M535i my new toy. It's a keeper.

[Tiit]

Hey everyone. Ive been lurking around this awesome forum a while and since it is quite around here, I thought, I show what
i just dragged home.
So here is a short version of my story. Always loved e28, I've had few, but they all been ratty. Always dreamed of owning a nice M535i. I started looking more seriously to buying one about a year ago and now I finally bought one. The goal was to find something in fairly decent condition and as original as possible. I found one in Melbourne which looked promising. I drove down there with my family to check it out, not fully convinced I was doing the right thing , I bought it.
Immediately we started the 800km trip back home. Unfortunately the trip did not go smoothly. I could not even make out of town when the engine started hesitating and died. Barely made off the highway. It felt like a fuel problem. Clogged fuel filter, in tank fuel pump or primary pump is failing were my thoughts.
IMG_9084 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr


I filled her up and hit the highway, hoping the full tank of fuel fixed it. Same thing happened Half an hour later. The seller doesn't reply to my sms of course. It was pretty stressful at times, but eventually I managed to drive home, my wife my son and the dog following right behind me. One thing I still have not figured out is why my wife puts up with all this nonsense .
IMG_9111 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr
Finally at home.
More about the car:
Australian delivered M535i
No cracks in dash
Worn but no tears in seats
Becker mexico radio
mostly stock
No sunroof
Seems to be genuine 300000km on the odo
The not so good:
Something have happened to the right side of the car. Right side doors have been replaced. Mirror adjustment is switch is missing and door seals are loose.
Dash has been ripped apart, lots of scores are missing seems very dodgy.
radio isn't working
Some minor rust in common areas like around trunk seal area.
due to lowered spring and bigger wheels there is damage to the bumpers.
Shifter is super sloppy.
A/C does not work.
Engine start hesitating at highway speeds.
Fuel pump noisy
This is What I know now. Im sure when I dig in deeper Ill find some nasty surprises in there.
Luckily it came with a set of 16" style 5 wheels. 16" was big enough for m5 big enough for me.
There is lots to do for years to get it perfect. Wish me luck.


Btw I am not originally from Australia so my english may be a little wonky.

[muleskinner]

Handsome looking car. Keep us posted on the project.

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

It's nice to see another local member pop up out of the woodwork. That looks to be a good base, a great colour combination for an M535i. Best of luck with the project.

[brendonoid]

There are so few straight E28s here in Aus it is worth persisting IMHO. Just don't add up the invoices.
Very rare for Aussie cars to have had the steering box mount fixed properly and at 300k kms I guarantee its broken. Safety first.

Good luck on your journey!

[Dale3783]

Great looking car. Congrats!

[Rye.well]

Very cool that it has 300k on the odo. could be a 500k car if you bring it back to its former glory. and the 16" style 5's look good, throw out those other wheels ha.

[Tiit]

I created an album showing most of the issues with the car I have found so far. https://flic.kr/s/aHsm5LSwGW
Have not done much with it so far. I will try to get it registered soon and then start poking around.
I have a question about the wheels. I can't figure out what wheels are they exactly. They are 16" by 7" et20 centre bore fits e28 perfectly. If I understand correctly, these are manufactured feb 1997.? These came without centre caps. Do centre caps from 15" style 5 fit? I tried to search, but couldn't find definitive answer. I don't know fore sure, but i can imagine that previous owner had the wheels, but centre caps didn't fit due to hub dust caps and throw them away.
IMG_9206 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

[Grande Royal]

Nice find! I have an 1985 M535i same exterior color but a black interior. What year is it? Love the pinstripes, are they painted or vinyl adhesive? Please if you would post a picture of the Becker Mexico radio. My M535i was missing the orignal radio and and the Becker is possably the correct radio optioned for my car depending on which BMW option list used for decoding. It would be a great help as I am trying to return it back to the way my car was originally optioned. And of course, good luck with your new joy! Joel

[Tiit]

Nice find! I have an 1985 M535i same exterior color but a black interior. What year is it? Love the pinstripes, are they painted or vinyl adhesive? Please if you would post a picture of the Becker Mexico radio. My M535i was missing the orignal radio and and the Becker is possably the correct radio optioned for my car depending on which BMW option list used for decoding. It would be a great help as I am trying to return it back to the way my car was originally optioned. And of course, good luck with your new joy! Joel

Thanks. Mine is 1/86. Blue interior is kind of odd, but I actually like it. Stripes are stickers. Is it possible to source them? Your car is obviously an import?IMG_9143 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

[Grande Royal]

Thanks for the picture of your Becker, it helps me out. If you ever come across another Becker Mexico please let me know! Love to source one but hard to find in the US. Yes mine is a German market M535i imported to Atlanta, Ga. in 1986 spent its life there. Mine has Black over silver adhesive pin strips. I believe all the M535i came with adhesive pin strips unless painted on by the dealer/importer. I have seen very few OE sets come up here or eBay. Nice yours is a slick top, mine came optioned with the glass moon roof. Please keep posting your progress with you car and if I can help answer any questions Let me know! Joel

[tig]

Congrats. Subscribed to see this save happen!

[Tiit]

Congrats. Subscribed to see this save happen!

Thanks. By the way this is all your fault. I have been wanting to buy one a long time, but the decisive blow came from reading your projects.

[tig]

Congrats. Subscribed to see this save happen!

Thanks. By the way this is all your fault. I have been wanting to buy one a long time, but the decisive blow came from reading your projects.

I am SO sorry for ruining your marriage. I feel awful

[Tiit]

I thought I'd explain why it was a bad idea to buy the car.
* I don't really have a space for it. I've got a garage, but it is my workshop and current no space for a car.
* I am an apprentice. I don't make a lot of money. Studying takes time.
* House needs some maintenance and improvements. Money and time.
* I have too many hobbies.
* Im known for being reckless and impatient.
and yet I'm trying to be a good father and have some time for my wife too.

So nothing unusual I guess.

With the car I haven't done much since last update. It passed the mechanical inspection and got it registered. Drove it to work two times and thats it. It currently rides so horrible I don't want to drive this thing until fluid changes and some maintenance is done.

I made a mobile base for my table saw. This heavy beast is the main reason I can't fit the car in the shed. Now I can move the saw around and make some space for the car.
IMG_9602 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

I also bought some wheels. 15" style 5 is for my blue e28 and TRX I bought because they were cheap. I am not intending to use TRX wheels, but they were cheap and original to m535i. IMG_9609 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

Hoping to have time to install these things soon. Also purchased Parts cleaner and small soda blaster. IMG_9603 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

Couple of days ago I made this contraption( For the other e28 I own) I am unsure am I a genius or an idiot, but this is what I came up with.IMG_9620 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr
IMG_9626 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr
Possibly not the right way to do it, but it allowed me to test a lot of thing at once. Fuel pump, FPR, fuel injector spray pattern, leak down...

[Galahad]

Couple of days ago I made this contraption( For the other e28 I own) I am unsure am I a genius or an idiot, but this is what I came up with.
Possibly not the right way to do it, but it allowed me to test a lot of thing at once. Fuel pump, FPR, fuel injector spray pattern, leak down...

This is great - all you're missing is the in tank pump. Wish I'd thought of this months ago, it would have saved me a lot of work.

[Tiit]

This is great - all you're missing is the in tank pump. Wish I'd thought of this months ago, it would have saved me a lot of work.

In tank pump has been tested already and it works. I chose to do it this way because the fuel pump was removed from car already. Better way to do it is to extend the fuel lines under the hood to fuel rail and simply jump the pump.

[ElGuappo]

My woodworking tools are why I also cannot fit a car in the garage...Powermatic 64a table saw, bandsaw, shaper, drill press, etc...
I dig the fuel rig, I've seen similar setups before and cannot see a good reason not to do it.

[Tiit]

Finally the car is in garage and I found few hours to work on it. Swapped the exhaust and fuel pumps from my parts car. Now it runs kind of ok.
Also changed the oil. so here is what happened. Drain the oil, remove the old oil filter, put new filter in cartridge, fill 6l of 15w50 extra high zddp full synth oil, remove fuel pump fuse, crank for about 10sec and oil light doesn't go out. Crank another 10sec and light is still on. surely oil is there just hasn't reached the sensor yet. I plug the fuel pump fuse back in, fire it up, rev it around 2000 for couple of seconds and oil light is still lit up, shut the engine, remove the fuse again. Then I removed the spark plugs to make it easier for the battery. Removed valve cover, creep on cranking for a while and I don't see any oil spraying from oil bar. now feeling sick to my stomach and try to sleep.
Oh yes. aluminium flakes in the old oil and filter also.
Prior oil change, oil light took a second or two before shut off. I figured it's due being far away from pump and it's normal. I was going to send oil sample to lab as well.

[Tiit]

You can see couple of flakes in the bottom of the jar. IMG_9748 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

This shit is all over the oil filter
IMG_9738 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

Under valve cover everything looks ok
IMG_9719 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

[Tiit]

It took solid 20 seconds if cranking to get oil pressure up in the head. Maybe it's normal?
Metal flakes in the oil/oil filter appear to be not metal. Someone has marked the engine internal parts with silver marker, which is flaking off now and is circulating in the oil. I choose to ignore the crap in the oil for now and move on. I'll measure oil pressure when I have a chance.
Measured compression on cold engine while the plugs were out. All sylinder were between 125-130psi. Seems low, but my parts car has identical compression. I'll do leak-down test in future to get better understanding what is leaking Where.

[dsmith]

It could take 20secs to have the oil light go out after a complete oil change. Monitor it and see what happens. If it is a high compression motor, then your compression numbers might be low, but being even, I would first think that your test is suspect.

[Tiit]

Mine is low comp. Australia only got low comp motors. U.K. Imports are high comp motors, but they tend to be rusty. Leak down test would give the full picture.

[Tiit]

Small update. Nothing special have happened, but I've done some little things. Been pretty busy and had 4 weeks holidays in Japan. I didn't see a single e28 in japan. But I did see something interesting
Over seven years ago, when I was in japan, I saw a 2002 parked in front of the house. I took this picture in november 2010


My latest visit to japan I was so exited to see the same car still in the same spot. This time I had to go and knock on the door and luckily the owner spoke good english and we chat for about an hour. It used to be a some kind of a race car before he bought it. He said due to the noise and vibration it makes, his kids never failed to sleep in it. Here is the pic me smiling in it 2018.


Getting back to my e28.I am currently working in the trunk. I got a little carried away, but it would be silly not to fix up those rust spots in the trunk while replacing the trunk seal. There is a little bit surface rust in the seams and couple of bigger rust holes in the spare wheel well. Over all the rust situation is not too bad I think.

[Tiit]

Came home from work and was relieved to see the box from Pelican parts is waiting for me.

IMG_2081 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

It was a long wait. Pelican sent the package at january 24. In four days it was already in Sydney. And the remaining, less than 300km, took 21 days. Adding up shipping, customs fees and exchange rate, the $1000 bill inflated to $1750 aud. Its kind of annoying, but still cheaper than sourcing from local BMW dealer.
Unboxing was fun. My son and I dug right in to it. We pulled all boxes apart and inspected them all.
I don't have a huge amount of free time at the moment so it's gonna take a while to install all of those parts tho.

IMG_2100 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Next time, buy your parts through Schmiedmann. They generally work out %10-15 cheaper than Pelican and they ship with DHL so it never touches the joke that is the Australian postal service.

[Tiit]

Thanks for the info!

[Tiit]

I have finished working in the trunk (for now). I cleaned the surface rust and painted the whole thing. Water has been leaking in there for a while and quite a bit of surface rust there. It took me forever to prep the trunk for paint mostly because I had no idea what was I doing and secondly the surface area of the whole trunk/boot area is as big as half the car outside.
Final paint turned out not great, but acceptable for a complete amateur. Didn't really need to paint the whole trunk, but its so much nicer and a good practice for me too.
Trunk seal installation is pretty easy when trunk lid and hinges removed, but I am not happy with te end result. I might redo the seal in the future. It was pretty big project and I am glad it is over now.
Things I need to address:
*Hinges are worn and don't work well. Need to replace/repair
*Trunk carpet has shrunken. I don't know if its a result of washing it or do they all shrink with age.
*Water is leaking in to trunk from right C pillar vent.
*Spare wheel well is rusted through. Too much for me. I will get someone competent to fix it.

the beginning
IMG_1977 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr
IMG_1978 by Tiit Saul, on FlickrIMG_1979 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

Rust in the spare wheel well is more serious than I had hoped.
IMG_1986 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

Progress.
IMG_2050 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr
IMG_2051 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr
IMG_2053 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr
IMG_2054 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr
IMG_2072 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr
IMG_2076 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

Not perfect, but much better than before.
IMG_2079 by Tiit Saul, on FlickrIMG_0235 by Tiit Saul, on FlickrIMG_0238 by Tiit Saul, on FlickrIMG_0241 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

Shrunken carpet
IMG_0242 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr

[sail_or_drive]

Nice work. I need to do the same thing with my trunk. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Chimi-Changa]

Great work here, hopefully your trunk stays dry. I just did my seal channel and that was plenty of a pain, never mind the whole trunk!

Curious how you removed all the glue off the trunk floor before paint?

[Tiit]

Curious how you removed all the glue off the trunk floor before paint?

I simply rubbed with fingers until the glue turned in to a ball and started sticking to itself. Pretty dull job and fingers were sore. There maybe are some chemicals out there that makes the job easier, but nothing worked what I had on hand.

The other day it rained here
IMG_2107 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr


I took advantage of the rare wet day and washed the car for the first time. I spent couple of hours on wheels alone. I think it has been years since last washed and was very dirty. A lot more cleaning still to do in future.

IMG_0249 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr


Floor mat is disgusting. Holes burned in by sigaret butts and the stain is probably caused by a leaky clutch cylinder.

IMG_2114 by Tiit Saul, on FlickrIMG_2115 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr


Last weekend a friend of mine visited me. We worked hard insulating and sheeting my shed (actually half of it). What a great weekend and my shed is transformed now.

IMG_2118 by Tiit Saul, on FlickrIMG_0253 by Tiit Saul, on FlickrIMG_0251 by Tiit Saul, on Flickr