83 528e J-spec

[Conanblau]

Some "83 528e J-spec" housekeeping: Photobucket was kicked off the premises a few weeks ago. Tired of seeing that name stamped on everyone's car pics, including mine. So the previous photo links in this thread have been updated with new images. In doing this, many hours have been spent sorting through car pics, so while its fresh in mind, here's more stuff.

A CC ecu out of its shell.




The defrost switch. This switch would get stuck sometimes and need some help. Its old grease was no good.


There's a design challenge with these 80's era cars, and its that modern stereo's look completely out of place in them. (How do car stereo's continue to be so... 1990's in a bad way?!)
This 'removable faceplate' was made from a BMW head unit. When correctness and good taste counts, this looks the part. And when you need the bluetooths and mp3's its only a faceplate away.


This is the driver side door lock mechanism. See those white plastic bushings in the bag? Three of them fit into the door lock assembly (on each door). You can see them installed where the rods attach. If your doors sound rattly when you close them, these bushings are a probable culprit.

[Conanblau]

More random:

A recent thread in tech talk was talking about 'adjusting' the needle on a fuel or temp gauge.
Years ago this cars cluster was out at a friends electrical shop and a buddy walked away with this portion of the cluster. He came back a minute later, said he re-flowed some of the solder connections but the fuel gauge needle was comically bent. good stuff! This began a multi-year effort to get the gas gauge to read correctly. A full tank pointed directly at 70L originally so every so often I'd pull the cluster, get to this gauge and nudge it a little bit. Closer and closer. Its spot on now and this pic documents its resting position.
The low fuel light comes on when the needle just touches the top of the red. Indicating 13L left in the tank.


These are the slider 'handles(?)' for the HVAC controls. They come off with a firm pull. Early cars on the right, later on the left. Not interchangeable. The orange and red illuminated 'windows' fit differently.
One of the red ones in this car was scratched and it took a long while to find a minty one from an early E28.


I kept these crusty fuses in the trunk tool kit for a really long time. Felt like the right thing to do, being original and all.
That blue burnt bugger is not original equipment and is a good example of why the ceramic fuses are important. It was powering the a/c and failed by burning up the body of the fuse. Not good at all.


In 2018 I found a local source of ceramic fuses (a Volvo shop specializing in older cars) and replaced all the fuses in the car. Including the crusty tool kit originals seen above. Those Volvo guys know all about these wonky fuses, good for a laugh or two.
The silver 1157 bulbs in the back there are for the clear front corner markers, if thats your thing.


The door brakes remove easily. Two bolts and a pin. And they can definitely be crusty. They have two wheels in there which can seize up completely (like my passenger door).


Getting it into two pieces is easy, pretty simple mechanism. But I certainly wondered how easily it would go back together.


To reassemble, I needed some body weight right on that spot. Lean into it. When it pops back in - you'll know.
Similar to those white plastic bushings for the door lock mechanism, lubing these door brakes can really quiet an E28 door.

[royalblau87]

Awesome car! Hopefully I can see it in person one day.

[tig]

So the previous photo links in this thread have been updated with new images.

Okay, you've now gone above and beyond. And should be celebrated for it. More should follow your lead on this!!!

Your updates are great. Thanks for posting the details. I need to dive in to my old-style HVAC unit for Minerva, and your pics were helpful.

[lizard]

This thread is epic