Project Dingolfing E28 520i - Drop the hammer and step back!

[cort16]

The 525e is an interesting oddity especially with the 4000 rpm rev counter. I had a really nice metallic blue one with blue sports cloth interior but they’re quite dull to drive .

I Imagine as a daily driver it’d be great and they’re interesting but not a lot of fun.

 

The ultimate e28 I dreamt of was a black 528i manual with shadow line trim and ox blood sports interior.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

The 525e is an interesting oddity especially with the 4000 rpm rev counter...

Unfortunately a lot of them have been dismantled because E30 enthusiasts want the engine.

[BavarianRetro]

Unfortunately a lot of them have been dismantled because, like all E28s they rotted from day one but, fortunately, E30 enthusiasts wanted the bottom end of the engine.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

^^

I stand corrected.

[BavarianRetro]

Were 525e manuals available elsewhere?

 

I had two or three, I think, with really tall (2.93?) LSDs

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Were 525e manuals available elsewhere?

 

I had two or three, I think, with really tall (2.93?) LSDs

Wikipedia reckons that the 525e/528e did come out with the Getrag 265 5-speed.

[Steviemillar]

The 525e is an interesting oddity especially with the 4000 rpm rev counter. I had a really nice metallic blue one with blue sports cloth interior but they’re quite dull to drive .

I Imagine as a daily driver it’d be great and they’re interesting but not a lot of fun.

 

 

This blue 525e was mine before Cort bought it. I used it as a daily driver for the 2+ years/20K miles I owned it, solid as a rock and had an M5 front bumper on it from new in addition to the blue cloth sports seats but had keep fit windows and sunroof though. The 16" wheels on it from an E38 gave a wide choice of tyres too. As RBJ says, 35 mpg was a reality on longer runs, wish I had kept it now!

[Steve79]

Just got my insurance quote for the beemer from Peter S Taylor who I have the Rover insured through. It's exactly the same as the Rover, so £94.50 fully comp, agreed value with proof sent in and 3k mileage limit and this is with it being parked on the drive.

 

Cannot recommend these guys enough. Stephanie who I always end up speaking to is always very helpfull and manages to get me a great deal.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Just got my insurance quote for the beemer from Peter S Taylor who I have the Rover insured through. It's exactly the same as the Rover, so £94.50 fully comp, agreed value with proof sent in and 3k mileage limit and this is with it being parked on the drive.....

 

I'll bear that in mind when the CX is up for renewal towards the end of the year....

[hennabm]

The fuel tank usually leaks from the top. There are three metal breather pipes - like brake pipes - too. They rust out.

I can vouch for this. Back in the late 90s I had an 85 ( 525e in the same colour and it started leaking petrol from the pipes across the top of the tank. Did a tank swap and it wasn't too bad a job. Coated the new one in many layers of paint and wax and grease to stop it happening again.

 

Were 525e manuals available elsewhere?

 

I had two or three, I think, with really tall (2.93?) LSDs

 

The E30 and E28 eta engines both had manual boxes in the North American market. A friend of mine in Canada had an E30 one in the 90s.

Not sure about Europe.

[BavarianRetro]

It's not a saddle tank. My recollection is that you can change it without removing exhaust and prop.

[BavarianRetro]

Maybe exhaust, now that I think about it. Not prop.

[Steve79]

I realised last night whilst browsing some of the e28 forums that I thought some of the switchgear that should light up in fact does not. Quickly nipped outside and turned the lights on and sure enough, both electric window switches do not illuminate and the headlight switch is the same.

 

I know that the window switch bulbs are soldered in but does anyone know what type of bulbs I need and what wattage?

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....I know that the window switch bulbs are soldered in but does anyone know what type of bulbs I need and what wattage?

Have you dismantled the switches to check inside? Not all of them were illuminated, especially early cars; my '83 635 had plain unlit switches, so I bought illuminated ones secondhand.

[Steve79]

Good point, didn't think of that!

 

If they're not illuminated then i'll definitely be buying new switches!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I think they were fitted to cars from about 1985 onwards.

[fatharris]

That's a smashing bit of luck, hope it's a nice easy runner for you!

 

What's the long term plan for this one?

[Steve79]

So that went well

 

 

Seems to have failed on something different than before

 

 

Floorpan to inner sill needs a five inch plate.

 

Tickle stick has been booked for Monday afternoon

[Steve79]

Oh and apparently because the shocks have some residual dampening effect left in them and no signs of leakage, they are an MOT pass!

 

Needless to say these will be getting changed and the handling over speed humps is bordering on the wrong side of dicey!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The UK is the only country not to have a manual 525e. Europe had plenty along with the 2.4 diesel in the E30 and E28, turbo and non turbo. The manual 525e is anything but dull to drive, a great engine wasted behind a 4HP22 slusher. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

So that went well

Seems to have failed on something different than before

I'd say the steering box free play is a sign that the mounting on the front subframe has failed. Need to weld the mounting back in place. It's also a known weak spot on the E24 coupés.

[stormee]

There are E30 and E28 eta manuals around. But they are so cool, soothing, relaxing and even economic in automatastic goodness! Had some nice journeys in a 525eA.

[spartacus]

The steering box/subframe issue is more common on LHD models. There's an equal chance it could be play in the actual box itself. There is adjustment but if the worm has worn significantly in the straight ahead position then taking out too much play will result in binding as lock is applied.

Check both!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The steering box mountiong thing isn't as horriffic as it sounds - the main mount (the long bolt) is OK, it's the smaller side mount that breaks and it can be fixed with a longer bolt all the way through the subframe and some fat washers. It was mainly cars with fatter tyres that suffered such as those with TRX tyres.

 

A lot of 'steering box wear' is the 32mm collar nut on the column inside the car. E28's have an adjustable column for length and the nut gradually loosens over time - a 32mm spanner on the nut, turn the wheel clockwise until the spanner rests on the trans tunnel and give the wheel a turn clowise to tighten it. That gets rid of a lot of free play. You can adjust an old steering box a bit but once worn, adjustment can cause them to bind.

[Steve79]

Will go out later and try tightening up the 32mm nut. The column didn't feel particularly loose, but I did notice that it was REALLY stiff when trying to pull it towards me. I don't think it had ever been extended. I might try extending it again and smearing some grease on it.

[Steve79]

I had planned to spend this afternoon looking at the column nut on the BMW to examine if there is any free play, however my 8mth old son who has a stomach bug has had other plans, mostly involving many nappy and clothing changes 

 

I have however, been able to try and address a few minor things that have been bugging me.

 

The dash cluster has an annoying mottled effect on the clear plastic front which i've tried to clean off but to no avail. It initially looked like condensation but it now seems that the plastic has possibly reacted to UV over the years and has degraded as the marks won't come off no matter what i use on it.

 

The other issue i've had with it is that the speedo is non functional which is either going to be a knackered sender, blown capacitor or dry joints on the fuse board. The sender i can deal with but circuit boards are like witchcraft to me. Removing the cluster involves only two screws so thought why not

 

Before:

 

After:

Can anyone tell me what the green plug does, it was tucked in the labeling on the loom so i'm presuming its not needed as it doesn't seem to fit anywhere on the cluster?

 

 

Someones been here before!:

 

What's this then?

Thought my cluster looked a little basic!

 

Ah!

 

Obviously someone didn't own a reset tool so just taped over the service indicator. The old "i can't see it so it didn't happen"

 

At this point i couldn't see anything obviously wrong so maybe best put back together for another day.

 

Let there be lights!

Yep so going to need to be reset! 

 

Haven't had chance to get the car out and drive it to check for speedo function (just in case it was a loose connection)

 

Another issue was the very intermittent function of the passenger window which is mostly non functional.

 

Switch out

 

Hmmm

 

Looks a bit melted

 

Stripped it right down, saturated it completely in electrical contact cleaner and scrubbed with an old toothbrush.

 

Not too bad

 

Switch reassembled and reinstalled. Progress!

https://i.imgur.com/BdbuiVp.mp4

 

Dropping the car off tomorrow to be welded and have the new shocks installed. Then back of for the retest later next week.

[Schaefft]

The tape. Just WHY

 

About the cluster glass: Would you be able to polish it out? If not the only other thing I can think of is a heat gun (which will probably end badly) or the bin.

[Steve79]

Don't understand the logic of taping the indicator over. Just reset it and do the job properly. I'm going to try a mild plastic abrasive polish but failing that I'll just source replacement cluster.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

IIRC, the green plug clips onto the automatic gear indicator bulb pack - there may be a square hole in the base of the cluster. Either than or an OBC take off - I've almost forgotten this stuff. 

The speedo fault could be a corroded SI board as the Nicad batteries will have leaked acid and shit. There is a fuse for the speedo on these and E23's - BMW's used those hateful bullet fuses and I think the E30 was the first to use proper spade fuses. Could be dodgy wiring to the plug on the back of the diff as well. On these, the temp gauge and rev counter are the first gauges to go tits up. 

 

Don't be surprised if the service lights refuse to reset!

[BavarianRetro]

I suspect the SI lights will be taped over because they won't go off. As RBJ says, the board is likely to have leaked acid.

 

The electronic speedos are dead simple, just two wires from the diff to the speedo. The wiring often gets damaged a couple of feet back from the diff and stops the signal.

 

Green plug is OBC relay, I think. Four round pins?