage 114,694 miles
Expiry date 31 March 2014
Advisory notice item(s)

Offside Rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
Nearside Rear Lower Radius arm has slight play in a pin/bush (2.4.G.2)
Offside Rear Lower Radius arm has slight play in a pin/bush (2.4.G.2)
Nearside Front Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.2.C.1c)
Offside Front Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.2.C.1c)
Offside Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover damaged, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.4.G.2)
Nearside Front Lower Suspension arm ball joint dust cover damaged, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.4.G.2)

Also as I'd rolled my track car and it was no longer a daily driver I didn't need to fix it in a hurry - especially when I got a quote from BMW for all new arms and bushes at over £1000 plus VAT which was just stupid on a car worth about the same money

I eventually bought a complete set of arms and bushes from Germany (not cheap stuff of unknown quality) for a far more reasonable £400

Meantime life got in the way and it sat on the drive and we all know that's never good for cars

Fast forward to 2020 lock downs etc made Mrs BC cranky and want me to clear some st - it would have been easy to just weigh it in but I'd missed the 5 year window to get my plate off it and I needed to make it road legal before I could lift the plate

As I had all the parts in the boot in the last few weekends I've been thro the front and rear replacing all arms and bushes

It's been fighting me every inch of the way but I think I'm getting closer........

Engine Bay



Front end (needs a new bonnet badge)



Back end (also the badge needs replacing)





Drivers door has a little dent - really hard to capture it no broken paint but it's been there the whole time I've owned it and always annoyed me



Little bit of bubbling/rust on the bottom edge of one of the back doors



Same on the back of the drivers door



Both rear arches aren't great at all





And the windscreen rubber has definitely seem better days (Does not leak - it's a bonded screen and this is a trim rubber)



I had it all ready for an MOT when I tested the windscreen washers and found they didn't..............

This would be why



The aim was to get it ready for the first SOTW in 2021..................

Edited by B'stard Child on Wednesday 30th December 00:30

[5harp3y]

Great 'for sale soon' thread

[B'stard Child]

5harp3y said:

Great 'for sale soon' thread

Ah yes now that would be breaking the rules so I’ve scubbed that - plus it continues to fight me

[B'stard Child]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Apparently I can have as many cars as I like as long as they are black or a very dark colour and have black leather interior - I didn’t take into consideration this criteria and bought a white car with sports seats in cloth once and the noise from the passenger seat was awful.

[ChrisDT]

Love these, we did the Scumrun in 2015 in a 4.4 V8 and that was epic. Tend to keep one eye open for another...

This thread could be dangerous.



In 2017 it had a colour change to Alpine White before the next Scumrun.

Edited by ChrisDT on Wednesday 23 December 14:36

[B'stard Child]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

She suffers my car obsessions and has done for 30 years now - she doesn't drink (I drink like a fish) which is great but slightly spoiled by the fact she can't drive even though in the last 20 years she's owned at least 6 cars........... Anyway I think it's safe to say she's a keeper

[B'stard Child]

ChrisDT said:

Love these, we did the Scumrun in 2015 in a 4.4 V8 and that was epic. Tend to keep one eye open for another...



In 2017 it had a colour change to Alpine White before the next Scumrun.

Damn that looks good in white - shame it's a banned colour for me

ChrisDT said:

This thread could be dangerous.

There is no chance of it being that - I'm utterly useless with deadlines I might as well have said 2022.......

[ChrisDT]

It did look really good in white! But that may have just been the fresh paint talking as well, so shiny!

I'll follow the thread, just to see what happens

[skullandbiscuits]

What state is the fuel tank in?

I had a refurbished one put in mine in June, hopefully that will hold out for a few more years :-)

[B'stard Child]

The idea was "resurrection" not "restoration" (just realised I've spelt it wrong in the title which was a bit slapdash)

Keep the cost to the minimum get a fresh MOT and lift the plate and get the car gone in some way or form. Last time I sold a car was a long long time ago (I tend to break them for parts rather than sell them as it's a better return) and PH have a cars for sale facility so would be ideal.

As far as a restoration goes I have too many of those already

So I'd already stripped the washer bottle out and got rid the concealed screen wash - nice stuff and whilst the headlight washer pump rinsed/cleaned out and responded to being connected to a battery - the windscreen pump pictured earlier unfortunately didn't it was seized sold.

So I needed another windscreen washer pump but I kept looking at the intensive wash pump - it's the same size and I don't think you can get the chemicals any more (I just used it with neat screen wash) so a quick fix would have been to swap the windscreen washer pump with that - it just feels a bit of a bodge and I was torn......

So I tried it - bloody hell connectors are the same fits perfectly and everything looked great

Before I put the wheel arch liner back it would be good to test it



And it was a fail - that pump was also dead didn't think to actually test it before I fitted it - maybe it also needed a clean out - removed and cleaned out connected it to power - dead as a dodo - wires got hot very quickly too.

Damn - OK time to ring my very friendly BMW dealer parts dept - Windscreen Washer Pump to you sir with your usual discount £50 - the intensive wash pump sir also £50

OK so I could get away with one and no one would probably even pick up the fact the intensive wash pump even worked

So I bought two....................... I know I have a problem none of you need to point it out...........

So with two pumps and a lighter wallet I fitted them both and tried the washers - nothing out of the jets - not a damn thing - Intensive wash system - again nothing out of the jets - Maybe it had a lot of air in the pipes - try it a few more times

Nope - by this point lots of screen wash coming out of the bonnet area by the pollen filter - great stuff............ I bet a pipe has popped of the washer jet(s)

Remove pollen filter flaps and pollen filters - they were proper soaked with screen wash

At this point I had access to some of the pipes (well I could see them)

Hit the windscreen washers and a jet of screen wash shot into the garage

Both pipes go thro a grommet in the bonnet so lets start here - disconnected and removed



Or rather



One was broken in half and the other had a split in the end connected to the next section

BMW parts Picture



Try and work out what I need - it's only a little bit of plastic pipe

Bearing mind I had a good system to this point



So I had all the part numbers - looked to me like 6 would be grommet and possibly two intergral pipes

BMW parts man said £2.40 so he thought unlikely - especially as the same part is listed for E38's without intensive wash

So we had a conversation and he thinks it's Part 2 I need £22.00 each (remember I'd fixed the intensive wash system pump - so I needed two of Part 2 - £44)

Tomorrow I get to see if it's the right part.....................

[B'stard Child]

skullandbiscuits said:

What state is the fuel tank in?

I had a refurbished one put in mine in June, hopefully that will hold out for a few more years :-)

Last time I checked it was fine - I always brim fill cars before I leave them on the drive for any length of time, it stops condensation in the tank causing internal rot - it hasn't lost any fuel although I've pulled most of the fuel out and used it in one of the daily drivers since I started this activity in Nov and replaced it with a few gals of fresh stuff

[B'stard Child]

A few weeks back I was fitting the ball joints and bushes and arms and I noticed the one of the front shocks had a bit of corrosion on the spring seat

I picked at it and it felt very crusty but it was all under the rubber spring seat

So I removed both front shocks and stripped them down to inspect properly

One didn't look to bad - the other one not so good



I picked at it a bit more - it was paper thin around the holes



Now I could have cut out the rust and frenched in a new bit of steel - ground down the welds and given it a coat of paint and fitted it all back together and no one would be wiser

I could just replace one but that makes my teeth itch...........

Two new shocks arrived a few days later

I do know exactly why I can never do "bangernomics" or run a PH definition of a "Shed"...........

[B'stard Child]

Well it was the right part but I’d assumed as there was two pipes each shown with a part number I would need two of them - turns out that the complete pipe assembly with two hoses - two y pieces and four feed pipes to the washer jets was one assembly and it even came with a new bonnet grommet. I’d also ordered some new clips (bag of 25 was minimum order) and a pair of pollen filters - paid the nice man £129.10 and if it ever stops raining/sleeting I’ll try and fit the spaghetti piece and clips plus the pollen filters and maybe I’ll have washers again!!!!!!

Stupidly I priced up a new windscreen seal and the scuttle tray which has another rubber trim (only available with the complete scuttle tray) and they weren’t to bad so I debating with myself if I can leave it as it is or sort it out properly - I know how that story will end.........

[B'stard Child]

One thing does continue to surprise me - the car is 21 years old and I’ve never been told a part is NLS and most parts are in UK only the weird stuff has to come from Germany which means a longer wait but it’s still in stock.

I’ve got a Vauxhall that I couldn’t get parts for when it was 9 years old (it will be 30 years old in Jan)

[B'stard Child]

I now has washers

Parts



Stripped down rebuilt and back together with new Pollen Filters



New clips (Had to modify an old pair of pliers with an angry grinder to be able to fasten the clips)



Buttoned up



And this will either work or not but it should be a gif



Or alternatively have a link to a gif

https://imgflip.com/gif/4rj62g

[B'stard Child]

Boxing Day Boredom - can't go anywhere - Xmas Day we were Tier 2 and now in Tier 4

Headlights looked a little milky



Wet sand 1500 grit



Polish with some paint renovator



Repeat the process with the other side



Still bored I found a few other jobs to do.......

Gave the rear badge the same treatment - looks like a save to me

Fitted the wheel arch liner back again and the belly pan

Cleaned the leather and then fed it

Pulled the carpet mats and gave the floor a good hoover

Hoovered the floor mats and replaced them

Cleaned the door shuts

Found a sticky sweet congealed in the door pocket so cleaned that out

Still bored so decided to drink beer!!!

[fastbikes76]

Nice barge ! That sounds like it has just the right amount of wrong to keep busy but not pushed over the edge (yet)

Liking the OCD plate, Mrs Fb got me an OCD plate yesterday for crimbo

[B'stard Child]

fastbikes76 said:

Nice barge !

Not as good as a Senator but a lot less rot (rear wheel arches excepted)

fastbikes76 said:

That sounds like it has just the right amount of wrong to keep busy but not pushed over the edge (yet)

It's been fighting me - a lot!!!

fastbikes76 said:

Liking the OCD plate, Mrs Fb got me an OCD plate yesterday for crimbo

I'm not at all OCD either

[fastbikes76]

B'stard Child said:

I'm not at all OCD either

Sadly I am just a tad... goes with my several other ‘issues’ lol. Trying to work out if I put it on my 630i or my bike now.. decisions decisions

[B'stard Child]

fastbikes76 said:

B'stard Child said:

I'm not at all OCD either

Sadly I am just a tad... goes with my several other ‘issues’ lol. Trying to work out if I put it on my 630i or my bike now.. decisions decisions

When the 740 is back on it's original plate the OCD plate it's going on the hot wash