Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

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BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by BDKawey »

jhh925 wrote: Jun 14, 2022 6:11 PM
BDKawey wrote: Jun 14, 2022 4:10 PM the trunk refresh came out awesome. my tail light carpet piece is in rough shape, could definitely go for the same treatment.
Not on Tetanus?!? Would a nice clean trunk go with that perfect name+aesthetic combo?
haha tetanus gets little to no esthetic love except the occasional vacuum and window cleaning. talking about my wrapped 'is
jhh925
Posts: 913
Joined: Jul 11, 2015 12:23 AM
Location: Reno

Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

jhh925 wrote: Jun 14, 2022 12:24 PMOther things that are still on the list:
  • Get idle cleaned up. Likely need to readjust the butterflies.
  • I'm not happy with the quality of the leather coverings on a bunch of the interior parts, especially the bunching on the dash. I'm collecting more parts to try to get a re-do on that stuff.
  • I have the original basket weaves on the car. I have refinished BBS wheels that are ready to go on there as soon as the front end in properly aloigned ... but man, those original basket weaves look great. Need to reconsider the BBS wheels.
  • I can't clear the "Rear Brake light" warning on the check panel. This one's a puzzle. Everything in the rear brake light check circuit is fine, and even shorting the pin on the check panel doesn't clear the light. I've tried to re-flow the solder on the board, but I haven't had a change to test my work yet.
I set the day aside today to make progress. I can check the last bullet off the list! "Rear brake light" check light is cleared. Prior to the move to NV, I spent a few hours pouring over the wiring diagrams & learning how the "logic" of the check circuits worked for the brake light check. All the relays checked out (the box in the trunk + the separate relay embedded in the third brake light), all the wiring from front to back worked, and of course I also checked to make sure that the brake lights themselves were in fact working & had the correct bulbs. Check Check Check. The next obvious thing (based on all the related threads here) was to reflow the solder connections on the check panel itself. During the course of the move, the original circuit board got mixed up with my spares, so I picked out the cleanest one, re-flowed the solder & reinstalled everything. Success! Maybe it was the solder re-flow, maybe I picked a working circuit board. Who knows. But at least I get to check something off the damn list.

Here's a super-dramatic picture of my check panel with no lights lit up. The panel did initially light up with the expected brake light "error," but it cleared as soon as I pressed the brake pedal, as it's supposed to.

Image

Turning to the idle.
Syndrome
Posts: 128
Joined: Nov 23, 2021 3:46 PM
Location: DC

Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by Syndrome »

Hi there! I read every bit of this amazing thread. Thank you! The one thing I wish you talked about because I’m trying to figure it out as we speak, is how you located the stud holes in the front European valance for the front air dam. I’d hate to drill holes in the wrong places. Any suggestions for me on this, please? Thank you!
CanadianMiniFan
Posts: 125
Joined: Oct 16, 2011 6:31 PM

Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by CanadianMiniFan »

Also just read through this thread, excellent work and attention to detail, hope you get the Moyronic 1.3 working well and get the car out and enjoy it!
Syndrome
Posts: 128
Joined: Nov 23, 2021 3:46 PM
Location: DC

Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by Syndrome »

So what’s the best source for the Natur leather for the interior? I think some of the original leather was really thin, like on the center console. GAHH makes some great seat covers. Thanks.
jhh925
Posts: 913
Joined: Jul 11, 2015 12:23 AM
Location: Reno

Re: Rebuilding My 1988 US-spec M5

Post by jhh925 »

Syndrome wrote: Mar 23, 2023 7:41 PM So what’s the best source for the Natur leather for the interior? I think some of the original leather was really thin, like on the center console. GAHH makes some great seat covers. Thanks.
I'd use Veterans Upholstery out of Los Angles (or somewhere in SoCal). I think the code is BM830? Memory is fuzzy. The thin leather used on, e.g., the ashtray & AC grill was manually thinned (or "skived" as I think they say in the industry). The Veterans leather is a very good match, though I'd probably have to admit it's not perfect. Others may disagree, but even if you pull a bvit of sample leather from an area that was well protected over the past 40ish years, that color is still likely to be a bvit faded. And even among survivor cars, it seems to me that the color varies.

Also, don't cheap out on the leather. I'm currently doing another M5 for a board member here. He sourced his own leather. He shopped a lot and talked to a bunch of places that do custom dye work. He got a great color & texture match, but the shop he ended up using then used sub-par leather that is now turning out to be pretty easy to tear. The Veterans stuff is very strong.
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