rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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The Bearded Explorerrob0r
@rob0r
Club Retro Rides Member 104
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Nov 21, 2022 16:47:35 GMT
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I wouldn't be watching someone that promotes theft and damage to property. So many stories of sites that people like that visit, plaster it all over Facebook and Youtube for the sites to get totally turned over. Even if they don't disclose the actual location, it's then discussed in the comments anyway.
My family's farm was visited by "urbexers" who forced their way into our sheds, damaged vintage pre-war cars, rifled through all sorts of belongings documenting it all and intimidated my dad who found them on site. It ended up all over Facebook on Urbex pages and the police got involved but unfortunately no action against the damage and B&E was taken. They then lied about casing the site out, saying it was abandoned etc - all rubbish.
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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BMW 535i SPORTrob0r
@rob0r
Club Retro Rides Member 104
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Jan 12, 2022 13:46:47 GMT
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Hi Rob, belated Happy New Year! How are the BC's on your E34? I've been trying to decide between those of a Bilstein B8 and Eibach springs? Happy new year too! I can't comment on the Bilstein/Eibachs but I've really enjoyed my BCs. I haven't done too much on them yet and I'd probably say Bilsteins are a bit more tried and tested in terms of longevity, but I can tweak mine as I like... Like when I dropped it further last year...
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Last Edit: Jan 12, 2022 13:47:07 GMT by rob0r
E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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BMW 535i SPORTrob0r
@rob0r
Club Retro Rides Member 104
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Hey Mark, I have "E34" BC coilovers on the E32 750i and I really rate them if that makes any difference. Lovely car and very rare these days!
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Nov 22, 2021 15:14:54 GMT
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I think I may have the perfect event to bring it to I'm aiming for Goodwood!
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Nov 22, 2021 14:40:41 GMT
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I still have this! I took it to bits shortly after Mallory '07 with grand ideas, tried a few engines but it's never reached the top of the pile and has sat languishing mostly in the last 14 years. Work has started amongst other projects and I'm in the middle of piecing it back together to get out and about next year... I know where Edd's 2002 is and it has visited the gatherings in new hands over the years. I think James with the yellow Kadett still has that too.
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Nov 12, 2020 14:44:58 GMT
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Wow this forum still moves quick! A week later and the thread is on page 5! The FIXENING PART 2The starter motor replacement took me to around the end of March. The car was back together but it wasn't the silky smooth V12 I was expecting... With 12 cylinders it's actually very hard to tell or pinpoint if the car if running properly or if it's misfiring. The next 2-3 months looked like this... Over these months multitudes of parts were replaced, including... - 2 x alternators - 2 x dizzy caps - 2 x rotors - 14 x spark leads - 12 x spark plugs - 2 x drive belts - 1 x 540i manual radiator - 1 x heater blower - 1 x heater "sword" resistor pack - 2 x fuel filters - Engine rubber fuel lines - 1 x battery And probably a lot more I've forgotten... Long story short, the V12 was finally running right! Special mentions: Alternator - If you need an M70 alternator replaced then I'm your man... I can probably do it in about 10 mins on and off now, I must of had the alternator on and off around 20 times! The original failed, the spare I had was also faulty which I couldn't believe, so I troubleshooted the whole car electrical system until I gave up and got both of my alternators tested - both were gone... M70 alternators are specific and therefore VERY expensive new, you cannot get any new parts to refurbish to fix mine. I ended up buying a used one from German Ebay and it's been gold ever since. Radiator... I only noticed this as I had the rest of the car disassembled as the engine side looked fine! This was a timebomb about to go off! I replaced with with an E34 540i manual radiator which doesn't have now not required the trans cooler. I also chucked it on the weighbridge, I was hoping for a decent weight loss as I'm convinced the manual setup is a lot lighter... it was still a whopping 1750KG!
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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The last update brings us up to the very point of the first Lockdown... Matt was still borrowing the car and he did great work finishing off the bits and pieces I hadn't completed. He did the exhaust, tidied up the interior and gear surround, sorted the wheels and tyres, dialing in the brand new BC coilovers and setting the ride height. He worked pretty tirelessly for a month or so, just about got it working really nicely.... And it stopped working! Matt phoned me up, the car was refusing to start, at all... He managed to get the car bump started and drove it back over to the farm to drop it off. I felt really bad since he really didn't get the use of the car that he really deserved. This then started a dark period of my life I call The FIXENING... From the start of lockdown until the early summer I was constantly fixing the 750i. Starter MotorReplacing starter motors on M70 V12s is the stuff of legends and I was absolutely dreading it. Nothing is simple to do with the M70 and it's my opinion this car was never designed to be worked on anywhere than the main or specialist BMW dealers. It's unreal. For example even swapping spark plugs is a major procedure, when I had to do mine it took me 2 hours and disassembling most of the engine bay. The actual M70 engine is very compact as the heads are single cam and the V angle is quite steep, it's easier to swap the main bulk of the engine into other smaller BMWs than the later quad cam M60 V8. The problem with the M70 is the inlet manifolds, they are MASSIVE and pretty much stretch between the two suspension turrets... They are also hard to remove. I troubleshooted the car and everything pointed to the fact I needed to swap the starter motor. The procedure is to remove the entire exhaust system, removing both inlet manifolds from the left bank and then reaching forward past the gearbox to unbolt and remove the dead starter... It wasn't actually that bad! Confirmed dead! I took it home to disassemble. The other bad thing about M70s is the lack of spares, and most are M70 specific. I got it nicely laid out on a piece of ply on the dining room table, undid the two halves and the thing exploded everywhere... It turns out that some M70 starter motors use a plastic ring gear on the OEM Bosch starters - great idea. I actually have a spare M70 kicking about and luckily it not only had a starter, but the improved metal gear version. I rebuilt this one and gave it a good greasing before reassembly. I cleaned and rebuilt this one, giving it a good greasing before reassembly. Success! Back in action... My dad at the wheel!
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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I think I followed a guide online, I think I stuck the whole bag linked below into that bucket of hot water. I was seriously impressed with it, will definitely do it again if necessary. www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DJI8RA0/
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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I "finished it" just before the end of 2019 but it still had some niggling issues to resolve. Here it is driving out of the workshop under manual power! Matt, a friend of mine, was car-less and he has more spare time than me so he took the car early January, MOT'd it (went straight through!) and has been doing odd jobs on it since then. More importantly he gave it a wash and put it back on it's Hamann wheels. Ignore the 5 speed logo, I need to buy a new stick or swap the logo... Three pedals! The interior needs a good clean... Another thing Matt did was made a custom 3" half exhaust system for it
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Onto the brakes... I knew there was a problem with the brakes before I even started the project as driving the car around they were sticking on, but I wasn't prepared for this... :vomit: It's an ex-seaside car and I think I can tell... I've been working on 70s-80s BMWs for 15 years and I've never seen anything like these. I stripped them down and soaked them in Citric acid for 2-3 days... A quick wire brush after... MILES better. I then fully rebuilt them with new seals, pistons, bleed nipples and painted them up. I actually never took a decent pic with them all refurbed, but here's a front one fitted with new EBC yellows, modelled on the newly installed BC coilovers Just for a laugh I thought I'd post up my old E32 735i manual in it's current state after I dragged it out of a hedge recently. It had two previous owners after me and was involved in a fairly bad accident a few years ago. Luckily it donated a good instrument cluster and it's heating resistors to the 750i cause!
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Early 2020: A year since my last update... Over the last year progress has been very slow with work and personal life blocking me from actually getting on with it. Long story short, it's now on the road! Anyway, back to last year. The manual drivetrain got fitted up, here the huge 850i manual flywheel is fitted up. It takes a whopping 280mm clutch! The colossal 850i manual box got heaved on and I made a custom box cross member and re-used the standard 850i box support bush. The 850i manual gear shifter linkages had to be drastically shortened to fit the E32. I had to get the ali frame welded up elsewhere but the steel linkage rod was easily cut and shut to reduce the length. The original 750i automatic prop was customised to take the 850i manual flange at the gearbox end and was made to the right length. Some very nervous measurements were taken before getting it sent to JW Engineering in Bexleyheath, who did a superb job and it's a perfect fit!
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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2017: I gave myself a Saturday to see how far I could get... Not very was the answer, I unburied it and the box and then got the car into the workshop. Guargantua box... The box is double the size of any other BMW boxes from the same era! Late 2018 and early 2019: I actually start working on it properly! Three pedal V12! Just before the clutch master cylinder was fitted... Autobox off! BCs arrived for it last week
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Since this has popped back up to the top I thought I'd update this a bit further... I'm not sure all the photobucket links will work anymore. I bought this years ago but I only started working on it properly around 2019! This was soon after I bought it off Andy and stuck on the Hamanns with too smaller tyres, the tyres being a leftover when the Hamann's were fitted to Tigran's old E46 touring! [thumb]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/302/18488139441_b067830b9e_h.jpg[/thumb]Some of it's back story... 2016: I bought it off Andy around 2015 as unfortunately he had an electrical issue with the autobox that caused the box to stick and lock in gears incorrectly. Sometimes it would be fine, other days it was unuseable. He tried everything including a new autobox (I think( but couldn't get it to resolve. He offered it to me cheap but I didn't need another project on my hands (for obvious reasons!), and I wasn't going to get any further with the autobox issue than he had. I said to him if I ever found a manual box then I'd have it off him, otherwise I couldn't take it on. If you know anything about BMW V12 manual boxes then you'll know how rare they are... About a month later I saw a very bad listed ebay item "BMW V12" or similar, it was for a partially assembled V12 engine out of an 850i... With a complete manual box on the back of it. I couldn't believe it, and you probably wouldn't believe what I paid for it either. So now I had a partial V12 M70 5.0 engine, V12 manual box, V12 specific flywheel and clutch, gear linkage and the rear part of the prop (which was just hacksawed off on removal!). The 750i was delivered the next week. This is how it arrived, I got it even cheaper as I didn't fancy the black Style 32s that it came on In the end I fitted my Hamann HM1s One of the biggest issues is the fact it's going to be very hard to fit and route a clutch line and bolt up to a master cylinder due to the colossally wide inlet manifolds. The V12 itself is very compact, but the inlets are massively wide. I even considered pulling the engine to fit the box and do the master cylinder/clutch line at the same time but one of my mates suggested trying a braided clutch line instead. The V12 clutch is rare and expensive, there wasn't much wear on the pressure plate but the friction plate had seen better days. So I had it refurbed with new friction material and springs by Precision Clutches, they did an awesome job
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Last Edit: Nov 3, 2020 13:42:36 GMT by rob0r
E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Brilliant stuff!! I love the grinders and chop saw storage, definitely nicking that for mine. I have that exact same chop saw which I actually on use on wood currently, it's one of my best ever purchases, total bargain.
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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The Tractor Thread.rob0r
@rob0r
Club Retro Rides Member 104
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Aug 19, 2020 11:31:13 GMT
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A couple of our badbois
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Jul 17, 2020 10:03:35 GMT
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Better late than never, this returned to the road as a V12 6-speed manual earlier this year...
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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1972 BMW E3 3.0sirob0r
@rob0r
Club Retro Rides Member 104
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BMW250L It still exists, it still hasn't moved any further though!! I currently have no plans with this in mind.
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Last Edit: Oct 4, 2019 12:27:16 GMT by rob0r
E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Dez I still have those m535i E28 trailing arms and brakes complete... The more I look at this car the more I like it! I had written it off as a donor only!!
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Oct 25, 2018 16:44:48 GMT
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Epic. Don't paint it, slam it, nice wheels = amazing
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E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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