And so it starts, Maeve

[1st 5er]

Family is the best.

[gwb72tii]

Family is the best.

I’m going to step back from full time work in about 18 months and will make plans to go to the Vintage meet again with Maeve. The tii has already made the trip. I’ll look you up and say hi along the way.

[1st 5er]

Family is the best.

I’m going to step back from full time work in about 18 months and will make plans to go to the Vintage meet again with Maeve. The tii has already made the trip. I’ll look you up and say hi along the way.

Definitely hoping to be there.

[gwb72tii]

You are doing the work and I salute you! Thank you for keeping us informed every step of the way. I have been going through a journey with my car, but have not had the courage to share my story with the group. Maybe I'll pen something once it is all done...

Maybe!

Thanks!
I'm trying to remember to post up on things I run across that I couldn't find by searching mye28 and are new to me at least. There is a lot of similarity on how the e28 is designed and engineered to my 2002tii, enough anyway that not everything is new.

[gwb72tii]

More progress! I decided to go after the right rear and replace the same bushings. The hardest part is trying to lower the trailing arm by myself without getting clobbered. It's out of the car and with any luck I'll be able to get the bushings in today.



And if you look up "worn out e28 rear pitman arm" you'll see this picture:

[gwb72tii]

This came today! Someone else on mye28 posted about this tool, which is made for e28 rear subframe bushings. Looks similar to my home made tool with pipe caps, threaded rod and nuts eh? haha I should be able to get the rear end completely restored this weekend.

[gwb72tii]

I also, with some soul searching, decided against recovering Maeve's seats on my own. I have the replacement covers from zoomzoomzoom-ing on Ebay, and they are really nice. The seats are one of the first things you see, and sit in, and they need to be spot on. I delivered front and rear seats to a local upholstery shop and they should be back next week.

The old leather covers are not ripped. The are aged and in need of a good cleaning etc., but they are in good shape. I asked the upholstery guy to try to save them. If they did, I will give them away for free to whoever would like them. You pay the shipping. First come first served.

[1st 5er]

I know a guy.

[thrty8street]

Would you happen to have the part number for these buckets? One of mine is cracked as well. I checked realeom but was unable to find it.

Small steps to report but necessary steps.

First was reassembling the Euro headlights. They are held to the buckets with a snap in ball and socket design. After careful cleaning and lubing with a light grease, I snapped in the first ball and guess what, the bucket cracked. So off to FCP Euro to order 6 new buckets.

[gwb72tii]

yes, you have to search RealOem for Euro versions of the 535i

Here is the ECS page:
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-bmw ... 121369833/

[gwb72tii]

Back at it today.
I'm back from a Panama Canal cruise aboard the Windstar, which only holds 145 passengers. Then off in Costa Rica to see friends and explore.
Both my wife and I managed to get Covid from he cruise, so the last few days in CR were spent sequestered in our hotel room for the most part. CR requires you to isolate for 14 days if you have Covid, so while we didn't let anyone know, we were careful not to be around others.
Here's one critter we found on a night hike:


Finished up installing the right rear trailing arm bushings. I figured out how to center the TA under the 12T press so this time the removal/install was way quicker. As usual the second time around, after all the trial and error of the first attempt, things go way easier. After sawing through the outer race of the bushing to make removal easy, I cleaned up the bore of the TA with a brake hone. Then a little grease on the bushing and bore and I was done in about an hour. The hardest part was centering the bushing under the press. The 12T Harbor Freight press is not a precision instrument so a little fudging enabled me to get the bushing started in the bore:

[gwb72tii]

Then a little work on the air conditioner and heater.
There is a resistor piece in the a/c that I am replacing so I'm not forced to do it after reinstallation.
This is the piece, p/n 64511373277, the old one on top. I have no clue if it's still operational. Maybe someone can instruct me how to test it with a multimeter?

Be sure to order the expanding rivets as well (51161881149) as getting to old ones out are near impossible without breaking them. You will need two:

[Galahad]

Then a little work on the air conditioner and heater.
There is a resistor piece in the a/c that I am replacing so I'm not forced to do it after reinstallation.
This is the piece, p/n 64511373277, the old one on top. I have no clue if it's still operational. Maybe someone can instruct me how to test it with a multimeter?

I don't have a blower resistor in front of me, but here's the rough sketch of what to do:

There's at least one coiled up thing in there, it'll connect to pins. Put a multimeter in ohms mode, probe the two pins it connects to (if there's more than one coiled resistor, do this for each). You should get a number somewhere between say 1 ohm and 10 ohm. If you don't have a halfway decent digital multimeter it may be hard to get an accurate reading, but it almost doesn't matter what the exact number is.

If all the coils ohm out fine it's good - I'd be very surprised if this had a failure mode that wasn't open-circuit. I'd put the new one in just in case, and test the old one to see if it's a good spare.

[gwb72tii]

Success! Rear subframe bushings are in and seated fully. The FoRSVARA tool helped immensely. This type of job is made for ratcheting wrenches:


The PO, attempted to replace the bushings but never got them fully seated. The driver's side was extended about 1/4"", and the passenger side needed another 3/8" to go in all the way. Now they are perfect:


I tried and tried and tried using a BFH to remove the subframe bushing pins, and even bought a pneumatic hammer, but nothing worked. So I loosened the diff mount, jacked the car up and dropped the rear subframe enough so it came off the pins. Now I realize I need a new diff mounting bracket, thought I had one, but now have to wait until I get one to finish the rear end suspension. sigh....

So in the mean time why not replace the caliper seals and make sure the brakes are in good shape? I removed the piston in one of the rear calipers, and this is what I found. Yuck!


So now I'm headed to Northwest BMW to order the diff mount. BMW is also about $40 cheaper that ECS or FCP.

[kojo96]

Make sure to buy the 528e diff bushing, it's stronger and with your new motor you'll most likely need it.

[gwb72tii]

Make sure to buy the 528e diff bushing, it's stronger and with your new motor you'll most likely need it.

I think I did kojo. I bought the diff mount p/n 33171126951, and it's listed for the 528e up to 9/84, and the mounting pattern for the 4 cap screws is different, so it doesn't fit. What am I doing wrong?

may have answered my own question. I looks like the 528e diff mount from 1985 on fits, plus it's cheaper.

[kojo96]

Make sure to buy the 528e diff bushing, it's stronger and with your new motor you'll most likely need it.

I think I did kojo. I bought the diff mount p/n 33171126951, and it's listed for the 528e up to 9/84, and the mounting pattern for the 4 cap screws is different, so it doesn't fit. What am I doing wrong?

may have answered my own question. I looks like the 528e diff mount from 1985 on fits, plus it's cheaper.

Yes, the later built diff mount.

[gwb72tii]

More accomplished today. My son Greg and I put the rear suspension back together and torqued everything. The old differential mount came out in pieces!

Next step is rebuilding the rear brake calipers with new seals, and then flushing the brake lines. When I disassembled the calipers, it looked like there was cottage cheese in the lines and behind the caliper piston. I'm guessing from water being absorbed over time and no periodic brake fluid flushing from the PO.

I'm getting excited to get the car completed and on the road even though I have a long way to go.

[gwb72tii]

Today was finish rebuilding brake caliper day.
After trial and error, I finally went back and searched for an e28 brake caliper rebuild on YouTube, and found this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5tHq1Gim6Y
The hardest part is getting the boot on the piston in a position that allows you to get the boot lip in the caliper groove PRIOR to getting the piston reinserted. If the piston is in the bore of the caliper at all you cannot get the boot lip inserted.

First thing was to clean up the piston and bore with 2500 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Removed all the varnish built up on the piston, reinserted the main seal in the bore, and then positioned the boot correctly and presto, the piston slides in with a little effort. I also used a grease compatible with brake fluid which helped a lot.






This is an e34 540i brake caliper fyi

[gwb72tii]

Time to replace the front shocks. Removed the entire strut assembly, took off the various control arms, and look what I found, a missing screw. Plus one of the two that were actually screwed in was stripped:


To remove the insert, you have to remove the springs and upper strut mount. You have to compress the springs to remove the upper mount. There is a trick as you have to hold the shaft of the insert from rotating as you remove the nut:

I've had this long socket in my tool box for a long time and I'd forgotten what it was for. I had ground to flat areas with my bench grinder, and looking at it a light came on. I had used this socket to replace the strut inserts on my 2002tii years ago. It allows you to put it on the nut and then reach in with a 1/4" drive long socket to fit on the hex end of the shaft. You can then prevent the shaft from turning and use an open end wrench to turn the big socket:


Then, after removing the spring etc you get to this nut that holds the insert in the strut. It calls for a special tool, but I have used, like many others, and pipe wrench to loosen it. Guess what, it wasn't even finger tight!


When you buy someone else's car, and there is no record of repairs, who did them etc. you don't know what you're going to get. I think maybe an angel was riding along with Cindy and me when we drove Maeve home to the Great Pacific Northwest from Mesa, AZ. Had I known about all the defects I'm finding, I would have probably passed on Maeve and looked for another car. But she'll have a completely sorted new suspension when I'm finished, and I'll know everything is as it should be.

[kojo96]

Time to replace the front shocks. Removed the entire strut assembly, took off the various control arms, and look what I found, a missing screw. Plus one of the two that were actually screwed in was stripped:


To remove the insert, you have to remove the springs and upper strut mount. You have to compress the springs to remove the upper mount. There is a trick as you have to hold the shaft of the insert from rotating as you remove the nut:

I've had this long socket in my tool box for a long time and I'd forgotten what it was for. I had ground to flat areas with my bench grinder, and looking at it a light came on. I had used this socket to replace the strut inserts on my 2002tii years ago. It allows you to put it on the nut and then reach in with a 1/4" drive long socket to fit on the hex end of the shaft. You can then prevent the shaft from turning and use an open end wrench to turn the big socket:


Then, after removing the spring etc you get to this nut that holds the insert in the strut. It calls for a special tool, but I have used, like many others, and pipe wrench to loosen it. Guess what, it wasn't even finger tight!


When you buy someone else's car, and there is no record of repairs, who did them etc. you don't know what you're going to get. I think maybe an angel was riding along with Cindy and me when we drove Maeve home to the Great Pacific Northwest from Mesa, AZ. Had I known about all the defects I'm finding, I would have probably passed on Maeve and looked for another car. But she'll have a completely sorted new suspension when I'm finished, and I'll know everything is as it should be.

Man, those lower knuckle bolts could have been a major problem/very dangerous issue had they worked loose. Good thing you're in there now. As an FYI, the early car had those safety tied. You may want to think about that.

[Blue Shadow]

Air took off the strut top nut without needing to hold the strut from turning. But your car with all the looseness is just being easy to work on. The next guy is gonna have trouble, you putting things back right.

[gwb72tii]

Yes, kojo, those same bolts on my tii are safety wired.

[Blue Shadow]

Man, those lower knuckle bolts could have been a major problem/very dangerous issue had they worked loose. Good thing you're in there now. As an FYI, the early car had those safety tied. You may want to think about that.

The repair manual specifies bolt cement for these once cleaned prior to reinstallation.

[gwb72tii]

Progress.
Mounted both front struts after cleaning and installing the new Bilstein inserts. Everything related to the front suspension is new. As is normal. once I did the left side the right side came apart and back together quicker.
I was stressing as I didn't remember if the caliper was in front of the brake disc, and during reassembly I had attached the control arms. Luckily I did everything right and all is as it should be. The bottom on the car would be complete if not for having to build a 16x4x2 raised bed plalnter for Cindy. Moved about 6 out 7 yards of dirt and this took most of the day.
Don't you like it when everything looks newer? the brakes on Maeve are e34 540i brakes btw. Thank you PO.
Once I mount the wheels again and let Maeve off the jack stands and the suspension is loaded, I can tighten up the lower control arm bolts.



10 points to whoever points out what's wrong in this pic, and can tell me the correct repair!


Maeve is slowly starting to look like a car again:


My anxiety is slowly building as after getting the underside of the car complete, brakes flushed and MC replaced, it's on to the interior. I still have the HVAC to reinstall, remount the dash, etc. One of the biggest challenges will be the headliner. Fortunately I've done several 2002 headliners and it looks like the e28 is similar. But when I search for reinstalling the sunroof I can't find much help online. Anyone have a link?