Hi guys!
Been a lurker here for a while now, aside from the occasional post, so I figured it'd be rude not to use a bit more bandwidth & whore my cars a little
Definately not as retro as most of the rides on here, but as BM's go I personally think it's not far off - and definately one of the last 'decent' shapes (mind you - anything pre-Chris Bangle is ok really )
It's an early (June 13th 1988 manufacture date) 535i auto, 62,000 on the clock when I got it, 67,770 on it now.. Bought it for £500 just over a year ago, after a couple of years with a Rover Sterling
- the Rover wasn't a bad car by any stretch, but not in the same league as the BMW to drive - that, and the gearbox died in the Rover..
How it was back then:
First 'mod' I did was US spec front marker lights/indicators:
Am looking at swapping with a guy in the US for the bumper trims too, with lighty-up reflectors on the corners - they go nuts for Euro trim over there!
Needed new tyres on it, so I picked up a cheap cheap set of metric rims/tyres from a mate - and promptly got keen sanding/polishing the lip & painting the centres black:
(Also seen in this pic - a light coat of rover nightfire red spray over the rear indicators - all red lights make a change from black tints etc!)
Next mission was to sort out the black parts - sills, under the bumpers etc - they looked tatty & needed fresh paint - so I thought "why not do them white, similar to later model Sport kits etc!
2 cans of Plastikote White Primer later - and damn! they're quite a good match for AlpineWeissII!
Did the sills, bottoms of the bumpers & the door handles in white (& thats how they still are today :lol: - the respray will happen one day probably, but it's just a daily hack so I'm not too bothered)
While I was at it, I thought I might as well fix the 535i badge on the bootlid, that a previous owner had superglued back on
Well that came off, as did the rough old BMW roundel - the roundel was replaced by a plastic badge from an old steering wheel centre, and the recess reduced to fit the new badge (half the size of the 'proper' roundel!)
And how it looks at the moment - yes, it needs a wash (not getting one yet tho lol), and no - the wheels no longer match - the metrics ran out of tread on the back, & seeing as how I take my 3 1/2year old in the car, grip is more important than looks!
About a month back, I was offered another 535i - originally to strip for parts for mine, as it had leather for a start!
Went to see it, and - apart from the gearbox being fubar'd (a-clutch pack gone at least - it only moves in reverse). The guy selling it said 'oh, I've got a working gearbox for it too, if you want it?' - so it came with another 'box thrown in for free as well!
slightly later model - December 1988! But is a 535i SE, and it pretty much all works! Could use a water pump too when the gearbox goes into it, but thats only £20-odd from EuroCarParts so no probs there..
Not bad for £100 I thought!
Been a lurker here for a while now, aside from the occasional post, so I figured it'd be rude not to use a bit more bandwidth & whore my cars a little
Definately not as retro as most of the rides on here, but as BM's go I personally think it's not far off - and definately one of the last 'decent' shapes (mind you - anything pre-Chris Bangle is ok really
)It's an early (June 13th 1988 manufacture date) 535i auto, 62,000 on the clock when I got it, 67,770 on it now.. Bought it for £500 just over a year ago, after a couple of years with a Rover Sterling
- the Rover wasn't a bad car by any stretch, but not in the same league as the BMW to drive - that, and the gearbox died in the Rover..How it was back then:
First 'mod' I did was US spec front marker lights/indicators:
Am looking at swapping with a guy in the US for the bumper trims too, with lighty-up reflectors on the corners - they go nuts for Euro trim over there!
Needed new tyres on it, so I picked up a cheap cheap set of metric rims/tyres from a mate - and promptly got keen sanding/polishing the lip & painting the centres black:
(Also seen in this pic - a light coat of rover nightfire red spray over the rear indicators - all red lights make a change from black tints etc!)
Next mission was to sort out the black parts - sills, under the bumpers etc - they looked tatty & needed fresh paint - so I thought "why not do them white, similar to later model Sport kits etc!
2 cans of Plastikote White Primer later - and damn! they're quite a good match for AlpineWeissII!
Did the sills, bottoms of the bumpers & the door handles in white (& thats how they still are today :lol: - the respray will happen one day probably, but it's just a daily hack so I'm not too bothered)
While I was at it, I thought I might as well fix the 535i badge on the bootlid, that a previous owner had superglued back on
Well that came off, as did the rough old BMW roundel - the roundel was replaced by a plastic badge from an old steering wheel centre, and the recess reduced to fit the new badge (half the size of the 'proper' roundel!)
And how it looks at the moment - yes, it needs a wash (not getting one yet tho lol), and no - the wheels no longer match - the metrics ran out of tread on the back, & seeing as how I take my 3 1/2year old in the car, grip is more important than looks!
About a month back, I was offered another 535i - originally to strip for parts for mine, as it had leather for a start!
Went to see it, and - apart from the gearbox being fubar'd (a-clutch pack gone at least - it only moves in reverse). The guy selling it said 'oh, I've got a working gearbox for it too, if you want it?' - so it came with another 'box thrown in for free as well!
slightly later model - December 1988! But is a 535i SE, and it pretty much all works! Could use a water pump too when the gearbox goes into it, but thats only £20-odd from EuroCarParts so no probs there..
Not bad for £100 I thought!
(in controlled conditions 
altho non running for all of 0.27 seconds after i got them home
