You did it
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The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of events and activities, I'll try an recap most of them! Be prepared, there will be lots of pictures...
As stated a few posts up, there was quite a bit of little maintenance that I had been putting off over the last year. That includes paint upkeep, it had been almost 2 years since the M5 got a coat of wax!:hitler:
Before leaving Colorado Springs, I decided to dismantle the car. There were a few items I had wanted to fix, and a few items that needed to be fixed.
Wants:
- Remove the ugly JVC stereo
- Repair and repaint the front valence
- Clean and Condition the leather
- Find the source of a front end clunk.
Needs:
- Replace the upper/lower control arms yet again
- Replace the brake rotors/pads
- Clay/polish/wax the exterior
So with those goals in mind I started with the least important first, remove the ugly deck! It quickly spiraled into a deck/amp install and possibly a sub under the seat.
Old deck:
3A8A92FA-03B8-4169-80B2-DD20B0C643D0-1133-000001DDED35C6A8 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Mid way.
IMG_2600 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
The new stereo is a Denon DCT-A100. A pretty sweet deck built for the Japan market. I looked for a black Denon deck for a long time as I liked the period correct look, and the amber illumination was a must!
IMG_2605 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Unfortunate for a quick install, the deck has no power, so an amp is required. My time constraints made this a little more difficult, but in the long run I'm much more happy with installing some goodies that have been collecting dust in my toolbox for years. Oh yeah, the amp is a Brax x2400.2 http://www.crutchfield.com/p_875X240...5939745&awdv=c
First test fit/power up/sound check
Green:
DSC_6821 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Amber:
DSC_6822 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
I had to remove the rear seat to run the RCA cables to the trunk area, so I contemplated doing a sub enclosure using the two brand new Alumapro Alchemy 12's I've been keeping for a good project.
DSC_6796 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
I believe this will work with just one on the drivers side as the floor on the passenger side is different to fit the fuel pump/filter, however the support bar that runs front to back on the rear seat bottom will need to be removed. I was thinking that removing a section of the bar and welding in a speaker grill would keep the support the bar provides and also protect the speaker from larger bottoms. Below is a picture of what the underside of an E28 seat cushion looks like with a adult sitting on it. You can see the support bar resting on the tires with my hefty self sitting on the seat cushion. I don't expect many people to sit in the rear of the car, so I'm not too worried about damage especially if a grill covers the sub.
DSC_6801 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
The sub sits above the pocket a bit. A shallow sub would be great in this application!
DSC_6806 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
The last time I really fiddle-fadled with a stereo was almost a decade ago, so I wanted to really do it correctly. Instead of just stuffing the RCA cables down the side of the carpet, I pulled it back a good ways and tucked the cables in with the OE wiring. Being a bit rusty, I forgot to run the remote turn on wire with the RCA's. Dang.
Those speaker cables are from the old stereo and were removed shortly after this picture was taken.
DSC_6809 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Moving on. Power cable routing... I got a bit OCD with the heat shrink.
DSC_6823 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
DSC_6824 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
DSC_6825 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Even the deck got it's own 12v source & ground instead of tieing into the factory harness. In fact all that was used for the factory harness is ACC, illumination, and antenna power.
DSC_6815 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
I had to make the 12v constant about 18 inches longer than the wire supplied by Denon, these heat shrink butt connectors are definitely trick!
DSC_6816 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
the M5 battery tray in the trunk makes running the power cable much cheaper & much easier! I've luckily never owned a car worth of a stereo upgrade that had the battery in the engine compartment.
DSC_6826 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
I decided to attach the glass fuse holder to the support structure for the trunk hinge. This will all be 100% covered up by the unique M5 trunk panels.
DSC_6828 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
attached:
DSC_6829 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
The ground cable is done up much the same as the power cable, I must have forgotten to snap a few pictures of it, but you get the idea. Ground was run to a factory ground in the trunk area and is a very solid. I also didn't get very good pictures of the amp installed (I'll update the thread later) but it's basically installed on the underside of the rear parcel shelf. 4 rivnuts and a few 2 inch long bolts give it enough stand off to clear the trunk springs. My Iphone cam in great help as I was laying in the trunk I realized that I wasn't sure which slot on the amp was for ground and which for 12v power... a mistake I didn't want to make! So I put the phone in selfie mode and snapped this photo!
IMG_2650 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
This is a good arm work out after an hour or so!
IMG_2651 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
With the amp done, all I had left to do was put the dash back together. My friend Greg who is doing a ridiculous rebuild on his 1993 M5 (http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e34...build.html)was very kind, and 3D printed a trim ring for my deck in a very very short time. We are talking about CNC machining a piece of aluminum, then anodizing it to match the deck next round.:eeek:
IMG_2662 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Because the stereo is from Japan and used, it did not come with a cage so I had to bolt it to the cage from the side. This means that if I ever want to remove the stereo again, I have to pull the entire center console out... quite a bit more complicated than an E30 center console too!
IMG_2663 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Also found a nice space to tuck the aux imput cables out of the way. There isn't much space between the deck and the hvac guts, so this was very helpful.
IMG_2659 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
All back together and everything working the night before leaving for CA!
IMG_2665 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Future stereo plans include something for the front stage that compliments the quality of the deck and amp. Factory is a 4x6 plate with a 4" round, I'd really like to do something a bit larger, but I really don't want to cut up the car and kick panels usually don't look that great. Also figuring out what to do with a sub, either using the alumapro, or getting 1 or 2 shallow mount subs for under the seat. The goal is as OEM looking as possible, and using as little trunk space as possible. The final move is do move the amp to the back wall of the trunk so it can be shown off a bit.
Up next... cleaning for a concourse.
Last edited by Eric; 11-21-2013, 05:05 AM.Comment
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Nice install, was wondering where you roamed off to.Comment
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Cleaning cleaning cleaning...
IMG_2632 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
I felt I had neglected the M5 for a bit of time, using the do-it-yourself carwash instead of hand washing with the 2 bucket method, not waxing it for far to long, leaving it outside last winter while the E30 was broken in the garage, etc, etc. Like I said earlier, I went way to long without waxing the car, and it was starting to show. As stated below, it was easily noticeable that the paint looked different in areas, this was nothing other than lack of care on my end.
I now have a solid answer for you. The rear firewall and quarter pannels and c-pillar are two stage along with both front fenders, passenger front door and front valence. The hood, roof, trunk and remaining doors are all original paint.Originally posted by leegf View Post
I made arrangements with my good friend Rich to do some paint correction when I got out to CA. We were both stationed in Germany together and he used to use my garage to detail cars on the weekend. If your in the San Jose/bay area, definitely check him out!
418666_4452978480374_1465982421_n by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Before the drive out to CA though, I figured I could scrub down all the leather on my own. Most of the interior was out due to the stereo ambitions anyways, so cleaning all the nooks was far easier while out of the car.
I used Fiebing's saddle soap to clean the leather, and Lexol conditioner to rehydrate the hide. I got decent results, but next time I'm going to try Color-Plus products. On a side note, the Fiebings spray bottle is by far the best spray bottle I've ever used!
IMG_2636 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Here is a before after with the cleaner/conditioner. Untouched is on the right
IMG_2634 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
By the way, there is A LOT of leather in the E28 M5, a lot more than I had realized. Everything below the dahsboard is leather, door cards and of course the seats. I used the entire bottle of Fiebings Saddle Soap on just the one interior!
Also in the mix of it all I removed the lower M5 front spoiler and plasti-dipped it. A previous owner had painted the lower chin spoiler jet black to match the rest of the car instead of the correct flat black. Actually the spoiler should be an unpainted flat black plastic, but since the black plastic M5 tow hooks are NLA, white plastic 535 ones were used and thus the entire spoiler assembly was painted jet black to be consistent in color. Fast forward a few years and the spoiler hand a few scrapes on the bottom due to low clearance situations, and the tow hook covers had become an unmatching flat black & horribly pitted from road debris.
So I sanded the chin spoiler down in the areas with scratches, then cleaned and a can of plasti-dip applied. To me it looks like the OE color the spoiler should be, so I'm quite happy with the outcome!
IMG_2656 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
My while-you-are-in-there syndrome was in pretty good check, limited only to re-dying the rear parcel shelf from faded hue of blue back to black, and having the BBS RS hex caps polished by a local guy.
IMG_2648 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
On the way out to CA, I took a moment to stop at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The shear expansiveness of the salt flats is mind blowing, definitely something any automotive enthusiast should check out. These photo's btw are straight off the camera, my old version of photoshop does not play nice with my new nikon.
DSC_6861 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Once I got to CA, Rich worked his magic and I tried to help out too!
IMG_2706 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
We spent a good 12 hours on the car, and it really shined up nicely. The right rear door that was dull a noticeably different shade of black wasn't the only spot that really came around. The mirrors were soo dull that I thought they were just black plastic, like a 325e! Rich brought those back to life, and to think that I was considering having them repainted! The back of the trunk lid (part with the badge) was also badly oxidized and shined up very nicely.
Mirror before:
IMG_2710 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Mirror after:
IMG_2709 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
From San Jose, I tip-toed the M5 down to Monterey and tried to touch as little as I could! The M5 was looking great and I didn't want to accidentally put a last minute scratch or ding in the paint.
Tuesday morning rolled around, and I headed over to the swanky Corral de Tierra Country Club and preceded to be directed past all the great looking BMW's in the parking lot, and onto the golf course greens! I'm not sure if any of you are aware of this phenomenon, I surely wasn't, but a car parked on a green is 67% nicer looking than when parked in a parking lot.
DSC_6895 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Having never before participated in a legit Concours, I was a bit unprepared at the level of cleanliness expected by the judges. Here is a snap of one of the judges checking UNDERNEATH my wiper arm... who does that???
DSC_6889 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
I was fortunate (or unfortunate as I was judged after him) to park next to Chris Kohler's incredibly nice Alpina B7. Chris is a cool dude that knows just about everything possible about E28's and is a joy to chat with.
DSC_6885 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
After the judging was done, I meandered through the other cars completely exhausted from the nutty amount of toothpick cleaning I had just done for the past few hours. Quite a few cool cars were in the display only area, and to be honest were far nicer than many of the concours cars... mine included.
For instance this Sport Evo. Yes. Sport Evo!
DSC_6917 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
DSC_6918 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
DSC_6922 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
DSC_6920 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
As I was admiring the Bavarian Iron, I heard my name and another name being announced on the loud speaker. Once I made my way up to the announcer tent, I was told that our class had a tie and I had to remove my license plate to check the cleanliness behind the plate. WTF?
Myself and a 635csi owner then preceded to remove our plates under close supervision of a few judges who were making sure we didn't sneak a quick wipe down before inspection. I had to break out the red handled screw driver out of my tool kit in the trunk so I didn't watch the 6er driver remove his plate, but apparently a cloud of dust wafted the air as he removed his plate; presumably for the first time in years. By this time a large crowd had gathered (ok 10 bystanders) and a gasp of oooh's and aaaah's fell over the crowd as my plate was removed. The nice lady judge with white gloves then ran her finger across the rear panel and gave the Obama not bad face as she looked at a totally white glove.
Now I'm not OCD and clean behind my license plate on purpose, I just got lucky! Only a day before did I remove it to give the polisher better access to the paint seen on either side of the license plate. Since there it was easier to run the polisher over the whole panel, I cleaned it out of shear laziness over being detail oriented!
The result? Squeaked a 3rd in class finish, not to bad for my first try at a car show of this level!
IMG_2717 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
After the awards ceremony we had dinner at the swanky clubs restaurant, and I grabbed a few pics of the M5 and the B7 before heading back to the Hyatt for a top secret exclusive meeting.
B7 & M5 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
DSC_6944 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
DSC_6961 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
DSC_6972 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
BMW made a big hoopla about inviting Oktoberfest attendees to an ultra exclusive unavailing of a new car. I'm not even sure they said it was going to be a car unvail, but BMW is a car company so I could have made an assumption there. Anyways we had to be at the hotel at 6pm sharp where I and about 499 other "exclusive" attendees were bussed over in 30 passenger airport shuttles to a warehouse. Said warehouse was fitted with all the right PR stuff; Previous generations of the model being unveiled, hot local waitresses hopping to become models offering oddly named food on a platter, way to loud DJ complete with flashing lights, and a wet bar. If I knew I didn't have to drive later I would have taken full advantage of the bar to hopefully block out some of the cliche, but unfortunately I was limited to just one. Bummer.
After some BMW execs made a few comments, and they described a brief history of each car (Really necessary? I'm sure every BMW CCA member knows about the M3 by now), the pulled the satin cover off the new baby puke yellow M4 concept car. Yes, the one that was Debuted just a few days earlier at pebble beach and the one that will debut again at the Detroit Motor Show in a few months. I won't complain about how huge it is, how the name is an abomination of the M3's heritage, or how silly it is to debut a car more than once in todays world with such fast global information sharing. I just think it's ugly.
DSC_6979 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
The afternoon of Concours, and evening of noise just reaffirmed in my mind what I've known for so long. I like the old stuff. The right stuff.
Next up, photo dump of stuff I found interesting at the Concours.Comment
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I didn't take too many photo's at the Concours, just ones that really caught my eye. To be honest, in everyday life every car on the green would be photo worthy, but these were the ones that stood out to me.
E31 on turbines.
DSC_6914 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
If BMW ever made a 4 door E46 M3, it'd look like this. Nice.
DSC_6915 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
This 535 was unbelievable! I'm not sure I'd do bronzit wheels on a bronzit car, but the car as a whole was beautiful. I believe he won best novice (novice means you've never won at a BMW CCA event, not new to Concours) and the Concours Modified category.
DSC_6900 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
even the engine bay was spotless!
DSC_6901 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Who doesn't love an Estoril Blue MCoupe?
DSC_6881 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
The M1 with the Alpina cars lurking behind
DSC_6905 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
This DTM replica was nicely done, but I think it'd be cool if BMW NA took down it's real 92' car off that ramp in it's museum and showed it off at events like the M1 and CSL. the 2002 race car was neat as well, but I don't think it was ever raced in that livery.
DSC_6903 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Finally, my favorite BMW race car. If I was the CEO of BMWNA you'd be damn sure I'd drive this thing too!
DSC_6907 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Awesome engine bay
DSC_6909 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Absolutely love these pipes! If BMW could have offered rides at Laguna Seca in this car, I would have definitely forked over the mandatory donation to do a few hot laps in it!
DSC_6908 by ericandshovin, on Flickr
Next up, TSD rally & autocross.Comment
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Eric, awesome pics! Congrats on the trophy win. :)Comment
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Great work, the paint looks awesome. Glad to see you had a good trip out there. I even saw your car in this great video:
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Car looks awesome, a euro spec e28 M5 is my dream car. Was your interior originally black? If so that is awesome that you found such a rare car. (If not, who cares, this thing is still awesome.)Comment
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I know! I hope that those boys put out more vids, they were all over the place. During the auto-x they strapped a DSLR onto my hood and a gopro. I wonder if they will have more media come out over the next few months.Originally posted by tschultz View Post
E30sam - The car is a US spec, it just has the nicer looking US bumpers and headlights. I'd love to find a euro spec one in polaris silver with Highland cloth interior, but the euro spec cars are actually more rare than the US ones. This is kind of crazy since the US cars were only offered as 1988 models whereas the euro boys got 3 years to buy the euro M5 (1985-1988).Comment
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Oh I knew this wasn't a true euro car, it's definitely got an s38, unlike the euro cars. A Polaris would be my dream color too. I love my Polaris e30! Not too common of a color. So was that interior originally black? I think only like 100 US M5's came with a black interior Some guy who lives in Atlanta has a pretty sweet one that has a black interior too. Cool cars.Originally posted by Eric View PostComment
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Probably, Gary on Atlanta with the black on black. From what I've learned, 30 M5's built in the last month of production came to the us with black interior. Most Canadian cars are black/black, but this is one of the 30 us cars.
Japan got one like similar to the us car, but it had highland cloth instead of leather. I'd love to score that interior!Comment
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Wow! Awesome pictures too!
Originally posted by SpasticDwarf;n6449866Comment
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Yes Gary is the man that owns it. Cool car. What does Highland cloth look like? I googled it but all I got was a picture of houndstooth.Originally posted by Eric View PostComment
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amazing pics! Congrats on your podium :)Comment
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