Vlad: The Zinno '87 535is

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m-racer
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Post by m-racer »

RonW wrote:
bsegalis wrote:Please correct me if I am wrong, but I've been told you can't refer to anything by the name "Vlad." Certainly not a nice, clean looking e28. :argue: :|
If I had an Impala I'd call it that.
Now, That is funny. Good luck with the car. Red E28's are special.
Drew in NYC
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Post by Drew in NYC »

cek
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Post by cek »

Ok, I'm going to just pretend that I named my Vlad on purpose just to 'eff with all of you.

Because it would have been really, really funny if I had known and then thought to do so.

From here on out though:

My Vlad has nothing to do with bad Vlad. Bad Vlad might be a bad guy. My Vlad is a car. Definitely a nice car.
Last edited by cek on Mar 22, 2013 4:06 AM, edited 1 time in total.
cek
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Post by cek »

Since I don't have the car yet, and I'm going crazy, I decided to do something.

So I updated my BMW pages on my web site.

New page for Vlad
Updated my page for my (sold) '95 540 M-Sport
Updated the E34 540 M-Sport page

www.kindel.com/bmw

Enjoy.
GaAlpinaOwner
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Post by GaAlpinaOwner »

Congrats on this purchase...I know several that were eyeballin this car to buy. Enjoy !

BTW did you ever sell that Toyota FJ ?

thanks

David Frankel
cek
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Post by cek »

GaAlpinaOwner wrote: BTW did you ever sell that Toyota FJ ?
yep, uglina sold. Www.uglina.com
S54ATL
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Post by S54ATL »

Great looking e28. Welcome, Charlie.
Pavel
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Post by Pavel »

Congrats on the purchase! Looks great ;) Have no doubt you will keep it at your standarts.

E34 seats will fit, ask 1st 5er.

And if the diving board bothers you - euro is for you.
mooseheadm5
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Post by mooseheadm5 »

clongo wrote: Those comments on BAT are hilarious. So many "experts" posting incorrect info.
Geez, no kidding. I had to force myself not to set aside a couple of hours to correct them all.

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
leadphut
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Post by leadphut »

Congrats on a beautiful car.

Welcome to the sickness.

I remember you from rennforums. I had an '86 Carerra for awhile and visited the site from time to time to get questions answered. Never was a member, but remember you've got one of the cleanest cars/garages I'd ever seen.

Nice job.
cddallara
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Post by cddallara »

cek wrote:
GaAlpinaOwner wrote: BTW did you ever sell that Toyota FJ ?
yep, uglina sold. Www.uglina.com
:drool:
cek
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Post by cek »

The waiting is killing me. But at least it got me off my butt and motivated to finally tackle the suspension refresh on my '88 911.

I'm about half-way through the project of:

- Updating to Turbo tie-rods
- Replacing the shocks
- New rotors & pads

Some Porsche p0rn to distract you from the fact that I don't actually have my E28 yet:

First get the car up on the lift. My Backyard Buddy 4-post lift has a Bendpak bridge jack that is awesome, but I rarely lift all four wheels up at the same time, which I wanted to do for this job.

We used the bridge-jack to lift the front first, putting 4K lbs jack stands under the front body lift points. The jack slides on rails between the runways and this let us slide it back to lift the rear at the rear body lift points.

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Then off went the wheels.

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A little looking around. About 3 years ago I underwent the huge task of removing the cosmoline from the front fender wells. It was such a pain in the ass that I've been blowing off doing the same to the rear. But it needs it. I hate that stuff. Part of this job will be getting all that crap off of the fender wells and suspension parts:

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The only car I've ever done brake/suspension work on before was my '78 Toyota FJ40 (which I sold in Feb). There I rebuilt the hubs and put new calipers on.

Looking at my shop manuals and this I scratched my head. How do you remove that bearing dust cover?

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Pelican Parts Forum search to the rescue! I quickly found a thread that showed how to build a custom tool out of a 2" exhaust U-bolt/hanger and to use a lug nut to apply mechanical force to pry the suckers off.

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In my case, because the brakes on this car had never been done since it left the factory in November 1987, the cover was on tight, tight, tight. But this worked beautifully (after having to run to the car parts store, of course).

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After pulling the rotor/hub off we get to see factory original grease.

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Which I immediately ate...er I mean wiped off.

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As you can see from my ball joint cover, it's unlikely I'll be needing to replace much of anything in here...

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Primary target aquired. This is what we are going to replace: the lameo standard Carrera tie-rod.

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Damn, I was kinda hoping (in an admittedly insane way) those suspension bushing parts showed at least SOME sign of wear or age. I guess I just get to not spend money.

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I had half a mind to replace my control arm bushings with some modern newfangled things, like ER poly-bronze. But I just can't see the point given there's absolutely nothing wrong with my original bushings.

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As she sits right now.

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Work that's left:

- Get the right-front strut & tie rod off
- Clean all parts
- Rebuild calipers
- Disassemble front strut assemblies and install new strut inserts
- Install new Turbo tie rods
- Install front struts
- Install rear struts
- Re-install airbox and MAF (was removed to get access to RHS rear strut bolt)
- Install new rotors
- Install calipers
- Flush brakes with new fluid
- Get aligned

FedEx should start delivering parts today or tomorrow.

I have an appointment to get an alignment done on Tuesday morning... I better damn well get it done by then.
cek
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Post by cek »

Wheels. Wheels. Wheels. What to do about wheels?

Fact: Ever since my '95 540iA, I've absolutely hated BMW basket weave wheels. I generally don't find them attractive, but most importantly I can't stand cleaning them.

Vlad comes with a set of 16" wheels from a 840ci (Style 8). Nice wheels. And not really basketweaves, but I still don't really love them and find them too busy. I think these would make great rims for winter (e.g. Blizzaks) tires. But I don't want them as the main wheel.

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My favorite BMW wheel of all time are the Style 37 from the '95 M5, which I had on my '95 540 M-sport. Pure sex:

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Alas, these are only available in 18" and i do not want to put 18" rims on this E28. I also think they will look out of place on the older E28.

I also really, really, love the BBS RX. I had these on my '95 540iA and their clean look combined with ease-of-cleaning brought me joy.

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These are hard to find these days, it appears. In addition in the 17x8" fitment I would prefer a little 'deeper dish' look. But if I found a set of these in decent condition they'd be my very first choice for Vlad.

My next choice is the awesome Style 32. I've seen quite a few E28s with this wheel and think it looks super sharp. Style 32 is a simple, clean design, that is timeless, and thus appropriate for an older BMW like Vlad. They also appear relatively easy to find these days in 17x8".

Here's an example from a car that was just posted for sale (http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?p=1138451#1138451):

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And in red:

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Third choice would be Style 42 from the E39. These are basically pimped out BBS RX (with the 'two-piece' look of all the small bolts). Lovely. I especially like how 'deep dish' they are. I would not kick them out of bed for eating brake dust. If I found a set on the cheap I'd snag them up.

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I'd love your thoughts. Remember: "In matters of taste, there can be no dispute." and "To each, his own". And "If you don't like my taste in wheels, you can go suck it." :-)

Oh, and this BMW Wheels Style website is awesome: http://www.bmwstylewheels.com
shagrath
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Post by shagrath »

I absolutely love your 911! That is one of my all time favorite body styles. I used to collect TechArt and Automotion and Performance Products catalogs as a kid and DROOL! :cool:

Have you considered 17" 2 piece style 29 wheels?
Pavel
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Post by Pavel »

cek
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Post by cek »

beliq wrote:Style 5" in 17.
What part of "I hate basketweaves" didn't you understand"? :-)
Last edited by cek on Mar 27, 2013 1:56 PM, edited 1 time in total.
cek
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Post by cek »

shagrath wrote:I absolutely love your 911! That is one of my all time favorite body styles. I used to collect TechArt and Automotion and Performance Products catalogs as a kid and DROOL! :cool:
Thanks! She's just about perfect.
shagrath wrote: Have you considered 17" 2 piece style 29 wheels?
Too busy. To basketweavy.
grahamular
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Post by grahamular »

BBS RXs and the Style 42s, while nice wheels, look too modern for the e28 in my opinion...the Style 32's are nice though. Some Hartge's are a very period-correct choice as well, without the cleaning intensity of a cross-spoke/basketweave design.

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-Graham
Pavel
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Post by Pavel »

cek wrote:
beliq wrote:Style 5" in 17.
What part of "I hate basketweaves" didn't you understand"? :-)
You really hate basketweaves then :)
shagrath
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Post by shagrath »

cek wrote:
shagrath wrote:I absolutely love your 911! That is one of my all time favorite body styles. I used to collect TechArt and Automotion and Performance Products catalogs as a kid and DROOL! :cool:
Thanks! She's just about perfect.
shagrath wrote: Have you considered 17" 2 piece style 29 wheels?
Too busy. To basketweavy.
No it isn't. It's less busy than the style 42 you posted above.
Image
cek
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Post by cek »

shagrath wrote: No it isn't. It's less busy than the style 42 you posted above.
Is too.
Last edited by cek on Mar 27, 2013 6:32 PM, edited 1 time in total.
RoyW
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Post by RoyW »

Very, very nice... congrats and welcome, and enjoy the drive North! :)

But, a German car with a Russian name... eh?? How about Wolfgang, or Wilhelm, or Volker (sticking with the "v" sounds) :laugh:

-RoyW
cek
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Post by cek »

RoyW wrote:Very, very nice... congrats and welcome, and enjoy the drive North! :)

But, a German car with a Russian name... eh?? How about Wolfgang, or Wilhelm, or Volker (sticking with the "v" sounds) :laugh:

-RoyW
Other than fighting over music choices with my son, I'm really excited for the drive.

The PO named the car. I'm not changing it.
Jake D
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Post by Jake D »

cek wrote:...but most importantly I can't stand cleaning them.
:rofl:
I know what you mean, but I do love the way they look. Not sure many other "stock" wheels are as period correct as the basketweave.

That is one of the cleanest e28s I've seen. Hope you'll free up the 3rd weekend of July and bring it out to 5erWest for us to oogle. :shock:
Drew in NYC
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Post by Drew in NYC »

grahamular wrote:Some Hartge's are a very period-correct choice as well, without the cleaning intensity of a cross-spoke/basketweave design.

Image

-Graham
This is a fine choice, as is the Style 32 as the second option.
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