AC Schnitzer - A 92 525i/5 Rehabilitation

[danespann]

Welp, I bought another single stage alpine white car I didn't need. Being a 92, it’s equipped with a non-vanos m50 and a ZF 310z.

It's kind of a pile and has 300k miles, but the non-replaceable panels are straight with a clean title. Plus, it has a ZF and some cool parts.

So, this car has lived a rough life. I’ve known of its existence since at least a year ago when Danny and I went to look at it in Yuma. The owner at the time said he only really started the car on rare occasions. We were told the roof was dented and the windshield smashed from his drunk friend jumping on the car. The owner fell asleep before we arrived so we were unable to test drive or buy the car at that time. I did take a couple photos:






It’s had 3 owners since that guy, 2 of which I’ve been in contact with through Instagram. The car received some minor fixes along the way such as un-smashing the roof and a new windshield and exhaust, but it has stayed largely the same and I got to see plenty of videos of the car doing donuts or burnouts during this time.

Photo seller sent me:


Went to a track day in Tucson with Danny and picked the car up afterwards before driving it back to the shop. Just a pair of 300k-mile ’92 525i’s. Stock vs ACS kit.



Car made the 110 miles back to the shop alright, but boy does it need some work. Discoveries made:
-Not a bushing in sight in the entire car
-Front shocks shorter than stock or even B8s(maybe corrado shocks?)-super blown
-Diff makes noises and they’re not good (it’s open) no bushings here either
-Rear tires different sidewall sizes (every tire is different)
-Clutch fan: locked
-Radiator: not mounted
-Thermostat: open
-A/C: NO
-Headlights: NO
-Cruise control: NO
-Doors: SMASHED
-Sound system: BUMPIN



You may be asking yourself why someone would buy such an awful car. The answer is simple:
1. It was very cheap
2. These things are hard to find these days
3.

Okay, on to the cool parts. It has (most of) a genuine AC Schnitzer body kit, homemade coilovers with K-Mac camber/caster plates, and a set of AZEV type B wheels. Also, black interior is decent.







I wasn’t going to start a thread on this thing yet, but I’ve already started fixing things.

-Swapped the non-working and beat up climate panel for a good one from a ’95 car. Chased and fixed a bunch of wiring under the back seat to get the ac buttons working and fuses to stop popping.



-Swapped the broken bumper for a decent correct color one I’ve had sitting around. Added some beat-up trims:



I’ll go pick up some driver’s side Alpine White II doors asap along with some stock headlights to get rid of these awful things:

[BleedsBlue]

I LOVE IT. You deserve a badge or award at this point for stoking the forum with nice cracklin' build threads aplenty. Bravo

[Mless5]

Nice pick up!
If you will be tending to front suspension, can I ask you to take some picture of those camber plates from the other side?

Thanks.

[danespann]

Nice pick up!
If you will be tending to front suspension, can I ask you to take some picture of those camber plates from the other side?

Thanks.

Sure, I'll probably be selling them too as I have other suspension for this car laying around.

[dannyzabolotny]

I LOVE IT. You deserve a badge or award at this point for stoking the forum with nice cracklin' build threads aplenty. Bravo

I should get one too, for being the constant enabler lol.

I’m stoked to be a part of yet another Dane project, haha. I drove this 525i yesterday and it kinda reminds me of my 525i when I first bought it— the drivetrain is pretty good but the suspension/shifter are super sloppy. It’ll be a nice driving car once we give it some TLC.

[e34 kurtis]

THIS. This is what it means to "save" a car. Saving a car isn't buying a clean example and giving it a good wash before posting it for sale, this car and my Bronzit Bomber are prime examples of what saving a car really looks like. Keep it up, I'm sad I can't be around anymore to help out in person. I'll just have to show my support from a distance now.

[BleedsBlue]

I've run across a few sets of K-Mac plates, and they are old school but pretty solid pieces.

I should get one too, for being the constant enabler lol.

Absolutely!

[danespann]

I LOVE IT. You deserve a badge or award at this point for stoking the forum with nice cracklin' build threads aplenty. Bravo

Ehh, my award is having fun with these cars and having relatively reliable transportation.

- - - Updated - - -

I should get one too, for being the constant enabler lol.

I’m stoked to be a part of yet another Dane project, haha. I drove this 525i yesterday and it kinda reminds me of my 525i when I first bought it— the drivetrain is pretty good but the suspension/shifter are super sloppy. It’ll be a nice driving car once we give it some TLC.

Thanks for helping get it home. Drives better than I thought it would.

- - - Updated - - -

THIS. This is what it means to "save" a car. Saving a car isn't buying a clean example and giving it a good wash before posting it for sale, this car and my Bronzit Bomber are prime examples of what saving a car really looks like. Keep it up, I'm sad I can't be around anymore to help out in person. I'll just have to show my support from a distance now.

Also sad you can't be around for it. Not like Phoenix is worth the current insane prices anyways.

- - - Updated - - -

I've run across a few sets of K-Mac plates, and they are old school but pretty solid pieces.

I had a set long ago with my first ever suspension setup on the white 535i that I bought new. Disliked them quite a bit there. They seem less squeaky on this car but these things have some miles and have definitely moved around as one is centered and the other side has a ton of negative camber and extra caster.

[harambeto]

The AC Schnitzer kit is just so awesome.. Does anyone know where they sell replica kits? Only place I found was: https://lw-performance.eu/product/bm...v=c562607189d7 but I couldn't get hold of their customer service to ask a few delivery questions I have. Has anyone used products from this website? I

[JThomp33]

Another +1 regarding saving these 90's gems. I am still on the hunt for one (or two) examples in the U.K. that won't need welding/rust work. Keep up the great work!

[danespann]

After much sitting around, this car received some work.

Started it up and drove it the ~40 miles to the shop loaded full of suspension and wheels to get to work. It looked absolutely slammed with all that weight on the blown suspension.
IMG_4154 by Dane Spannaus, on Flickr

It received:

-A full cooling system besides the radiator that was pretty new.
IMG_4158 by Dane Spannaus, on Flickr

-New belts, new tensioner, and new INA idler pulleys.
IMG_4159 by Dane Spannaus, on Flickr

-Bilsteins and Eibachs from my old Bronzit 535i.(New rear shock mounts)
IMG_4156 by Dane Spannaus, on Flickr

-The H&R springs that were on the car were deforming and sliding over the shock perches in front and rear.
IMG_4205 by Dane Spannaus, on Flickr

-Thrust arm bushings and some good used tie rods that aren’t bent.
IMG_4191 by Dane Spannaus, on Flickr
IMG_4180 by Dane Spannaus, on Flickr

-Finished it off by throwing my style 9’s on that have fairly fresh rubber. While the car definitely drives much nicer, I don’t know that I love the bilsteins. Maybe I’ll buy some coilovers or softer dampers for this car if I end up keeping it. Not sure where this year will take me.
IMG_4208 by Dane Spannaus, on Flickr

[dannyzabolotny]

Another M50NV car being fixed up always warms my heart

[atl530i]

I'd love to find another pre 7/92 M50nv 525i 5 speed. I liked mine a lot. Good progress and nice save. A lot of people would have parted it to swap the transmission and drivetrain into something else.

[dannyzabolotny]

I'd love to find another pre 7/92 M50nv 525i 5 speed. I liked mine a lot. Good progress and nice save. A lot of people would have parted it to swap the transmission and drivetrain into something else.

Good thing we're not those people, lol. I also have another M50NV car that I've been quietly fixing up. Gotta keep all the M50NV cars alive!

[atl530i]

Was this Ben's car? It looks familiar lol

[danespann]

Was this Ben's car? It looks familiar lol

Yes, I did buy it from Ben.

[circuit.heart]

God those springs are horrifying. Good thing you caught that before it slipped all the way over the perch OD.

[danespann]

God those springs are horrifying. Good thing you caught that before it slipped all the way over the perch OD.

I looked up the H&R part numbers and they appear to be E61 535XI springs. Strange setup but it did sit nice. Since the perches on bilsteins can be swaped, I do wonder if one could make this work well. No point with modern coilovers though.

[danespann]

-This car received a little more love in the shape of a new driver’s door. Danny joined me to take the door from a ’92 535i parts car in the correct color. Everything out of the door had already been pillaged but it was a metal door handle car so we transferred all of the plastic door handle stuff over as well as the regulator and wiring harness. This involved making some templates to drill new mounting holes for the latch assembly and we had to clearance a spot for a connector. Overall not too awful but I would recommend just getting the correct door if anyone is thinking of doing this. This does leave the car with matching keys and fully working locks and windows still.





-The car also received a new set of wheels. These were the 16x8 ACS wheels that Danny’s NV car came on; a perfect fit for this car’s matching body kit.

[sugaki]

Great build and nice how you're giving this the proper love it deserves. Always liked that rear skirt, more than even the M-tech bumper. Just need to front to finish the look (I'd love to get those mirrors too...)