1989 750il recovery

[jimmythefish]

Hi fellow E32 owners,

A couple months ago I decided to become the third owner of a 1989 BMW 750il. The first owner apparently was very meticulous with the care of this car. The second owner was a friend of the first owner but not so meticulous. Apparently the car was parked after he was told that the car was suffering from a transmission problem at around 169K. Fortunately the car was parked in a covered spot and out of direct sunlight, but unfortunately the car was still exposed to outside elements of dust and pack rats. Any individual who is familiar with southern Arizona, you know the destruction that pack rats can cause to wiring. As I interviewed the previous owner whom lives 1 mile from my work location, it was estimated that the car has been sitting for approximately 7 years. As a BMW sucker....yes I admit it......I could not see this car go to the junk yard. Therefore, I purchased the car and had it towed to my work property.

Background: I currently own 11 BMWs (see signature) and only 2 of them are not running, 1989 750il and 1959 502. I am not a BMW mechanic but I do possess some basic wrenching skills. Fortunately, I do have a mechanic that is familiar with BMWs that comes to my house to make repairs as necessary. FYI, this process will be slow since my time is limited.


This 1989 750il has become my "personal" project for 2 reasons: (1) I am too embarrassed to show my mechanic this car; (2) I really want to gain some more experience with wrenching on a BMW.

Without further adieu!

IMG_2722.jpgIMG_2632.jpgIMG_2631.jpgIMG_2630.jpg



Today, I removed the gas tank, pumps, and rear bumper. The gas tank is full of rust, the pumps, stainer, wiring harness in the tank, and sending unit are FUBAR!!! I have been shopping for parts and I have a few questions if any one can help.

1) Since the gas tank has rust, can this be corrected or do I need to buy a new gas tank? I am looking to make this car mechanically correct, therefore spending an extra 500 plus for a new tank is worth the hassle verses fighting rust in the tank in the future.....any recommendations?

2) Does anyone know of a way to buy a whole new unit that includes sending unit, wiring harness, pumps, stainer, hoses and carrier verses having to purchase all of it separately?

Thanks in advance! I hope to bring this car back to its former glory and it to be a nice addition to my collection. An E32 is a special car!

James

[shogun]

As for the tank, if it is red on the ground, that must not absolutely be rust, can also be slime from bad gas, looks the same like rust, I had that experience with a long time parked 750.
I removed the tank, cleaned it and then made the rust conversion process
Electrolytic Rust Removal http://www.instructables.com/id/Elec...val-aka-Magic/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyG0mu2T4u0
quite popular, worked well for me

[XAlt]

Good luck.

There was a guy on here with a Euro 730i with a rusted gas tank, I think he went with a plastic E34 tank but that's not available for us.

[jimmythefish]

Thank you for the help Shogun, your comment makes sense perhaps the red color is just slime and not rust. I will clean the tank more and see if it is rust. I have initially put some vinegar in the tank to do some preliminary cleaning and then I will go for electrolysis depending on the results.

Thanks XAlt hopefully the cleaning and electrolysis will do the trick....fingers crossed.

Today, I am ordering a bunch of parts for the E32 and my E38 needs new control arms too.

James