An Emerald in the Rough - 12/1986 Dinan M5

[ForcedFirebird]

Sad to see the turbo kit go, but OTOH it's nice to be able to enjoy the car now.

All too often I hear horror stories about "tuners" that ruin the taste in people's mouths about boost. A competent tuner should be able to drive a running car on a dyno and be done in a couple/few hours. On the flip side of the coin, have had cars come in the shop that "just needs a tune to get running" and ended up costing thousands fixing other shops lack of abilities.

Such a cool car! I actually kinda like the color too - have a soft spot for green for some reason.

[e30austin]

Thanks all. Been really enjoying driving it everywhere I can this week. No plans for euro bumpers - to do the conversion properly is a lot of work and I cannot see doing it to a green car...and if I'm going to the effort of repainting it black, the diving boards are 100% staying.

John, I totally agree with you and it 100% soured what little interest I had in forced induction. Too bad, but it is what it is. The green is actually growing on me too, lol.

[nrubenstein]

I think it's time to find some proper stock M5 wheels. Those are too big on the car. :)

[AWDBOB]

Were you by chance cruising on 26 by Hood today? I saw a green E28M5 and thought it had to be you.

[e30austin]

Ha!! That was I. Took the lady and doggos for a long drive.

[AWDBOB]

Ha!! That was I. Took the lady and doggos for a long drive.

How funny. There was a beautiful R107 cruising behind you. I saw a minty zinno late Vert 3mins before I saw you by Ramona.

The car looked great, man!

[e30austin]

How funny. There was a beautiful R107 cruising behind you. I saw a minty zinno late Vert 3mins before I saw you by Ramona.

The car looked great, man!

Yup, I passed him coming down Hwy 35. It looked pretty nice. I saw the cabrio, too. Had no idea you were in town - you should have said something! Would be great to meet up.

[AWDBOB]

Yup, I passed him coming down Hwy 35. It looked pretty nice. I saw the cabrio, too. Had no idea you were in town - you should have said something! Would be great to meet up.

We are doing a hiking trip all over Oregon! The lady has never been- my brother and sis are also out here with us (my Sister has spent the last ten summers in Govy). I will have some time to kill on Saturday afternoon by PDX before our flight departs. If you’ll be around I could drop by!

[e30austin]

We are doing a hiking trip all over Oregon! The lady has never been - my brother and sis are also out here with us (my Sister has spent the last ten summers in Govy). I will have some time to kill on Saturday afternoon by PDX before our flight departs. If you’ll be around I could drop by!

Oh, that's rad! Hope you guys had a nice time.

That works well! I am not far from the airport - about 10 minutes down the road. Would love to meet you!

[e30austin]

not a whole lot to update here, so i'll let the pictures do the talking.

a good friend and i installed the Spax suspension kit, late last year - he was the driving force behind getting it on the car (i've owned the parts almost as long as the car )



after many, many months of looking, i scored a NOS e28 m5 intake silencer box, likely one of the last in the world. felt very fortunate that i stumbled across it, it certainly makes the engine bay look that much nicer.




i also stumbled upon some pictures of the car, about ~5 years before my purchase. hard to believe how far the car has come since that time. wow.




aside from that, it goes through a lot of non-ethanol 92 octane and i cannot complain. it makes some of the most beautiful noises in the world. it's hard not to fall in love with the car, a little more, each time i drive it.

[968Reckless]

man that car cleaned up good!

[zwill23]

Glad the injectors from the old turbo setup get to live on in my machine, I can only hope mine cleans up as nice one day!

This thing is sweet

[e30austin]

Glad the injectors from the old turbo setup get to live on in my machine, I can only hope mine cleans up as nice one day!

This thing is sweet

sounds like we both win in this situation - i hope you enjoy them!

[AWDBOB]

I love this car, and am happy to see that you’re getting to enjoy it!