My 1987 E28 with an E30 heart

Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:25 pm

My family has always been crazy on BMWs ever since i was a kid and i used to get taken to school in my dads much cherisished 3.0csl batmobile and my mams 635csi.

So when i noticed this E28 for sale on ebay i had to go and get it. 1988 520i lux, full service history. Only downside was a damaged radiator but it was no big deal.

Replaced the radiator pretty quickly and managed to get 6 months problem free motoring until.........

Two of the cylinder head bolts suffered metal fatigue and jammed under the camshaft causing a pretty spectacular engine failure.

So after much deliberation which did involve me possibly breaking it, i found a rear ended E30 325i in a scrapyard. I robbed it of its engine,gearbox and drivetrain etc...

Had the engine fully rebuilt including a new bottom and top end, all new gaskets etc...

So in it went and i took this opportinity to fully refurb the gearbox and drivetrain, fitted some new bilstein suspension and a hartge rear spoiler. Also purchased some BBS spilt rims as well, heres some recent pics.

I also now own my dads old CSL Batmobile and im currently having it nut and bolt restored, she should be rolling again next year, promise i will bring it to some meets if you guys want to see her.
Cheers, DAN

Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:32 pm

That's nice. I do like the look of E28s.
I don't know much about E28s, but I'd have thought that's a pretty obvious engine transplant. IIRC the M30B25 only made about 150bhp against the M20B25s 170.
What managemment are you using? Am I right in thinking the 520i used L-jet?
Slightly OT, I wonder if many people ever put 731 cylinder heads on eta engines in E28s like we do in E30s?

Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:39 pm

That is a good looking motor! Love the wheels.
I nearly bought a 1988 518i lux earlier this year with similar transplant thoughts in mind...but bank computer said no

Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:41 pm

I put the management system and the loom out of the E30 into the E28. It was a complete nightmare tbh.
It took ages to get her to turn over and run properly.

Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:42 pm

Looks a lovely old bus.

I really am tempted by an E28

Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:04 am

Very nice, I have had a few naughty thoughts in the past of putting my 2.7 into an E28

Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:27 am

oguz327 wrote:Very nice, I have had a few naughty thoughts in the past of putting my 2.7 into an E28

Do it Oz. "You EXECUTIVE!"

Looks a lovely car this. How many old 2.0 lux's would have been shipped off to the breakers when the engine failure happened? 99% of them I reckon. This looks like the 1% and with a little effort, looks a million $'s.

Very nice, love it.

Got any pics of the e9 resto?

Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:24 am

I couldnt bare to break her. I'd much rather spend some money on what is a relaible and solid car.
Most of my cars have either been rescued from banger racers or out of scrapyards.
It probably wasnt financially viable to fix the e28 but i did it because i am a massive car nut.

DAN

Sat Sep 05, 2009 10:31 am

I love E28s, thats a nice one.

Sat Sep 05, 2009 11:04 am

Nice.

An E28 will be the next car to enter my collection.

Sat Sep 05, 2009 12:21 pm

Lovely

old_skool wrote:Nice.

An E28 will be the next car to enter my collection.

G1t!

Oh for that kind of space...

Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:07 pm

is this the one that came to teesside a few weeks ago?

Stunning car

Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:17 pm

You're right there Alex, it was at Sunderland last week too.

Dan, I haven't forgotten about the lights, will be in touch as soon as I can find them.

Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:19 pm

You're right there Alex, it was at Sunderland last week too.

i couldnt make sunderland

Sat Sep 05, 2009 6:10 pm

i've got an e28 up for sale at the min i'm seriuosly tempted to keep it and sell my e34 instead though

Sat Sep 05, 2009 7:12 pm

that looks superb.nice that youve saved it instead of it taking the easy option.

Sat Sep 26, 2009 10:51 am

Right a little update on the e28. The sills where probably the weakest part of the car, they had been patched before hand. So i've ordered 2 new full sill replacement panles to sort them out once and for all.

Also ordered a full Hartge exhaust system that was selling on ebay to replace the stock exhaust that is still on.

Managed to get a supersprint manifold for it too, will have these fitted in a few weeks, will whack some photos up when its all done

Sat Sep 26, 2009 1:41 pm

I've done the same swap into the same car, though the engine was from a E34 525i instead. It was a very good swap and plenty fast enough. But I managed to kill the engine (make sure the cooling in your E28 is up to scratch!) and now it's getting an M50 instead.

Sat Sep 26, 2009 1:43 pm

im liking the look of e28's just now. ive been thinking about one for a cosworth conversion.

Sun Sep 27, 2009 11:44 pm

fuzzy wrote:im liking the look of e28's just now. ive been thinking about one for a cosworth conversion.

Now your talking!
That would be quite something...

Sun Sep 27, 2009 11:49 pm

just buy one with a decent engine to start with

Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:19 am

mmmmm,you have a point

Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:25 am

still to slow and not cheap to tune for average power.

Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:49 am

One thing i really like about the Cossie lump is how good it looks sat in the engine bay.

Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:09 pm

Ran a 'C' plate alpine white E28 for 6 years in the '90's.Wish I knew then what I do now about DiY work on BMW's!
Main letdown with E28 is the steering box,no rack as in E30.Otherwise,it's a wider,longer E30.
Best memory is coming home from Spain one summer,our 8 year old in the back saying,'Mummy,daddy's doing over a hundred,again...'

Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:26 pm

harriergr9 wrote:my dads old CSL Batmobile if you guys want to see her.

Yh, course, you could start by showing us some pics now if you want

. I love those old E9s

Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:40 pm

Just been and got her MOT'd and serviced at my local BMW dealer and it passed with no advisories. Not bad considering her age.
It's going to get professionally undersealed and cavity waxed at the end of the month, try my best to keep the rot at bay

Sat Dec 26, 2009 9:30 pm

Well i have had some drivetrain noise for quite a while now. a sort of grinding noise when the drivetrain is under load. I have had the car to a supposedly BMW specialist and he couldnt fathom out what was wrong.
So in the end i got a Getrag 260 box, M5 prop new prop donut/bearing and had the new gearbox overhauled. This i was sure would cure the problem, except it hasn't. The only thing i didn't change, the diff , must be the problem.
Oh well, need to do that now

pics

Sun Dec 27, 2009 12:23 am

looking good

still up for tomorrow?

Sun Dec 27, 2009 9:14 am

Lovely E28! I nearly got a 520 instead of the iS but went for sporty instead of a cruiser in the end. More importantly, photos of the CSL please!!! Has to be my favourite BMW of all time.

Mon Dec 28, 2009 8:39 am

We're going to pick up (another) E28 today... I'm well excited!

Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:39 pm

Gorgeous car mate

Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:15 pm

Looks awesome, big fan or E28's, been considering one myself for a family wagon... Are they E36 BBS rims?

Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:09 pm

Yeh they are E36 328 sport BBS splitties

Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:27 pm

Love your E28, looks excellent, and with that engine it should drive like a dream - Heres a few pics of mine (rubbish photos, and taken prior to the extensive detail and new springs/Bilstein Shocks and Inspection II service). 1 careful owner (91 yo!!!!) with 75k on the clock and a FBMWSH - ABSOLUTELY no rust anywhere.
Just a shame it only pumps out 129bhp from the 2.7, but (I may look into the 200bhp mod mentioned earlier) it is smooth as hell, bloody lovely to drive and plenty of torque!