Un Ping!

[Bonto 14]

About 6 months ago, on the way up the reallyfarawyfromanybloodywhere side of the Lewis Pass, my E28's camshaft seized, then almost immediately snapped. Valves met pistons in a dishearteningly non-convivial setting. sh*t got bent. 'p-Ping!' it went.

This is a 'hey all, thanks for the support' post sorted it review. The encouragement made a difference. After chats here, I grabbed my uncle, hired a trailer and went and collected it the next weekend (a 1300km round trip).

It's a been a long time coming but I finally got everything in and running again. I replaced the engine in the end with a 105km plug and play replacement from a one owner 525ee auto - the low kms appealed and I figured I could just put it in and assuming it was as good as it said on the box, relax after that rather than grabbing something cheap but very probably worn to hell.

It was a big job for me, with some experience but nothing quite on that scale but I learned a heap along the way and the garage got a bit of a make-over too.

After some faffing about getting it started it cranked right up and purred like a kitten.

For interest, while in there I replaced:
- cam belt
- tensioner
- water pump
- front seals

- cam cover gasket
- sump gasket
- rear main seal
- cutch slave cylinder
- exedy clutch plate
- exedy pressure plate
and the dual-mass flywheel was thankfully in good nic (they're eye-wateringly expensive) so I left it well alone.

So, it's back to it's silky smooth self. I've of course spent more than the car is probably worth (though, actually still less than 3k including recovery...) but I'm really glad I did it. It's going to get some more love in the next year so it looks as good as it drives.

Thought I'd share the good feels.

[kulgan 1042]

Yayyy. I remember your misfortune and was one of the folk who encouraged you to retrieve it.

So glad to hear it's up and running again.

The sense of satisfaction you get from starting and driving a car that you've done the work on yourself cant be beat.

Keep us updated as you improve the looks and happy motoring.

[Olaf 3317]

++yay. I too remember your thread, really stoked you've gotten it sorted. Over the next few years no doubt that $3k will pay you back in spades - it's not much in the scheme of things. Some people spend that on wheels any tyres, and most spend easily triple that in first years depreciation on a new car.

Looking forward to seeing more of your e28.

[M M 250]

Good work man. I think a lot of us have spent well over a cars "market worth", especially on older cars like the e28. If it's the car you want, who cares? I'd rather have my e28 over most cars worth much more.

Glad it's going again for you.

[gjm 3258]

Fantastic to hear you're sorted. I'm sure there were times when you were thinking "Why?????" but hopefully you're now happy it was worth the effort.