1987 BMW 535is... Black Betty part deux

Following up from redhookfern's thread here: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/black-betty-1987-e28-bmw-535is/69004/page1/

and for sale here: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/fs-1987-bmw-535is-1k/69523/page1/

Purchased for $100 (a step up from the "Free!" offer)... should cover the costs for the aux input mod for his new car. Also some additional $ for the Bentley manual and parts for it.

I drove to NJ with my 10 year old and we tow dollied it back to our place in PA (~4 hours each way. It loosened up west of Allentown, but we were able to get it secured without incident and home from there

***lesson #1: Check, re-check, and re-recheck tie-down straps. (I had rechecked them just 20 miles or so earlier and readjusted one then.)

Waiting to get it on the lift with my mechanic (pre-inspection) to verify the things we know it needs and check to see what else there might be.

Looking at this as a potential ride for my 16-year old (new driver), who's planning to invest a lot of sweat equity in the car. We have already addressed one issue with the lighting (license plate bulb appears to be resolved). More to come!

Congrats! They are great cars.

A few updates:

Over the weekend, my 16-year old started cleaning her up further - 2 washes, then starting to buff the paint on the trunk lid. Definite potential there.

While he did that, I looked up info on the computer and got date, time, and 'mother in law' alarm set (yes, it should buzz annoyingly at 70MPH now)

My mechanic checked the car over today on his lift:

• Catalytic converter cracked / needs new exhaust
• Drag link needs to be replaced
• Needs 4 tires & 4-wheel alignment

and more minor stuff:

• oil change
• all belts
• fog light bulb

Plus we're going through the MyE28.com checklist. So, lots of work yet to do, but a strong foundation to build on. No significant chassis rust; brakes and suspension all checked out OK.

Pix to follow soon.

Parts en route from AutohausAZ.

Drag Link 1/3 of what my shop can get it for, OEM part :)

GSmith wrote: Parts en route from AutohausAZ. Drag Link 1/3 of what my shop can get it for, OEM part :)

What brand is the link? There are several companies selling suspension parts for e28s that are supposed to be OEM quality but not all are equal. Lemforder is a good brand, Febi not so much, and there are a few others I can't remember offhand.

Meyle. Part# 32211129014

My understanding is the Meyle parts are good, so you should be okay.

Meyle is good enough stuff.

I love these old 5 series.

I will be posting photos here on Flickr, in addition to dad posting them as hotlinks. (In case you didn't figure it out, I am GSmith's son.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/awsx1686/sets/72157635504460739/

Loading her up in NJ... and airing up the trailer tires for the trip home.

I checked the towing guidelines after arrival. Really should have disconnected the driveshaft. At least it was in neutral and key in the correct position! We'll need to change out transmission fluid sometime soon...

and arrived back home. Lots of 'patina' to the hood, roof, and trunk deck.

Andrew and Betty

First wash. Rusting slab of metal for front plate removed (Kudos to the Commonwealth of PA!); grills placed for the photo shoot, but awaiting new fasteners.

...and on to today's update.

We had a loose and damaged side moulding on the driver's rear door - removed, re-shaped with some percussive maintenance (hammer, various metal shapes to flatten & re-crease the trim skeleton under the rubber). Vast improvement... but no pix.

Also purchased 5008 bulbs for the taillights and have 2 more bulb holders coming with the other parts order. 10W vs. the previous 5, and 4 lamps vs. 2 will mean rear visibility to other motorists goes from 10w to 40w. Nice safety upgrade! LED lamps may be an option in the future for even more visibility, but this is a start.

Then on to the engine. Air cleaner box was not mounted right. Adjusted mount and added 2 M6 nuts to keep it in place. Then re-removed and on to spark plug replacement. Easy maintenance for a 16-year old and his pop, right? Well... not so much.

I love the idea of platinum plugs - long maintenance intervals, reliable spark, etc. etc.

The reality is that the darn Bosch platinum plugs - 6 for 6! - top electrode stayed in the plug wire. Plug wires were visibly OK and I was hoping to delay wires / cap / rotor until later on... but we need a wire set.

The plugs won't even thread back in... they slide in sounding like a zipper, no grab to pull out the top piece. I tried other options and got half of one, but I think they're pretty much arc-welded to the wires at this point.

...so Andrew gapped the new NGK plugs and we swapped all 6, and placed the wires loosely on each so we can install the new wire set more easily. Hopefully someone local has a set in stock.

Continued washing. At this point, we have scrubbed the outside three times with brush, sponge, and scrubby sponge. Had enough time to run rubbing compound, then polishing compound, then wax on the trunk. Still some patina, but it brought out a lot of shine (before, it was a very close match to the rubber on the trunk spoiler)

Yes, that's the RX7 I'm trying to get out in the background. The younger boys got to help clean out the garage today by testing every can of spray paint and throwing out any that didn't work. It's heading to be recycled in a week (see thread: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/1986-rx7-for-sale-parts/69499/page1/ )

In reply to AWSX1686:

Nice avatar.

GSmith wrote: The reality is that the darn Bosch platinum plugs - 6 for 6! - top electrode stayed in the plug wire.

I'm more familiar with slightly earlier stuff, and forgive me if I'm just having a late-evening brain fade, but...

Are you referring to pulling the plug wires off and just having the threads there? Because that's the way a lot of the BMW plug wires are. If your plugs have the usual spark plug top on them, you have to thread that off to leave just the threaded stud for the plug wire to clip onto... They don't use the usual slightly bulb shaped plug tops.

Oh really ?

Go figure. This is my first Bimmer and did not expect that. Looks like I ruined one plug wire in the process and the contact was less than good so time to replace and throw these in the trunk as spares.

You do have to remove the screw on adapters on the plugs to use them on the M30 engine.

I have to admit I've never used them so I don't have personal experience, but the common theory is these engines don't like platinum plugs - everyone uses Bosch silver plugs.

I removed the screw-on parts and it seems pretty happy with the NGK's

Andrew spent hours reassembling the front door panels, glovebox, etc. Nearly everything was in the trunk, just took a lot of time.

This is a great project for your son. He will learn alot.

Did some buffing with the rubbing compound today, looking good.

Side View

Front View

In reply to AWSX1686:

More work today. We got to change the oil. Definitely prefer the BMW canister oil filter to the Triumph TR7's... the canister is actually enclosed!

The engineering in the design is incredible.

Then off to replacing the belts. Again, neat design. I love the rack and pinion bolts so you can position the accessory exactly and tighten it in place without moving it.

That said, after who knows how many previous owners and 165000 miles... as well as a bit of my own inexperience, only one rack remains intact. The alternator one was already stripped out, power steering one good, and I did a bit of a number on the A\C 'rack'.

So, two out of three belts are installed.

The AC compressor belt is the same length as the old one... and the right length (800) but simply WILL NOT install.

Andrew is researching...

Further progress.

Our mechanic did an initial inspection when we got the car and reported that we need the center drag link for the steering linkage.

Well... we replaced that, but still had play, so also replaced the tie rods (the old ones were rusty enough and the cost so close, that replacing only the tie rod ends would have been pretty foolish).

Title was released by NY Thursday, so we should be up to the point of registering the car soon.

Still need: - AC Compressor belt (not that the AC is working anyway...) - 4x tires - alignment - catalytic converter - fix one power window / reassemble the door trim