Electrical Fixes

Found the issue with the headlights. Sure enough, the high beams only came on intermittently. Fortunately this was an easy fix, just removed the Lamp Control Module and soldered a few connections, seems to work fine now.

The battery appears to be on it's way out, as I can only get about 10v across the leads. 14v when charging, so the charging system seems fine. I have yet to run into a time when the car wouldn't start, but the battery is iffy at best.

Much better

First round of real fixes. Replaced the motor mounts, transmission mounts, swaybar endlinks, and flushed the transmission lube. Much nicer, now she is smooth and no more clunk when driving over bumps. There is still a long way to go, but this is a good start. In fact it seems good enough that I can drive it some. Put some miles on it and see what shakes out. No question the suspension is shot, but that's expected. I'll address some issues on the e28 for now, and see how this one fares with a little driving.

Cost:

Motor mounts: $80

Transmission mounts: $30

Swaybar end links: $36

Cleanup

Still figuring out what the car needs. Took the front seats out, there was some twist to them so I took care of it, though it looks like the passenger seat will need more work. There were a lot of stains from spilled drinks, so I hit the carpet with the cleaner. I'm surprised more car dealers don't do this step, as there was a lot of stuff that came out very easily. Looks a lot better now.
It does seem that there are some electrical issues I'll need to take care of. I managed to kill the battery, and now the EML light is on, though a reset should take care of that. The battery still won't take a full charge, but I want to diagnose any potential drains before replacing it.

I did do a ghetto fix for the exhaust, cut a piece of metal and wedged it into the hole, then JB welded it up. If this holds for 2 weeks I'll be surprised, but it does allow me to listen for other leaks and issues.

I did manage to find a cat-back exhaust locally for $100. Stock pipes and resonator with a performance exhaust bolted on. I'll be putting that on later. If the patch job holds then I'll wait until I address the center bearing and shifter bits to do that.

Exhaust: $100

Got up under the car. Found the rattle in the front of the car, the front sway bar links are clunking. Also, I'm surprised that it tracks straight and doesn't shimmy because the front upper and rear control arms are pretty trashed. It's leaking a little from the rear seal on the transmission. Other than that, I'm really surprised how clean it is. Definitely has a small leak from a front seal on the engine. But all of the plastic bits and covers are still in place under all the fenders and the engine. It's missing the front main cover, but that's all. Not even any cracks in the covers.

Got in and did an oil change, and flushed the brake fluid. What's in there was sludge, and obviously had never been replaced. Did the fuel filter too. Next is the coolant, but I'll do that later today or tomorrow.

Cost:

Fuel Filter: $50

Arrival

There she is, ain't she ugly...err pretty...yeah...pretty. That's what's described in "dealer-speak" as paint is pealing slightly...yeah. And yes, that is a battery charger in the picture. When I picked the car up there were jumper cables and the rear seat wasn't completely in place, so that's a dead giveaway of charging issues. So I figured I'd hook up the charger and see what shape it's in. The car has an aftermarket alarm, so that's the likely cause of drain issues if there are any. After charging a little the battery doesn't seem to be taking a full charge. I'll check the water level and replace it if needed.

She's a good candidate for restoration though, here is the good and bad (good first, as the bad list is longer)

Good:

• Solid body, no rust or obvious body damage, minor dings, but everything lines up
• Only 118k miles
• 5-speed
• Engine runs well, minor hunting at idle, but not much, very little valve noise
• Zero drivetrain vibration, and no shimmy under braking
• All stock

Bad:

• Paint...yeah...that won't buff out, she'll need a respray
• Minor oil leak, very small
• Very new radiator, so good chance of cooling issues in it's past. No sign of head gasket issues though.
• Shocks and associated bushings are shot
• Small knock from the front end when going over bumps, likely a bushing
• Don't quite understand how it doesn't shimmy given the condition of the front end, but won't know for sure till I get under there
• Cracked front bumper
• Headliner sagging
• Seats have the normal "twist" issue, minor on driver's side, significant on passenger's side
• Rear door panels are trashed
• Has green coolant, need to flush ASAP. Also likely not the correct weight of oil, easy to fix.
• Shifter bushings worn out

Overall, good body, engine and drivetrain, some paint and suspension fixes and she'll be a nice driver. I normally don't like to deal with dealerships, but this was a good deal. Due to the condition of the paint the dealer was able to get the car at auction for $450 (he left the receipt in the door panel pocket). I had guessed he'd paid $350, so I wasn't far off. Overall a win/win, as he made a decent profit, and I feel I got a good deal. Paid $1500 for it.

Engine is very clean. There are signs of a minor oil leak from the front of the engine, might find more when I get it up on stands, but overall it's very clean.

Interior is rough, but I can work with that.

I couldn't resist putting a 16" wheel from the 535is on it (on the rear). It's only 1" bigger, but I think it looks a lot better, and should handle much better. I'll probably stick with 16" wheels on this car, keep it stock/ish, and do the e28 up with 17's. We'll see though.