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Hey guys, I've lucked out and scored a (mostly) original 1987 525e 5spd from right here in Hawke's Bay. Super stoked! Have already found a really nice set of RC090's 17's with rubber (235/45-17) who are getting a tidy up as we speak, and have sourced some spigot rings from TM to ensure no speed "wobbles" Will be turning my attentions to the brakes/suspension next, and very much open to any suggestions any fellow e28'ers are running with good results out there. Wheels, brakes and suspension aside, I've no plans to modify the motor any more than that. Have heard of a chip upgrade which can help deliver a few extra ponies which is a pretty compelling proposition, but keen to get the handling piece sorted first then look at that sort of thing down the line, Cheers!

will just keep coming , hard to get rid of all of it just keep flushing the system etc

And some updated pics of the E39 ...

I'm half way through "The Long Way Round" atm features the mighty R1150GS. A pretty good watch.

So I roadtripped to Mokau today in the trusty (surprisingly) Range Rover, to pick up a new steed. Enter a 1962ish Landrover Series 2a SWB ute. The rangerover certainly looked the part towing its dad around! Now I'm going to be busy with a grinder and a welder for some time.

Any progress on this?

I thought these adverts had to come with a "for under $10 price tag".

Such a hot car!! That colour cleans up so nice. Will have to try make it to the next meet

The color on the E39 is perfect. And dont they just look lovely sitting side by side.

Welcome Ben, love that E28, has to be one in my future somewhere, well done and look forward to see how it progresses

ah, didnt click that it was the cooling system that was still sludging. nevermind then. Ill learn to read properly one day I dont recall, but did you remove and flush the radiator and back flush the heater core?

Welcome Ben. e28's are great to drive and simple to work on. If you are looking for parts I would suggest looking on the US sites as prices can be very good. Only the exchange rate is not always on our side. Hope you enjoy it. Adam

Compression test will probably not reveal, you need to do a leak down test.

HI Ben, welcome aboard. a lot of us were watching that auction and thinking hard about it, looks like you've really lucked out there. plenty of help and advice on Bimmersport, and a lot of enthusiasm for e28s. Take a look at the meetings section too. cheers Olaf

did you replace the torque converter? dont think you could ever properly flush that, so probably coming from there.

Head gasket is a possible culprit. Any sign of coolant being passed through the exhaust? Exhaust fumes will be more like what you'd expect to see on a cold morning, and can smell sweet. (Sniff your tailpipe! )

The long way down is pretty good as well

Some pics of the girls cleaned up

I believe they can also be melted down and re-cast into wheels that are a size you can use!

They're like the poke'mons, "gotta catch them all!"

Its, taken a while, but here is a couple of photos, of the E36 & E28

Hi Ian, sorry for the slow response. For the effort of removing your front end suspension assy, or indeed just the rear struts, you don't want to do the job twice. Your bump stops will be knackered. There is no point re-fitting a stuffed bump-stop to new struts. You know all about it if you hit a broken bump-stop - bottoming out. I found - on my e46 rears - the top of the shock was rusted and swollen, the (perished) bump stop was stuck on it, and tore off when we tried to remove it. Bump stops are relatively cheap. Similarly, your dust boots will be hardened and won't prevent dust and grime reaching your strut/shock seals, promoting wear of your new shocks. The front strut bearings - an essential part of macpherson strut assembly - will be knackered, with wear and play. The strut bearings are what allows your strut to turn with the steering. The rear shock mounts frequently fail, and in the long run - particularly in lowered applications - contribute to damage to the body where the shock passes through to the mounts. As a guide, for my recent e46 suspension refresh, the bushes/bearings/bumpstops/dustboots/fasteners came to about 40% of the total budget. The car now rides like new. Seriously, why would you drop the strut, use spring compressors to change springs, disassemble the strut assembly, and then re-install/re-assemble worn-out parts? IMV, do it once, do it right. Most of the fasteners are recommended by BMW as one-time-use. You can choose to re-use... it's false economy, and I don't care to second-guess the BMW engineers for an extra $20. The good news is that most of the bushes/bearings etc are standard parts, regardless of M Sport (though the sway bar bushes may be harder durometer). It's your shocks and springs you want to consider for performance. You can save a few clams on OEM or similar parts, ten bucks here, twenty bucks there... the only thing you gamble with is longevity. For example, five or more OEM or OEM-quality suppliers for Strut bearings, with a variance in price for the part. It's worth noting that a lot of folks have a car with shagged out suspension, consider they need lower/stiffer etc and have never driven the car performing as factory spec in new condition. They might be surprised! good luck with your search. You've a car that was streets ahead of the rest back in the 90's, and was a benchmark in it's class. Taking a Toyota Camry approach to your suspension will be knobbling it's true performance/ride/handling/comfort/safety. Adopt the noodle and beans diet for a couple of months, feed your car the care it needs! #8 ) regards

They leak oil & water..... now they are starting to make icecream

A very nice fellow(Xboss) in the US who has been watching my thread on Bimmerforums sent me these a while ago. They where prototypes and had no clips on the back and no holes in the homelink panel. He gave them to me to see if I could do something with them. So I spent the day very very carefully attaching some metal clips I made and cutting holes in the homelink panel for the mic and sunroof switch. Have to say the result was stunning. Heres the old panel for comparison. lol And heres the panel I was sent sitting in place. And there's usually a leather covered panel under the center console armrest. Here's the one he gave me. His workmanship is incredible. He's now doing piano black finishes with chromeline edging as well as the wood finished panels which now come with clips already attached. Heres a link to his thread if anyone's interested. http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2085016-Wood-home-link-panel-prototype-is-finally-done

Interesting observation on ride height. Mine has factory suspension but wheels tuck into guards more........apologies for filth - normally clean?

$750. But I also got a set of Style 32's and the rest of the car for that..lol

No more for now..lol. I have a 1/4 acre paddock out the back that I'm NOT going to fill up with E38's. NO MORE E38's FOR DAVE

We will be able to see your collection of E38s from space soon!

may i suggest putting the 32s on the 740 and the RCs on the 750? edit: BTW Mods/forum enginneer - need to make a change to the profile so Dave can list Car 1 ~ Car 7. hes already run out of space for Car #4 and we all know theres #5 #6 and #7 coming soon...

Scored this one today. 01 728i that was stolen and recovered. Dont get too excited. the other side does't look so nice. It's the same color as the 750 so I should be able to swap some panels. Style 32's will be going on it too. Also has a M sport wheel and 16:9 display which will do the move to the 750 as well. The 740i's going to be the work horse again when I trailer it home from Wellington sometime this week.

I think the E38's big enough to pull off these 21 inch Alpina wheels with class so 20's will be more than fine and wont look gangsta.