Advice on whether to fix entire car

E28 technical advice asked and given! Troubleshooting, modifications and more.
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gaben
Posts: 48
Joined: Sep 12, 2022 1:41 PM
Location: California

Advice on whether to fix entire car

Post by gaben »

Hi everyone,
New to e28s but have been lurking on the board for some time for mostly parts
1988 535is with 340k miles. Likely 360k since the plastic gear in odo broke. It's fixed now

I have purchased a few things for basic first timer maintenance but am wondering if it's worth the effort to continue. With the mileage being fairly high, would it make sense to just build everything out?

I have replaced a few must have things such as the front UCAs, dogbones, and idler arm. All other bushings seem to be fine. I have lower control arms coming in and should be set for suspension.
I have also replaced most of the slop in the shifter granted the selector rod joint was my biggest culprit and the one thing I didnt replace. That's coming in.

As for the engine and transmission. This is probably where the question is directed towards. We can start with the transmission. I am unable to diagnose at the moment due to the feeling of stripping the fill bolt. I wasnt able to break it. Fortunately for me, I do hear a bit of funky noise which goes away when i press the clutch. I suspect my throwout bearing needs to be swapped so a clutch job is in the work. This will give me a chance to replace the rear main seal and input shaft seal. I'll also be in a better spot to crack the fill bolt and see how the fluid is.

The engine itself starts fine granted a rough idle. I keep reading about how the M30 has a rough idle naturally but I don't have a reference to what is rough. I made the adjustment for the TPS but never actually cleaned out the throttle body itself. Still rough. I did install poly tranny mounts so it is a little more emphasized but not by much. My idle sits around 700 and toggles between 650-750rpm. I am considering if doing a few tune-up work such as spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor, valve adjustment and considering as far as the head gasket.

In it's current state, I am able to drive just fine. I mostly have some small electrical issues but nothing effecting the drive itself. Is it worth it to move forward with the clutch work and tune-up? I hear the M30 can last a long time (400k+). Granted im close to that ballpark, not sure how much longer I have with this engine. I don't have any leaks. My prior leaks consisted of AC compressor and some power steering clamps not working (OE clamps), both of which have already been fixed.

The alternative is looking for another engine and possibly transmission. The work I would be doing here would just be transferred to the newer engine. Likely wont be a swap other than its own m30b34. This would be the obvious choice but it also poses its own challenges with my current space/living situation
RetiredDoc
Posts: 1316
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: Aiken SC

Re: Advice on whether to fix entire car

Post by RetiredDoc »

Is this your only means of transportation, or is it a project car you don’t need to keep driving regularly? And what is the overall cosmetic condition? All those other items that come up on e28’s like window motors, leaky window and door. and taillight seals, trunk seal, seat wear and splits, paint, cracked dashboard, cruise control, windshield cracks or pitting, yellowing lockstrips, air conditioner function, etc.?

If you really like the car, enjoy working on it, and have garage space and a reliable daily driver, go for it. That said, there is probably no e28 (M5 excepted) than is a potentially significantly appreciating automobile. You can spend way more on the car than you will ever be able to recover from a sale.
gaben
Posts: 48
Joined: Sep 12, 2022 1:41 PM
Location: California

Re: Advice on whether to fix entire car

Post by gaben »

RetiredDoc wrote: Jan 17, 2023 3:24 PM Is this your only means of transportation, or is it a project car you don’t need to keep driving regularly? And what is the overall cosmetic condition? All those other items that come up on e28’s like window motors, leaky window and door. and taillight seals, trunk seal, seat wear and splits, paint, cracked dashboard, cruise control, windshield cracks or pitting, yellowing lockstrips, air conditioner function, etc.?

If you really like the car, enjoy working on it, and have garage space and a reliable daily driver, go for it. That said, there is probably no e28 (M5 excepted) than is a potentially significantly appreciating automobile. You can spend way more on the car than you will ever be able to recover from a sale.
This is not my primary daily driver. I do have a low mileage Toyota to get about. This would fall under a project that I have driven every day.

Overall condition is a lot of minor work, especially when talking about the cosmetics.

Windows all work with the exception of the right rear slowing to a halt at certain times. It does fully work overall but the motor is struggling on that little guy.
Driver tail light seal is not working as the corner panel was in a slight accident and is pushed it. The taillights do sit in and work but they are pushed in and I found that water is coming through that section. That area is beginning to rust but so far it looks like surface rust

Trunk seal seems to be working just fine. No problem here. I do have a small rust spot near the rear windshield that seems more severe and sits under the paint. Not large by any means and does show any water leakage into the trunk

Seats have minor wear but no major cracks just yet. The leather is drying and stiffening pretty badly that I sat in the rear and started separating the seams. Overall, looks fine but will probably crumble. On the plus side, I dont have anyone really sitting back there.

Paint is still original with small oxidation and some small dings.

Dash is pretty cracked.

Was told the cruise control works but is missing the cable grommet. Cannot confirm if it really does

No cracks on the windhield

Not sure what yellowing lockstrips is

AC had a bad compressor and was leaking. Replaced it and works just fine now

I do enjoy the car and driving it. It's nice having a project but not enough garage space to house a new motor and tranny. I can figure something out. I think the question is really around whether or not this original motor is worth maintaining/salvaging. Seems to run okay.... lol
Mike W.
Posts: 26872
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: California Whine Country

Re: Advice on whether to fix entire car

Post by Mike W. »

Sounds like a nice daily driver candidate. Much of the stuff you mentioned doing or needing is just high mileage maintenance, probably the second time around. Bodywork at the rear could get expensive quickly, bodywork does if you can find a shop that doesn't just want to do insurance work on new stuff, but it sounds livable.

Leaky taillights/trunk is not good, although they have a tendency to do it under the best of conditions. I'd get some butyl tape, loosen or remove the taillights and figure out a way to seal it with that. It's a sticky, but not glue like material, putty like in consistency and stays soft. This place has replacement upholstery, they seem to have mixed reviews, apparently for the price they do use bonded leather, but really with the price of upholstery it sounds like a screamin' deal. https://www.lseat.com/categories/genuin ... r/bmw.html The dash? Either or/and, get one of the carpet dash covers or caulk it. Nothing like a new dash, but not priced like it either. Reviews are very bad on the plastic dash covers.

Engine/tranny. Sounds more like a tranny bearing to me, if it stops when you push in the clutch that means it stops when the stuff inside the tranny stops turning. Doesn't seem like I hear much about G260/6 needing work, so if it's just the input bearing it might not be a big deal once it's out. But I would address not being able to check the fluid level, though it might turn into a whole weekend. Engine. Seems like most of the super high mileage ones need a head gasket in the 400-500K mile range, so I'd almost expect that soon.

But short of restoration, what do you want? An interesting occasional car, presentable, but not wow, or what?
gaben
Posts: 48
Joined: Sep 12, 2022 1:41 PM
Location: California

Re: Advice on whether to fix entire car

Post by gaben »

Mike W. wrote: Jan 17, 2023 9:11 PM But short of restoration, what do you want? An interesting occasional car, presentable, but not wow, or what?
Thanks. Your input is validating. The rear end is going to be my biggest challenge but I was hoping to do it myself. Hopefully pull it out, bondo, butyl and cross my fingers. I was leaning towards the head gasket so a full tuneup on the way there made sense. The tranny bearing being the main culprit to probably the biggest job would likely lead to a new clutch and a few other things.

As for long term goals, Im hoping to get it up as an occasional car to a daily driver. If I can get it on the wow factor, then great, if not, then I'll still enjoy the car.
Panici
Posts: 217
Joined: Aug 07, 2014 2:04 AM
Location: Canada

Re: Advice on whether to fix entire car

Post by Panici »

gaben wrote: Jan 18, 2023 1:26 AMAs for long term goals, Im hoping to get it up as an occasional car to a daily driver. If I can get it on the wow factor, then great, if not, then I'll still enjoy the car.
That sounds like a good plan, and similar to what I would like for my E28.
Get the car to be a reliable daily, then you can play with the cosmetics as time allows.

As long as you have that Toyota, it should be relatively stress-free having the E28 as a daily. Worst case you can always swap cars if there is a bigger job to do on the E28.
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