1989 750iL Progress

**SergeBMW** · 12-28-2017, 05:14 AM

I really wanted to document step by step everything that I have done to the car since I purchased it in a non running state. Unfortunately I never found myself to have the time to pick up the camera and take photos of all the mechanical work, just wanted to maximize my time and finish everything as quickly as possible. I was eager to drive this car!

First, I want to thank you all on this incredible community for all the help that you've provided, ive been on here for 10 years and it has been an incredible tool and resource for all things BMW. Ive asked for assistance for my old 735i and current E38 and E32 750iL. Anyway, I could not have gotten this car to where it is without BimmerForums!

So onto the car. The car sat for 3+ years before I purchased it. Found out it was a flooded car but was cleaned professionally. No one thought of the modules though! I paid $1000 for the car and so far I have spent approx. $3000 on parts, not counting the occasional labor costs for jobs I didnt want to be a part of (suspension)....

Yesterday I spent over 7 hours washing, clay bar, cutting, polishing, washing twice, and partly waxing the entire car. It was a long process due to how bad the clear coat was on this car. When I got it, it was in bad shape, but during the EML diagnosis and in between jobs, the car sat on my driveway for another 3 years. It was very dull and very rough. I am very happy with the results and the photos sadly do not do it justice. Yes, its not a pristine result, but its about 90% there and im happy to see such reflections on the car now. I did not get a chance to wax it last night so its in the garage for later today. I also found a great product from the Chemical Guys called Black on Black spray to restore my faded grills. I was going to paint them with trim paint, but was afraid of eventual flaking/peeling and did not want to deal with that. Bumpers will be coming off soon though for a repaint of that black trim. Results were amazing, was getting tired of seeing the bimmer with that grey grill.

At this point, I am planning on getting the windows tinted and also getting the A/C vacuumed, recharged and hopefully the system is intact. I have no idea at this point. I am hoping on doing both of these this week. Its too dam hot in Florida to drive around without these comforts! After that I think I will be able to relax for quite a while and just enjoy the car. Its been a long 3-4 years working on this and im finally at a place where I can stand back, look at Mila (the car) and be proud of all the blood, sweat and tears that went into it, and the occasional outburst of anger

... long nights... back pain... money... you get the idea.

I will be uploading some more photos as I do some finishing touches on the car and I will continue this thread until the car is complete.

Getting the new ANSA muffler put in. Got this on the Free section of Craigslist.

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Finally some much needed polishing. You can see the difference from the Black to Black spray on the grills.

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**SergeBMW** · 12-28-2017, 05:18 AM

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**SergeBMW** · 12-28-2017, 05:21 AM

And this is a spreadsheet of all the parts I have purchased and installed. Have to update the rows in blue for installed parts. I got behind on organizing this.

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**XAlt** · 12-28-2017, 02:55 PM

When you run the numbers, one thing's certain, the E32 is among the most "car" you can get. 2 grand or 10 grand invested doesn't really matter.

It's the same reason why I love old Land Rover products, you can put however much you want into them and still come out on top. If you want a running and driving car with XYZ nonessential features broken, it's extremely cheap, and a even perfect condition car is cheap enough too.

Depreciation is great

**SergeBMW** · 12-28-2017, 04:42 PM

That's exactly what I try to explain to everyone that tells me I'm in some money put. All in all total spent with the purchase of the car is 4 Grand and it's one hell of a car to be driving on the road. The satisfaction it gives me is more than any new car out there would ever give me.
Same with the E38s except they are a bit more problematic.

**mjimport** · 12-28-2017, 06:04 PM

Just to help your money pit argument. Ask people what other daily driven cars are more likely to appreciate (or are appreciating) than an old BMW?

Black Book values have gone up roughly 3% in the last few months. (Ref. 735i)

**YogiYogi** · 12-28-2017, 07:23 PM

Car looks great Serge, inspired me to clay treat my 735! May need a more professional detail as lots of random scratches and paint blemishes (bird poo left too long). Good info to be had from the Excel spreadsheet, especially for people who always ask how much these cars cost to maintain.. will give them some idea.

Anyways, couldn't agree more with comments about the E32. Lots of folks forget about depreciation, and just don't understand the pleasure of driving a well sorted E32 or any other BMW from that period. And for me another pleasure of ownership is that I'm contributing to keeping another great car on the road, and not in the scrapyard.

Look forward to following this thread.

**NE32** · 12-29-2017, 11:18 AM

It's looking good! I like the idea of the spreadsheet. I just keep a list of what I bought and when I put in on.

Always have a long conversation with anyone who ask about how much money I put into my 7. I never think "wow, I won't get this back" but more of "Wow, it's going to be that much better." Most of us aren't looking to sell them off but enjoy them. They are wonderful cars so why not make them last as long as they can?

**SergeBMW** · 12-30-2017, 01:38 AM

I cant begin to tell you how many people have come up to me and asked why I don't sell it and make a profit, or how come I throw so much money at such an old car. Really? Sometimes I just chuckle because even if I were to explain it, most people only see either a profit or a waste of money. They don't see it for what it is.
Hell I may be able to sell it one day and make back what I put in but I am in no way, shape, or form planning my expenses with that in mind. I also feel great pleasure in knowing that I am keeping another great BMW classic on the road instead of junking it. They are becoming more rare down here in Florida. Last time I saw one on the road was maybe 10 months ago.

Yogi, I used a rotary polishing tool which is what anyone would use with a good cutting compound or polishing compound to remove swirl marks or fine scratches. Black cars tend to show a ton more than any lighter color.

Below are a couple of videos of my first week of driving the car. I have replaced the original headlight bulbs with an HID kit from Amazon. I honestly didnt want to spend a ton of money on this, I just needed something brighter than the original halogen bulbs. They are 55w 5000k bulbs, I wanted a very white color. Only issue I had so far was that one bulb came DOA. Had them send me another. They are very bright and light up a great amount of the road. Sorry for the filter on the video, it had a bit of noise due to the low light and this helped reduce the noise. Color of lightbulbs is pretty much the same.

Link for bulbs
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

**SergeBMW** · 03-23-2018, 10:03 PM

Just some more photos of progress over the past few months

Before Polish

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After Polish

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Replaced the heater valves and aux pump with a used one from ebay for $50! This fixed the fuse blowing when turning on the A/C or heater.

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Notoriously noisy wipers on E32s are due to this rubber bushing rotting away until its metal on metal contact. Bushings were less than $2 each. One on each wiper arm pivot.

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**SergeBMW** · 03-23-2018, 10:08 PM

My old wood trim was beyond faded, and it was the only one in my car that was affected like this. Replaced with spare from ebay for $18.

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I was going to wait until I had my wheels refinished to add the new wheel emblems, but I couldnt stand looking at these faded emblems any longer. What a change it made to the car!

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**SergeBMW** · 03-23-2018, 10:11 PM

I used original BMW ones, never heard good from any aftermarket ones.

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I use FCP Euro for most of my purchases including the decal

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How she stands now

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**shogun** · 03-23-2018, 10:13 PM

Looks nice. I also just bought for the wipers the 2 DAMPER rings / rubber bushings 61611374257 , on my buddies 750 we did that with just cut rubber pieces as we did not have the bushes on stock, good improvement, also no more wipers touching the hood
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=61_0832

**SergeBMW** · 03-23-2018, 10:19 PM

Yes the wipers are very quiet now, cant hear them at all, makes the car feel newer haha. What I didn't understand though was why one had a flat bottom as in the picture. Both the holes on my E32 are just rounded. The flat one according to Realoem goes on the passenger side.

What I need to do next is front shocks this next week, I also am going to purchase your performance chips too, the V12 is great but still sluggish compared to my daily. Doesnt feel right for a V12. I will install them after I do the intake reseal + new injectors and spark plug leads. I need to get the DME number.

**biasvoltage** · 03-25-2018, 02:02 AM

Nice progress Serge!

**wrestlerdad** · 03-25-2018, 09:36 AM

Looking good Serge! You've inspired me to photograph and document the '94's resurrection. I haven't done anything to it yet except wash it and clean the interior. Keep up the good work!

**mjimport** · 03-25-2018, 05:52 PM

Great work!
I added new emblems on my 735 as well, it’s hard to believe such a small component can help the overall look..

**SergeBMW** · 07-30-2018, 10:34 PM

The emblems really do make such a huge difference. I kept procrastinating on the wheel emblems because I wanted to refinish them, decided the hell with it and put them on. Already made the wheels look much newer.

Past few months I've been doing some work to it. Will post more photos. Currently I am tackling the intake reseal on the M70. Heard it was a huge job by reading others experience, but gotta rate this one so far, on a 2 out of 5 on difficulty. So far today working patiently, I removed the passengers side intake using a 1/4 10mm socket and extension with grease on the socket. Worst thing that had happened so far was rounding out the fuel rail hex bolt. Looked damage from someone's previous work. Just used an extractor, will order another.
I also noticed brown dirty fuel coming out of my fuel rails. See photo... The car is driven normally, the fuel filters are probably original. Fuel tank really would benefit from a cleaning. Do you think new fuel filters will be enough? Or would it really be necessary to remove the tank and wash it all out? I'm really trying to avoid doing the latter.

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**shogun** · 07-31-2018, 01:18 AM

Most of the E32 fuel tanks (apparently not all, maybe based on built year) have a drain hole at the bottom, based on realoem yours should have one: 02 Screw plug M10X1-ST-ZNS3 07119904393, 03 Gasket ring A10X13,5-CU 07119963072 https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=16_0012
you will not get it 100% empty, as the bottom of the tank is not flat, but you will get out most of the fuel and dirt. Then use some cleaning towels and clean the tank from the hole where the fuel pumps are = from trunk side. Then replace both fuel filters and the short fuel hoses before and after the fuel filters. When the pump unit is out, clean also the pre-filter for the fuel pumps at the bottom of the fuel pumps https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/par...MW-750iL&mg=16
How to get the pump device out of the tank is shown on Johan & Sean site.

**SergeBMW** · 07-31-2018, 01:05 PM

Erich, yes in fact mine does. I may do this while it is in the car then. I can't have the car sit on the driveway for too long in this non moving state. I don't think I have much gas left in it, but I'm sure it won't be any good gas. I have no where to dispose of it unfortunately. May have to burn it carefully.

Should 2 new main filters take care of this? Or would they get saturated with dirt too quickly. I ask bevaue I have never changed a filter and do not know how much they really filter out. Looks like my tank may be in fairly bad shape.

Update on the work. Removed both intakes as well as the valve covers. Valves look pristine! Cams look good though they seem to look like they were overheated at one point in its life, no wear though. No loose or fallen banjo bolts! Do I dare mess with them or leave them be? Very small spot of a small bit of sludge, will try and remove it before closing it back up. Other than that, engine looks great. Going to go ahead and sand, clean and repaint the intake and covers in the meantime.

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**shogun** · 07-31-2018, 04:35 PM

There is the coarse particle plastic filter at the bottom of the fuel pumps in the tank, before the fuel goes into the pumps, this takes already most of the dirt from the bottom of the tank, then come the 2 inline fuel filters above the rear axle, and the finest particles (if something goes thru the inline filters) are catched by the small filter in the feed if the fuel injector.

**whiteghost1** · 07-31-2018, 07:50 PM

I would check the cam timing while you’re in there, seems like a no brainer since you’ve gone this far and is right in front of you.
Look forward to the updates - subscribed!

**SergeBMW** · 08-06-2018, 04:55 AM

For the sake of the new injectors, I am going to re-use the old ones for now. Later on I will remove the tank and give it a proper clean up as well as 2 new filters. I can imagine that if I put new filters now, they will just get clogged within a few miles.

Banjo bolts are all nice and tight. I am going to leave them be. I have bad luck going in to fixing something that isnt broken... always ends up worse off lol. Plus my guy that would have drilled them out is out of town for 2 weeks. Best I can do now is leave it or remove them and put some locktite on it. Recommendation?

I will be checking the timing whilst i'm there. Again, I feel as if I should change the tensioner, but the M62 timing chain guide issues have me with PTSD

**SergeBMW** · 08-12-2018, 01:06 AM

Finally finished the intake reseal tonight. Took longer due to last minute purchases of parts online and at the dealer. Summary of what I did:
- sand blasted and painted valve covers
- replaced valve cover gaskets
- new valve cover pcv grommets
- removed Banjo bolts and used some red loctite as well as new set of crush washers. Had to buy an in lb torque wrench for this and the intake.
- painted intakes a wrinkle black
- new intake rubber bushings that sit on the valve cover. Mine were flattened and skewed to one side.
- replaced DKs with a used but newer set. Pulled from a car that had 80,000 and was crashed. I got them both for $80 bucks.
- new fuel lines everywhere, especially the one that runs under the intake.
- new coolant reservoir (I love the un yellowed look)
- I used a permatex brand sealant that states on the box is the same or better as Hylomar Blue. Did not have time to wait a week more for the Reinzosil.

All in all in only took me about an hour and a half for removal of everything. Painting took time as well as waiting for sandblasting. Installing everything took a bit longer, about 3 hours worth but working in the dark. Was afraid to run the car because I want the sealant to cure completely, but I did run it for a few minutes. So I always had a slightly rough idle, air coming out of the exhaust was very "puffy". Now it started up and was incredibly smooth. Exhaust pressure is consistent and car no longer shakes when stopped. It feels so good, I almost took it for a drive, forgetting I didn't want to risk ruining the curing of the sealant. It does have an occasional hiccup here and there, I'm assuming that is due to the original injectors, and that nasty fuel getting to them. I'll address that in the coming month. I will also order some ignition leads as well + coils.

When I removed the gaskets I noticed 2 of them had a lot of carbon buildup on one edge of each, look like it was leaking quite a bit from there. One of my DKs was also leaking through the actual rod that runs from the butterfly valve to the spring mechanism. Smoke test showed quite a bit of smoke coming from there, hence the reason why I replaced both DKs. Has anyone had this issue and fixed it? Not sure what kind of seal is in there. I'd have to take a look some time. I would like to have a good extra set.

Sorry for the night photos, I'll post some better ones once I put the engine cover back on and test drive the car. Left it open for now until I know it's running good.

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**SergeBMW** · 08-12-2018, 02:23 AM

Bad news update:

I read the information online regarding the permatex sealant, says "Equipment may return to service immediately." So I went out for a drive, has about 20 hours of drying time on one intake and the other about 5 hrs. After the car warmed up it was fine, after a short drive, the bad misfire came back as if I had done nothing the past few days. Same issue as before, misfire when not just up to temp, but after a short drive. Cant be the fuel as it is fine before its up to temp and even if you give it gas. Seems to be a single component in the engine bay is getting hot and starts giving issues. I cannot pinpoint it to any single cylinder unfortunately. I'm thinking ignition leads... Worst part is, I had the BMW Dealer look at it, and they confirmed it was the intake gaskets causing the issue.
The car does feel tremendously better on cold start so the leak was an issue and has been fixed.

What a shame...