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One bad V12 - 1998 E38 750iL

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  • One bad V12 - 1998 E38 750iL

    I thought it's about time for me to post my latest car. The first couple of posts will be catch-up as I got the car in September 2016.

    I had recently moved to San Diego, and it seemed like a great chance to own an E38 given the amount of them here, and the lack of rust. I looked at a few, but really couldn't pass up the opportunity of getting into a V12 when I came across this 1998 750iL. Although it was not in mint condition, it was pretty good, and the previous owner had kept up with maintenance.

    Here's the car the day I picked her up:



    The seller listed the following recent maintenance:
    • Intake manifold gaskets (all 12)
    • Fuel injectors (all 12)
    • Spark plugs (all 12)
    • Primary air pumps (2)
    • Secondary air pump
    • Radiator
    • Cooling fan and shroud
    • Belts
    • Hoses
    • Window regulators (all 4)
    • Tail lights and lenses (Right and Left hands)
    • Vacuum hoses
    • Passengers side low beam head light
    • Lower control arm bushings
    • Coolant tank
    • Coolant temperature sensor



    For under $4000, and with less than 120k on the odo, I couldn't pass it up! The owner said it may need new shocks in a year or two, which is not horrible, they can be replaced with non-SLS shocks easily. I didn't notice the EDC system is working, as there wasn't any change when I switch it on, but luckily the shocks weren't super-hard as some have found when that is wearing out.

    My to-do list as of Oct 2016. Then some more photos.

    Also - the thread title. A license plate is inbound, "BAD V12"


    • Proper clean inside/out
    • Clean engine
    • Re attach driver-side rear outer door trim
    • Re-fill coolant (low coolant warning)
    • Replace front control arms, alignment
    • Swap front seats for sport versions
    • Repair front kidney grilles (broken tabs, hopefully will stay put)
    • Passenger headlight - color is off. Cloudy lens. Replace w/H1 housings?
    • Replace trunk struts
    • Replace upper windshield seal/strip
    • Replace HID bulbs
    • Install H1 bi-xenon housings in high-beams? (Already have these)
    • Glovebox latch (stuck closed)
    • Side mirror panes (delaminating)
    • Paint driver's door handle (lots of scratches)
    • Driver's door card replacement if possible (slightly worn leather)
    • Headliner, pillars (headliner is sagging)
    • Replace rear passenger window shade frame (missing)
    • Re-dye rear deck carpet if it's out (fading from sun)
    • Fix front cupholder?
    • Upgrade speakers/stereo/navigation?
    • Paint correction - lots of swirls & scratches
    • Rear tires getting worn. New tires, 19" wheels.


    - - - Updated - - -

    First up - cleaning. The engine needed it. This is after:



    The cabin air filters had never been changed:



    The HID bulbs were getting foggy:



    The passenger side projector is still cloudy, The plastic inner lenses are yellowed, and I've got a set of mini-H1 bi-xenon projectors I might add into the high-beam housings, so I'd have dual projectors per side.

    The original comfort seats weren't in bad condition, but these extra sport seats were even better.



    Swapped the 750iL wood seat backs onto them:



    I also replaced the engine air filters, which weren't too bad, but it was cheap.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Just before I purchased it, the previous owner had some new clearcoat sprayed on the roof. Didn't do a great job, it's not really that glossy, and I'm not sure they properly masked off the windows, including the sunroof. There's this residue that looks like it was wiped while drying, but never properly removed.



    It was worst on the sunroof, although there were bits of it on the rear windows as well. I tried everything to get it off, window cleaner, degreaser, abrasive polisher, nothing. Then I remembered you can actually scrape windows using an Xacto blade, so that's what I did yesterday. Success! Finally got it off.



    Still getting the edges perfect. You can also see it coming off the rear side window:



    - - - Updated - - -

    Now, about those tires. I new the rears were a little worn, but I didn't give them a thorough inspection. Unfortunately after about 3 weeks I got a blowout on the freeway doing 85mph. The inner sidewall blew out, and also took out this brake pad sensor at the same time:



    So I replaced that, and since the wheel wasn't in great shape I jumped on a deal for a new set of 19" wheels.

    Current living room:



    19x11, +25mm for the rear, 19x9.5, +22mm for the front.

    Rear test fit:





    Pretty close on the inside.



    There's actually lots of room on the outside it looks like. Might add spacers at some point. Current plans are for 275/35R19 tires at the back, 245/40R19 at the front.


    The next big item is replacing the front lower control arms. Although the previous owner said the bushings were replaced, it still has a shimmy at 65-90mph, and under braking at 60-40mph. I don't trust that the control arms were done properly, and apparently they're always the major culprit of these problems, so I have replacements on hand and it's going in on Thursday to have them replaced. If the problem persists, I'll move on to the center steering link and tie-rod ends.

    And finally, some decent photos of the car in it's stock state.













    Steve - now in San Diego!

    Shoot My Car - Automotive Photography in SoCal

  • #2
    Lucked out and found a 3-spoke M-Sport wheel with the appropriate single-stage airbag locally - the later 2-stage airbag style is much more common.

    Took two days to finally got the stripped torx bolt out that was holding the airbag on my original steering wheel. After that it only took 15 minutes to install the new wheel. It doesn't look that much smaller than the stock bus steering wheel, but that half inch or so in diameter makes a world of difference.





    The leather is not perfect, so I may consider redoing it in the future. But for now it's so much nicer to drive!


    Also replaced the orange corner lights with smoked ones.

    Before


    After




    Still need to clean up the inner headlight lenses at this point.

    That wheel gap is ridiculous. Picked up some new ST coilovers for a used price.



    Awaiting new strut mounts for them.

    Lastly, installed gauge cluster rings.

    Before


    After


    Still kinda annoyed, because I bought some black brushed vinyl to use around the gauges and steering wheel controls. But you can't easily separate the front clear plastic on the cluster, nor could I quite get the buttons out of the steering controls to wrap them properly either. Frustrated by that.
    Steve - now in San Diego!

    Shoot My Car - Automotive Photography in SoCal

    Comment


    • #3
      [Jeremy Clarkson voice]: Alright, current SitRep:

      Front ST coilovers are installed. I need to set time aside on another weekend to tackle the rear, which involves removing the entire rear seat/rear deck and also deleting the self-leveling suspension (SLS) in the rear. Ride is currently very good, and I am still clearing speedbumps with impunity. I think they can go down another 0.5-1", but I had to set the spring perches a bit higher to clear the wheels. Didn't realize it is common to run spacers in the front with coilovers, but luckily I've got room under the fenders so some 10mm spacers are inbound. I am not going for absolutely slammed on this ride (sorry).

      Once the spacers show up, and I get the rear coils in, I may experiment with going a bit lower. The rake I have right now is actually perfect, but I want to eliminate a little bit more wheel gap - but that is also dependant on ride quality, and being able to clear speedbumps. Not only the ones in my complex, but my daily commute is over some 10mph speed-calming bumps, and currently I'm still driving over those like I was before. I really want to strike a balance between agressive ride height and not having to crawl over everything. I'm not opposed to having a ride height essentially like this if the driving experience is markedly better.







      Now, that freshly washed paint looks pretty mint right? From a distance, yeah. But the majority of it has some degree of significant swirling, with some marring and waterspots. The roof clearcoat doesn't look particularly glossy (I think it was re-sprayed right before I purchased it, but cheaply). And a large bit of the clearcoat over the driver's wheel bubbled and chipped away.



      (the driver's side fender is also a bit faded and has a spot of clearcoat ready to fail from the sun)





      I know the best answer is re-spray. But I scored some sweet Arlon vinyl on close-out, so later this spring the car will be getting a new color (still refined and classy IMO). No spoilers yet though.



      Now, today's project - cleaning the headlights. The inner lenses were very yellow. I tried Heuristic's method using OFF spray to clean them up. They're not perfect, although they look pretty good in pictures.

      Before:





      After:



      I also installed bi-xenon projectors into the high beam housings, since I had them lying around already. They are not yet wired up, but when they are I will have dual low beam projectors, while retaining the high-beam functionality. I'll just need to code out the high-beam bulb warning since the high-beam wires will only be connected to a switch inside the bi-xenon projectors.

      The passenger side (which the previous owner replaced) unfortunately still puts out significantly less light than the driver's side, even after the cleaning and new D2S bulbs on both sides. I'm wondering if it's the silver layer of the inner reflector being cloudy, because the projector lens itself looks pretty good now. Luckily the extra projectors will make up for this in the near future.



      Result



      The remaining news is parts gathering. One of my rear ashtrays is badly chipped:



      Now I have some wood vinyl samples inbound, because I'm going to wrap the rest of the wood trim. Lots of it is cracked, and the majority of it is a cloudy mud brown color. Yes, I could have it refinished, but I want to modernize it a bit. I'm thinking something a bit darker and matt. We'll see what the samples look like. But I actually think the wood ashtrays look out of place - like the designer just sprinkled as much wood around as possible.



      So when I spotted black leather ashtrays on eBay, I jumped on them. These will be much better:



      Also, like most original headliners, mine is sagging:



      I'm most likely going to re-do it in black, so back on eBay I found black grab handles from an X5 (not leather, but oh well) and black cloth visors (again no leather, but 10x cheaper).



      And just to sum up, here's my running to-do list:

      Done:
      • Clean in/out
      • Clean engine
      • Re attach door trim
      • Re-fill coolant
      • Repair front kidney grilles - repaired broken tabs
      • Replace trunk struts
      • Replace front control arms, alignment
      • Muffler delete
      • 19" wheels, tires
      • Replace front seats - Sport seats
      • Smaller steering wheel - M-Sport wheel
      • Gauge cluster rings
      • Clean inner headlight lenses
      • Replace HID low beam bulbs
      • Install H1 bi-xenon housings in high-beams


      To-do
      • Glovebox latch (stuck closed)
      • Replace side mirror panes (De-laminating)
      • Driver's door card replacement if possible (slightly worn leather)
      • Re-upholster headliner, pillars (sagging headliner)
      • Buy rear driver-side window shade frame (missing)
      • Re-dye rear deck carpet when it's out (faded)
      • Wrap wood trim w/dark wood, brushed steel etc.
      • Replace upper windshield seal (wind noise)
      • Speakers/stereo/navigation - speakers are actually very good
      • Coilovers - front installed, rear to-do
      Steve - now in San Diego!

      Shoot My Car - Automotive Photography in SoCal

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Aitch View Post
        [Jeremy Clarkson voice]: Alright, current SitRep:

        To-do
        • Replace upper windshield seal (wind noise)
        Check if you have all 4 lift blocks. If front ones are missing it will sound like a wind noise coming from the windshield.

        Comment


        • #5
          great work man, gonna follow this closely

          Comment


          • #6
            Very nice! I've always loved these cars.

            On the headlamp issue, if the lamps were replaced, he could have accidentally gotten some right-hand drive lamps off E-Bay, which would appear a lot dimmer due to opposite driving conditions.

            Comment


            • #7
              Dude! I just saw your car this weekend over in Hillcrest. You were parked by Ike's Sandwiches. I was in my girlfriends car and we parked next to you. Beautiful car, especially in person.


              gimme a sec (e28 build)

              Comment


              • #8
                Nice restoration and improvement approach to this thing. Your photography is very good as well. Simple and clean without being over the top.

                2001 BMW 560i 6.0 LSx/T56 SOLD


                2000 Corvette Hardtop FRC

                Comment


                • #9
                  Way to go man!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Slupie View Post
                    Check if you have all 4 lift blocks. If front ones are missing it will sound like a wind noise coming from the windshield.
                    I've heard of that issue. I think they are there but will double-check this weekend.

                    Originally posted by 2GRX7 View Post
                    Very nice! I've always loved these cars.

                    On the headlamp issue, if the lamps were replaced, he could have accidentally gotten some right-hand drive lamps off E-Bay, which would appear a lot dimmer due to opposite driving conditions.
                    The cut-off looks like it's made for LHD cars. When I had the lights apart there was a bit of dulling and corrosion right where the base of the D2S bulb sits in the reflector, I have a feeling that may be the culprit. I'll see how things look when the other projectors are hooked up and then decide on replacing the passenger low beam reflector or entire projector assembly.

                    Originally posted by theitchybeard View Post
                    Dude! I just saw your car this weekend over in Hillcrest. You were parked by Ike's Sandwiches. I was in my girlfriends car and we parked next to you. Beautiful car, especially in person.
                    Thanks! I have been down to that area a couple of times this week, but not sure that I parked in that plaza. I have seen another black lowered 740iL around town but on different wheels.

                    Originally posted by nsogiba View Post
                    Nice restoration and improvement approach to this thing. Your photography is very good as well. Simple and clean without being over the top.
                    Thanks on both counts! You described my approach to photography exactly. Even with my pro photos I don't usually go the entire way to nth-degree edits and composites, I like keeping things fairly realistic but high-quality and clean.
                    Steve - now in San Diego!

                    Shoot My Car - Automotive Photography in SoCal

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      This thing is so clean, those v12 badges aren't OEM I'm guessing right? They look a little out of place but it might just be me.


                      Originally posted by Stupid Kid
                      I need the weed in advance i can't ride my bmx across the ocean unless im high

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        cool car! have you thought about taking it to a professional detailer to wet sand the clear coat on top and buff the entire car? that might be a lot cheaper than a full re-spray.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by 190Evan View Post
                          This thing is so clean, those v12 badges aren't OEM I'm guessing right? They look a little out of place but it might just be me.
                          From what I've gathered, no, the car wouldn't have come with v12 badges from the factory. They were a common add-on by owners or at the dealers. The E32s had them so people would buy that part and put them on.

                          I've noticed the front fender ones are different from the rear trunk, which I think is a Mercedes badge. They'll all be coming off with the vinyl wrap, and new BMW v12 badges going on only the front fenders, not on the trunk.

                          Originally posted by Porterhousestk View Post
                          cool car! have you thought about taking it to a professional detailer to wet sand the clear coat on top and buff the entire car? that might be a lot cheaper than a full re-spray.
                          I thought about it, but really the roof, driver's front fender and rear fender all would need paint and/or clearcoat anyway. So for now vinyl is a more cost-effective option for me.
                          Steve - now in San Diego!

                          Shoot My Car - Automotive Photography in SoCal

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Always wanted an e38... hilarious how cheap theve become! keep up the good work

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Always wanted an E38. Thinking about getting one now when the prices are low. Definitely arenīt less eager to own one now after seeing this. Those rims are in my opinion a perfect example of balance between "sport-style" rims, and "luxurious" rims. Looking forward to fallow this build!

                              Comment

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