My South African E28

[lordicon232]

So since I don't know how to move a thread I have just started a new one in the correct place and coppied the posts from the old one:
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Hi,

I am from South Africa and I was raised on BMW's, as such I have always had a love for them. The E28 was only in production in South Africa from '85 to '89 and as such they are not easy to find. With that in mind I bought a 1988 BMW E28 528i about 4 weeks ago to be my daily driver ... . The car needs allot of TLC so I thought I would do a build thread.

When I bought the car there was allot of problems with it.

1. break master cylinder was leaking out power steering liquid.
2. The handbrake lever is broken and not working.
3. The driver side lock is not working and as such cant lock the car.
4. Car has not been serviced in a while.
5. Clutch hydraulics is problematic as Clutch is low to the floor.
6. The paint on the car is badly warn seems like it has been standing in the sun allot.
7. The inside of the car is really dirty.
8. Only the speedometer is working on the instrument cluster.
9. There are a few cosmetic issues with the car.
10. Dashboard is badly cracked.









So after I picked up the car and drove it straight to a mechanic. This is a list of repairs:

1. Master brake cylinder.
2. Replaced gearbox mounts as one was torn and the other was missing!
3. Fixed steering rack as it was loose.
4. Fixed driver door lock.
5. Serviced the car.
6. Skimmed the brakes and installed new pads.

Thanks to the master brake cylinder these repairs cost me half of what I paid for the car.

First thing is first new wheels and mags: (17" scorpion with stretched tires)






Managed to find some BMW stickers for my mags, I think it looks much better:




My neighbour has some ibach springs that should fit my car that I want to buy from him. This should fix the ride hight. (UPDATE: these springs are from a E30 so they wont fit )

I also need to take the instrument cluster so I can try to fix it or have it repaired.

I bought a second hand dashboard that only has 2 cracks as mine has 20. It is from a E12 with the upgraded E28 interior. I hope this will fit???



Finally found a handbrake and installed it





Removed the crappy diamond CD player and the stupid tweeter that was glued to the top of the dash with prestic...



I bought new front suspension:

Inner Tierods a set of 2
Outer tierods a set of 2
2 x Stabiliser link
2 x Upper ball joint arm
2 x Lower ball joint arm
Center rod



Installed it last weekend, got some help from a BMW mechanic I know.







We also installed a new slave clutch cylinder as the clutch was down on the floor. This did not fix it though.

Barely finished before the daylight ran out only to realize that the parts place had given me to right side lower control arms. In my rush to get this done I installed it before I realized it was wring.

So got some more parts and fixed it on thursday Car runs much better now.

Also replaced the clutch master cylinder, this was a bitch! But it has now fixed the clutch !!!

Installed a new gear lever yesterday.



I have also ordered some part here and there that I am waiting for, including a Nardi leather steering wheel.

Next up is the interior, new carpet and new foam for the seats. I want to dynamat the floor and the doors. The door panels are in good condition there are just some broken connectors that needs replacing. I have ordered new internal door handles and trim.

Any advice/comments will be appreciated as I don't actually know all that much about cars. But the idea here was to learn something new and have some fun in the process.
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Some small updates:

Tried to fix the instrument cluster myself by replacing the batteries, but it didnt work. :cry:




Took the car to get the upholstery redone!! Should get the car back early next week, Can't wait!!!
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More updates, found a HUB for the steering wheel tat fits. Bought a Alpine head unit. Baught some cup holders and a BMW license disk holder.



The new door handles also arrived this morning.



Went to upholstery guys this morning and ripped out all the old speaker cabling and installed new cabling so they can hide them under the new carpet.








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Got the car back, has the new black carpets. :joy:












I have also repaired the first door. Replaced the inside door handle. Replaced all the clips for the door pannel. New door handle trim.


Before:


After:


Will do some more tomorrow.
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So I have had some sound installed in the car looks amazing!!











New electric aerial:



Also had a alarm installed :joy:
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Been a while since I updated this. Lots of small things happening.

Installed a grid to protect the sub:


Installed red LED's in front footwells:


Changed the LED's in the boot to red so they match:


Got a Nardi wheel still need to get a hub as the one I have dont fit right:


Has a misfire so had to change the plugs. Cleaned the intake up to the manifold:


All the rubber hoses in the car needs to b e replaced as they are falling apart:


Car runs much better now, no more cold start problem.

Changed the oil as it was as thick as syrup! Car is still leaking allot of liquids:


Thanks to master mechanic Nikhil for all his help over the weekend!! :praise:
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SO it has been a while since I updated this lots of work done.

This is where we started:


Replaced all the vacuum hoses:


Cleaned the intake manifold painted it and replaced the gaskets:


Made up all the larger hoses that needed replacing:


Installed new bonnet shocks:


Removed the tapped cover, cleaned and painted it, replaced gasket:



Replaced the old air filter box with something more modern:





Replaced the window washer hoses with some new ones from a garden irrigation stuff :joy:


I am now busy stripping the old hard plastic from the electrical wires and replacing them:


I found the leak on the pipe that runs from the power steering pump to the reservoir, replaced the clamps and it seems to have done the trick!!! :joy: :joy: :joy:

Flushed the coolant system ad broke one of the clamps while putting it back together :flyfun: :argh:

Will need to get a new exhaust done as it is full of holes.

The car runs much better now, softer idle, more power!!

Replaced the instrument cluster with a donor one that I got from "Solo Man" thanks very much for the donation. Now at least the temp and fuel gauges are working.

Thanks very much again to master mechanic "Nickhill" without his help none of this would have been possible.

[b5Avant]

im based in cape town. nice, just picked up one myself. just need to set the tappets and cut some springs im looking at that wheel as well or possibly borbets.

[lordicon232]

im based in cape town. nice, just picked up one myself. just need to set the tappets and cut some springs im looking at that wheel as well or possibly borbets.

Nice! Welcome to the E28 club! Hope you have lots of spare cash as these old ladies can be expensive, it is worth it though. You should also join http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/ there is another guy on CT who has a 525e he is also on stanceworks.

[HUNTERMILLS]

Gonna look real good when it gets hit with the low stick

[lordicon232]

Gonna look real good when it gets hit with the low stick

I trying to save for bags but it is extremely expensive here in South Africa, will cost between $4000 and $6000 depending on management. Average salary here is only around $300 per month.

[b5Avant]

theres some guys here in cpt doing bags. think they're modding truck bags and making custom systems. spoke to a customer of theirs, had a mk2 jetta on bags. he said around R20k all in. might be worth it?

[lordicon232]

theres some guys here in cpt doing bags. think they're modding truck bags and making custom systems. spoke to a customer of theirs, had a mk2 jetta on bags. he said around R20k all in. might be worth it?

Sounds too good to be true, do you have their details?

[lordicon232]

FINALLY manged to find the correct hub so I could install new steering wheel!!


My injector refurb kit arrived so replaced all the seals and filters.

Before and After:


Painted the injector rail:


Then my alternator packed up and had to get new battery, installed new voltage regulator as the old one was stuffed.


Did not fix the problem so had to take car to auto electrician, waiting on the diagnosis.

[bev0]

Car looks great bro!

Where about in SA you from? im in Jozi

[lordicon232]

Shot! I'm in Midrand.

[b5Avant]

Sounds too good to be true, do you have their details?

normally meet him during weekends... lemme c if i can hook u up...

[lordicon232]

I have not updated in a while but have been very busy:

Finally managed to get rid of all the error lights on the car: :clapper:



Replaced the fender blinker with a new smoked on:





Replaced the front head lights with new smoked one from a MK2 Golf. This was a massive pain as I had to cut the VW brackets and the grill to make them fit!!! Had to make brackets to fit the VW bracket to the BMW bracket. Painted it all black so it would look nice. This was quite a few days work for me with my very limited skill and tools, but it came out really good and I am very happy that I can now finally see in the dark.

OLD LIGHTS:


NEW LIGHT BEFORE MOD:


CUTTING VW BRACKET SMALLER:



TEST FITTED:


AFTER I WAS DONE WITH THE PAINT:



THIS IS WHAT THE CAR IS LOOKING LIKE NOW:




Exhaust had a big hole in it so I replaced it partially at powerflow, they also removed the towbar for me.



Had the seats redone with new leather and foam, all the plastic bits have been re-sprayed and the badges have been refurbed. Black leather with red double stitch. The car smells brand new now.



Headliner was redone in black material:


I have also now finally replaced all the water hoses.

So my very very long list of to-do's are at least slowly getting shorter.

[ohosslervye]

Car looks great bro!

[lordicon232]

Car looks great bro!

Thanks!

[SliPsY]

More pics! In love with this, made my night man.