Earl

Dang

The list of requirements from the boss was extensive.  

Could use silicone...

As you all have seen we have been on the lookout for a replacement for our trusty E38 after a decade long love/hate relationship.
The saga of the '10 AW 535i M-sport had begun on a calm 40deg. morning of 24th of Feb. with a 9am hop from Mitchell to Santa Barbara via a tiny layover in Denver.
Outside of the usual Alpha female berating her spouse, and rearranging the overheads to fit her overstuffed "should have checked" carry-on, was an uneventful 5hr flight.  Even the 3mo. old 2 rows in front was happy and quiet the whole flight.
Upon landing at 1:30pm. I was quite disappointed in the famed southern California weather since it was only 52 deg. out. “frigidly cold” as per my Uber driver to which I chuckled and informed her of my origin.
After meeting the PO and inspecting the car. I found everything as expected and a solid one owner example with all the gadget SWMBO requested. After a brief negotiation, we sealed the deal and I was off on the trek to the great white north.
With a detour for a small photo shoot near the beach, I started my way through The LA suburbia by 6pm heading east to the desert. By midnight I hit the Arizona border area with the first of 2 heart attacks. Announcing itself with a loud ding “Oil level Low”. Instantly clearing any cobwebs from driving and fueling an instant panic. I pulled over and instantly looked to verify the sensor reading, to my surprise no dipstick to be found.
Checking the display confirmed the low level and started the hunt for a quart of compatible oil at midnight in the desert. Limped her to a truckstop 5mi down the road and found the oil selection to be less than ideal. One last quart of Mobil1 5w30 called my name from a dusty shelf. I thought “good this will work” until I hit the counter and was greeted with “That will be $14”. What for a quart of oil? I thought. I guess you got to take it like a man you got no choice. Only to find out that my CC company decided that my last 2 gas purchases looked suspicious and locked my account grrrrr. Another thing to do in the morning.
Now topped of and car seemingly happy, I continued down the road. Another 10 min went by before another “Ding” and a yellow triangle with a round whirly thing shows up in the cluster. Instant panic and blood pressure spike!! Is this the infamous Water Pump warning? A glance at the other display relieved my panic with a Freezing Temp Warning.  After another hour hit the Lake Havasu area and found a rest area to crash for night.
With 6hrs of shuteye under my belt I woke Sun. the 25th. to a sunny crisp morning and a nippy 31 deg.  After a supersize cup of Joe and a jelly filled something or other was acquired, I headed east through the southwest scenery.  Beautiful sunny weather all day through Arizona and New Mexico with temps bouncing from 32 to 48 deg.  With a few fuel and purge stops along the way, made it to Albuquerque by the afternoon and OKC by night. Finding a place to crash on the OK turnpike turned into an impossibility, and I pushed on into Missouri by 2am. That’s 5 states in one day.
Monday the 26th was just as the day before sunny and crisp. The trek continued through St Louis and Springfield IL. Arriving in Milwaukee by 8pm.  For a total of 2288 mi in 50hrs with 33 hrs of driving time.  The 535i performed admirably with a 29mpg avg. cruising @ 82mph. and no need to lift a wrench the whole trip.
 A couple of small issues were noted and a list of preventative maintenance was started. Another BMW road trip adventure completed and a E60/N54 service/support adventure just beginning.

Snap was doing a feature on one every once and a while but that died=(

You could fly Southwest...all jokes aside, you could make $3500-$4000 fairly easily but it all depends on the demand at the time you part it. Some days you could sell a nice Vader interior for $700+. Other times it will just sit for months and collect dust until you basically give it away. The engine would be considered "high mileage" to some (most of my cars usually have 200k when I buy them lol) and anyone interested would probably want it cheaper since they would plan on rebuilding it or doing a full build on it. Also, what is all done suspension wise? If it has nice coilovers and the bushings were done, those could be sold straight to someone so they can just swap it into their car without having to fiddle with pulling their old bushings. It would also be a good upgrade for a non M car. The rear diff seem to be going in to $350-$500 range lately depending on the ratio as well. It all depends on how long you want to sit on parts and how far you want to get into stripping the car down. 

Currently parting one right now. I'm selling stuff cheap and it's going slow. People want parts but I feel like the majority of these people have less than $5 to their name. 

It's interesting how a feature starts at the top end cars like 7 series and over time trickles down.  I worked on an e32 740iL that had an aux electric water pump so that you could continue circulating coolant and heating the interior for a while after shutting the car off.  

Great LS swap candidate

Great LS swap candidate

I'd drive it lol

Del Sol is back on the road=)

Del Sol is back on the road=)

Conversely, I don't understand the sunroof circlejerk. I've had cars with them, but don't find them useful or desirable. Why would I want the extra weight, complexity and leak potential if I could be perfectly happy without it?
Being forced to have things I don't want in a car (size, weight, gadgets) is a bigger problem for me than not having things that I do want. This makes a slicktop a glimmer of hope and sanity in a world that is both hopeless and insane. Please don't take that from me...

Did the ND replace the Evo? 

And the fact that it is manual=P

I really like the MOMO mod 78 and Monte Carlo. I currently have them in 2 cars. Whatever you buy, go name brand.

EARLLLLLLL.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
 

Could use silicone...

Could use silicone...

Del Sol is back on the road=)

i don't even like e36s that much, and thats a low blow. the TI is 100x better than the abomination of a car they call an x6. (pronounced "times 6" because its 6 times uglier than everything)
 

Split loom, I got the amazon link from KaiserRolls' thread, I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

In case anyone is tempted Southwest on sale to Atlanta for one-way ticket is at $175 and up for a nonstop  "wanna get away fare".
Hey that is cheap, time to start trolling the ATL Craigslist to see what else might pop.

I had driven that car before too and that clutch is super stiff lol. The brakes could put your through the windshield too haha