535i "Project Sepang" build -08/05/18 update

[RoyW]

Made another trip up to VSR today to see the progress on the 535. The exhaust system is mounted, but the fabrication work to get a transition pipe from the turbo downpipe to the front resonator of the SS exhaust still needs to be made. Also need to get/find the heat shield that should fit above the driveshaft and exhaust pipe... I'll be checking the ETK for that part, as I don't have one.

While the car was on the lift over in the servcie bay we swapped out the wheels/tires and put the Fikse FM-5s on... they look pretty good! Then we moved the car over to the paint bay so Jerry (VSR guy, but also an e28 and Mye28 guy) could install the headliner. Jerry has been the lead body & paint guy on this car over the past few weeks and has done a terrific job... what could be better than having an "e28 zealot" work on your car... he treats it like it was his own )

The paint and buff work is now completed on all the other parts, e.g., front valance, rear valance, rocker panels, wheel flares, mirrors, and sunroof. All these parts, plus the headliner, glass, and much of the exterior trim should be on the car by this Wednesday. We extended the schedule for pick-up into next week to allow for the exhaust work to get finished as well as the fabricated frame and mesh cover for the oil cooler that will be in the lower center section of the front valance.

Here's some pics of all this recent work.

-RoyW

[GaAlpinaOwner]

looking so sweet Roy...love that color!

[RoyW]

What... nobody commented on that cool 1600 race car in the background? You guys are slipping.

-RoyW

[Dinan e28]

Looking good Roy. The Fikse FM-5s wheels are nice staggered, like the Dinan ones? I suppose your doing the Hartge kit all around? Loving the look so far.

[pants|works]

Nice color. Are the door jambs and trunk not getting painted? I guess black isn't bad but it seems unfinished. Why leave all of the clips on the doors too? Seems like you can't sand those areas effectively. I like the wheels.

I'm not pointing out negatives but just learning from what I see as I am preparing to get a car painted sometime and I see some people remove everything but I just don't know what to make of that.

The 1600 is kinda neat.

[wkohler]

Simon, the FM-5s aren't staggered. They're 17x8 ET18, custom E30 M3 fitment, but they will work great on this car, as they did on his M635CSi. Kinda wish I had them. Photos do not do them justice.

Roy, I find your car more interesting than the 1600. It's amazing how it took BMW over 20 years to get an '80s color right.

[kzolee]

That exhaust looks a bit long for a euro bumper to me.

Anyway, the car looks fantastic.

[RoyW]

Nice color. Are the door jambs and trunk not getting painted? I guess black isn't bad but it seems unfinished. Why leave all of the clips on the doors too? Seems like you can't sand those areas effectively. I like the wheels.

I'm not pointing out negatives but just learning from what I see as I am preparing to get a car painted sometime and I see some people remove everything but I just don't know what to make of that.

The 1600 is kinda neat.

To save $ I decided to leave the engine bay, trunk area, and door jam areas black... kinda like the 60's U.S. muscle cars were (at least in the engine bay and trunk areas). I agree it would have been better to do it all, but that would have been a lot more $ in prep & paint cost, especially in the engine bay and inside the car. Also, my initial plan was to have the car be two-tone, with the areas below the door guard belt line and euro bumpers a matte black... I thought this might tie the other black areas in a little bit. But, now I'm have second thoughts about doing a "wrap" of matte black on the lower area of the doors and the front and rear valances... since I now like how the color looks on the whole car? Guess I'll wait to see it when all its all finished and then decide?

As for the clips, I'm not sure why those weren't removed, its easy enough to do... but they will be covered over anyway by the rubber trim, so no biggie.

-RoyW

[RoyW]

That exhaust looks a bit long for a euro bumper to me.

Anyway, the car looks fantastic.

I agree the exhaust may be a bit too long, and I'll have to have a bit taken out of the pipe right behind the tips and then butt welded to get it just the right length. This was the case on my M5 when I put euro bumpers on it too... and, it was fixed in this way.

-RoyW

[wkohler]

Roy, I'd leave it all Sepang. Looks awesome.

[Dinan e28]

I didnt mention the exhaust, because its better to test fit the euro bumpers first then shorten it. Brent did mine and I like it cur right at the bumper. As for the wheels I was thinking of the Dinan version the newer ones are slightly curvy, more sexy. And I see now Roy's are square. Maybe you should try the rap, in a complementary Brown tone to the Sepang.

[1121fresh]

I just want comment briefly on the door clips. Yes it would have been just as easy to remove door clips. In the interest of staying on budget, it was easier to leave them in to cut back R&I time. It saved more room in the budget for things like "The Million Dollar Rear valance." ( That was for Roy) Rest assured around clips have all been sanded well. If time and money isn't an issue, then yes I would remove everything.

[5280 JB]

I think the black engine bay and trunk areas add a bit of a "custom build" look, one that says this is "your" car, and not necessarily "BMW's Factory" car. And, it adds a bit of a sinister feeling to the whole car.

This is gonna' be good!

Jim

[T_C_D]

Wow! Jealous.

[Leo F.]

Nice color. Are the door jambs and trunk not getting painted? I guess black isn't bad but it seems unfinished. Why leave all of the clips on the doors too? Seems like you can't sand those areas effectively. I like the wheels.

I'm not pointing out negatives but just learning from what I see as I am preparing to get a car painted sometime and I see some people remove everything but I just don't know what to make of that.

The 1600 is kinda neat.

There are all levels of paint jobs and the costs that go with them. In preparation to have your car painted, you should set a standard for the quality of the paint job you want.

There are many ways to paint cars, but in most situations there is a right way to do things. You are right to notice things like the trim clips. They are 10 minutes per side to remove. And, at less than $2 a piece, it is no big deal if they break on the way out.

I don't mean to criticize project Sepang. I think it will be a fun car and is obviously being built as such. But, for someone like you, pants|works, watch for things like you noticed here. Take the extra time and save a little extra money to avoid cutting corners.

[RoyW]

Today, I went up to VSR with a friend and picked up the 535 to bring it back to the Barn for the Winter task of putting the rest of it back together.

The VSR body & paint crew (Steve and Jerry) were finishing up a few things when we arrived, e.g., adjusting doors, mounting the wheels (removed for wheel arch installation), bleeding the brakes, cleaning up the dust, etc. And, there are a few things that didn't get finished, e.g., the windshield install... because the gasket I brought up a few weeks ago turned out to be the wrong one, it was too big . I'm guessing the wrong part got put in the bag with the e28 gasket part # by the dealer or something like that. Anyway, that will get resolved and the windshield will probably get done in the Spring. Also, the fabricated stainless frame with stainless mesh that will cover the oil cooler in the front isn't quite finished, as is the front part of the exhaust system, e.g., "S" pipe off downpipe and "Y" pipe connection to the SuperSprint resonator... again these will be Winter or Springtime installs.

We rolled the car outside to take a few pictures with all the parts now attached to the car, i.e., sunroof, wheel flares, front valance, rear valance, mirrors. It's taking shape for sure and the paintwork is phenomenal and the color looks great IMO... and different in different light. Oh, and the Alcantra headliner is also installed and came out nice.

We unloaded it out of the trailer and into the Barn in the dark, so I'll take some pics in there tomorrow, when the light is better. Here's the pictures from today at VSR in Bow, NH.

My thanks to Mario and his outstanding VSR crew for a great job on the 535... you guys are the best!!!

-RoyW

[wkohler]

The car looks great Roy! Thanks for the update.

[Hffvdbl]

That is a great color!

[bkbimmer]

Another beautiful project!

I need a few good customers like you! It makes me happy that some people are still willing to spend the money to make things right!

Can't wait to see the finished product.

[Coldswede]

It does look great Roy. As I have said that color is such a classy elegant looking finish on an e28.

I would be tempted to just leave the inter cooler radiator exposed just like it is. A bit racer boy and not understated as you seem to be doing but it looks quite masculine and has that "Go ahead, make my day!" touch to it!

Nice car Roy.

[Adam W in MN]

This is so fun to watch, project cars that are dunn right.

[leadphut]

Looks great Roy. Really impressive!

[Dinan e28]

Looks awesome. Still going with the Hartge spoiler, over the cooler?

[RoyW]

Looks awesome. Still going with the Hartge spoiler, over the cooler?

Thanks for your idea on the brown-tone wrap. I was initially thinking matte black, in order to tie-in the other black areas, e.g., engine bay, trunk, etc. But, now I'm thinking I may just leave it all Sepang Bronze Met.... I guess I'll live with it for a bit and then decide.

As for the front valance... with the euro bumpers, no valance would accommodate (hide) the oil cooler, so I decided to just stick with the stock euro 535 valance and trim it to fit around the cooler, and then VSR would make a frame/cover to protect it and make it more esthetically pleasing.

-RoyW

[Dinan e28]

Looks awesome. Still going with the Hartge spoiler, over the cooler?

Thanks for your idea on the brown-tone wrap. I was initially thinking matte black, in order to tie-in the other black areas, e.g., engine bay, trunk, etc. But, now I'm thinking I may just leave it all Sepang Bronze Met.... I guess I'll live with it for a bit and then decide.

As for the front valance... with the euro bumpers, no valance would accommodate (hide) the oil cooler, so I decided to just stick with the stock euro 535 valance and trim it to fit around the cooler, and then VSR would make a frame/cover to protect it and make it more esthetically pleasing.


-RoyW

Cool deal , I'm enjoying the progress.

[RoyW]

Got started with the first steps toward post-paint re-construction and did a few minor and simple things over the past few days These included:

- cleaned up the dust from 4+ weeks at the paint shop, it's everywhere and gets into every crack ... YIKES
- put the trunk lid panel on with the tool kit (have a blue rag somewhere?)
- used some 1/4" dense foam material I had and cut it to fit on the trunk floor (had scraped the old stuff off back in the beginning of this re-build). Will glue it all down after other work that will require crawling around in the trunk is completed, e.g, stereo install
- put the spare in the trunk (original TRX and it looks un-used... hope I never have to use it, its 27 years old!!)
- cleaned up the underside of the hood and put the new foam insulation pieces on
- tore the shredded moisture barriers off the inside of the doors (not sure what I'll replace them with?)
- cleaned up the wheels & tires

Next steps will be laying out the wiring for the stereo (while the interior is still empty), building the amps & cross-over board for mounting in trunk on backside of rear seat, etc. This will be after Christmas when my friend the "stereo installer expert" will pay a visit

Have a couple dates planned in January for continuing to put things back together, when my "expert wrench" friends Steve, Brad, and Jerry are available to help

That's it for now.

-RoyW

[John in VA]

- tore the shredded moisture barriers off the inside of the doors (not sure what I'll replace them with?)

I believe you can get Acella film from Steve/BluntTech, Maximillian, or your local dealer:
Part Number 51951924961
Part Name 8-TRIM FOIL
MSRP $36.17

Hardware store roll of plastic (Visqueen or other sheet plastic vapor barrier) is available for a handful of change.

[mooseheadm5]

Cannot wait to see this in person.

[dsmith]

For vapor barriers, I use these 2 items:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-3-ft-x ... /202328867#

http://www.amazon.com/3M-08578-Black-St ... B000PEZ1L4

[Murfinator]

I would be tempted to just leave the inter cooler radiator exposed just like it is.

I agree with the above sentiment. I'd run the Hartge spoiler to match the rear valance which appears to be Hartge(?). There is a version with a cut-out for an oil cooler. I believe it would provide a much more finished look.

Great build.