Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

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austin8753
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by austin8753 »

Awesome, subscribed.
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

muleskinner wrote:Comments from the BaT auction:

"Excited to have won this one. I went drove down to LA this weekend to look at the car in person and drive it. From my non-pro mechanic’s POV,"....

Coulda fooled me. Looks pretty damn professional.
HAHAHA. A pro would do the work and end up with more money in their pocket. I do the work and the money just flies away.
milarsky
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by milarsky »

Fantastic work. Subscribed!!!
Pavel
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by Pavel »

:cool: looking forward to how this transforms.
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

Not a huge update on progress, but I'll file this one under "small victories." When this car was originally up for auction at BaT, a number of commenters noted the "rusty" tools and surmised that there must be rust in the trunk, because the same moisture that rusted the tools would have rusted stuff in the trunk. At the time, I'd gone & looked at the car personally, and I didn't see anything in or around the trunk area to give me concern. As far as the tools were concerned, I'd sort of just mentally added to my list that I should be on the lookout for a new - scratch that - replacement set on eBay.

After watching eBay for a while and realizing that buying replacements was going to be an expensive PIA, I decided to see if the existing tools would clean up.

Before:

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After:

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Not perfect, but I had a "wow" reaction. I sprayed the tools with the POR-15 "metal prep" product (I think it's basically a rust remover?) and scrubbed them a bit with a green Scotch-Brite sponge and also with a brass brush while they were soaking.

I'm pretty sure most of the brown spots that looked like rust in the BaT photos were actually stuck-on foam from the trunk pad that had disintegrated and stuck to the tools - maybe heat caused it a bit? As it turned out, there was actually very little rust on the tools. Winning!

I still need a small red-handled screwdriver ...
Ordnator
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by Ordnator »

Hi,

There is a gentlemen in Suffolk / Norfolk (UK) who makes up replacement foam pads that fit between the tool tray and the boot lid (large and small) as they are NLA from the main stealers:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-316- ... Sw3fZcWliz

I have had two of his E28 large tool box foam inserts and found then to be a good replacement option.

I recommend his product without reservation.

Regards,

Mick
Adam W in MN
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by Adam W in MN »

This is a great thread! Lots of thoroughness going on and overcoming the unexpected surprises (like that speaker install).
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

Ordnator wrote:Hi,

There is a gentlemen in Suffolk / Norfolk (UK) who makes up replacement foam pads that fit between the tool tray and the boot lid (large and small) as they are NLA from the main stealers:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-316- ... Sw3fZcWliz

I have had two of his E28 large tool box foam inserts and found then to be a good replacement option.

I recommend his product without reservation.

Regards,

Mick
Thanks and good to know. I'll check that out. I'd actually already bought the foam pad for the E24 (I think it was P/N 71111113754). I'd been told that it's a *very* close match, but when I held the new E24 pad up to the old one that's in the car, it looks identical - same color, shape, holes, etc.
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

Adam W in MN wrote:This is a great thread! Lots of thoroughness going on and overcoming the unexpected surprises (like that speaker install).
Ha. Thanks. So far, I've only discovered the problems. Haven't worked up the courage to fuck them up mo ... I mean fix them. I hate bodywork.
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

I actually managed to get a few things done this weekend. I'mnot sure if the M5 is really that much more complicated, or if I'm just not being as thorough about ordering my parts thread of time, but I seem perpetually to be one-part-shy of having the next major assembly done.

Until this weekend, that is. With freshly replated M9 bolts (black oxide at Arrow Plating), I had everything in hand to rebuild the brake calipers. The one thing that was bugging me was that in my limited experience, clear zinc plating can sometimes be tough to clean. But I didn't want to try to get these calipers powder coated (either color or clear) cause time & $$$, so after research I found this stuff at Eastwood: two-part, high temp clear coat.

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Mixed reviews on that product at Eastwood's own site, but I figured I'd give it a try. I did two coats (a little goes a looooong way), and then "baked" them in an impromptu "oven" (really just a heavy-duty moving box laying on its side with parts suspending inside and a space heater blowing for 4 hours; per IR thermometer, parts were at ~130 deg F for 4 hrs). Final result felt clean & clear, and my hope is that I'll now be able to clean them up easier.

Image

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The only thing I forgot (a day late, a part short - fuck), is that I didn't add the rear pad clips to my cad box for replating. So those will have to wait.

I also got a set of Spiegler stainless brake lines for the E34 From Angry Ass. I can post a pic of folks are interested, but I like them because they have black plastic sheathing (closer to stock) and the end fittings spin, so mounting them in the car will be easier.

Next up: I got the weird M10 "penta" bolts back from plating, so the ABS pump went back together too.

Image

Image

I used this post as a guide on how to disassemble & reassemble the ABS pump[/url]. I came up with a different way to remove those caps on the two penta-bolts in the center, and I also got those caps replated.

The thought occurred to me that things feel like they're progressing well ... except for the bodywork. I hate bodywork.
Last edited by jhh925 on Mar 03, 2020 10:31 PM, edited 1 time in total.
Ordnator
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by Ordnator »

jhh925 wrote:
Ordnator wrote:Hi,

There is a gentlemen in Suffolk / Norfolk (UK) who makes up replacement foam pads that fit between the tool tray and the boot lid (large and small) as they are NLA from the main stealers:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-316- ... Sw3fZcWliz

I have had two of his E28 large tool box foam inserts and found then to be a good replacement option.

I recommend his product without reservation.

Regards,

Mick
Thanks and good to know. I'll check that out. I'd actually already bought the foam pad for the E24 (I think it was P/N 71111113754). I'd been told that it's a *very* close match, but when I held the new E24 pad up to the old one that's in the car, it looks identical - same color, shape, holes, etc.
That is good to know that the E24 foam fits. Always prefer to use OEM parts wherever possible.

Regards,

Mick
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

Made some progress this weekend by knocking out a couple things that I've been avoiding for a while.

First, I tackled the hole in the rear bulkhead. I figured this would be a good way to hone some sheet metal welding skills by working on a section that's easy access / low visibility.

Process was pretty straight forward: Clean up the hole in the bulkhead, straighten the metal edges with a bit of planishing (not only did some PO cut the hole, but they bent up the bulkhead trying to rip the part out), mark the replacement metal, cut it, weld on a stud to make it easier to pull & hold the replacement, clamp the new section in, weld it up from both sides, grind the weld seams down, paint it with black primer.

Here's the before pic:

Image

Cleaned up the hole:

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Clamped in and tacked the replacement section:

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Welding & Grinding done:

After pic, front & back. This will eventually be covered with sound-deadening film on both sides:

I hadn't appreciated beforehand how the trunk-side of the bulkhead is basically just a bit of black overspray on gray primer. I'll probably be spending a bit more time in the trunk cleaning up the battery box, so this will probably get taken care of later.

Image

I also tacked the cleanup of the foam tool-kit pad. I figured a heat gun would make quick work of the remainder of the 32-year-old foam. Nope. Heatgun barely softened up. It took at least two hours of gently working the old sticker off with heat, a plastic trim tool, paste wax and adhesive remover. It's hard to see in this pic, but there's still old sticker on this paint. This is about as far as I figure I can take it without risking damage to the pain.

Image
vinceg101
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by vinceg101 »

Damn, Jens, do you want to repair my buklhead? With results like that I'm willing to deliver my car to your garage.

Nice work; I want to pick your brain about a few things next weekend.
Sapotorito
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by Sapotorito »

I liked what you did to your calipers, thanks for the tip... lots of great stuff here. Subscribed!
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

Sapotorito wrote:I liked what you did to your calipers, thanks for the tip... lots of great stuff here. Subscribed!
I went back to EPS to drop off more parts (EPS did the calipers, Arrow did pretty much everything else) ... "Sorry, we're having to replace our zinc line. No zinc of any kind for a few months."
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

vinceg101 wrote:Damn, Jens, do you want to repair my buklhead? With results like that I'm willing to deliver my car to your garage.

Nice work; I want to pick your brain about a few things next weekend.
Can't wait! And after we all get quarantined at Darin's house, we should have puh-lenty of time.

And I'm not sure if I said somewhere, but I actually bought a part-out 528e for parts and cut the bulkhead out of that car. It helps a ton to have, essentially, a perfectly pre-formed piece of metal to start with.
Last edited by jhh925 on Mar 13, 2020 11:37 PM, edited 1 time in total.
vinceg101
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by vinceg101 »

jhh925 wrote:Can't wait! And after we all get quarantined at Darin's house, we should have ph-lenty of time.
I see it now: we all will be packed into Darin's house, the CDC will have arrived and taped & plastic covered all the exits, and we will be inside partying like it's 1999 or at least until his booze is gone; then it gets ugly after that.
jhh925 wrote:And I'm not sure if I said somewhere, but I actually bought a part-out 528e for parts and cut the bulkhead out of that car. It helps a ton to have, essentially, a perfectly pre-formed piece of metal to start with.
Don't I know it, I've been accumulating parts for years: I have floor boards corners, rocker panels @ the jack points, and the rear bulkhead section (an audio installer butchered mine like they did yours).
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

vinceg101 wrote:I have ... rocker panels @ the jack points ... "
Yeah, let's talk.
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

This weekend is the euro conversion on the tail panel. Here's the before:


Image

I'd previously sourced a new BMW Euro OEM tail panel (thanks, Ivo). But in comparing the outline of the new euro part to the weld seams (as best I could pick them out under the schutz coating), I couldn't figure out how the new panel was supposed to fit in. Specifically, the line of the new panel didn't come close to matching the weld seams at the lower quarter panels.

After poking around and asking a few people who had been-there-done-that, I learned that the euro tail panel slipped in behind the rear quarter ... so the weld seam occurred where the lower rear quarter essentially wrapped around the tail panel. A pic is better to show what I'm talking about. The dashed red line is where the tail panel slips underneath the rear quarter:

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(One of my other take-aways here is that the original factory welding between tail panel & rear quarter wasn't that neat to begin with, and they used the schutz to cover a lot of quick work - so my weld-n-grind style should work out OK.)

So, with that info in hand, I decided that I would not try to replace the entire tail panel. Instead, I'd cut the existing tail panel horizontally in the area under the bumper, remove all the old US tail panel from that cut line down, then cut the new tail panel to match, & weld it all in. Simple.

Here's progress so far. In order to make it as easy as possible to match the cut lines, I used this homemade jig to guide the cutting wheel.

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Results were good ...

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... though if you have an eagle-eye you'll see that I cut too high in the lower section and cut into the spot-weld seam of the "C" channel part at the bottom. As I write this, I've already repaired that, and I'll add pics tomorrow after I get back in the garage.

And here's the remainder section of the old tail panel that I've pried out from behind the rear quarter. Getting this whole thing out all the way up to the horizontal cut line will be tricky.

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I'm cautiously optimistic that this rear tail panel conversion will go well.

(And I need a bigger frikkin garage. Damn.)
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

Progress on Euro tail panel is delayed due to sheltering in place - need stuff from the HW store and I haven't been able to get down there yet during the "sheltering in place."

Meanwhile, though, the "do I delete the SLS" question has been answered:

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H&R Sport 50428, Bilstein B8 Sports (24-007276 rear, 34-181546 front).
Nebraska_e28
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by Nebraska_e28 »

Great story! Subscribed for updates.
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

Juuuust about done on the euro tail panel installation. More to come on that, but I'm very happy how it's turning out.

Meantime, I received the throttle plate repair kit from Moosehead Engineering (thanks, Paul!), installed it and got the initial adjustments done on the butterfly and throttle linkages.

I started with what I believe is a factory shop document that outlines the ITB adjustments, but has a method intended to be used with a single dial indicator that's mounted to spots on the head & throttles with what I presume is a BMW-specific tool. Well, this is MyE28 ... we don't use the right tool when you have three of four wrong ones that can do the job just as well!

Here's the setup I used; all the dial indicators were cheap chinesium (~$15 each) and I made the indicator plates myself out of scrap wood.

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Here's the method I followed:

1. Started with all three link bars detached.
2. Set a dial indicator on each ITB. Zeroed each out.
3. Independently set each ITB stop screw so that the bottom of the butterfly valve was open by +.005" from zero (specs are to set it between 0.10 and 0.15mm = 0.004 to 0.006")
4. Left each dial indicator in place.
5. Attached first link bar (for cyls 5+6).
6. Adjusted the length of that bar so that when butterfly valve & throttle cable plate were both at rest, the dial indicator read +.005"
7. Next, attached the second link bar (cyls 3+4).
8. Adjusted that link bar so that when all was at rest, both dial indicators (for 3+4 and 5+6) read +0.005"
9. Next, attached the third link bar (cyls 1+2).
8. Adjusted that link bar so that when all was at rest, all three dial indicators (for 1+2, 3+4 and 5+6) all read +0.005"
9. Confirmed adjustment by actuating throttle cable plate. All dial indicators consistently came to rest at +0.005"
10. Set the WOT limit screw by using a vernier caliper to hold the #6 butterfly at exactly full open (plate parallel to throttle body axis, so same distance above & below the open butterfly), then adjusting the stop screw to just touch the throttle plate stop.
11. Confirmed WOT limit screw adjustment by opening throttles & measuring the #6 butterfly position. (Took a couple tries to get it right.)

Here's a short vid of the final check.
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

Making plenty of progress while I'm "working" from home. I'm really happy with how the tail panel ended up. Here's after first primer coat & seam sealer:

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And after a coat of black primer to keep everything clean as the car sits before actually getting painted:

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Time to move on to other things! Making good progress as well on correcting the butchery that was inflicted on the driver side foot well speaker panel. Here's what I discovered when I first disassembled the car; the inset is the view from inside the fender well where the stereo installed managed (accidentally? Intentionally?!?) to cut through the frame and into the fender well. (Sorry for the crappy dark pic of the speaker panel ... I'm no pro photog):

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Got a new donor panel from a board member, and also fabricated a patch for the fender well hole. These pics are before final fitting. Hoping to get these welded in sometime this week.

After clean-up:

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Hole patch:

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Dry-fit of new speaker panel:

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One of the original questions I had is whether I should get the whole car re-painted ... The entire lower tail panel will need to get re-shutzed and repainted, along with the lower quarters. I haven't gotten to the front of the car for the euro bumper conversion, but the entire front valance will need to be repainted, along with the small bar under the front grill that has all the small mounting holes for the US bumper trim. There will be other stuff after my work, and none of that includes the small dents & dings that I wanted to get fixed in the first place. All that is telling me I'll probably want to get the whole car painted, which I'm not looking forward to, given how hard it is to find a good shop to get that done.
jhh925
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

OK, so I know it's lame giving an update on every one of these little fix-its I get done. "Ooooh. You welded in another gummikegelsicherheitsmacherding, We've all done that a million times. Get to the shiny candy stuff!" Yeah yeah yeah.

But I had to post this one. That speaker hole enlargement project from some prior owner - including the frame hole - is what really got me thinking that I needed to roll up my sleeves and learn a bit more about how to fix some of these issues I was finding. And for me, the hidden details are what will make the car special - if it ever gets done. With all that said, I'm pretty happy with how the speaker panel fix came out. So getting the one done feels like a bit of a milestone.

Here's the final result:

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The black primer border looks ridiculous, but I didn't want to have the primer going all over the wiring that's still sitting under the dash.
Adam W in MN
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Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by Adam W in MN »

Beautiful result and great attention to detail. You are really righting the wrongs inflicted on this car!
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