Clara - An E28 ///M5 (Let's try this again)

[tinkwithanr]

It was really nice to meet you in person. Your facebook feed of mtn. views makes me supremely jealous.

You too Andrew, hopefully I can come up with another excuse to swing through LA again. Maybe one of our '02's will be done by then lol.

[tinkwithanr]

It's safe to say the first month together was spend in the blissful 'honeymoon phase'. Things felt perfect, nothing could detract from carefree happiness shared between man and machine. But as with every relationship that feeling slowly dulls. To some that may sound detrimental, without the veil of young romance reality can take its tole. What used to be laughed off isn't so easy brushed aside, and minor disagreements snowball into arguments, fights and long nights alone. Or you can look at it in a different light. You can use the new found clarity and begin to gain an understanding of each other on a whole level. Begin to see their subtle needs and desires, and learn how to express your own in similar ways. And so it was with Clara and I. I rolled up my sleeves, took a deep breath and picked up a wrench.






A few of her bigger needs were obvious even to the causal observer. Her shift linkage, while functional, had considerable slop. That, along with the fact that there was a slow but consistent leak of transmission fluid from the rear of the case meant some time on the lift would be in order to get those sorted. I also decided to begin transforming her back into the car she was meant to be, a.k.a. a euro spec M5 and not the watered down North American version that BMW decided to 'gift' us with. Along with the, ahem, "Functional" bumpers they bestowed on all American bound e28's, our M5's were restricted by emissions that choked the exhaust, cams and lowered compression. Clara had suffered enough, not getting to see her full potential. Of course even the best of intentions can have terrible consequences.


In the end it took 6 eyes and 4 hands to get the new camshafts, timing gears and components back in place. What should have been a straight forward, if not time consuming project had snowballed into a month long saga. Things went smoothly enough in the beginning, the old cams came out without a fuss. Even the new late model shaft snugged down happily in the carrier. But I pushed to hard, rushed through steps, and only double checked what I should have triple and quadruple checked. With the timing chain in place, I slid the breaker bar onto the crank nut to ensure my clearances were in order. The crank slowly spun 20 degress, 30 degress, 40 degrees, thud...

Sh!t.

I knew my mistake instantly. It's amazing how your mind can hone in on one moment in time, bring it rushing to your consciousness from the depths of seemingly unimportant memories. In my hurry to get her back together, I mistimed the intake cam. The damage had been done, but I couldn't accept it. Off came everything, and I slowly, meticulously reinstalled each piece. With the help of a friend her heart was reassembled with as much love as I could give, feebly hoping that it might mend the damage. I sunk into the driver seat, gingerly slid her key into the ignition and turned. The starter sprung to life but her heart refused to start. Dejected, I set out to double check my diagnosis. 20 minutes later I confirmed no compression for cylinder 1. I didn't bother to check the rest. I thanks my friends for the help, closed her hood and went home.

[tinkwithanr]

It's one thing to have something happen completely out of your control. Your mind searches up and down, grasping for any way to rationalize the events. But in a way that makes it easier to deal with. You can at least tell yourself that there was nothing you could no. The outcome had already been decided, long before the events took place. The opposite is true when you know you and only you are to blame. You obsess over every single detail you could have done differently. Just one little change here or a different decision there and you could have avoided the whole thing. All you can do is hope that you learn to forgive yourself in time, and try to grow from the mistakes of your previous self.

I knew Clara's engine needed to be rebuilt. It was the middle of December before I really started to move forward and decide what the next steps would be. At first the obvious choice was to part out Heidi as best I could and use her proceeds to give new life to Clara's dead heart. But realistically that would mean loosing most of the next year, and not being able to drive her until next spring. Given everything we had been through it was the last thing I wanted to do. So through desperation, a new plan was devised. Heidi's body was dead, but her heart was good. Clara's body was pristine, but her heart damaged. Thus began the transplant.

The operating room:





The donor organ being carefully removed:





Out with the old, in with the new:





A fresh coat of paint before the final installation:





And because I had to make it up to Clara, a bundle of snakes:





The newly fab'd mid-pipe to connect the euro-header outlets with the BB Catback:





Everything buttoned up nicely underneath:





A valve adjustment to make sure everything was in order:





And last but not least, the euro bumper conversion:





All in all we buttoned up the last of it and hour before leaving for The Vintage this past May. Total time spend was around 5 months, and lots of little misc things were done that I didn't document with photos, including a new AC system, new shifter assembly w/ custom length selector rod, euro mtech springs and bilsteins, Moosehead UCAB and more I've forgot about. The last few weeks were just a blur, but in the end it was more worth it than I could have ever hoped for.

[kronus]

nice. In one update you've lapped me :p


Did you ever worry about getting confused as to which S38 was which?

[tinkwithanr]

For the first time in a long time, I can say that things are good. There will always be a few things that need to be tinkered with, but that's the true joy of being the caretaker of a car like Clara. She isn't perfect, but neither am I. And we work through things together, getting stronger each and every time.

The Vintage was an amazing event as always. If you haven't had the pleasure, add it to your bucket list. And it's not even the cars. The people are some of the most genuine, down to earth folk you will ever meet. Doesn't matter if you have a CSL coupe fresh from a bare metal restoration or a tired E30 vert with the worst interior in the entire world.





































She does clean up nice.

[KIRIEIW]

Having been a follower of your poetic, artistic, wholesome, and genuine story.... I am so glad that this happened for you. Awesome car. As Heidi was, and no one is going to forget that, it was a true love story. I hope this car gets thorough attention and her own full story as well. Congrats man.

--Mike

I think you said what exactly what I would have said, but worded a ton better. Good luck and wish's on the build OP!

[tinkwithanr]

We also had the pleasure of attending a local meet called Timmayfest in June. It had more of a late model focus, but much like the vintage it was still an amazing time. One of the personal highlights for me was the dyno day on Friday at IPS Motorsports.




Engines just don't sound like this anymore.





Edit: Not sure why it's not embeding right. Link Here: https://youtu.be/yZKv4QY7h3k

I've got the dyno plot at the shop, but she put down a very respectable 235 whp and 225 wtrq. Considering the stock numbers were around 254 at the crank, it's safe to say Heidi's old heart is still beating very strong.


Then on Saturday there was the general show for BMW's, Mercedes and Exotics.

The elder's showing the younger's how it's done:

[tinkwithanr]

nice. In one update you've lapped me :p


Did you ever worry about getting confused as to which S38 was which?

At first the thought crossed my mind, but I secluded the damaged one to side of the shop to make sure I kept them straight.

I think you said what exactly what I would have said, but worded a ton better. Good luck and wish's on the build OP!

Thanks!

[delamaize]

I'm so glad to see that Heidi has been able to save Clara. Keep the m5 running!

[CRBR30]

Wow, so amazing!

[stonea]

Out with the old, in with the new:

The most impressive thing in this thread is that this is the first appearance of Fiona in 1.5 years..... I kid though, Beautiful M5 and beautiful pics.

*In all seriousness I would almost pay to see updates on Fiona

[tinkwithanr]

The most impressive thing in this thread is that this is the first appearance of Fiona in 1.5 years..... I kid though, Beautiful M5 and beautiful pics.

*In all seriousness I would almost pay to see updates on Fiona

Patience is a virtue. And that may be more of an update than you think.

[E30stan]

Sitting here, wondering when the next chapter is ready?

[rzerob]

Subscribed I was not aware of the purchase of Clara until today. The untimely departing of Heidi was brutal. I am happy for you that you were able to move on and still able to keep a part of Heidi in your current Clara.