1988 535is Ohio. 5/4/23 zender skirts and hood insulation

Post your photos and videos here!
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

1988 535is Ohio. 5/4/23 zender skirts and hood insulation

Post by BDKawey »

not enough eye candy around here lately, wanted to introduce my new 88' 535is!

saw this car shared in a WTB post here and after having my eyes peeled for the last year for something in my price range and rust free to pop up, I decided to pull the trigger on this car after about 80 pictures and a few videos. purchased the car from an enthusiast in Boise Idaho and had it shipped to columbus ohio. car had a broken odometer at 192k (have since replaced the gears and is now fully functional), upgraded sway bars, a chip (not sure what kind), z3 short shifter, aftermarket head unit and speakers, some spring and shock combo (unsure of specs)

here it is arriving very dirty after getting haulted in colorado when they had a huge snow storm about 3 weeks ago.
ImageIMG_4974 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageIMG_4978 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageIMG_4979 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

couldnt wait to give it a wash and get a real first look at it and its condition. car has dings and scratches on pretty much every single panel and scratches and paint fade on the roof, trunk and hood.
ImageIMG_4984 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageIMG_4992 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
front air dam has cracks and as do the fog lights.
ImageIMG_4996 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

seats are in alright condition and will be fine with me until the time comes to recover or replace them with something snazzy and period correct. drivers seat has black tape covering some tears and the passenger has a few cracks. both seat backs are floppy and need inspected.
ImageIMG_4988 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageIMG_4987 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

engine bay is impressively clean and zinc coating is still present in many places
ImageIMG_4933 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

had to take it to the very next cars and coffee in columbus, after being at the bmv 20 minutes before they opened on a saturday and being the 50th+ person in line.
ImageIMG_5007 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
needs a set of ansa exhaust tips. exhaust is all stock and very new from the headers back.
ImageIMG_5008 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

onto the first mechanical repairs! as stated i replaced the odometer gears with a set from garagistic and now its ticking away.

next up was the clutch pedal, it sat so high above the brake pedal it was driving me nuts. having to physically lift my entire leg to get it up onto the pedal. the pedal would want to snap down even with the brake pedal but not do anything toward disengaging the clutch, i tried to dig into this and figure it out but all i ended up doing was breaking my over center spring.
ImageIMG_4999 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
gear shifts were notchy and sometimes difficult. I had a hunch that the car probably had an incorrect clutch master cylinder in it because the portion of the cylinder that goes from the snap ring to the bolt center of the eccentric bolt was just too long.

fast forward a week and im back under it replacing the master and slave, including a new beefy over center spring from ben. here you can see the length differences side by side. while pulling the old master cylinder out i managed to snap the plastic nipple for the feed line and thats where i am now. it is set to arrive tomorrow via amazon prime.
ImageIMG_5036 by Aaron Wey, on Flickr


and so here we are! plans with the car is to get it up to snuff mechanically to be enjoyed every minute that it can be. cold starts are rocky so thats up next to try to sort. it needs a new shift knob because this one is broken and loved to pop off. this winter I would love to fix the major dents along with the cracked air dam and a friend and I will likely wrap it something close to alpine white. wrapping a car is something ive just wanted to add to my resume. my friend has wrapped a few cars included an r35 gtr, 2019 sti, evo 10 and more. an old boxy bmw shouldnt be too hard of a job.

down the line I hope to give it a respray in its original color, but I plan to own this for a long time and do things one at a time to make it a good looking drivers car.
Last edited by BDKawey on May 04, 2023 4:07 PM, edited 21 times in total.
muleskinner
Posts: 1339
Joined: Sep 08, 2007 11:17 AM
Location: John Graham ATL

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by muleskinner »

It's already a good looking drivers car. Look forward to seeing how you improve it.
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

update time! this thing has been the daily since ive gotten it and recently been going back into the office. had been working from home since thanksgiving.

painted the grills, hood vents, and even took the kidney apart to clean the "chrome" and repaint the centers black. all of it was so tired and faded. painted with the SEM trim paint. before and after.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
tough to tell but makes a difference
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr


picked up 2 of those silverline exhaust tips, FCP had them the cheapest id seen anywhere. https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-ex ... L4EALw_wcB
before and after:
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

the knob that came with the car was blown out entirely inside of it. making shifts notchy, mushy, and never enjoyable because you were just trying not to pull the knob off. was amazed how good it feels with a brand new zhp
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

and snagged the first family photo :laugh: (before exhaust tips arrived)
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
SeattleGuy
Posts: 737
Joined: Jun 25, 2018 6:26 AM

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by SeattleGuy »

Dude you did really good! I had a cherry '87 in Columbus back in the 90's just like that with Borla, now I have an '88 Alpinweiss. I don't think Borla still makes E28 stuff. Where are ya? I was downtown/Short North. I'm going to paint my grills too -- the Aerospace 303 trick is getting old but now that it's summer and not raining much in Washington I'll probably blow it off until the middle of winter when I get tired of the 303 trick again once a week.
https://tinyurl.com/5dfd3aut
jhh925
Posts: 913
Joined: Jul 11, 2015 12:23 AM
Location: Reno

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by jhh925 »

Subscribed.

And I will never not love the license plate on your first car. "Tetanus." So classic!
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

SeattleGuy wrote: Apr 20, 2021 9:54 AM Dude you did really good! I had a cherry '87 in Columbus back in the 90's just like that with Borla, now I have an '88 Alpinweiss. I don't think Borla still makes E28 stuff. Where are ya? I was downtown/Short North. I'm going to paint my grills too -- the Aerospace 303 trick is getting old but now that it's summer and not raining much in Washington I'll probably blow it off until the middle of winter when I get tired of the 303 trick again once a week.
https://tinyurl.com/5dfd3aut
Im in New Albany actually, just a little east of columbus. Its so easy to take all of the grill apart, I couldnt wait to spend an afternoon cleaning and painting them. well worth the time.

this thing is dead quiet on a new stock exhaust. I havent been in a big rush to even think about doing anything about it, I dont particularly love how these cars sound haha. but Ive never had a good sporty exhaust.
jhh925 wrote: Apr 20, 2021 11:40 AM Subscribed.

And I will never not love the license plate on your first car. "Tetanus." So classic!
thank you! haha. tetanus is actually my 2nd e28. first was an 86 528e. and now of course this is the 3rd. neighbors are realizing how crazy I am now. :laugh:
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

start off with something good, prowling around facebook marketplace I picked up a cheap thule rack that also came with an old thule bike mount that mounts it wheels up. cant find too much info on it even searching its part number. I love the look, just need to make a old thule 555 style fairing.

ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr


andddd now for the not so great news, was told this car maybe sweat some fluids but never left puddles. car consistently leaves 2" oil spots after driving. was under it inspecting the leaks after I had cleaned it off a little last week. car will need an oil pan gasket in the future.

thats when I saw this, motor appears to have been treated with blue devil head gasket repair. the solution is dry so I'm hoping it at least worked. its never overheated on me and the oil I drain out of it was clean after driving a few hundred miles on it.

ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

The PO said he was a mostly inactive member here but not sure if he's creeping. not super thrilled about this situation but I will continue to drive it and monitor things. I have some extended time off coming up during memorial day and July 4th and maybe I can address this.
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

Just noticed the broken exhaust manifold stud in the picture above :roll:
Ordnator
Posts: 550
Joined: Aug 31, 2015 7:34 PM
Location: Halifax NS

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by Ordnator »

If that is the lower rear number 6 cylinder then it might be worth checking your engine and gearbox mounts.

I have had that same snapped stud issue on an E28 520i, 525e and an E24 635 csia.

In all of my cases these mounts were worn and allowing the engine to rotate more which put additional stress on the number 6 lower stud.

I can't guarantee that this will be the cause of your issue but the stud snapping is an effect which has another cause.

Stay safe and best regards,

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

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

Ordnator wrote: Apr 30, 2021 6:09 PM If that is the lower rear number 6 cylinder then it might be worth checking your engine and gearbox mounts.

I have had that same snapped stud issue on an E28 520i, 525e and an E24 635 csia.

In all of my cases these mounts were worn and allowing the engine to rotate more which put additional stress on the number 6 lower stud.

I can't guarantee that this will be the cause of your issue but the stud snapping is an effect which has another cause.

Stay safe and best regards,

Mick
interesting. I believe my mounts are good. the engineer in me would think that that type of stress on the stud would cause it to shear between the head and the manifold. it breaking at the outside of the manifold/flange makes me think it just snapped from being seized and attempted to be removed.
Ordnator
Posts: 550
Joined: Aug 31, 2015 7:34 PM
Location: Halifax NS

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by Ordnator »

Back of the engine, underneath the manifold is also likely to be the hottest part of the engine / exhaust manifold which are dissimilar metals that expand and contract at different rates. Kind of also makes sense that this area is more likely to experience the largest temperature change and probably more heat stress as a consequence.

Just my $0.02

Stay safe and best regards,

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

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

my facebook marketplace score came with one of these vintage thule inverted bike racks still brand new in the box. my girlfriend and I like to cycle but havent been able to transport bikes together with one car. I found a matching bike rack on ebay brand new in an unopened box for extremely cheap, inside was covered in authentic Swedish dust from the 80s :laugh:
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

then I came across this lock box type part those goes over the roof rack feet and figured what the heck. I dont really love the look of it so it may just get switch out for the knobs that you can turn on and off with a key.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

single car garage life:bikes on the wall.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
mynameistaken
Posts: 10
Joined: Nov 08, 2012 3:23 PM
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by mynameistaken »

BDKawey wrote: Apr 19, 2021 8:18 AM ...painted with the SEM trim paint...
The trim looks amazing, and the "before" shots are exactly how they look on my 535is. You've inspired me to refresh mine.

Which paint did you use, exactly? I see a couple of trim paints from SEM, in a few different finishes.
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

mynameistaken wrote: May 18, 2021 1:40 PM
BDKawey wrote: Apr 19, 2021 8:18 AM ...painted with the SEM trim paint...
The trim looks amazing, and the "before" shots are exactly how they look on my 535is. You've inspired me to refresh mine.

Which paint did you use, exactly? I see a couple of trim paints from SEM, in a few different finishes.
https://www.amazon.com/SEM-39143-Trim-B ... B000EM019O Its a little pricy but good stuff
mynameistaken
Posts: 10
Joined: Nov 08, 2012 3:23 PM
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by mynameistaken »

Thanks. Ordering now. :D
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

Took my mom for a mothers day bike ride and broke in the roof rack.

ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

didnt take many photos because my iphone camera is taking a dump. first one is from my phone and blurry. had the trunk all apart to clean a little mold of the carpet and do a trunk seal. which then also turned into covering up some very slight surface rust in the spare tire well and at a few panel seams. took me almost a week to do everything I wanted.

I also wanted to try to clean up this weird yellowy tint that was all over the back of where the trunk closes and around the license plate lights. A detailer friend suggested an iron remover which did work better than mineral spirits and brake clean but still took a fair bit of work and needs more. there is some of this in the engine bay too which is strange.
before ad after:
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

taped up in case I ended up making a mess with the 3M weatherstrip glue.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

back together with nice smelling carpet and a not ripped up trunk seal. did a uro seal from pelican parts. will throw the trunk on tonight or tomorrow. probably should have installed it right away but I read a few different pages, some telling you not to install or close the seal because it can put forces in odd directions as it dries.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
Last edited by BDKawey on Feb 05, 2024 3:19 PM, edited 2 times in total.
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

Phwewwwwwww. Just wrapped up an oil pan gasket, about 8+ hours start to finish. But i also removed the ac compressor since I have a caccavo 134 conversion kit on the way right now. https://www.acsolutions.co/products/bmw ... ersion-kit

Also replaced an absolutely crushed motor mount. The other motor mount is separated from the outer metal portion but its not broken yet. I have its replacement in the mail and eventually will go in, wanted to get it on hand while i could still find them in one place for 40 bucks a piece.
toasted
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

I was also able to do the pan without touching the oil pump.

By far one of the worst jobs on these cars. I cant believe I did a pan on tetanus in the dark outside when i was like 18.
Last edited by BDKawey on Aug 04, 2022 11:44 AM, edited 3 times in total.
funkycharms
Posts: 95
Joined: Oct 31, 2013 1:43 PM
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by funkycharms »

Did you use one of those engine support bars they sell at harbor freight?


BDKawey wrote: Jul 16, 2021 3:15 PM Phwewwwwwww. Just wrapped up an oil pan gasket, about 8+ hours start to finish. But i also removed the ac compression since i have a caccavo 134 conversion kit on the way right now. Also replaced an absolutely crushed motor mount. Can upload a picture later. The other motor mount is separated from the outer metal portion but its not broken yet. I have its replacement in the mail and eventually will go in, wanted to get it on hand while i could still find them in one place for 40 bucks a piece.

I was also able to do the pan without touching the oil pump.

By far one of the worst jobs on these cars. I cant believe i did a pan on tetanus in the dark outside when i was like 18.
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

funkycharms wrote: Jul 16, 2021 6:34 PM Did you use one of those engine support bars they sell at harbor freight?


BDKawey wrote: Jul 16, 2021 3:15 PM Phwewwwwwww. Just wrapped up an oil pan gasket, about 8+ hours start to finish. But i also removed the ac compression since i have a caccavo 134 conversion kit on the way right now. Also replaced an absolutely crushed motor mount. Can upload a picture later. The other motor mount is separated from the outer metal portion but its not broken yet. I have its replacement in the mail and eventually will go in, wanted to get it on hand while i could still find them in one place for 40 bucks a piece.

I was also able to do the pan without touching the oil pump.

By far one of the worst jobs on these cars. I cant believe i did a pan on tetanus in the dark outside when i was like 18.

I did not. Simply jacked the motor up at the ac compressor bracket and left it there the entire time. A smart person would probably put a wood block as motor mounts or use a jack stand.
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

didnt take many photos during the process but this car is now successfully 134r converted using austin caccavo's A/C Solutions kit! Very excited to have this car that much more comfortable and functional. will be taking this car out more often now that I can bring the girl friend and keep everyone happy since she prefers windows up.

the kit is extremely well put together and everything bolted right in no fuss. simple R&R for someone like myself who's never done ac work.

car was blowing 45° out the vent when cruising at 85° ambient.

ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
dsmith
Posts: 2362
Joined: Jan 20, 2012 12:52 AM
Location: Charleston, SC

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by dsmith »

Nice progress and clean body! I lived in New Albany in the early ‘90’s. Went to OSU and bought my first BMW (e30). Starting learning to work on cars. Brakes, control arms, fuel injectors, exhaust, driveshaft, tune up, etc. All of the ‘80’s BMW replacement items.

I would hang out at The Saab Shop and Dave and Rusty would teach me things like how to adjust valves and replace the timing belt. Good times.
leadphut
Posts: 4499
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: Portland, OR

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by leadphut »

Great progress. Keep us updated.
BDKawey
Posts: 1325
Joined: Sep 15, 2011 11:05 PM
Location: Carrollton, Ohio

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH

Post by BDKawey »

update for you on the work being done this winter. biggest thing is doing body work and a vinyl wrap. a buddy of mine has wrapped a few different cars that are much more complicated than a boxy e28 over the years with great results. wrap has been on my automotive bucket list for a while so this is a great candidate.

chose this gloss carmine red from avery dennison, somewhat close to zinno but a little darker, no metallic flake or anything to it.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

here it is just oon just the c pillar trim and spoiler because I couldnt wait to see it on something.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

car has a plethora of dents on most panels so I wanted to fix anything I could. most major damage that was bothering me was the front air dam, which had 2 cracks going almost the entire length of it. as well as a few more. ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

these air dams are so thick that we used a soldering gun to melt the cracks back together, front and back. and then finished it with some fiber glass as well as body filler. Extremely pleased with how it came out. maybe hard to tell in the one picture but it was pretty beat but still in one piece with nothing missing.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

finished and ready for some primer
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

looked like at some point someone had either tried to jack it up on the fender or dropped it off a curb, a friend used a stud welder/slide hammer deal to pull most of this out..
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

at this point we're almost done with body work and will likely shot some primer over the body filler before any wrap goes on.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

over this last weekend I was in NYC for a hockey game and a broadway show and timing just so happened to work out that I was able to pass through new jersey and pick up some new wheels 17x8.5 +13, 17x7.5 +25 oz mizos.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr

before I started body work I test fitted my bbs CH wheels from tetanus on this car, this seems like an appropriate place just to show that. these are 17x8.5 +13 square. so similar fitment to the OZs.
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Aaron Wey, on Flickr


now on to a controversial to purists part of the build :lol: I have partnered with CAtuned to put this car on their new air ride suspension that they have developed for our platform along with airlift 3P management. kit is available here. https://catuned.com/catuned-airbag-kit-front-rear.
Image
Image

when I put tetanus on air almost 10 years ago things were much more difficult. using an air lift universal kit that offered no coilover style adjustment and no simple way to run camber plates. which I did built for that car but needed to machine adapters for the threaded portion of the shock to adapt it to a camber plate. CAtuned kit takes any guess work out of building air ride and offers a multitude of features that would be complicated to develop using a universal kit. weld in front suspension similar to any coilover for our cars and a direct bolt in rear stut.

photos will come as the air install continues but at this point I have built a spare tire management location board and have mounted the tank on the top of the trunk under the rear parcel shelf. the tank will be lined with carpeting stick on tiles and is almost invisible unless you're looking for it.

very excited for everything to come together and I will continue to share as it progresses.
Last edited by BDKawey on Jan 12, 2022 12:22 PM, edited 1 time in total.
muleskinner
Posts: 1339
Joined: Sep 08, 2007 11:17 AM
Location: John Graham ATL

Re: 1988 535is Columbus OH. 12/9/21 winter progress report

Post by muleskinner »

Looking forward to seeing that red wrap.
Post Reply