My new Cirrus Blue '89 535i/5 Speed Thread

[Petrolheadpilot]

Sweet car, that interior is mint. What spline is the M-tech wheel? I also have an 89 535i and I know their column is different than a lot of the other newer e34s don't want to buy the wrong one.

Yep it’s the early fine spline wheel, this one came from an E30 325is, and the E28 will work as well, I think.


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[BleedsBlue]

Great reminder how mint this car is - loving the updates and tender loving care!

[Petrolheadpilot]

Got a little bit of work done this week so far. Applied my favorite wax, Ammo Blush. Car looks AMAZING I will take some proper pics of it soon.

Spent some time doing a bit of preventative maintenance tonight. Installed the stupidly expensive OEM wiper blades that fit the early cars with the goofy reverse J hook.

And replaced the fan belts. They definitely needed doing! The AC compressor one was a pain, but some YouTube video gave the tip of bumping the starter briefly in order to get the belt in place. Worked like a charm.




Surprisingly, none of the adjusting brackets broke teeth! I couldn’t believe that. But the alternator cooling duct snapped in two… always something



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[Petrolheadpilot]

I'm still here! Yet again, my Volvo has been taking up all my wrenching time lately... and the BMW is just trucking along like the reliable tank that it is!! Still absolutely loving the car though.

Spent some time today polishing up the metal interior trim around the windows.. it's always looked super grubby around there and has been bugging me. Very satisfying little job!
Photo Dec 01 2024, 3 06 47 PM.jpg

Photo Dec 01 2024, 3 11 41 PM.jpg

Attempted to change out the rear dogbones today, as they're looking pretty toast.. but of course I don't have a 22mm wrench for the top nut!! Amazon will be bringing me one soon... typical haha

Also attempted to bleed the brakes using a pressure bleeder, but couldn't get any fluid to come out of the bleed screw on the right rear side... do I need to have someone pumping the brakes in addition to the 15psi from the bleeder? Or is there something bad going on...

[dannyzabolotny]

Those door trims came out great, what did you use to polish them?

As for the brakes, 15psi should be enough pressure to get fluid out from the right rear caliper, as long as everything in the system is flowing. You can try doing the two-man approach with a friend to rule out a malfunctioning pressure bleeder— if you're still not getting anything out of the right rear caliper you might have a clogged brake line or a clogged bleeder, not uncommon on cars that sit a lot. Are your rear brakes wearing normally and/or getting the rear wheels dusty between washes? I've seen some older BMW's where the rear brakes barely worked at all and the owners didn't really notice.

[Petrolheadpilot]

Ugh, yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if something is clogged. The last record I have of a brake service was in 2014, and the car only has another 15k miles or so added since then. Brake dust buildup seems normal as far as I can tell.

Weirdly, the Bentley manual says to have someone pump the pedal 12 times, even with a vacuum bleeder, so I’ll give that a try. Still seems weird to me though.

And the trim was just some Mother’s metal polish with a dremel! Easy peasy.


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[Petrolheadpilot]

The 535i has been a flawless daily for the past month, as my Volvo has gotten worse and worse with its electrical issues. I get so much pleasure out of the E34, it’s truly the perfect car for me.



Only issue popped up today, after sitting out in the rain for a few days, I was greeted to a swimming pool in my glovebox again. The car sits slightly downhill on the driveway, so I’m thinking maybe the cowl drains can’t cope with that angle? Sunroof drains are clean but I haven’t checked out the cowl drains yet. Just letting it dry out for now since I have to take it to work in the morning.



I should be getting it booked in for a service soon with my mechanic. New brakes, flex disc/center support bearing, and maybe some new shifter bushings.

And I know it’s not a BMW, but I thought you guys might get a kick out of this… I discovered the source of the electrical issues on my Volvo. This is a big power cable that goes up from the battery cable and powers the main fuse box… never seen anything like this!! Supposedly a common issue on these cars, and a new one is on the way. Fingers crossed it solves my issue.



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[dannyzabolotny]

Believe it or not, grounds cables and power cables corroding is a really common issue on newer BMW's as well. F30's will often have non-working electric power steering because a major ground is exposed in the passenger side wheel well and gets corroded. And most of the F-chassis cars have cheap ground cables going from the body to the engine/transmission that corrode really bad because they're not covered by anything.

[Petrolheadpilot]

Hey guys! Not been much to report lately, car has been flawless as usual. Been driving it as much as I can while the weather is still nice. Awful heat and Florida humidity is right around the corner…

Did one little cosmetic upgrade this week, a new leather shift boot! Got it from Etsy, and I’m really pleased with the quality and color match, it’s really spot on. The old one wasn’t too bad, but it needed re-dying and I thought I’d go this route instead, glad I did!!



Just need to replace the shift knob now. It looks nice enough, but one of the internal clips is cracked so the knob comes off in your hand sometimes lol, not ideal.

Got a few more cosmetic upgrades lined up, finally found a set of electrical connectors for the smileys a while back, hoping to get those installed soon.

Power steering pump appears to be leaking a bit, so I’ve got the seal kit coming, that’ll probably be the next project!


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[Petrolheadpilot]

The 535i has been serving very faithfully as my daily driver for the last couple months! I’ve put my Volvo away in a storage unit, I need to take a little break from that car, it’s frustrating me too much.

But that’s all good as I get more seat time in the E34! That’s never a bad thing. It’s been doing great, only had 1 minor repair to do, the clutch slave cylinder started leaking. That’s the first thing that’s actually broken on the car in almost 3 years of ownership. Amazing feat for a nearly 40 year old car!


The old one was definitely looking a bit crusty.

Otherwise, just been driving and enjoying it, slowly bringing some little details up to my standards. Today I tried out Ammo NYC’s Oleo trim dressing, and it’s good stuff!




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[BleedsBlue]

Love updates like this