had my m535i delivered today,initial looks to be a downer!

[bmw9818]

bought this one -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWNX:IT

off ebay last week, got it today pushing a car with brakes seized, up hill first thing in the morning didnt go down to well

faults noticed just by looking 5 minutes -

some rad pipes, etc seem bypassed or missing, as well as some others,
bodywork is not mint small spots everywhere,
interior smells funny however good nick,
steering extremely heavy!
brake pedal jammed,
clutch to the floor
handbrake loose,
dogleg box seems to have excessive play around in neutral, doesnt spring back into place... into centre,
toolkit missing and rusty,
tyre well big rust patch with one small hole,
and excessive rust imo around the bootlid/seal area..........
structural it looks okay, seems to be slight surface rust on the chassis leg, going to sand that down today and see what its saying,

however one thing he didnt mention, its got a full service history orignal book and stamps from the dealer in 1986 and a file full of receipts! all clocks up to 97k miles which will help with a future sale..

rusty pics....

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd26 ... to_2-1.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd26 ... to_1-4.jpg

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd26 ... hoto-3.jpg

[cecotto479]

Honestly, £600 doesn't buy you a lot of E28 M535i with a dogleg. Sounds and looks about right, but mechanical stuff is cheap and easy to fix. If it's structurally solid, it'll be fine.

I'm just about to start dismantling an identical one if you're needing anything.

[capri_rob]

£600 for an M535i ? worth far more than that in bits if you break it and its not as if the seller lied on the description.

You got a fair deal I reckon

[bmw9818]

Yeah plan is to get it running sweet, sort out rust + body and hopefully get a nice return to pay off my final year Uni fees!

Yeah I'll definitely need more than a few bits and peices, I'm just searching through now, be easier for a straight delivery with majority of parts,

However if you could reserve two rear clusters + if they work the seat gas struts for backrest and the base height

[capri_rob]

Nice to see you're gonna save it - there must be a lot of stuff you can get from ECP via the zone discount - do a bulk order and they'll sort you out

[bmw9818]

£600 for an M535i ? worth far more than that in bits if you break it and its not as if the seller lied on the description.

You got a fair deal I reckon

Yeah true my dad said its a good price as well, I'm new to the car resto game, that initial buyers remorse but once you start adding up the bits that's when it starts becoming clear if it's gonna be a profit,

[Splondike]

Make sure the front floorpan, inner wings, inner sills, rear subframe mounts etc are all sound before you wade in and start throwing money at it. They do break to decent money, the dogleg box alone will see your investment back

I would like to think you can save it, but go in eyes wide open...

[snakebrain]

brake pedal jammed,
clutch to the floor
tyre well big rust patch with one small hole,
and excessive rust imo around the bootlid/seal area..........
structural it looks okay, seems to be slight surface rust on the chassis leg, going to sand that down today and see what its saying,

I'd say these are the problems on that list. The rear trye well replacement can be done but you're talking subframe off, fuel tank out etc. The boot corners go exactly like yours have. So you're looking at tyre-well, tail panel and a few tricky little repair panels in the corners.

The brakes - be prepared to replace anything up to and including pads, discs, calipers, entire handbrake mechanism, master cylinder and booster! This is a problem with every E28 that's been standing, it seems..

Clutch....hmmmm....further investigation.

With the paint, body work, any mechanical/suspension work or bushes etc that need redoing, that could easily be £4-5k right there before it's sitting sweet. Maybe just £2-3k if you're lucky.

And remember your local mechanic won't thank you for dumping your collection of 26yr old rusted up bolts on him and is likely to charge you accordingly.

Have fun!!

Here's a good site to have a browse around about restoring these..

http://www.tonybmw.co.uk/

[bmw9818]

The rear trye well replacement can be done but you're talking subframe off, fuel tank out etc.

i sanded this down its solid metal underneath, not that big only about 5cm wide hole plan is to get rust treatment agent turns it into black rust so it wont rot any more metal, then weld in a plate, grind, fill, prime respray!


And remember your local mechanic won't thank you for dumping your collection of 26yr old rusted up bolts on him and is likely to charge you accordingly.

local mechanic? im dumping this one on my ol man, got most tools and equipment at home so only got parts prices to worry about so no issue there

[sweep]

Im breaking 2 e28's if you need anything

[bmw9818]

Im breaking 2 e28's if you need anything

thanks will let you know

[Alpina99]

At the end of the day you've got to think about how good it will look when it's finished,
(and remember that if it goes wrong you'll easily get you money back fragging it !!)