HipMF

116,4xx: 
Oil change and filter, used the oreilly’s house brand full synthetic because they had nothing else in 10w-40 and I figured that’d be better than running something lighter weight from Castrol or Mobil.
Replaced the two front tires with used takeoffs as a stopgap for when the 17’a go on, I’ve had approximately zero free time in the last month so that project has stalled. The fronts were down to the wear bars, rears are still okay for a little while, so just wanted to buy myself a few weeks before I can hopefully get the true summer set finished up. 
 
In other news, I bought another car! It’s crusty, non-running, and has more damage than I originally thought, but I paid less than $1k for it (and it’s a NC car, so really no rust underneath) so I figured that at worst it’ll get parted, and at best I’ll have a fun beater to use to keep miles off of the e34. 



Stats: 1988 535is, salmon silver over blue with a 5spd. All of the “is” specific parts are gone with the exception of the LSD. The only remaining seat part is the rear seat bottom, but I have a spare set of e30 sport fronts that I’ll be tossing in once I make some adapters. 
 
It appears to have been set up for track/DE work before it took the hit, it’s rocking bilstein sports all the way around with what I believe are racing dynamics lowering springs. I noted some new suspension bits like dogbones in my inspection of the car as well, so it appears to have been already at least partially gone through. Brake is still firm, and it has braided lines throughout. Interior is partially gutted, with no door cards or carpet and an electrical cutoff in the rear seat bulkhead. Overall, not bad for a car that’s been sitting for at least 5 years. 
 
Current plan is to try to get it running, then evaluate my costs and options from there once I can suss out the rest of the systems in the car. If anyone has e28 fenders, grilles and high beams/headlight assemblies they’d be willing to part with, I’m interested and on the lookout. 
 
I also picked up a set of 17x8.5 MOMO heritage 6’s the other day off their site, they’re holding a buy two-get two sale thru early September and I couldn’t resist. Hoping they show up quickly, at which point they’ll be installed on the e34 with some Pilot Sport A/S 3+’s. 

Spotted in Wautoma! It’s been so long since I’ve seen a 528e in the wild.

I did a 48(!) mile mini-adventure over to DeForest this morning to explore the fancy-pants bike path they have over there. The battery was still hanging on when I got back, but I'm pretty sure it was just about done. I'm obviously pedaling a fair amount, but my legs feel a lot fresher than they would if I tried something like that on my mountain bike.
I've racked up about 270 miles on this thing over the past couple weeks. Mostly going to work and shopping trips, but a couple joy rides obviously. The small wheels make the bike really agile and nimble, but the ride quality definitely suffers. I tend to cruise at around 12 mph, and only really put the hammer down when there nice smooth pavement.
Overall, I really like this thing. It's been a lot of fun to cruise around on and suits my needs really well. I did have some quality issues out-of-the-box though. UPS had obviously had their way with it. The battery was just laying loose in the bottom of the box. On my 2nd ride, I had it pop off of the bike and go skidding across the asphalt. The source of the problem turned out to be some loose hardware in the battery holder. That's fixed, but I still have a few wraps of electrical tape on there as cheap insurance. Looks a bit janky. There's also a tolerance issue between the front sprocket and crank spider which made getting the chain tension dialed in pretty difficult. Nothing too major IMO, but it would be nice not to have to deal with these kind of things on a brand new bike. I've heard that Propella's customer service is good, so I could probably go back to them, but so far I haven't bothered.

I bought an small e-bike, primarily for commuting to work without getting all sweaty. I needed something small, because I live on the 2nd floor and have no desire to haul an 80 pound bike up and down the stairs. My commute is 4 miles. Traffic is intense.

I bought an small e-bike, primarily for commuting to work without getting all sweaty. I needed something small, because I live on the 2nd floor and have no desire to haul an 80 pound bike up and down the stairs. My commute is 4 miles. Traffic is intense.

This guy gets it.
 

I’ve been daily driving the e30 for a couple months now. Other than one scare when it wouldn’t start at work it’s been great! Thought the starter failed after I got to work one day but it was actually the engine to frame ground. I assume the starter is grounded to the engine block? Anywho. 
 
Anywho, here’s some neat pictures from cruising around the area last night. 
 

Some cars just have a weird way of finding me. I was not looking for an F30, but then again, I am always looking for cars to buy and sell. After buying a 2008 Tahoe hybrid on a whim to tow my boat, I came across a listing for a unique Alpine white over Saddle brown fully loaded 2014 BMW 328D Xdrive that was lifted, deleted, and tuned. The listing stated that the owner was looking for a truck or Tahoe to trade. I messaged him thinking how dumb I would be to get rid of all of my tow vehicles (after just selling my other Tahoe), but at the same time smart because of the value difference and the possibility of finally retiring my civic hybrid of 327k miles. 
Fast forward a week later and I am a proud owner of another diesel BMW, and what better way to really prove a new cars "worth" other than to take it on a 3K mile road trip through the smoky mountain's.  I did some preparation, fixed some things, and fully inspected the car before I left, but safe to say I made it there and back without an issue.  I was thoroughly impressed by the cars capability by not only climbing up the side of a mountain with a bunch of heavily modded trucks, but keeping up with some other newer BMWs on the tail of the dragon.

For now, Im not really sure what the future may hold for the car, but I plan on keeping it for awhile. I have some thoughts in my head of lowering it back down, but for now, Im just going to do some preventative maintenance and fix some of the odds and ends that it needs. This thread will probably be more of a log for me to keep track of such.
Here is what is done to the car:
Center Line Wheels 18x8 +35 (1 of 1) TOYO TIRES 225/55/18 Open Country Black Label Lighting 30" Single Row Light Bar D.H. VinylWorx Graphics Buzzken - 328d DPF/SCR delete JR Auto Stage 3 Tune Rising Tuning lift & level kit black kidneys trunk spoiler  

I`ve spent a fair amount of time and brake pads getting the fuel dialed. I suspect the heat issue is due to inadequate timing, but you really need a dyno to tune the timing at lower loads. Also (aside from the PCV...) need to get a weaker wastegate spring and wire/plumb some boost control, but this thread is supposed to be about why Earl hasn't touched his project, not about mine...
#vintage2023

We'll, this is definitely going to be a yearly event for us! The drive isn't bad and certainly part of the adventure.
The people and cars were amazing.... Even participated installing a turbo in a 2002 I the hotel parking lot the night before the show. 
 

Wasn't really feeling it today, but still managed to get a couple decent photos. I was surprised by how hard it is to get those panning shots.
 

We made it!  Not a single hiccup ( except for the Indiana roads beating us up) and even managed about 28mpg! 
The cars are rolling in from all over... Amazing cars.... I need to find myself a 2002 now, lol.
We're off to Greer SC today to attend "50 years of M" at the BMW CCA and check out the production facility and performance center.
Tomorrow is the big show, expect a big photo dump!
 
-Timmer 

Just got back from the area a few days ago. Weather was perfect! 

First good evening rainstorm to top off a hot and humid day. Hope yall weren't inside with the AC on. Weak shot from my balcony, but it's better than  nothing.

Colors.
(Tried to edit, but couldn't figure out which one of screens was lying to me, so I just cropped the jpeg from the camera.)

I had to move my car because they were power washing the underground parking area. First time it's moved in many months. Much feels. Should really get that thing sorted so I could actually start using/enjoying it. It's a pretty neat car.

Agreed. Odd. Makes sense, but also makes no sense. It's absurd; not in a Baldessari way, but in a way that your average car guy can understand. Big 'A' art for the little guy (given the fact that the world we live in is absurd and this is merely a reflection of it)?

I was a child once and it sucked. Not much else to add to this discussion...
Changed up my bag a bit today, but still got the best results from the old pen-f zoom, albeit with some assistance from a +2 diopter (aka close-up "filter").
 

Wife had an OB appt yesterday, baby is imminent aka next week. 

Much scared. No plan. Only read half a baby book. Baby seat still not installed. Looking for used BMWs instead.

The importance of physical media?
Threw Spotify a curveball today and it sent it right back at me. Listened to this album a bunch ~10 years ago and promptly forgot about it...
 

Over-reving resulting in non-catastrophic bottom end failure seems unlikely. Putting my $0.02 on bent valve(s).

The importance of physical media?
Threw Spotify a curveball today and it sent it right back at me. Listened to this album a bunch ~10 years ago and promptly forgot about it...
 

Over-reving resulting in non-catastrophic bottom end failure seems unlikely. Putting my $0.02 on bent valve(s).

Are we still doing this?
 

Are we still doing this?