These are stock Herald wheels banded out by the legends at AC Fabrication.  I was blown away by the quality, finish and turn around time.   Thanks guys! These are off for powercoating this week and , if all goes to plan,  once the E28 is on the road the Cafe conversion can kick off in anger!

Show me a blue vinyl and corduroy interior and I’m powerless to resist.  Yes,  it’s happened again.

Whilst not even looking for another car, I accidentally bought this E28.  All the usual excuses apply: It was local, there was nothing on the TV and I was able to lay my hands on the pound notes to seal the deal there and then.  So, fate…or something then.

The finer details are as follows: It’s a 518i which is good for all the reasons my 316i was good: Fuel economy and light (relative) weight meaning it will be the perfect long distance motorway cruiser. It’s in original condition having been owned by a bank, used by the bank manager, and then given to him as his retirement gift.  It’s got every BMW service stamp from day one and is not far off immaculate. It was the test drive that sold me;, it’s perfect mechanically (having just had a massive overhall including a clutch/ fluids etc.), the loudest sound it makes is the injectors ticking.  It needs a couple of small blebs doing, a rear bumper and erm, that’s literally it.

I want to keep it OEM so am after a set O-G BMW style 15s or similar and of course it will be getting wound down on a set of coilovers I already have in the pipeline.  Still, don’t get too excited just yet; I’m taking a bit of time with this one as I have the luxury of it not being on the road or needing to be until I’m ready.  I’m aiming for March/ April and the better weather.   Should be a great cruiser for summer.  FIRE UP THE LAND SHARK.

Country houses and ’80s GT cars. I had it all.

I’m still not sure if it’s a good or bad thing, but the 924 has changed hands twice since I sold it and it now lives with a guy I work with; I see it EVERY day.

And what better way to start than with an update on the daily driver situation.  I say situation because I sold the 924 and had nothing to replace it with.  The Herald took up the slack for a week until, handily, Kay (long-term friend of car show origins and 3am Taboo enthusiast) got in touch about selling her Roadster.  I’ve know the car since she got it and it was a good one; rust free and with the right crank.  So, I threw some money at her in the dark and drove “Minky” back.  While she was awesome and really good mechanically, she’d suffered a little cosmetically and obviously was not noisy enough or close enough to the ground.  I was going to live with it for winter…

The following is made up largely of terrible, grainy mobile phone pics; mainly because my garage cam finally bought it  after a fall and I hadn’t planned on really going as far as I have with this car so I’ve cobbled together what I could find…

The usual Service work was carried out with all the oils and filters and being changed

I then ordered in some Gaz coilies.  Accidentally I upgraded to gold pros which, compared to the GHAs I had on the blue Roadster (which I thought were great), are a massive leap forward on all fronts.  These were duly wound down, with locking collars removed and bump-stops slashed.  I also replaced the track rod ends and a ripped steering boot while I was at it…you see how this is getting out of hand?  I also replaced a load of interior trim: Doorcards, gear knob, gaiter, ash tray and fitted a stereo and new aerial.

Sump Guard:

In a bid to reign it in a bit I took the freshly powder coated Fondmetal meshies out of my storage facility (the Folk’s garage)  that had come off my E30 and fitted some skinny rubber.  By fluke more than judgement the fitment it pretty tight; I’m running no spacers and still had to roll the arches.  15s make life easier on the undercarriage too…I’m not saying I’m sold out yet, but you know…

Wait, there’s more.  B6s are non-interference.  And I believe this, I just didn’t want to find out for myself so I fitted a new cam belt, tensioners and water pump.  This was just a further excuse to clean the engine bay (which turned out to be a massive job), paint some stuff and delete the AC/ Header tank/ Washer bottle/ Carbon Can.  Looks good and won’t explode, what more could you want?

Well, being a tart there was:  A good second hand front bumper and splitter went on (yeah, about that splitter…not quite the OEM splitter I was told it was when I paid, but for now it’s better than nothing).

The final flourish was a new exhaust and de-cat.  I loved the sound from the system I put on the blue Roadster, so just bought another one and made up another tail pipe.

 I’ll throw some pics up of the completed car soon…well I say completed, despite the fact it’s got a new hood on it I still want a hard top (I’ve already put the fitting kit on it) so not quite there yet..

Pics by RSVP

I’ve de-wipered it now too.

When I bought the car it came with all the original books and a huge folder of history.  Inside was every receipt for every bit of work the car has had, every tax disc, concourse entries and all sorts of press clippings from the ’80s to now on the 924.  I love going through this stuff and will be adding to it where I can.