One Bad V12 - 1998 750iL E38

[Hueristic]

I like everything you've done up to that spoiler and angle eye's/brake led comment. just say no.

[Nrphlly1]

Gorgeous Car. V12 has made me not even look at my V8s anymore. Front seats are excellent upgrade.

[Aitch]

Apparently I never posted decent photos of the new wheels from the side. Here are a couple, still on the stock suspension.

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[Hueristic]

Apparently I never posted decent photos of the new wheels from the side. Here are a couple, still on the stock suspension.

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They look fantastic, wanna post a shot from the direct back?

[Aitch]

[Jeremy Clarkson voice]: Alright, SitRep:

Front ST coilovers are installed. Ride is very good, and I am still clearing speedbumps with impunity. I think they can go down another 0.5-1", but I had to set the spring perches a bit higher to clear the wheels. Didn't realize it is common to run spacers in the front with coilovers, but luckily I've got room under the fenders so some 10mm spacers are inbound.

Once the spacers show up, and I get the rear coils in, I may experiment with going a bit lower. The rake I have right now is actually perfect, but I want to eliminate a little bit more wheel gap - but that is also dependant on ride quality, and being able to clear speedbumps. Not only the ones in my complex, but my daily commute is over some 10mph speed-calming bumps, and currently I'm still driving over those like I was before. I really want to strike a balance between agressive ride height and not having to crawl over everything. I'm not opposed to having a ride height essentially like this if the driving experience is markedly better.







Now, that freshly washed paint looks pretty mint right? From a distance, yeah. But the majority of it has some degree of significant swirling, with some marring and waterspots. The roof clearcoat doesn't look particularly glossy (I think it was re-sprayed right before I purchased it, but cheaply). And a large bit of the clearcoat over the driver's wheel bubbled and chipped away.



(the driver's side fender is also a bit faded and has a spot of clearcoat ready to fail from the sun)





I know the best answer is re-spray. But I scored some sweet Arlon vinyl on close-out, so later this spring the car will be getting a new color (still refined and classy IMO). No spoilers yet though.

Now, today's project - cleaning the headlights. The inner lenses were very yellow. I tried Heuristic's method using OFF spray to clean them up. They're not perfect, although they look pretty good in pictures.

Before:





After:



I also installed bi-xenon projectors into the high beam housings, since I had them lying around already. They are not yet wired up, but when they are I will have dual low beam projectors, while retaining the high-beam functionality. I'll just need to code out the high-beam bulb warning since the high-beam wires will only be connected to a switch inside the bi-xenon projectors.

The passenger side (which the previous owner replaced) unfortunately still puts out significantly less light than the driver's side, even after the cleaning and new D2S bulbs on both sides. I'm wondering if it's the silver layer of the inner reflector being cloudy, because the projector lens itself looks pretty good now. Luckily the extra projectors will make up for this in the near future.



The remaining news is parts gathering. One of my rear ashtrays is badly chipped:



Now I have some wood vinyl samples inbound, because I'm going to wrap the rest of the wood trim. Lots of it is cracked, and the majority of it is a cloudy mud brown color. Yes, I could have it refinished, but I want to modernize it a bit. I'm thinking something a bit darker and matt. We'll see what the samples look like. But I actually think the wood ashtrays look out of place - like the designer just sprinkled as much wood around as possible.



So when I spotted black leather ashtrays on eBay, I jumped on them. These will be much better:



Also, like most original headliners, mine is sagging:



I'm most likely going to re-do it in black, so back on eBay I found black grab handles from an X5 (not leather, but oh well) and black cloth visors (again no leather, but 10x cheaper).



And just to sum up, here's my running to-do list:

Done:

• Clean in/out
• Clean engine
• Re attach door trim
• Re-fill coolant
• Repair front kidney grilles - repaired broken tabs
• Replace trunk struts
• Replace front control arms, alignment
• Muffler delete
• 19" wheels, tires
• Replace front seats - Sport seats
• Smaller steering wheel - M-Sport wheel
• Gauge cluster rings
• Clean inner headlight lenses
• Replace HID low beam bulbs
• Install H1 bi-xenon housings in high-beams

To-do

• Glovebox latch (stuck closed)
• Replace side mirror panes (De-laminating)
• Driver's door card replacement if possible (slightly worn leather)
• Re-upholster headliner, pillars (sagging headliner)
• Buy rear driver-side window shade frame (missing)
• Re-dye rear deck carpet when it's out (faded)
• Wrap wood trim w/dark wood, brushed steel etc.
• Replace upper windshield seal (wind noise)
• Speakers/stereo/navigation - speakers are actually very good
• Coilovers - front installed, rear to-do

[Hueristic]

W0w, your really coming along nicely! GJ

[Aitch]

Result

[NordmanMg]

Nice job, you can wet-send whole car with 2000 grid then 3000, then some fine buffing compound and it will be like a mirror, except where clear coat is pealing

[Aitch]

Nice job, you can wet-send whole car with 2000 grid then 3000, then some fine buffing compound and it will be like a mirror, except where clear coat is pealing

Yeah that's the thing, I'm afraid of going through all that effort and the roof, rear quarter, and front fender would still need a respray anyway. Put that together with 17 years of California sunshine and I'm not confident in the life of the existing clearcoat.

[.Tom.]

Great progress on the car, looks good. Welcome to SD!

[kc jr 54]

Yeah that's the thing, I'm afraid of going through all that effort and the roof, rear quarter, and front fender would still need a respray anyway. Put that together with 17 years of California sunshine and I'm not confident in the life of the existing clearcoat.

Exactly.. If you already have clearcoat failure on that section i wouldnt risk a wetsand. A decent polish to bring it back to life somewhat, maybe, but even then its a gamble without a paint depth gauge. Dullness on the roof can just be clearcoat failure showing itself there as well, especially if there is no orange peel present.

[Nrphlly1]

Love your progress man beautiful car. That leather is soft I replaced the "wear items" with durable vinyl. I'm in the same boat as you. lol I hope I get to buy another one.

[Aitch]

Love your progress man beautiful car. That leather is soft I replaced the "wear items" with durable vinyl. I'm in the same boat as you. lol I hope I get to buy another one.

Thanks. One spot I'm likely to do that is the leather along the top of the driver's door card, which has a small tear on the back corner. That's an easy replacement with vinyl, did exactly the same thing on my dad's MGB.

[RVAE34]

Nice work on her!! I think it will look perfect when it comes down a tad more.

[Nrphlly1]

Thanks. One spot I'm likely to do that is the leather along the top of the driver's door card, which has a small tear on the back corner. That's an easy replacement with vinyl, did exactly the same thing on my dad's MGB.

Let me know if you need one, I think my local scrap yard has them. I'll send it, just handle the shipping fee no problem.

[franco90]

WOW nice set up

[purplecty]

Find a painter who does sidejobs and let him paint it up. Just remove all the trim, bumpers and lights for him. Plenty in cali...

[Aitch]

Find a painter who does sidejobs and let him paint it up. Just remove all the trim, bumpers and lights for him. Plenty in cali...

Vinyl roll for the exterior is already in my closet..... plus get a paint job for $250? (the price of the vinyl, 25 yard roll) Nope


Ok, decision time. Which of these vinyls do you like to re-do my interior wood trim?





I really like the Ebony, but even though it's not pure black, it will still be black matte trim in an all-black interior. IMO the trim is there to contrast in color as well, not just texture. So really it's down to the Royal Oak or Mahogany.

Royal Oak is nearly the same as the OEM color (before it faded and got muddy), but matte and with a much coarser grain. I think it would look great.

Mahogany is a bit more unique, giving a redwood accent to the interior. I don't think it is TOO red, and again matte which should give it a modern look.

Thoughts?

[NordmanMg]

Ebony is more classy, but I think mahogany would look interesting

- - - Updated - - -

You know you can wet sand and buff/polish your wood to make it look good

[Aitch]

Ebony is more classy, but I think mahogany would look interesting

- - - Updated - - -

You know you can wet sand and buff/polish your wood to make it look good

Some of the cracks are pretty deep, can't tell if they are in to the wood or not. And I'm not certain that would address the muddy color of some of the pieces.

[Chief Rocka]

I vote Ebony as well! Nice 750 btw!

[dannyzabolotny]

I vote Mahogany, I think it would give the interior a really interesting look. I'm glad you're not going down the generic carbon fiber vinyl wrap route that everybody seems to take.

[Aitch]

It's gotta stay classy. A couple of friends commented they felt they were being chauffeured around in a German limo the last time we were out, and I don't want to lose that!

[Hueristic]

I would not go Ebony as it will just blend too much and you will lose the contrast as you mentioned. I prefer the Mahogany but either that or the Oak will look great.

[Nrphlly1]

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Aitch, I think the Ebony would look classy. I'm looking for the same color. The brown Has to go here too.