Aria - my first e28

General conversations about BMW E28s and the people who own them.
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jacobthegoat
Posts: 60
Joined: Mar 20, 2020 12:59 PM
Location: Nashville, TN

Aria - my first e28

Post by jacobthegoat »

Been wanting to document my 2nd BMW and 1st e28 here for a while so here we go.

1988 528e 139,xxx TMU


2018 I picked up this girl. Coincidentally, I looked at this car about a year previously, but didn’t purchase it. I don’t know why I didn’t, I think I was just younger and didn’t want a project car at the time. A year later I picked it up with an e2i conversion done and a new radio, so I called it a win and bought my 2nd bmw. Little did I know I’d have to go through all the work he did, but I was just eager to have another weekend warrior.

Here’s a pic of the first day I picked her up.

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The editing on my iPhone 6 makes it look a little cleaner than it actually is.

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Shortly after I started to dig into the “form” of the car rather than the function. Ran decent when I got it, so I started with the exterior. I tried the bumper tuck and didn’t tickle my fancy, so I ended up buying euro bumpers and starting the conversion over 2020 since we all had some spare time back then.

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Also added some style 29s I got for a good price. Decent looking wheels.

That all happened over the sum of two years. Mechanically the car drove great. I replaced the odometer gears as soon as I purchased it so I could keep up with the mileage. As od today she sits around 145,xxx.

As the outside was looking a little better I focused inside. The blue interior was all there, but the seats were busted. I actually sourced some MINT blue fabric seats from a fellow mye28er all the way from Russia (before the whole Ukraine thing…) I have never reupholstered seats before so I’m waiting on that project. In the mean time I got some vinyl seat covers. They actually fit really well and have had them on for about a year.

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Last edited by jacobthegoat on Mar 01, 2023 11:39 PM, edited 2 times in total.
Galahad
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Re: Aria - my first e28

Post by Galahad »

looks great!
Mike W.
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Location: California Whine Country

Re: Aria - my first e28

Post by Mike W. »

Wow, looks nice, good paint, the clearcoat isn't failing. But the dash. There's only one picture and it's not a comprehensive one, but there's something wrong. It doesn't look like a map of the US interstate system due to cracks. No cracks??? (or very few even) Wow! And those seat covers, now while they don't quite look like factory upholstery, they fit well and look nice, several steps above the norm.

Nice score!
jacobthegoat
Posts: 60
Joined: Mar 20, 2020 12:59 PM
Location: Nashville, TN

Re: Aria - my first e28

Post by jacobthegoat »

As I catch up this post to current date, there’s bound to be some stuff left out. This car has seen a lot of work, mostly from myself and a little bit of help from some local shops when I simply didn’t have the time.

In 2018 I also bought my first house, which is a fixer upper, and started slowly remodeling as soon as I moved in. I built a garage for my car to keep it out of the weather, then moved towards fixing up the inside.

At the time I knew very little about cars, but studied everything before diving into the next job. For the next year or so I’d slowly start baselining the motor and bringing it up to maintenance milestones. Everything from ignition, fuel supply, suspension and brakes.

I took my time working on her and drove her downtown and on some short road trips. She has never left me stranded to this day! (Frantically knocking on wood)
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Did the front euro conversion first but it took me about a year to get around to doing the rear.
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My frist BMW was an e30, so I kinda liked the American headlights, but as time went on, I found a good deal on a set of euro headlights on the forum that I couldn’t pass up. Plus having H4 bulbs is quite the upgrade. I did also purchase a set of euro fog lights but to this day have not installed them…

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jacobthegoat
Posts: 60
Joined: Mar 20, 2020 12:59 PM
Location: Nashville, TN

Re: Aria - my first e28

Post by jacobthegoat »

Mike W. wrote: Mar 02, 2023 1:16 PM Wow, looks nice, good paint, the clearcoat isn't failing. But the dash. There's only one picture and it's not a comprehensive one, but there's something wrong. It doesn't look like a map of the US interstate system due to cracks. No cracks??? (or very few even) Wow! And those seat covers, now while they don't quite look like factory upholstery, they fit well and look nice, several steps above the norm.

Nice score!

The paint is a 5 footer. Looks great after a wax. Tons of small scratches and other blemishes since it’s original paint.

As for the dash.. my e30 had a perfect one! So I was a bit of a stickler when looking at another bimmer about getting a clean dash. This one has developed 2 very small cracks that at first glance you wouldn’t notice them being there. I filled them in with “liquid vinyl” a very stretchy compound I use in construction to repair components of windows and such.

The seat covers were done by a local upholstery shop, cost me about $350 but are super snug and actually have a layer of padding that feels nice. I do have a set of genuine seats that I need to install on my frames but I’ve been enjoying driving it too much to pull the seats out!
1st 5er
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Re: Aria - my first e28

Post by 1st 5er »

Looking good Jacob. :up:
Panici
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Re: Aria - my first e28

Post by Panici »

Looks pretty clean!
Love the euro headlights, really differentiates the front end from an E30.


Also, this is a great pic. It looks like it could be a period-correct shot (if it wasn't for the modern car in the background.)
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jacobthegoat
Posts: 60
Joined: Mar 20, 2020 12:59 PM
Location: Nashville, TN

Re: Aria - my first e28

Post by jacobthegoat »

Panici wrote: Mar 03, 2023 10:48 AM Looks pretty clean!
Love the euro headlights, really differentiates the front end from an E30.


Also, this is a great pic. It looks like it could be a period-correct shot (if it wasn't for the modern car in the background.)
Thank you! I should go back to this spot and try to replicate it since the car has had quite a transformation.
jacobthegoat
Posts: 60
Joined: Mar 20, 2020 12:59 PM
Location: Nashville, TN

Re: Aria - my first e28

Post by jacobthegoat »

2021 - I scored a set of 3 piece MiM Sportline 16x7.5 wheels on eBay. They came to me in decent condition, missing 2 center caps. I haven’t found any center caps to this day so I 3D printed 2 caps and painted them the same color. They look ok, at a glance you’d never notice. I highly doubt I’ll ever find 2 matching center caps. It’s super hard to find any info at all on these wheels.

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All I know is they were made in Italy and have the exact same hub bore and bolt pattern to bolt right up to e28/e24 so I bought them.
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I tried my hand at refurbishing these wheels as they had some very slight curbing and patina on the paint. This proved to be waaaay harder than I thought but they turned out ok. I will more than likely disassemble them and refinish them again once it’s time for new tires.

Also I lowered my car a bit.
Bilstein b6 struts
M-Tech “short red” springs (NOS)
As far as I can tell I got super lucky scoring a set of m-tech springs in new condition. Some people may want less wheel gap but as I get older, I care less and less about that.

If I was to go back in time I’d swap the front b6 cartridges for a set of Sachs or BOGE if I could find a pair. Spring rates don’t really complement the bilstein struts. Great on the interstate. Sucks on city roads. Oh well.

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jacobthegoat
Posts: 60
Joined: Mar 20, 2020 12:59 PM
Location: Nashville, TN

Re: Aria - my first e28

Post by jacobthegoat »

2022 - head came off for head gasket replace. New ARP head studs, new febi rockers, seals and took the head to the machine shop to get decked and looked over. Everything looked good coming off so I put it all back with fresh top end seals, timing belt, water pump and t-stat in hopes I won’t have to open the head back up for quite some time.

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After that I’ve just been enjoying my time with it. It’s been up and running for 95% of its life. I drive it every chance I get.
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I know this is an e30 but it still rings true to me.
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