"Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

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sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

"Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

I wanted to start a thread to track the work I am doing on this car; everything I am doing to it is stock, and probably will bore most of you to tears. I bought this car two years ago and started to baseline it. I was derailed by a number of events having nothing to do with the car. It's a 1 family car before coming into my ownership and has 79,000 original miles and is, as near as I can tell, 100% original.

One of my neighbors had a dump truck full of 2x4's from a joist company delivered as firewood and did not want several hundred pieces that were over 2" in length, so I took some of them and built the cribs shown. They are two piece; the car is never at an extreme angle when jacking them up. Yes, a Danmar MaxJax would be preferable but the price here was 1 afternoon's work with chop saw and a screw gun; the screws were leftover from a deck project.

For those of you with an aversion to things made of wood, the design came from a structural engineer friend who works for a shipyard. It is a fine height to work from a creeper, again, not a lift, but it works and is safe.

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The one part of the car that has any rust (and a lot of rust) was this:

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Injectors back from MPEH:

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Installed in the Intake manifold. I foolishly thought that I could puzzle in the injectors on the fuel rail (somebody may be able to, but it looked like a no go to me). I installed them one by one in the Intake and added the fuel rail last. I was lucky and they all lined up.

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Once I had the engine bay stripped for working on the baseline I took pictures and found a sympathetic body shop that replaced the tray for a reasonable rate. Total with the tow truck round trip was ~ $350.

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I worked on re-attaching the intake manifold yesterday. Many thanks to those who posted about how put in the breather tube. I made the mistake of tapping on the top of the tube with a lightweight hammer; I was worried about not clearing the tube with the manifold. I should not have and the "tap" set the tube pretty tight. I finally loosened it with my hands; I did not touch it with a wrench or tap on it again. Some determined twisting and a prayer or two (can't hurt) got it loose. Once that was done I cut the ties on the spring and it seated itself quite nicely in both the Intake manifold and block.

New tube, spring, gaskets, washer for the breather tube, Intake Manifold washers and nuts.

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Prior to putting the rest of the gaskets on and removing the rags. There is a missing bolt, one side of the #3 (I think) intake port. I bought replacements for the one that I struggled with here:

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=135404

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I tilted the manifold up with the intention of lining up the top-most bolt holes and the hope that I would not hit the breather tube as I tilted it down to the lower bolts. This worked well and the manifold cleared the tube with ease. I did this without help or difficulty, which surprised me. I thought it was going to be a curse-fest.


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I will be adding more to this thread as I progress. The progress will, by necessity, be glacial. I have some nasty tendonitis in both of my elbows that I am getting PT for, but it is not helping. One day of wrenching, two days of recovery. I still am enjoying it, it's just not happening as quickly as I like.


Injectors back from MPEH:

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Installed in the Intake manifold. I foolishly thought that I could puzzle in the injectors on the fuel rail (somebody may be able to, but it looked like a no go to me). I installed them one by one in the Intake and added the fuel rail last. I was lucky and they all lined up.

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Finally got back to the project. I still have to put in the transmission cooling lines and clean out the gas tank, and everything upstream of the throttle body. Of course I had to choose one of the hottest weekends of this year to work on this. Feels especially ironic given this car has been sitting for over two years.

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Last edited by sail_or_drive on Sep 17, 2017 6:17 PM, edited 6 times in total.
OcCoupe
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by OcCoupe »

Well done! Keep up the good work and keep sharing pictures!
bkbimmer
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by bkbimmer »

Nice cribbing.
sail_or_drive
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Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Mistakenly entered this post

Post by sail_or_drive »

Deleted.
cek
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Re: Mistakenly entered this post

Post by cek »

sail_or_drive wrote:Deleted.
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sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

It means I don't know how to delete my post. :oops:
Nesset
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Joined: Aug 31, 2016 9:42 PM
Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA

Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by Nesset »

The stands!

I used to question the strength of wood holding heavy things, but a season of fishing in Alaska changed that quickly...
sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

Progress! I put it all back together but then, of course, it won't start. Things that changed:

Distributor and plug wires.
Spark Plugs
Coil
Timing Belt
Water Pump
Fan Clutch
Thermostat
Belts, Power Steering, AC, and alternator.
Voltage Regulator
Valve Adjustment
Cooling system hoses.
Intake Manifold removed, hot tanked, re-installed.
New "Bitch Tube" and spring.
Fuel Pump(s) (yes, I bought 2, in retrospect I would have done one in tank as covered by the board)
All Soft hoses for fuel delivery (not the charcoal and evap hoses, though)
Reconditioned injectors.
Oil pan removed and re-painted (Had some scrapes and awful rust)
Transmission Fluid Coolant hoses (had rusted; they passed below the rusted battery tray)
Transmission filter and fluid change.
New Coolant Tank. (to pass muster with CEK, it seems he always points out the baby-shit brown ones)

I have to spend some of the weekend with the family; will start down the trouble-shooting later this week. Thanks for the site and the support.


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stuartinmn
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by stuartinmn »

Well, if it won't start at least it looks good. ;) Describe the symptoms, does it turn over but just won't fire?
sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

It does turn over, but won't fire. I was tired yesterday and gave up for the day; I did get the Bentley out and went over the troubleshooting procedures. It also struck me this morning that I have a running ETA sitting in the driveway so I can trade out relays if need be (as the young people say, "Duh"). I am hoping it is not fuel related as that is my least favorite part of wrenching. I'll keep you posted and thanks for asking.
sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

A gorked up O-Ring. O-rings should be here on Friday.

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ElGuappo
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by ElGuappo »

Got to lube those bad boys on install or they bunch and tear...
Foaming window cleaner works great.
sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

Progress.

Fixed the leaky injector. Spent several weekends testing everything in the engine bay having to do with Fuel Injection and Ignition, or at least the parts the Bentley deals with. Studied a ton of wiring diagrams and figured out how to use my Bosch Multimeter. Finally, after talking to a friend of one my coworkers that is a independent BMW mechanic, switched out the DME from my other ETA.

Car fired up immediately. Ran it up to temp, had the cooling system filled with distilled water as advised by someone on the board. Drained the cooling system first time to use the brass valve I bought from Fumoto Engineering. That and a plastic hose made the draining from the block much less messy. Filled the car back up with BMW blue and distilled water, ran it back up to temp, checked everything electric to see that it works. It all does, lights, signals brakes, etc. It's looking real good at this point. Next I need to install the two new hood hinges I bought; it was real difficult to close so I bought them after reading hood posts on the board.

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Once I get the hood on and get a new DME it's on to get new tires and it should be ready to Daily Drive.
sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

Took it for a ride. I got it off the cribs, topped off the transmission (or so I thought) and ran it to the tire store. The transmission shifted rough and the throttle was zooming up and down. Got the tires put on, drove home, again topped off the transmission fluid and all the throttle problems went away. Took a long test drive, some back roads, some street, some freeway. The car is a marvel. It needs a few small things, a bath first and foremost. The list so far:

1. The gas tank overflowed when I filled it; seems ok after about 30 miles of driving. Need to take a hard look at the tubing back there.
2. The steering wheel is about 15% off to the left.
3. As said, needs a good wash and wax.
4. Leatherique, maybe dye.

The alignment, steering, and brakes all seem well within tolerances. There is no shudder at any speed when braking and the car tracks straight. Everything electric seems to work, the SI board is lit up but I don't care much.

I am pretty happy with it.

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ElGuappo
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by ElGuappo »

Cool story, would read again.
sail_or_drive
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

Thanks. I am about to start writing another. I have a second ETA that needs a bunch of attention. At the risk of boring everyone on the board to sleep I will probably document it the same way as this one. Unless of course somebody starts throwing rotten fruit.
sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

He's a youngster. Rolled over to 80k the other day. I was wondering aobout what I would need to do to the brakes and suspension. When I got the tires replaced the Service Writer made a point (unbidden) of telling me that the brakes likely had only 5k miles on them. I think I might refresh the brake fluid, but it looks like I can leave the hardware alone.

The suspension feels good as well and from the looks of it, is all original. Not sure if I should monkey with it; I am thinking I should put another 20k on it and then decide.


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Eselfjes
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by Eselfjes »

Looking forward to reading about the other one :)
sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

Otto Gets a Valve Adjustment.

The valve train sounded too much like a diesel to me, so I re-adjusted the valves. It helped, but it still clatters. I was careful to have it "dead cold", tested each one with a smaller and larger feeler gauge to check my work.

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High Tech Spark Plug holder with patented display angles. Recyclable in most markets as well.

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SPF2006
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by SPF2006 »

Subscribed, and taking notes. Please keep this going.
sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging and helpful comments.

I wound up having to re-adjust the valves; they were indeed off kilter, see this thread:

http://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=146208

What I did not mention (because I was embarrassed) was that I found the long lost 10 mm nut that I lost when I removed the intake manifold. I had asked for help from Mike W. and others by PM when I lost the nut and they gave great advice; I purchased several type of magnets, chased all the passages that drain the head, removed the oil pan, ran a magnet over the garage floor, and on and on. The little bastard (the nut) was hidden somewhere under the valve train. It has worked it's way to the base of the spring on the #5 exhaust spring and been hammered into the shape show below.

The lessons in this for me are:

1. Cover places where parts might tumble into.

2. Use a magnet when pulling hardware in precarious places.

3. Be more tenacious when looking for lost things.

4. Pride is an expensive emotion. If one is going to be a dumb-shit, do it in a tu-tu and with a smile on your face. Most folks will get a laugh out of it then help you find your way.

The little bastard:

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SPF2006
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by SPF2006 »

Agreed. A few years ago I dropped a bolt into the fuel tank of my old 528e when removing the lid to access the in-tank pump ... no amount of magnet-assisted searching could recover it and though the car is long gone, it is probably still rattling around in there somewhere. Lost fastener yet again recently when replacing the headlights on the ZHP because I was impatient and failed to use a magnet when installing the last, hard-to-reach one despite being warned in advance. And that's on a much simpler job. So I'm right there with you.
sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Replaced turn signal assembly.

Post by sail_or_drive »

Took some pictures, since I always take pictures now when dis-assembling things. I figure if I document what I do, I will kind of "own" the ability to do it again. Hope not to bore anyone.

Step One is to get the steering wheel out of the way. Pop off the plastic center bezel-thinger, get a 22mm socket.

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Nut removed. One must insert the key to unlock the steering wheel before pulling it. I knew this, then forgot, then cursed, then remembered.

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Removed the lower steering column trim; I removed these two screws on the bottom first.

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Then I removed the two screws on the top, they are out in this picture, but drop in on either side of the metal portion that surrounds the steering wheel spline. I then removed the grounding screw on the lower left.

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This is what the lower steering column trim looks like from inside after a bath.

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The replacement part:

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The replacement part plug next to the replaced plug. New plug on top, notice there is no blue connector on the replacement plug. That wire goes to the OBC; the replacement signal stalk does not have that switch built into it. I likely ordered the wrong part, or they don't make them with the switch in the stalk any longer.

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Piggy Backed plugs just past where the column goes by the dash underlay. The signal plug is the one furthest inboard. I had never see this type of arrangement for clipping these separate connectors together this way. Ingenious. I was also impressed by the way the strapping that keeps the wiring loosely attached to the column worked. They were easy enough to un-hook but seem to do a great job of holding the bundle together. In the picture I had not finished putting all the looms back where they belonged yet.

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I missed this photo when I first posted. It shows the connections for the Stalk from below including the attendant Relay.
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Re-assembly is as you would expect, reverse of the removal.
Last edited by sail_or_drive on Nov 23, 2018 8:31 PM, edited 1 time in total.
Bonsaibacker
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Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by Bonsaibacker »

Clean car and clean work!
sail_or_drive
Posts: 388
Joined: Sep 17, 2013 9:51 PM
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: "Eye Mashed Potatoes" 1988 528e, "OTTO".

Post by sail_or_drive »

Thanks!

I am really really enjoying my 25 mile round trip commute daily. It's the perfect car for commuting up and down I-5 from Vancouver to Portland and back. I don't need to do a rocket launch on any of the on-ramps and the top speeds are usually below 75. Given it's an ETA that's a good thing.
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