MyE28.com

1988 alpine white on cardinal red 535i. m30b34 auto

so i’ve had this car for about 5 months now, and as i’m a student i’ve been working on it on my free time besides school and work. the car has been sitting a half decade before i got it, so tons of parts are in need of refreshing and i’m hitting those with the money i have and can get.

what i have/have done
so far:
- complete lemforder arms and bushings for the car, meyle hd
- new radiator, coolant hoses, thermostat, water pump
- single fuel pump conversion (walbro gss342 255lph pump) and new filter
- replaced entire exhaust system with an ‘oem’ one since it was cut out and replaced with flex pipes and u bolts by the p/o. o2 sensor purchased.
- original comfort seats were eaten so i got sport seats
- going to completely redo the brake system, front calipers are seized
- got bilstein b8s and h&r sport springs from the junkyard
- got a windshield from the junkyard, perfect shape besides a rock chip
- going to look at a saab 9000 in a week or so for a glass sunroof
- rear headrests
- found a chrome euro rear bumper for 200, snagged that immediately

onto the problem.

while i pulled out the battery so i could clean what access i had to the engine after tossing the radiator, i noticed about a half to 1 inch gap in between the tray and the front panel. i sort of expected the front end to be a little tweaked since the hood and right fender were replaced and the whole car was repainted, but i didn’t really expect this bad of a problem. or weird of one.

the right shock tower has a line of rust breaking through the sealant, and the front panel doesn’t line up correctly on either end. the left fender was definitely ‘repaired’, the front piece’s angle doesn’t run the same length at all. the frame rails coming to the front look slightly warped, but they’re straight at least.

i’m kind of confused on what to do about it, i want to get the front end straightened out so i don’t have any problems with the car.

has anybody had to do collision repair on their cars? and if so what happened?

Got any photos to show how bad it is?

Cool you are in Denver.

Got any photos to show how bad it is?

i can take photos in the bay where i'm particularly concerned maybe on thursday, the snow and my classes are holding me back atm. i'm probably overdramatizing what's wrong with it, but i just want to be sure.

Cool you are in Denver.

same! i didn't realize how many of these cars are around here!

Welcome. Where are you located in Denver?
Do you need calipers? I have a used set if you still need some.
I parted out an E28 a few years ago and met a few people in the area along the way.
I have a lot of random bits. Let me know what you may need to get this car in working order.

Got any photos to show how bad it is?

so. i'm not the most familiar with e28s but i've been learning and even i know this might be worrying. i'm gonna post a thread of pictures somewhere else, i just can't figure out how to do it on here and i don't want to mess up. if they're bad angles, i'll take more

https://imgur.com/gallery/Js3kueq

travisj wrote: Mar 17, 2021 10:40 PM Welcome. Where are you located in Denver?
Do you need calipers? I have a used set if you still need some.
I parted out an E28 a few years ago and met a few people in the area along the way.
I have a lot of random bits. Let me know what you may need to get this car in working order.

i'm in littleton. what kind of calipers are they? i think i might have a general idea on everything i need to get this car right back on its feet, but if the body is toast, that's where i'm really worried. and i've not been seeing reassuring things with this car..

The rust around the windshield is not from the accident. Troubling to be sure, but almost certainly from a poor windshield replacement sometime prior.

The paint crack in the radiator support is a non issue, it's not structural and potential rust if ignored would be the result.

The cracks in the undercoating by the strut housings isn't good news, although I'm not sure if it's not prior damage. The fenders are on it, how do they lay? Flat like they should or kicked up? I kind of doubt it's tweaked too much for a daily driver, but I'm not a bodyman. As a WAG I'd say it's been in an accident before and some of what you're seeing is a result of that.

That windshield frame is the biggest problem to my eyes, and it's not even accident related. They are repairable, but it's a lot of work and time consuming. Still, a less than professional repair might work just for a driver, remembering of course that Rust Never Sleeps.

Mike W. wrote: Mar 24, 2021 9:45 PM The rust around the windshield is not from the accident. Troubling to be sure, but almost certainly from a poor windshield replacement sometime prior.

The paint crack in the radiator support is a non issue, it's not structural and potential rust if ignored would be the result.

The cracks in the undercoating by the strut housings isn't good news, although I'm not sure if it's not prior damage. The fenders are on it, how do they lay? Flat like they should or kicked up? I kind of doubt it's tweaked too much for a daily driver, but I'm not a bodyman. As a WAG I'd say it's been in an accident before and some of what you're seeing is a result of that.

That windshield frame is the biggest problem to my eyes, and it's not even accident related. They are repairable, but it's a lot of work and time consuming. Still, a less than professional repair might work just for a driver, remembering of course that Rust Never Sleeps.

thank you for the response, i was hoping it wasn’t as big as i made it seem. the left fender sits fine on the car, it’s not kicked up at all, the front tip is just dulled from some repair work so it doesn’t align with the hood edge. as for the passenger, it lays flat but not straight, if i can describe that right. it leans a bit outwards, i think i forgot to put the picture of the front right corner but it doesn’t line up there. i’ll update the link with a picture of what i mean. (nevermind it’s included already)