davintosh

I want this car. The price is right, and it has most everything I’m looking for in an e28… the 211 HP M30B35 motor (same as in my 735i), 5 speed, Style 5 wheels (best looking wheels on an e28), 3.73 LSD, upgraded suspension & torsion bars, Euro bumpers and headlights… it’s actually a grey-market European import, so not only are the bumpers & headlights original, everything in the cabin is in German! Basically, all of the hard stuff is done, just a few minor annoyances to sort out.

Here’s the seller’s ad from mye28.com:

1983 BMW Euro 528i – FOR SALE – Los Angeles

Saphirblau paint

M535i Gray Cloth herringbone interior (Manual sport seats)

M30B35 engine transplant from 89 735i donor with correct motor mount from Koala MotorSport.- Preventive maintenance at time of transplant: GMB water pump, water wetter, New Coolant Reservoir, oil pan gasket, crank seal gasket, OEM pilot bearing, plugs & wires. Head had DOT-r sticker but fell off after steam clean. Recently passed CA smog with no problems. Does need valve job adjustment, can have done before sale.

BMW e39 528i sport rims, professionally taken apart, all barrels straighten and polished by Al Reed in Anaheim (Plastic hub centric up front) – 235/45/17 Dunlop SP Sport 2000 E all around with good tread.

Hartge replica front spoiler (Paul L.)
Alpina replica rear spoiler

3.73 Limited Slip diff.

Bilstein Sport struts all around- BavAuto springs

Racing Dynamics (Green) adjustable swaybars front and rear (Part #196.81.28.010).
Front Racing Dynamics strut bar. Although the suspension is solid the lower control arms are in need of replacement. Upper control arms in March 2010 (Mayle Heavy Duty). Still has front end shimmy but not as bad.

5 speed manual transmission / shifter needs new bushings to have tight feel.

CARB Sticker, EPA & DOT importers paperwork in file, currently registered until July 2010.

Brand new not installed Blaupunkt Sydney R126 with Pioneer 4×6 front speakers and OEM premium rears.

Since purchased the OD (176k) hasn’t worked but roughly under my ownership (2/2007) the car has traveled about 4-7k miles. The paint is in decent shape with exception to the Hood and roof. The interior is in great shape also with its exception to the driver’s seat. Car is in storage in Gardena CA. Thanks for looking, please PM me with any questions or suggestions.

Sweet specs on that car, and lots of positive comments from the guys who know on mye28.com. The only things that could be done to make it better is to paint it and fix the upholstery. With the cloth seats, that’s done much more reasonably than with the leather that’s usually found in these cars. Adding a turbo to this car would be the absolute ultimate! But I’m getting ahead of myself… One goofy thing with it is that sunroof; most (if not all) e28s sold in the US came with a sunroof standard. Having a factory sunroof is great, but its presence does intrude into the passenger compartment a bit, making headroom a little short. The few cars that made it to the US without sunroofs are highly prized for that extra bit of headroom, especially on cars that find themselves being tracked or autocrossed regularly; those helmets can make a low roof feel even lower. I guess the nice thing about this particular car is that the aftermarket sunroof that was installed gives it some of the function of the stock sunroof without the headroom detraction. Plus I’ve been told it’s not your run-o’-the-mill J.C. Whitney cheapo, and is nicely installed. I guess I could live with it.

The seller started out at $5,900, but wasn’t able to find a buyer at that price, and has since dropped it to $5,000. The only things separating me from this machine is that — the price — and about 1,600 miles. sigh.

I still want this car.

I can’t say that I’ve ever seen one of these in the flesh (metal?) before, but that’s probably a good thing because I probably would’ve drooled on it. Yvonne was asking yesterday for hints on what I wanted for Fathers’ Day, so I pointed this car out. Something in her reaction tells me it’s not happening.

Although I’ll not likely ever have a chance at owning a car like this, it’s hard not to want it just a little. From the specs, the 507 is one awesome car, and the one pictured here, offered for sale by Fantasy Junction, is a drop-dead gorgeous example of the model. 3.2L OHC V8… 150 HP… 4-speed manual… 140 mph top speed… It was originally built to go compete for sales with the Mercedes 300SL Gull Wing coupe; the Merc ended up being the more successful car as measured by sales numbers, but I think the 507 is a much cleaner & handsome design.

Some of the guys over on mye28.com, where I first heard of this car, kinda pooh-poohed it because of issues they saw with the exhaust, the cheapo stereo (can’t disagree with that criticism), the missing spare and the dirty carpet. I say the rest of the car makes up for its shortcomings. But then again if I were in a position to shell out the $850,000 asking price (yes, that’s the correct number of zeros!), I think I would expect it to be much closer to flawless than it is now. But like they say in the ad for the car, “Cosmetically, it is attractive and makes a strong impression, but it is not perfect, which makes it an ideal car to use and enjoy.” Cars are made to be driven, not parked in a garage and endlessly polished.

My first thought when seeing that dollar figure was, no flippin’ way will they get that… But then I take a look at the eBay auction going on for it right now, and the price has topped $400,000 already with four days left for bidding. I’m guessing the reserve is somewhere north of $700,000. Time will tell…

Tonight was the first day of the 2010 3-day Automania car show, so the boys & I went downtown to see what there was to see, and very nearly missed what had to be the coolest set of wheels in downtown Sioux Falls. It wasn’t until we had walked through the entire show and were on our way home that we spotted this truck parked along 10th Street just down the block from the Blend Interactive offices.

There is a Diamond-T logo on the radiator housing, so it’s likely at least some of it started out as with that brand, but who knows what part. It had an original 1957 license plate hanging on back; historic vehicles in South Dakota are allowed to run with plates from the year of manufacture, so it’s a reasonable guess that whoever built it started with a ‘57, but the cab differs quite a bit from the photos I’ve seen of Diamond T trucks from that year. They all have a split windshield, so I’m not sure where the cab on this thing came from. The trailer had the name of a construction/concrete company on the side, but do you think I remember what it said? Dang; could’ve done a little real research…

It’s powered by a monstrous Detroit Diesel V8 topped with a supercharger and a turbocharger, but not much of a muffler on the exhaust!

Lots of cool details on the truck, like the polished aluminum front axle, the air-operated drum brakes all around, the bullet taillights, the minibike on top of the rear deck…

My apologies for the slightly cruddy photos, but it was getting dark, and they were shot with only the streetlights for illumination. Maybe it’ll be at tomorrow’s show and I can get some better shots.

While it’s not as polished as the other hot rod Diamond T I wrote about a couple of years ago, it’s still one awesome truck. And a functional truck. A one-off custom like this where the owner isn’t afraid to get it dirty is unique and extra awesome!

Some awesome Joie Chitwood-style driving with new Cadillacs… Why don’t we see stuff like this in the US anymore? Or does it still happen, but only in places other than Sioux Falls?

Anyway, it looks like a great promotional PR event put on by Cadillac in China. They seem to know where to find a big pool of potential customers.

Yesterday’s big news in the world of Formula 1 Racing, the sport returns to the US in 2012, and will be held in Austin, Texas! Just one more reason for me to visit that fine and funky city; not that there was any shortage of reasons before, but this means that I really need to do it, and have a really good reason for it.

I doubt there will be anybody doing donuts in the sand, but it should be a good time anyway!

This is the car I want. It just came up for sale in an ad on MyE28.com, and it’s all I can do to keep myself from calling the seller right now…

1983 BMW Euro 528i – FOR SALE – Los Angeles

• - Saphirblau paint
• - M535i Gray Cloth herringbone interior (Manual sport seats)
• - M30B35 engine transplant from 89 735i donor with correct motor mount from Koala MotorSport.- Preventive maintenance at time of transplant: GMB water pump, water wetter, New Coolant Reservoir, oil pan gasket, crank seal gasket, OEM pilot bearing, plugs & wires. Head had DOT-r sticker but fell off after steam clean. Recently passed CA smog with no problems. Does need valve job, can have done before sale.
• - BMW e39 528i sport rims, professionally taken apart, all barrels straighten and polished by Al Reed in Anaheim (Plastic hub centric up front) – 235/45/17 Dunlop SP Sport 2000 E all around with good tread.
• - Hartge replica front spoiler (Paul L.)
• - Alpina replica rear spoiler
• - 3.73 Limited Slip diff.
• - Bilstein Sport struts all around- BavAuto springs
• - Racing Dynamics (Green) adjustable swaybars front and rear (Part #196.81.28.010).
• - Front Racing Dynamics strut bar. Although the suspension is solid the lower control arms are in need of replacement. Upper control arms in March 2010 (Mayle Heavy Duty). Still has front end shimmy but not as bad.
• - 5 speed manual transmission / shifter needs new bushings to have tight feel.
• - CARB Sticker, EPA & DOT importers paperwork in file, currently registered until July 2010.
• - Brand new not installed Blaupunkt Sydney R126 with Pioneer 4×6 front speakers and OEM premium rears.

Since purchased the OD (176k) hasn’t worked but roughly under my ownership (2/2007) the car has traveled about 4-7k miles. The paint is in decent shape with exception to the Hood and roof. The interior is in great shape also with its exception to the driver’s seat. Car is in storage in Gardena CA….

$5900

The 528i was a European market model; it was originally equipped with the M30B28 motor, a version of the big-six that was for Europe-only. This car was imported after manufacture and federalized to meet US emissions standards after the fact. This one is a bit special though, as someone went to the trouble of swapping the 2.8L motor with the 207 HP M30B35 3.5L engine from a later-model 735. That’s the same motor I have in my 735i!). The 735i gets around pretty well with that engine in it; put it in a car that weighs about 1,500 lbs. less, and it would be amazing.

And then there’s the whole Euro look… The Euro bumpers look so much better than the 5 mph diving boards you find on the US-spec cars, and the headlights really dress up the front end. A lot of people convert their US cars to have the Euro bumpers & lights, but I doubt I’ll ever fall into a set that could be used on my 528e without paying through the nose. A lot of the hard stuff is already done on this car!

It does need a little help in a few departments; the paint on the hood & roof looks like it’s seen too much of the California sun (Rustoleum anyone?), and the driver’s seat shows the same wear pattern that so many sport seats display, so it could use some new upholstery. But re-doing cloth seats would be a fraction of the cost of leather! The shifter linkage needs replacing, but since I’ve already been down that road, that should be no problem. Or so I’d tell myself up until crawling underneath the thing to actually do the deed.

And it’s only $5,900 and 1,600 through-the-desert miles away. I wonder how well the A/C works…

I downloaded the latest Nordstrom’s vehicle list last night, and for once there was a new addition to the BMW section…

1991 BMW 735i, RED, 4DR, 3.5L, AT4, BAD MOTOR

Cool — another e32! My first thought was about whether there were any parts I could grab from it. The “BAD MOTOR” part told me that it wasn’t wrecked and hood might be a possibility. But the “BAD MOTOR” part also told me it was probably a Cash For Clunkers victim, and made me wonder if it was the same poor unfortunate I had seen at Graham Automotive last summer… I decided I’d head over to check it out the first chance I had.

Well, this afternoon’s weather was better than was forecast, so I went. And sure enough, that was the very same car. A little rougher around the edges, but I’m pretty sure it’s the same car.

The car has only been on the yard for a couple of days, and hasn’t even been moved into one of the lanes yet, but it’s already been picked over pretty heavily. The passenger door was gone, two of the door panels had been taken off, who knows what parts had been scavenged, lots of stuff gone from under the hood, tool kit emptied, dents & scratches all over… And of course the engine is toast, as is anything in the engine that would’ve been touched by the sodium silicate. Life in the yard is hard, especially for a Clunkers victim.

There were a couple of parts that I needed from under the car, but couldn’t get because it was still sitting on its wheels. I’ll have to come back for them. I did manage to get a coolant level sensor — mine has been reporting a low coolant level ever since replacing the coolant expansion tank two weeks ago — and a new glovebox — mine is missing a couple of pieces and doesn’t like to close without a fight — and a lower dash kick panel to replace the slightly ratty one in mine. I was surprised to find that the driver’s side floor mat was in decent shape, and it matched the color of the mats in my car, so I grabbed that as well. There were a couple of other guys grabbing parts off of it too. They didn’t care that it was a BMW at all; they were after speakers & stereo gear. I felt like chasing them off, but I guess it’s not my car…

While finding a car like that in the self-serve salvage yard, and being able to scavenge some parts from it is nice, knowing what that car looked like before and seeing what it’s become kinda breaks my heart a little. The car was incredibly well preserved; all of the interior bits were in good shape, and there was no rust on the car. If it weren’t for that stupid Cash For Clunkers program, that car would still be on the road. What a shame.

If you haven’t seen this before, you’re in for a treat. No teasers; just watch it. But make sure you’re not in a place where your laughter will create a scene (that’s the voice of experience!)

IMDB Info Page

My kids have asked me before why it is that driving a computer-simulated car in a video game is so much different than driving a real car. My off-the-cuff answer has been that the controls in the video game are usually much cruder than those in a real car. Imagine if you were driving down the highway and your steering was controlled by two buttons for left & right, the throttle was an on-off switch, as was your brake. Controls like that in a video game make driving pretty dodgy, but if it were in real life… I’m glad I don’t have to share the road with vehicles like that! Cars would have to be just as indestructible as their game-world kin.

The guys in this video were wondering something similar; how it would work if you tried to control a real vehicle from the typical video game driving perspective. The results, even with normal vehicular controls, are pretty hilarious. (There is some foul language in the video, so keep the volume low or headphones on if there are kids nearby!)

I’m guessing the drivers could improve with a little practice. Or maybe a lot of practice.

This YouTube video is a great reminder of why it’s a good idea to stay in the right lane unless you’re actually passing another car:

Yes, it’s true we don’t typically have Corvette’s screaming down I-90 or I-29 at around 160 mph (actually, that’s not outside the realm of possibility during Corvette Classic Rally week) but I’d still argue that it’s a good idea to reserve the left lane for passing. No matter how fast you travel, whether at the speed limit or a few miles over it, it seem that there’s always someone going faster. Driving the freeways around Sioux Falls, it’s not uncommon to find some yokel lollygagging along in the left lane while people are passing him on the right. More common though is to come up behind someone driving alongside another car at the same speed, creating a rolling roadblock.

I encountered this not too long ago… A pack of four cars driving about 60 (in a 65 zone where most people drive just under 75); three in the right lane and one in the left. I came up behind the car in the left lane & flashed my high-beams to let him know I’d like to get through. The guy in the driver’s seat turned himself almost completely around & to show me his middle finger! After that demonstration of civility, he did move out of the way, but swerved his car at me a bit as I passed him. I was able to resist the temptation to return fire.

Me; I try to stay out of the left lane on the highway whenever possible. Of course, there are times when not always possible to get out of the way as quickly as some people would like… But that’s their problem!