I also bought an $800 car to use while the M5 is down. Meet the new beater, an auto Alpine over Cardinal Super Eta.
I had to get it road-worthy and have it pass smog so the Super Eta stole a couple of weekends away from the M5. I did the basics: plugs, rotor, cap, air filter, oil and the brakes... oh the brakes.
It still needs a couple of things fixed but now that it's registered I won't put any more money into it until the M5 is in a good place. The goal is to have a decent driver by SoCal Vintage in the fall... and that feels just around the corner because of all of the work I have to do.
This past month I had it on stands and started deleting the SLS so I took advantage that everything was out to give it a good scrub.
Dirt, grime, spider nests... you name it. It was crazy how much dirt was in the spring perches but surprisingly no rust inside.
Some cleaning progress. Not spotless but at least now I can sleep at night.
Does anyone need a leaky SLS system?
I also noticed that my rotors were basically new, the hats were just a little rusty so I decided to dunk them in vinegar for an hour. I removed the rust and then hit the hats with some high-temp primer followed by silver caliper paint (sorry no after pic, I'll take some next time I have my wheels off).
The engine compartment got some NOS bling.
...and it finally has a windshield fluid reservoir. Yay!
I also picked up a set of almost new Spax springs and Bilstein Sports for a steal. These were supposed to go on the white car but I wanted to drive the M5 so on a whim I decided to slap them on. They are too low for my taste but I already knew that. But on the other hand, they'll do fine until I figure out what I want to do with suspension.
At least it feels like a normal car now that the SLS is deleted. It pulls much better too. Here are some pics with Spax + Billy Sports:
Not too bad, but not what I'm going for.
Looks like someone stepped on it with all that extra negative camber.
I also bought a subframe that I plan to modify to make adjustable. They're all the same, right? This one is from an 86 535i.
This weekend I'm finishing the brakes and installing the front suspension components which should arrive today. Here is my updated list from earlier with some items added:
• Clean/check electrical grounds (DONE)
• Coolant hoses (PURCHASED), coolant cap (DONE), coolant sensors
• Replace water pump
• Replace fuel pumps
• All air/vacuum hoses (PURCHASED)
• Windshield washer reservoir (DONE)
• Rebuild brakes (IN PROCESS)
• SS Brake lines (PURCHASED)
• Rebuild shifter linkage
• Check ECU for solder problems (DONE)
• Replace main and fuel pump relays (DONE)
• Upper control arms (PURCHASED)
• Lower control arms (PURCHASED)
• Delete SLS and convert to standard suspension (DONE)
• Sway bar links and bushings (PURCHASED)
• Subframe bushings (PURCHASED ALONG WITH SPARE SUBFRAME)
• Dog bones
• Differential mount
• Engine and trans mounts
• Front adjustable sway bar links (PURCHASED)