Vlad: The Zinno '87 535is

[tig]

What Alpina's are those? I'm thinking about getting a set for my car. They look good.

I'm not telling you until you remove the huge pic from your signature.

[tuffode]

What Alpina's are those? I'm thinking about getting a set for my car. They look good.

I'm not telling you until you remove the huge pic from your signature.

You know what, I was just thinking about removing the pic. And then I saw your reply.
Removed, although not sure why there's a gap below the text.

[tig]

What Alpina's are those? I'm thinking about getting a set for my car. They look good.

I'm not telling you until you remove the huge pic from your signature.

You know what, I was just thinking about removing the pic. And then I saw your reply.
Removed, although not sure why there's a gap below the text.
(edit: its gone)

The wheels are Alpina Open Lug (16x7 ET11, 16x8 ET24) wheels wearing Continental Extreme Contact DW 205/55-R16, 225/50-R16 tires.

[tuffode]

What Alpina's are those? I'm thinking about getting a set for my car. They look good.

I'm not telling you until you remove the huge pic from your signature.

You know what, I was just thinking about removing the pic. And then I saw your reply.
Removed, although not sure why there's a gap below the text.
(edit: its gone)

The wheels are Alpina Open Lug (16x7 ET11, 16x8 ET24) wheels wearing Continental Extreme Contact DW 205/55-R16, 225/50-R16 tires.

Thanks. I don't know much about wheels or tires, will my 528e need any modification before fitting them on? And what do you think of replicas, the originals go for a crazy amount.

edit: got the info off of google, stupid question

[tig]

My wife has let me know in no-uncertain-terms that I may not refer to this car as Caitlyn in public. I'd rather be married than right, so that was fun while it lasted. Once Vlad, always Vlad.

Any-who, no big updates other than a great trip to 5erWest where Vlad won best of show (!). Oh, and that the car is now on a transporter on the way to Utah.

Right before the trip to 5erWest I decided I'd had enough of a big sweeping scratch in the hood that resulted from a piece of metal stuck in a micro-fiber cloth. This is why I now NEVER USE MICRO-FIBER CLOTHS MORE THAN ONCE when detailing. At $27 for a pack of 36 from Amazon, I treat them as disposable. I put the new ones in the wash with cold water and lightly dry. Then I put them away with the tags still on them. When I use one, I rip the tag off (tags can leave marks in paint too, I've found) and use it. When done, it goes in the wash pile. Old washed cloths (no tags) go in the 'rag' drawer where they can be used for other things. Any cloth that has been near metal filings gets thrown away immediately.

Ugh. That's pretty deep. But there is a metric shit ton of paint on Vlad's hood, so I was confident I could get this out.


Out came my trusty Flex DA and a new batch of Menzerna polishes. I first did the whole hood with a pass with medium cut and a pass of polish to make sure I could see things well. Then I masked off the bad spot and wet sanded it with 3000 grit.



After a set of polishing steps...done.


Except, by the time I was "Done" I had lost the natural sunlight and was rushed. So I didn't notice that the left front quarter had not actually gotten polished well enough with fine polish. Once I got to Portland in the sun I noticed how crappy it looked. I begged others to look closely and notice too, but they all just rolled their eyes. Weirdos.

Vince came into Seattle to drive Vlad down to 5erWest. I went for a ride with him the evening before to make sure he could drive. He can.


He helped me with the worst E28 job: Putting the driver's kick panel back on. Nobody likes doing this job on an E28. It sucks. Every time. But with two experienced folk doing it, this time wasn't so bad. Thanks Vince.

Here he is ensuring Vlad only gets Ethanol free gas.


Some pics from the drive down:



BMW drivers always follow directions. I'm sure the Clakamas Inn folk really appreciate us.


Yay! Thanks for all who helped me stuff the ballot.




Vince reported, and I confirmed, the clutch pedal getting progressively squishier as the 5erDrive proceeded. It wasn't great before the trip started and by the time we got back to Seattle it was pretty bad. I had just replaced the master and slave, and then ripped off the SS slave line because it was the cause of the pedal buzz. Theory was I hadn't bled it well enough.

I subsequently tried bleeding it myself a few times but am obviously an idiot because even after following EVERYONE's advice, from Kyle, to Aaron, to Bentley, and using all the tools, something still wasn't right.

George and Ramona came to visit a few weeks back and that coincided with the only real time I've had to wrench. So George helped me bleed the cluch again, and this time it came out pretty good. But not perfect. I think the master I bought is bad. And my over-center spring may be fudged. I'm going to deal with it later.


The reality is I've not driven THAT many E28s. So I forced George to drive Vlad and tell me what he thought. He said good things, mostly.
Flickr

Last week while I was traveling, Julie took care of getting Vlad on the transporter to his new home in Salt Lake City. That place has no idea what's coming.


I'll report in once we're in Utah together...

[athayer187]

Nice shirt! Only other one I've ever seen in the wild. Fun fact, the E28 is from a picture I had taken at Watkins Glen years ago - on the bottom of the page here: https://www.eeuroparts.com/blog/202/ent ... dy-thayer/

[tig]

Nice shirt! Only other one I've ever seen in the wild. Fun fact, the E28 is from a picture I had taken at Watkins Glen years ago - on the bottom of the page here: https://www.eeuroparts.com/blog/202/ent ... dy-thayer/

Heh. Its kinda beat up as it's a fave.

[mottati]

What's the trick to getting ethanol free gas in Or? Certain stations?
On my two trips up to 5er west, neither my M5 nor my Alpina liked the fuel, despite one more point in octane vs our california gas (which is ethanol free in the spring/summer/fall).

car looked amazing, btw and well deserving of Best of Show.

[tig]

What's the trick to getting ethanol free gas in Or? Certain stations?
On my two trips up to 5er west, neither my M5 nor my Alpina liked the fuel, despite one more point in octane vs our california gas (which is ethanol free in the spring/summer/fall).

car looked amazing, btw and well deserving of Best of Show.

Dunno. I actually don't really only put ethanol free in this car. That pic was taken in Issaquah, WA at the Grange which is the only place I know of that's sells it. I go there when convenient.

Thanks for the kind words.

[BDKawey]

airplane gas is typical ethanol free i believe

[tig]

Yay. In Utah and unscathed.



I've got a detailer who I really like (met at a local car show) lined up to do a high-end ceramic treatment since I won't be able to hand-wash at the apartment I live in. I figure getting it ceramic coated will make it far easier to keep clean and also just protect the finish.

I have a list of several local shops in the Salt Lake area that specialize in classic German cars. Right now Vlad needs nothing, but I'm sure something's gonna break and my ability to wrench on it here will be severely limited. Keep your fingers crossed nothing breaks and if it does these folk are not bozos.

I'm sure the Real Salt Lake fans are just going to LOVE seeing this car here. My apartment is about a mile from Rio Tinto stadium...

[1st 5er]

Yay. In Utah and unscathed...

Great news.

Enjoy...

[delvin]

Yay. In Utah and unscathed.


I've got a detailer who I really like (met at a local car show) lined up to do a high-end ceramic treatment since I won't be able to hand-wash at the apartment I live in. I figure getting it ceramic coated will make it far easier to keep clean and also just protect the finish.

I have a list of several local shops in the Salt Lake area that specialize in classic German cars. Right now Vlad needs nothing, but I'm sure something's gonna break and my ability to wrench on it here will be severely limited. Keep your fingers crossed nothing breaks and if it does these folk are not bozos.

I'm sure the Real Salt Lake fans are just going to LOVE seeing this car here. My apartment is about a mile from Rio Tinto stadium...

I ceramic coated my M 2 years ago and water still beads off. I wash and use a spray detailer for ceramic coating every 2-3 washes, I cannot recommend the stuff enough.

[tig]

[tschultz]

Just saw your post about Utah, I was wondering it if was temporary or not. Sound like a fun adventure.

Neat to have that car available for weekday shenanigans.

[tig]

Neat to have that car available for weekday shenanigans.

Yep. I've already gotten my first speeding ticket.

[Ken H.]

Yep. I've already gotten my first speeding ticket.

Well that sucketh the bhut cheeze.

[tig]

The detailer (Dusty @ Envison Detail) had the car ready this last Thursday, but it would have been very difficult for me to pick up that day. In addition I flew to Seattle Friday night and won't be back in Utah for 2 weeks. Having the car sit in my apartment's parking garage uncovered (new cover ordered but not in hand yet), getting dusty didn't make me happy.

So I asked the guy if he'd let me leave the car there for two weeks. He was agreeable and asked he if could show the car off at a Cars and Coffee he hosts some Sundays (today). I had no problem with that. He sent me these pics this morning.

[Foonfer]

The hood detailing job came out quite nice. We need to do something about the fingernails now.

[BDKawey]

Looks so good under the show room light. Ceramic coating is legit. nothing I own is worthy of it but it should benefit you well with the apartment living. Im in the same situation and my subaru has gotten washed like 4 times in the year that I've lived in an apartment. theres hose hookup outside but we're not allowed to wash vehicles

[knunger]

Jesus Charlie you just eliminated the ability to use Vlad from November thru April and now need a shitty little Subaru to get you up to Alta for the mid-week powder days for which SLC is legendary.

[tig]

Jesus Charlie you just eliminated the ability to use Vlad from November thru April and now need a shitty little Subaru to get you up to Alta for the mid-week powder days for which SLC is legendary.

I have the Q7 in Utah too. c'mon, you really think I wouldn't have thought this through?

[Spen]

You don't get to be cek unless you use the old noodle. Btw, I wanted to mention that I approve of the Continental DW tires. I couldn't get those to spin out in the rain. Made my old 535is handle so well I'm sure the guy who bought it needed a shorts change after I gave him a test drive before he drove off with it. There surely was a rosebud in those undies.

[Motronic]

Charlie you need a shitty little Subaru to get you up to Alta for the mid-week powder days for which SLC is legendary.

CEK in a Lesbaru, I don't think so

[wkohler]

You don't get to be cek unless you use the old noodle. Btw, I wanted to mention that I approve of the Continental DW tires. I couldn't get those to spin out in the rain. Made my old 535is handle so well I'm sure the guy who bought it needed a shorts change after I gave him a test drive before he drove off with it. There surely was a rosebud in those undies.

lol, I've got a set of those on most of my cars including the E34 and they're below the wear bars on that. We had a bunch of rain here lately and I couldn't get the car to lose traction at all.

[1st 5er]

CEK in a Lesbaru, I don't think so

Others though... :

[tig]

Finally back in Salt Lake and picked up Vlad from Envision Detail this morning. He did a great job on the the polish, ceramic, and film. I now feel fine using local automated brushless washes...

[Dale3783]

Finally back in Salt Lake and picked up Vlad from Envision Detail this morning. He did a great job on the the polish, ceramic, and film. I now feel fine using local automated brushless washes...

Bob oh boy that's a beautiful picture.

[tig]

After two weeks sitting Vlad had trouble starting this morning. The parking garage is not sealed or heated. Plus it has no power outlets for a battery tender. Wondering what options I have for keeping it charged so it'll have plenty of juice on cold mornings...

- Battery cutoff with one of those cig lighter things that keep the stereo, etc... from being reset?
- Some sort of solar thing (there's no sun in a parking garage).
- ?

[tschultz]

I know it is annoying, but if I was to leave it for two weeks, I'd consider battery cut off adapter. It is somewhat annoying to reset the radio and OBC but overall worth it to have the battery power for what you need. I did this when I stored my M5 for two winters.