Dropped by my friend's shop today, there's a goofy orangeish BMW 5 series that was dropped off quite a while ago. Now sitting on two flats. It was "Dad's project" and after he passed the kids wanted to fix it to honor him. Needs suspension, transmission, etc, etc, etc. Well if it needs a tranny, lets yank that auto out of there and put in a third pedal!
It has no rust, PO stuck on M badges, black interior.
Price is a consideration, but run like hell or dig in?
Dan
What generation? Is the manual swap already done, or is it entirely blown apart?
First question: do you want a 5 series?
Keith Tanner said:First question: do you want a 5 series?
I'm sorry, but there is only one answer to that question, and it starts with "Y."
E28? E34? E39? E60? Which engine?
I'd only be interested in the M flavors of the E28/34/39.
But I'm also not willing to pay what it would take it to get a nice, well maintained one.
I'm guessing an E12 because more of them came in cool colors.
Had an M5 once, not sure if I want another but this may work if the money is right. I would have to peek to see the exact model but that's easy. Even if it's a 528e, can it be fun? (Ish).
In reply to 914Driver :
You can make a super ETA pretty easy and much more fun.
I had a '75 530i. A reallly nice car for it's time except for having the worst a/c ever. Worst a/c ever was a feature of all these cars.
Had a '94 530i. Another really nice car except that the 3l v8 had no torques. A six or a 540i would have been more fun.
Son had an e28 M5. I wish I'd bought it from him when he sold it.
No rust issues with any of the above cars. They were all good solid dependable rides.
914Driver said:Had an M5 once, not sure if I want another but this may work if the money is right. I would have to peek to see the exact model but that's easy. Even if it's a 528e, can it be fun? (Ish).
That infers it's an e28 (1982-1988.) If it's a 1988 528e, they are sometimes called a 'super eta', and you can mix and match parts from an e30 325 to increase performance. There's a little info here: https://www.mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=26512
914Driver said:Had an M5 once, not sure if I want another but this may work if the money is right. I would have to peek to see the exact model but that's easy. Even if it's a 528e, can it be fun? (Ish).
528e would mean we are talking about an E28 here. You can do the cheap "i" build. Personally I'd want to swap in an M30 and enjoy 40lb/ft more of tq stock.
And to further encourage bad behavior, assuming the M30 is healthy, the stock bottom end has no problem handling well north of 400lb/ft of tq at the wheels on BOOOOOOOOOST.
z31maniac said:And to further encourage bad behavior, assuming the M30 is healthy, the stock bottom end has no problem handling well north of 400lb/ft of tq at the wheels on BOOOOOOOOOST.
One of my friends built a boosted 535i some years ago, that thing would move.
E12 is best 5.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:E12 is best 5.
Perhaps, but it still has the worst a/c.
I had a mid 80s 635 the absolutely sucked to work on.
I vote no unless it's a dream car that you've always wanted.
And yes, the AC in them is useless.
In reply to Toyman! :
I wanted to buy your mid 80s 635 even after seeing how it sucked to work on. Thanks for reminding me of my regret.
Stampie said:In reply to Toyman! :
I wanted to buy your mid 80s 635 even after seeing how it sucked to work on. Thanks for reminding me of my regret
I bought a '83 CSi for SWMBO 15 years or so back. Kept it 4 years or so & sold it to a neighbor. Maybe we were lucky, but neither of us thought it was that bad to work on. Actually, it never needed much work.
I've found my E28 is pretty straight forward to work on and it was a basket case when I got it. It helps that I've owned a few and effectively turned two into one with a parts car to spare. They aren't E30's in the sense that everything has been done before as far as swaps etc. but there is lots of knowledge on the internet if you go looking (mye28.com mainly).
I always wanted a e28 with a manual and no rust. Big on the no rust.
I had an E30 once, got it from a college girl whose boyfriend swapped out the fuel filter with one meant for a tractor (plastic ball). I got sucked up the fuel line because of the pressure. $400. Got hooked up with the broke kids on a local BMW forum and got a super chip for $50. OMG, what difference!!!
Keep you folks posted.
M2Pilot said:Stampie said:In reply to Toyman! :
I wanted to buy your mid 80s 635 even after seeing how it sucked to work on. Thanks for reminding me of my regret
I bought a '83 CSi for SWMBO 15 years or so back. Kept it 4 years or so & sold it to a neighbor. Maybe we were lucky, but neither of us thought it was that bad to work on. Actually, it never needed much work.
My A number one complaint, the hood hinged the wrong way. Did you try to change the distributor cap and rotor? On mine, it wouldn't come off without moving the radiator first. Remember the hood? The AC system was designed by the devil. After rebuilding the entire system, it still sucked. When the sunroof leaks, it runs into the back of the ECU and the ECU is mounted in such a way that it holds water. And don't forget that extra bolt or three in everything, BMW certainly didn't.
If BMW was designing a sledgehammer, it would have 6 moving parts, two ECUs, and it would work perfectly until it didn't. Then you would realize their sledge isn't any better than a Chevy sledge that only has 2 parts, neither of which move. Complication for the sake of complication just pisses me off.
After two years of stupid crap like that, I decided that I'd stick to Chevy and Ford products. So I bought an Infiniti.
Love me an e28, and not too bad to work on really. E12 also looks decent.
Early 5 series are a lovely size . . . and I can't help but think an LS wouldn't be too difficult, if the allure of boost wasn't too compelling.
Toyman! said:M2Pilot said:Stampie said:In reply to Toyman! :
I wanted to buy your mid 80s 635 even after seeing how it sucked to work on. Thanks for reminding me of my regret
I bought a '83 CSi for SWMBO 15 years or so back. Kept it 4 years or so & sold it to a neighbor. Maybe we were lucky, but neither of us thought it was that bad to work on. Actually, it never needed much work.
My A number one complaint, the hood hinged the wrong way. Did you try to change the distributor cap and rotor? On mine, it wouldn't come off without moving the radiator first. Remember the hood? The AC system was designed by the devil. After rebuilding the entire system, it still sucked. When the sunroof leaks, it runs into the back of the ECU and the ECU is mounted in such a way that it holds water. And don't forget that extra bolt or three in everything, BMW certainly didn't.
If BMW was designing a sledgehammer, it would have 6 moving parts, two ECUs, and it would work perfectly until it didn't. Then you would realize their sledge isn't any better than a Chevy sledge that only has 2 parts, neither of which move. Complication for the sake of complication just pisses me off.
After two years of stupid crap like that, I decided that I'd stick to Chevy and Ford products. So I bought an Infiniti.
Oh flipped forward instead of toward the cab?
I never found that to be an issue on my E30. Pop the hood, 6 bolts, and I could remove/install the hood by myself.
z31maniac said:Toyman! said:M2Pilot said:Stampie said:In reply to Toyman! :
I wanted to buy your mid 80s 635 even after seeing how it sucked to work on. Thanks for reminding me of my regret
I bought a '83 CSi for SWMBO 15 years or so back. Kept it 4 years or so & sold it to a neighbor. Maybe we were lucky, but neither of us thought it was that bad to work on. Actually, it never needed much work.
My A number one complaint, the hood hinged the wrong way. Did you try to change the distributor cap and rotor? On mine, it wouldn't come off without moving the radiator first. Remember the hood? The AC system was designed by the devil. After rebuilding the entire system, it still sucked. When the sunroof leaks, it runs into the back of the ECU and the ECU is mounted in such a way that it holds water. And don't forget that extra bolt or three in everything, BMW certainly didn't.
If BMW was designing a sledgehammer, it would have 6 moving parts, two ECUs, and it would work perfectly until it didn't. Then you would realize their sledge isn't any better than a Chevy sledge that only has 2 parts, neither of which move. Complication for the sake of complication just pisses me off.
After two years of stupid crap like that, I decided that I'd stick to Chevy and Ford products. So I bought an Infiniti.
Oh flipped forward instead of toward the cab?
I never found that to be an issue on my E30. Pop the hood, 6 bolts, and I could remove/install the hood by myself.
There you go, most of those things aren't issues on the E28, the hood goes the other way, the distributor is easy to remove if that is of concern (my car is on #3 at 400,000 km) and the original AC in that car still blew cold when it came off the road with it's original charge of R12 after 30 years (it's probably still charged). If the car hasn't been maintained you're going to spend some time getting things working again as they should but I don't think that would be any different with a chevy or ford from the mid 80's. I personally have avoided a lot of the complexity by buying a low options euro car, no sunroof, no power windows or locks, no A/C, no ABS etc (but like I said above, it was a basket case lol).
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