Minnesota M535i

[irl-mn]

I thought I’d share some pics from a recent road trip with the E28. After having my cars sit around for several years, I made a decision in 2020 to make the time to use them more. Annual roadtrips started last year when I took my E30 to the Rockies and South West. This year a buddy (with an E30 iX) and I took 10 days or so to explore the PNW and NorCal. After a day of Interstate to get from MN to eastern MT, we took 2 lane roads from then on wherever possible. Car performed well for the most part although I did have a few issues:

- Due to higher than average temps throughout most of the trip, I experienced the melty fuse box issue from running AC ALOT. I did some terminal tightening, cleaning and fuse replacement on the road and made it home without any further problems. I have since ordered the Holy Grail Labs blade fuse kit and look forward to upgrading.
- My SI board began to act up in MT. While this had already been replaced about 10 years ago, I guess it was time again. I had one sent to a family member in CA so it was replaced halfway through the trip.
- Windshield was cracked from a rock in MT. This is unfortunate as it was a relatively new OEM windshield and we all know they are not available in NA.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite pics from the trip. I can’t wait to do this again in 2023


Western Montana:




On the approach to Mt Rainier:




Seattle:




Mt. St. Helens:




Evergreen Air & Space Museum (Highly recommended!):




Astoria, OR:




Heading south on Hwy 101:




Drive Thru Tree, Leggett CA:




Bay Area, CA:







Western Utah on the way home:

[5280 JB]

Great pics, and a big congrats to you for exercising the car and getting it out to stretch its legs. I recognize several of the pic locations having grown up in the PNW.

If your travels bring you and your car to the Denver area, please contact me and we can get a picture of two M535i's (Black and White) together!

Jim

PS: I remember seeing your car at O'fest in Beaver Creek, Colorado in 2014 - Beautiful!

[dsmith]

So cool! I almost took mine on a 2k mile trip this month, but chickened out and took the new car. Not because I was afraid it would have mechanical issues, but items like a cracked windshield haha! Guess I should just sell it, if I won’t drive it.

[Adam W in MN]

Great pics and stories! How many miles did you put on the M535i?

Will you be at the Nordfest here in the twin cities the weekend of Sept 8th?

[vinceg101]

I think it would be pretty cool to someday have an M535i-only gathering in the US; would make a pretty epic group photo.

This car looks great and would love to see it in person one day. Hats off to you running the TRX's; you're braver than me.

[reesesboot]

Beautiful car. What luck you had coming across that NLA shift knob - I would kill for one of those.

[irl-mn]

Great pics, and a big congrats to you for exercising the car and getting it out to stretch its legs. I recognize several of the pic locations having grown up in the PNW.

If your travels bring you and your car to the Denver area, please contact me and we can get a picture of two M535i's (Black and White) together!

Jim

PS: I remember seeing your car at O'fest in Beaver Creek, Colorado in 2014 - Beautiful!

Thanks Jim! I remember your car too, a magnificent example. In the last year I've actually been through Denver in my E30, E38, E28 and the wife's MB I'll definitely keep you in mind the next time I'm in CO.

[irl-mn]

So cool! I almost took mine on a 2k mile trip this month, but chickened out and took the new car. Not because I was afraid it would have mechanical issues, but items like a cracked windshield haha! Guess I should just sell it, if I won’t drive it.

Man, I was distraught for a few hours after this happened, but after some reflection it's just another story to go with the car. And I did make some great memories on the rest of the trip. Blunttech was able to get me a replacement already from Europe. While it doesn't have the BMW roundel, I believe it's from an OE supplier so fit should be better than other aftermarket options available here.

[irl-mn]

Great pics and stories! How many miles did you put on the M535i?

Will you be at the Nordfest here in the twin cities the weekend of Sept 8th?

Hey Adam, we ended up with about 5k miles all together. The most exercise the car has had in the 9 years I've owned it.

I haven't been very close to the local CCA activities recently, but will try to get to the German car show at least. Are you planning to bring the E12?

[irl-mn]

I think it would be pretty cool to someday have an M535i-only gathering in the US; would make a pretty epic group photo.

This car looks great and would love to see it in person one day. Hats off to you running the TRX's; you're braver than me.

Count me in for an M535i gathering. Mileage no object at this point

With regard to the TRX tires, I bought this set new a couple years ago, but haven't put more than a couple thousand easy miles on them around town here on summer weekends. I was impressed (relatively speaking) with how well they did on some pretty aggressive mountain roads on this trip and plan to keep them on the car long term (I'll likely list my Alpina wheels soon). In summary, for what I do with this car, any performance trade offs are well worth it to me to be able to use the M Tech wheels.

[irl-mn]

Beautiful car. What luck you had coming across that NLA shift knob - I would kill for one of those.

Ha, one of the few times my daily trawl of eBay paid off

[travisj]

Great trip! Drive that bitch!
Another M535i here in Denver. I drove mine over 4000 miles in May to Chicago, Michigan, Indiana and then to Vintage in North Carolina. Did fantastic the whole way, despite no A/C or cruise control!
I wasn't willing to payout for new TRX rubber, so I have been reluctantly running stupid RC090 wheels. They look good, but too big. I really need to get my M5 16" style 5s on this thing.

Definitely need a meet up next time you come through Colorado!

[travisj]

Great trip! Drive that bitch!
Another M535i here in Denver. I drove mine over 4000 miles in May to Chicago, Michigan, Indiana and then to Vintage in North Carolina. Did fantastic the whole way, despite no A/C or cruise control!
I wasn't willing to payout for new TRX rubber, so I have been reluctantly running stupid RC090 wheels. They look good, but too big. I really need to get my M5 16" style 5s on this thing.

Definitely need a meet up next time you come through Colorado!

[Mdreamer]

The pictures you shared from this year's trip are very cool. Thank you for sharing.