Daily project cars should be like this, simple and fun. Nothing major like engine swaps or turbo bolt ons, no high Horsepower numbers or track day stuff. Just driving a cool car and fixing it along the way.
Yea. Butttt, if i put all my monies into one car itll be even cooler :P My daily was a lotus exige, then an R32 GTR, then a cappuccino, then a 73 2002tii widebody, real wide For me as long as it takes me to the grocery store, it’s a daily :D
@@johnnypolex To me, a daily driver can be small, but needs to be a workhorse. Fit 5 people, carry luggage and travel far. It doesn't need to be spacious, so a small hatchback is all I need. That is to say that a Golf GTI would definitely fit my needs more than a Cappuccino. Otherwise, a more lowkey car like a Honda Fit with undertray could avoid more eyes (can't risk having one stolen, specially where I live). Daily drivers really depend on the lifestyle and personal contexts. I wouldn't risk driving a Lotus in public everyday in risk of being mugged.
@@NothingXemnas yep, its probably mostly personal context. I never locked my lotus doors. It’s a manual and hard to get in for most people so that alone was a deterrent. I lived in downtown atlanta smack dab in the middle
Honestly I really enjoyed this budget conscious build, it’s a bit of a departure from what we usually see here but in all honesty I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say we definitely enjoy the hell out of Thrifty Mike.
Where did you find the wire harness diagram for the factory head unit. I have been trying to find a diagram for the factory unit on my 07/87 bmw e30 325i cabrio and haven't been able to find one yet @@stanceworks
Anthony does such a phenomenal job behind the camera-it's great to see him receiving so much support for his first project! Dude's got himself a badass ride (and some badass colleagues)!
It's seriously easy. If you can run fuel lines, you can wire a stereo. It's power, power, earth, and speakers. You can even wire the speakers backwards and they'll still work!
I rarely get to do it, since it's a set and forget thing, but I love car audio installations. It's one of the only car things that mostly goes without unexpected setbacks. If you get all the connectors and harnesses in advance, the worst thing to happen is you cut the wrong wire and need to pull out the soldering iron and heat shrink tubing. Rarely you get day-ruining, morale-shattering happenings like with the rest of the car stuff. 😅
@@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST I've only once bought the plugs. That was because as I get older I get lazier. But I used to always make my own plugs. Its how we were taught in the 90s to do it. You use insulated ferrules and when you crimp it with the right crimper it makes a micro pin that plugs in to almost any plug. Except Deutsch. I knew a guy who once he'd finished used to make a dam with aluminium tape and pour thermosetting plastic in, but most people just used electrical tape. I worked in audio long enough that I could pull apart a car and tell you who had been in there before. There was only 10 or 20 really good audio guys and they all had a signiture style. Good times.
yeah, accessible if you have multiple mechanic friends and a bunch of spare parts lying around 😂 this would still cost 15 grands to copy if you factor in labor.
Drilling out those bumper shocks bring back memories. Back in 1995 I drilled out the shocks in my first E30 (1987 325e) and I can still taste the fluid from the first drill. The other 3 were done drilling through a piece of cardboard to act as a shield saving me the spray in the face.
I drive a Euro spec 1983 BMW e28 520i daily. Bought it used from a guy that imported it from Germany as his first car. He had all the paperwork. Car has its original interior that's in good shape. Restored it using mostly oem parts to the original spec. Runs great.
I love how we as car people will get rid of a good daily and build a car that we have to watch out for " blowing the oil pan off" welcome to the club Anthony
The BMW 535 of this generation is one of the most beautiful car ever made. BMW 6 series was close behind. I had the incredible chance to drive my uncle's 535is with manual. It was absolutely incredible and will remain one of my favorite car memory ever for life. Thanks André.
The trick with those old bmw stereo wiring is that the speakers all use a common ground. So when looking for speaker wires, there’s only going to be a single wire running from the head unit to each speaker. I had this exact bmw about 20 years ago and luckily my neighbor owned a car audio shop and he showed me the way. Although I’m probably butchering it now
Love the budget build theme! That's where I am with my car - saving pennies, shopping used, looking for deals. It has taken longer than I would like but it is slowly becoming the car I want it to be. And I get to drive it every day along the way.
really interesting how much the US was concerned with pedestrian safety in the 80s looking at these bumpers. I mean BMW could have given more thought about the design, but now you have way too high trucks and the people slicer 5000 - aka cybertruck.
It was more about purposely making it ugly imo. But, this started in late '73 with the 2002. I sold my last set of euro bumpers a year ago. I should have kept that '70 I had.. I'll never get over it.
Pedestrian safety is done with the design of the front bonnet and angles between it and the windshield. Any car will break both your legs no matter what bumper you put on it, head trauma on the other hand can be fatal and that happens on the windshield.
I had an '84 533i back in the day. We drove it from Houston to San Antonio often, so I put a 2.93 rear differential from a 528e in it. On a good day, the car would do 150. What really makes a 535i come alive is a set of high compression pistons and a lightweight flywheel. I have done this mod for a few people, they loved it.
I enjoyed this. The one key take away for me was the answer to solving the often glitchy electronics problem with an after market fuse box. That answer makes these cars viable again (to me). My honest view is the front air dam was too big. It made the side now look like it needed a side skirt and was now visually out of balance as the large front air dam made it look like a full on race car. I was thinking of an air dam I once put on the front of my 1969 Volvo 142. That car had a nice shape, slightly narrowing to the front and a small (medium sized) air dam with a slight forward flare at the bottom was both functional and visually appealing. I guess I am just old school and the original shape of the Beemer, a utilitarian box melding timeless form with function, could be better served than this really large front air dam. I have not see the euro bumpers so maybe that would solve the problem?
We briefly had an E28 535i when I was younger but it was a complete basketcase. It was rusting out terribly everywhere. Also of interest, the former owner had arthritis in her hands and had her mechanic delete the lock-out button on the auto transmission. That allowed for some fun abuse of the car before it ultimately went to the wrecker. Reverse to drive burnouts are neat in an auto, haha.
My wife just said, "You'd think you were the owner of that Car" based on how much I was smiling and enjoying this vehicle. I am not an E28 fan, so to say, but I can appreciate any and all BMW models and this was a great video t watch.
Great video guys! I’ve owned 4 E28s over the last 15 years. They been underrated for a long time . They are great and the M30 motor and even the M20 in the 528e is reliable . Recent BAT sales are strong and that makes me happy. Mine is a 86 535i manual, BLK sport interior , Alpine white and euro bumpers . Appreciate you guys posting this video! 💪💪
OMG, in Los Angeles I bought an ‘88 535is brand new with a 5-speed. Loved that car: sold it before I moved to a snow and salt state because I couldn’t stand to see it rust away.
I love this E28! I built a 533i that I showed at Greenwich Concours. Stereo upgrade is awesome, but those cassette players are worth their weight in gold! If working they’re worth a pretty penny!
Nice video lads. On the stereo swap: My '87 E23 has the speaker negatives at chassis ground potential rather than floating (like in every other car stereo ever made ever). This means you can't drop in a replacement head or amp, you either deal with a janky transformer to convert from floating to fixed, or you do what you did and rewire every speaker. (Or you do what I do, and just talk to yourself.) The audio setup on these '80s BMWs is so weird, not just the speaker -ves. You guys made the right decision to rip-and-replace.
I remember my 1st E28. I had an Alpina with the 2.8L I6. Although it had a bad head gasket, it was such a beautiful car and a classic design. Great video.
That air dam makes a world of difference. Obviously wheels and coilovers make a huge difference also, but the air dam is right up there near the top when it comes to transforming the look of any car.
The problem with the fuse boxes starts with the use of fuses with aluminium.the different metals ( copper in the fuse box.) creats galvanic corrosionbetween the fuse an the blades holding them.
This is a fantastic vid for vintage mid 70's-80's BMWs. A lot of the things discussed can apply to any 3/5/6/7 series cars of that (the best) era. I 1000% agree on the first step being roundel replacements. I'm an E12 guy and that's the first thing I replace on my project BMWs every time. It just feels right. As for the radio wiring: BMW used a "common ground" wiring on the speakers. It takes a bit to figure out how it works, but basically instead of running a negative wire back to the radio it instead just grounds to the body. For what it's worth I think the best answer is to run new speaker wires if possible. Add a period correct M5 rear spoiler to it. And the M30 engine is very boost friendly in stock form, slap a turbo on it and keep it a straight six. Love the vid, can't say that enough.
Not a boring second in this video. The car came out really nice, great job! There are products for restoring the cracked leather on the bucket seats. I wouldn't even worry about Euro bumpers and air dams or any of that stuff. It will never be a trophy winner for authenticity.
My Dad had an 88 535is. My memory of this car was driving it from Florida to a BMW Octoberfest in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. An absolute pleasure to drive,
Fantastic. Very first car I drove, learned the clutch on this exact model, white with tan interior..lol. I regret getting rid of mine so many years ago. E28's look better every year.
Owned 3 535is E28’s and put stereos in all of them. It’s a pain. Easiest way I’ve found that also retains OEM speaker wiring is to bypass OEM amp in trunk and merge the head unit feed wires to the speaker input ones. Still a hassle and always a hurtles. Love these cars!
I used to have one of these in the M5 version. Bought it new in 1988 I absolutely loved it. Mine ended up with a blown motor. Then a corvette crate motor transplant. Sick it was sick in 1993. Sold it for a rock bouncer. In 2003.
Owned our e30 since 87. Had a e28 m535 Euro for about ten years too. Also an e12. All at the same time. Loved the e28, feel sad about selling it after watching this episode.
I just put in the new wires for the speakers on all the pre-1992 BMW's I owned and used the plug and wires that came with the new head unit. I also did not bother running the head unit through the ignition switch because I always found it very annoying that the head unit turns off as soon as you turn off the ignition, so I just ran the live and memory wires straight between the head unit and the battery positive. Very important however is to connect the positive wires for the head unit to the battery positive last to prevent any dangerous short circuiting of wires and the blowing of the inline fuses on the chassis because they were connected to the battery first. If you have to connect the positives to the battery first you can separate the inline fuse holder and connect the one side of the holder and wire to the battery and the other side of the holder and wire to the head unit to prevent short circuiting the wires on the chassis. Also make sure you run the wires through the OE rubber grommet so that they do not chafe through and make live contact with the chassis over time. I made my own wire pulling tool for these jobs which is just simply a four metre wire, the same thickness as coat hanger wire, folded double to form 3cm loops on each end and wrapped it in heat shrink tube.
This was uber-nostalgic for me, considering I had a grey ‘88 535is years ago and foolishly gave it to a family member. They are quintessential BMW perfection! Oddly enough I never knew about the bumper drill. Now I feel like scouring the web for another. Cheers!🥂
At age 16 my grandfather gifted me a 1986 535i almost identical to this car. I absolutely loved it. Drove it to 300k miles. Gosh I wish I still had that car.
These cars are just SO GOOD. It truly is a shame that BMW doesn't build cars this way anymore. I don't mean they shouldn't have progressed, but their aim is no longer the same and it's apparent. This budget build is just what I was looking for. Thanks!
Love the approach to this car. Its what we all want-better looks, better ride, reliable. Room for upgrades later, but enjoying it now. I hope Anthony is really enjoying it. It would have been nice to see him turn more wrenches on his own car though. Thats a really satisfying part of it.
When I was a kid my parents friend got a new 3 series BMW. I was probably 13 years old. He took me for a ride and did a pull onto the highway! Changed my life! I now have owned 5 BMW's with the latest being a 23 M240i. Great video I would love to do this. Imagine a B58 in that car! Probably not possible but we can dream!
Bumper tuck on my 86 325es...did it by myself, and didn't require bashing into a wall. If you use as 3/16" bit after the initial 1/8" hole is drilled...can then compress the shocks by hand.
My father had an 88' M5 and it was crazy fun to drive. Powerful and fast inline 6 with a 5 speed that would really open up and sing if you were couragous enough to stay in it. He traded it for the 12 cylinder 760, and we both hated it.
Big grats to Anthony, this is an awesome build and an awesome first project. Fun to watch. Please keep us updated when the final touches make there way here.
Love this project. Thanks for showing it to us. An e28 is top of my list for my oldest to learn how to wrench on his first daily driver rather than joining the crowds owning something bland and new…
28:28 It is an incredible sensation. It's a peaceful experience of unadulterated satisfaction, relief, accomplishment and giddiness. Words cannot describe it! My first (and last time) I got new wheels, tires and suspension was in '03 on my first car, a '94 Celica ST, but I still remember it fondly. 🙃
I cannot explain to you how relatable the radio wiring section is. It makes me feel so much better to see others struggle (not in the mean way, just feels relatable.) I could not get the radio to work on my e30 for the life of me and I eventually said screw it and ran brand new speaker wiring anyways to make sure it worked, so I was stoked to see that I wasn’t the only one who resorted to that too lol
I had a 1986 535i. I put over 750,000 miles on it. The motor was still tight but everything else was falling apart ie windows,seats etc. I drove it 140 miles a day to commute for 8 years. I miss that car
such a cool fix up! wow. shame that its an american bumper model but considering that, anthony has done a 10/10 job on modifying the e28. Ive got one sitting in my neighbours yard waiting and you've only given me more reason to start my own e28 journey! keep up the vids!!!
The Car definitely looks worthy of the oh so boojie BMW community. It sits pretty on the new rim and tire set-up. All the little touches have given that car it deserves to have. Well done SW
Hey mike, I'm sure this is going to get absolutely buried, but instead of using trim paint that can get scratched and leave a very harsh contrast in finish you should try out "solution finish". It sounds fairly generic, but it works like absolute magic. It doesn't seem to apply like most plastic & trim "restoration" creams that almost feel like leather boot dressing (to me), instead its much more like India ink, and its an extremely thin fluid that just re dye's the black plastic trim. I just scooped up a 40k mile bone stock XJ Cherokee from the original owner, and all of the black trim had suffered quite badly from oxidation/sun bleaching. After a quick scuff with the rough side of a sponge or fine brillo pad to get some of the chalkyness(?) and 20+ years of road grime off, it wiped right on and left a finish that was literally darker than some of the new (aftermarket) replacement trim pieces I ordered. A word of caution though, less is definitely more. I applied it somewhat heavy on my first couple pieces and the act of buffing the shine out with a microfiber cloth is easily 10x more difficult than just going light and maybe doing another lighter second coat. Treat it as if you were applying paint. Anyways, Love the content! This brings me back to the days of us messaging back and fourth on tumblr when you were building your m5 tribute e28!
Nice to see two of the main people that made me love E28's, Mike and Jeremy, together in an E28 in 2024. Ultimately the guys that pushed me indirectly to get my own E28...which I've now owned for 10 years.
when i was 15 id go on the stanceworks forums a few times a day and binge all the build threads looking at everyone’s projects, mikes e36 with the acs’s was my desktop wallpaper for like half a decade. My dad has an oxford e34 525i that i wanted so badly but never got, fell in love with how composed it felt in a corner now im 27 and i just got my white e32 735i/5 to good running order after purchasing it august 23. i’m too big for a 5 series, but i have dinan rear sways from a 750i and a steering rack out of an e31, i wish i could leave it stock but my heart is set on a motorsport inspired sorta build, with itbs and a set of headers and maybe a port and polish who knows. this dream has lived inside of me for going on 13 years and its due in such large part to all the sick shit i’ve been exposed to through stanceworks, so thank you.
Mike, I used a super fine plastic "polish" as a cleaner for my 2002's grille and it worked awesome, the product is Vuplex and did a great job of the nearly 50 year old plastic grille thats much like those E28 ones.
I bought my 4th Mercedes W124 (1991 250TD, diesel, 5 speed) 4 years ago and one of the first things I installed was the same exact radio. Together with ESX speakers and a Blaupunkt powered sub. My 3 speaker sytsem sounds decent. Yes it came with only the 2 dash speakers. For reference, my 1976 BMW 2002 also came with diving board bumpers. They started in 1975.
We paited last night a '86 BMW 525 i it was very similar to this one, the only difference is the front and rear bumpers had more chrome and a skintone color. Nice upgrades, i personally would have kept the old rims, the new ones are nice, but the old ones suited the car.
You should get red46 skid plate, is a real saving complement for carter hits even if the car is not lowered. Love E28, got mine since 9 years ago and is going to be with me as long as possible
Sorry for that but : f yeah ! from approximately 1:37 to 1:50 the setting sun in the background and the color of the building+fabric underneath are amazing ! so yeah cheers Anthony, and thank you for these kind of frames please
Man, you always deliver really cool uploads. This is something anyone could do with some tools space and a very limited budget. These old Beemers are solid platforms for an entry level home garage guy to learn on with parts accessibility and heaps of style and variations to choose from. Awesome job as always!
Those front thrust arms will benefit from the targeted pin treatment.. this will let him keep stock rubber for smooth straightline driving and it halts/binds the bushing during turn-in which makes it handle WAY better.
Nice episode! I installed the same Continental head unit in my 91 318is. The USB port on the front is only for an in port - not a charge port. After pairing with your phone, turn up the phone volume or else the sound level will be too low. You can select the music type on the unit to alter the output.
Nice car indeed, had one in early 90s. Good at doing long distance at speed. Needed extreme care to keep the rust at bay. Mounting low stiff suspension and low profile tyres might serve purpose of looks and possibly track lap time but,, there goes what this car is really good at,, comfort at speed.
Having driven plenty of E28's and E34's along with E30/E36/E46, I gotta say the whole steering box vs. steering rack debate is largely overblown. A steering box car with a good alignment and fresh steering components (tie rods, center link, idler arm) drives really well, and when cruising on the highway it's nice to have something that's a little more forgiving on-center. You don't need a crazy 1.5 turn rack for a daily driver, that just makes everything jerky. Having tracked cars with steering boxes, they tighten up quite nicely when you're in a turn.
Omg! loved the video and the journey of this e28! you guys did an awesome job and really happy for Anthony! I own an 05 e46 but had the opportunity to own a 74 e9 (3.0 CS in eggplant) as my first car years ago. still kick myself to this day! lol. old school bmw designs are classic! hopefully I'll see that e28 on the streets of LA someday! rock on!
I owned a 535is. A little corrosion, but a strait unmolested example. Alpine White like this one, with the red leather interior. Only thing I didn’t really like was the auto transmission. I considered a manual swap, then restore, but sadly one of my daughters totaled it. So I have a soft spot for the E28. Forgot to mention it was an ‘88.
Simple and clean. How every first build should be. And to have you and the boys next door there for support? Anthony couldn't have had a better scenario for his first go! #CommentForTheAlgorithm
I use to have a German car shop. I personally had 5 of those cars. I sold all of them by just simply driving the cars. People would be waiting by my car after parking it.
I… did not use insulated butt connectors, and, also staggered the connections with the heat shrink tubing to not make a big bulge in my stereo harness I built for my Miata. It most definitely takes more thought on which wires to cut longer and shorter, and which corresponding wires on the other side are cut shorter and longer, respectively.
A practical move to do some cosmetic improvements first to boost the spirits. I like what you did with the original bumpers, by pushing them back it improved the look of the car and still left room to afford front and rear bump protection and I personally would have kept them. A new air dam is going to get damaged for sure in the future, it's almost a sacrificial item anyways as the original attests to.
The universe has a great sense of humor. Much like Anthony, I have a newer (2019) Civic. Unlike Anthony, I may not willingly be parting with it, as it was in an accident (everyone was okay, which is the important part) and it might get totaled. If so, I'm considering a 1992 190e, which is my affordable dream car. I've found a few pretty nice examples that just need some TLC and a good going over to make sure they'd also be a reliable daily driver. I'm happy to see he's got a great car that he loves. The man does fantastic camera work and he's gotta be a great guy if he's working with you.
A cool car which even in Germany extremly underrated . Love to see that there are some cool friends in the US of this solid German Car . Have fun with it and always a safe ride . Greetings from Germany :-)
looking forward to seeing those euro bumpers fitted. recommend you go for a boot lip spoiler one of the standard ones that would look really nice. Also shorten those exhaust tips and find some proper chrome covers looks like the exhaust needs raising a bit as well.
If you took a propane torch to the plastic part, it could of gotten rid of the fog on the black. Baseball stadium maintenance workers use this trick to clean up the seats in the stands in the baseball stadium and make the seats look brand new.
2014 my first car was 520i E28, white also. totally original and good condition, 250.000 kilometers driven. I paid only 2000euros for it. nowdays you cannot get that car even under 10k in finland..
Be glad you did the speaker wiring all new. A lot of e28's had amps to boost the woeful radios of the day. But compared to modern radios the amps are pathetic. If you got the stock wiring to work, there would've been a big chance it sounded tinny and horrible because of that. Happened on my e28 ('88 520i m20b20 Shadowline)
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Got a 82 528e garage kept all its life with 79k original miles for sale. Need info ? Lmk
Daily project cars should be like this, simple and fun. Nothing major like engine swaps or turbo bolt ons, no high Horsepower numbers or track day stuff. Just driving a cool car and fixing it along the way.
Yes! Exactly
Yea. Butttt, if i put all my monies into one car itll be even cooler :P
My daily was a lotus exige, then an R32 GTR, then a cappuccino, then a 73 2002tii widebody, real wide
For me as long as it takes me to the grocery store, it’s a daily :D
@@johnnypolex To me, a daily driver can be small, but needs to be a workhorse. Fit 5 people, carry luggage and travel far. It doesn't need to be spacious, so a small hatchback is all I need. That is to say that a Golf GTI would definitely fit my needs more than a Cappuccino. Otherwise, a more lowkey car like a Honda Fit with undertray could avoid more eyes (can't risk having one stolen, specially where I live).
Daily drivers really depend on the lifestyle and personal contexts. I wouldn't risk driving a Lotus in public everyday in risk of being mugged.
@@NothingXemnas yep, its probably mostly personal context. I never locked my lotus doors. It’s a manual and hard to get in for most people so that alone was a deterrent. I lived in downtown atlanta smack dab in the middle
It's insane you think a bolt on turbo is any harder than lights and bumpers.. it's all bolt on....
Honestly I really enjoyed this budget conscious build, it’s a bit of a departure from what we usually see here but in all honesty I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say we definitely enjoy the hell out of Thrifty Mike.
Since when did BBS RS wheels become part of a budget conscious build?
They aren't RSs though. They were $1400 AREs off facebook.
@@stanceworks ah ok.
Where did you find the wire harness diagram for the factory head unit. I have been trying to find a diagram for the factory unit on my 07/87 bmw e30 325i cabrio and haven't been able to find one yet @@stanceworks
Just use a factory ETM, that's super easy to find. BMW wiring diagrams from the factory are readily available.
This is the real OG Stanceworks. Love these type of videos.
my niqqa
Anthony does such a phenomenal job behind the camera-it's great to see him receiving so much support for his first project! Dude's got himself a badass ride (and some badass colleagues)!
He’s a talented guy, through and through.
Nice to see an episode that's accessible to us mortals, but for the record absolutely F wiring, especially audio.
The radio was worse than the fuse box
It's seriously easy. If you can run fuel lines, you can wire a stereo. It's power, power, earth, and speakers. You can even wire the speakers backwards and they'll still work!
I rarely get to do it, since it's a set and forget thing, but I love car audio installations.
It's one of the only car things that mostly goes without unexpected setbacks. If you get all the connectors and harnesses in advance, the worst thing to happen is you cut the wrong wire and need to pull out the soldering iron and heat shrink tubing.
Rarely you get day-ruining, morale-shattering happenings like with the rest of the car stuff. 😅
@@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST I've only once bought the plugs. That was because as I get older I get lazier. But I used to always make my own plugs. Its how we were taught in the 90s to do it. You use insulated ferrules and when you crimp it with the right crimper it makes a micro pin that plugs in to almost any plug. Except Deutsch. I knew a guy who once he'd finished used to make a dam with aluminium tape and pour thermosetting plastic in, but most people just used electrical tape. I worked in audio long enough that I could pull apart a car and tell you who had been in there before. There was only 10 or 20 really good audio guys and they all had a signiture style. Good times.
yeah, accessible if you have multiple mechanic friends and a bunch of spare parts lying around 😂 this would still cost 15 grands to copy if you factor in labor.
Drilling out those bumper shocks bring back memories. Back in 1995 I drilled out the shocks in my first E30 (1987 325e) and I can still taste the fluid from the first drill. The other 3 were done drilling through a piece of cardboard to act as a shield saving me the spray in the face.
Was it spicy?
That's what she said
In 95? Man I remember those days. Grunge/heavy rock was hip. I was 5. Riding around in our family dodge omni
Yeah the cardboard was crucial. I didn't own an E30 until ~2005ish but by then the cardboard was common knowledge.
Congratulations to Anthony. His magic behind the camera is rewarded. The videography of the channel is great, even for such a basic build.
Feels like an old school SW forum post converted to RUclips. Love it!
I miss the old day forum content, people all over the world sharing their builds.
That's a name I haven't heard in a long time...
I drive a Euro spec 1983 BMW e28 520i daily. Bought it used from a guy that imported it from Germany as his first car. He had all the paperwork. Car has its original interior that's in good shape. Restored it using mostly oem parts to the original spec. Runs great.
I love how we as car people will get rid of a good daily and build a car that we have to watch out for " blowing the oil pan off" welcome to the club Anthony
The BMW 535 of this generation is one of the most beautiful car ever made. BMW 6 series was close behind. I had the incredible chance to drive my uncle's 535is with manual. It was absolutely incredible and will remain one of my favorite car memory ever for life. Thanks André.
My 1988 635CSI was my favorite daily driver of all
The trick with those old bmw stereo wiring is that the speakers all use a common ground. So when looking for speaker wires, there’s only going to be a single wire running from the head unit to each speaker. I had this exact bmw about 20 years ago and luckily my neighbor owned a car audio shop and he showed me the way. Although I’m probably butchering it now
Love the budget build theme! That's where I am with my car - saving pennies, shopping used, looking for deals. It has taken longer than I would like but it is slowly becoming the car I want it to be. And I get to drive it every day along the way.
really interesting how much the US was concerned with pedestrian safety in the 80s looking at these bumpers. I mean BMW could have given more thought about the design, but now you have way too high trucks and the people slicer 5000 - aka cybertruck.
It was more about low speed impact with other cars
It was more about purposely making it ugly imo. But, this started in late '73 with the 2002. I sold my last set of euro bumpers a year ago. I should have kept that '70 I had.. I'll never get over it.
Pedestrian safety is done with the design of the front bonnet and angles between it and the windshield.
Any car will break both your legs no matter what bumper you put on it, head trauma on the other hand can be fatal and that happens on the windshield.
@@valensi1988 It's all bs. If you get by a car you're fucked, I don't care how they design it.
@@ttt69420 you might not care (now), but there are quite smart people working on this stuff. A broken ankle or bone might heal. The brain not so much
I had an '84 533i back in the day. We drove it from Houston to San Antonio often, so I put a 2.93 rear differential from a 528e in it. On a good day, the car would do 150.
What really makes a 535i come alive is a set of high compression pistons and a lightweight flywheel. I have done this mod for a few people, they loved it.
This was a step by step guide to everyone's first 80's BMW. It's like reliving a nostalgic moment.
I enjoyed this. The one key take away for me was the answer to solving the often glitchy electronics problem with an after market fuse box. That answer makes these cars viable again (to me). My honest view is the front air dam was too big. It made the side now look like it needed a side skirt and was now visually out of balance as the large front air dam made it look like a full on race car. I was thinking of an air dam I once put on the front of my 1969 Volvo 142. That car had a nice shape, slightly narrowing to the front and a small (medium sized) air dam with a slight forward flare at the bottom was both functional and visually appealing. I guess I am just old school and the original shape of the Beemer, a utilitarian box melding timeless form with function, could be better served than this really large front air dam. I have not see the euro bumpers so maybe that would solve the problem?
TBH this is the kind of content I love of this channel. Regards from Germany.
We briefly had an E28 535i when I was younger but it was a complete basketcase. It was rusting out terribly everywhere. Also of interest, the former owner had arthritis in her hands and had her mechanic delete the lock-out button on the auto transmission. That allowed for some fun abuse of the car before it ultimately went to the wrecker. Reverse to drive burnouts are neat in an auto, haha.
Mike, episodes like this are great!
A bit of every day guy kinda stuff
My wife just said, "You'd think you were the owner of that Car" based on how much I was smiling and enjoying this vehicle. I am not an E28 fan, so to say, but I can appreciate any and all BMW models and this was a great video t watch.
Great video guys! I’ve owned 4 E28s over the last 15 years. They been underrated for a long time . They are great and the M30 motor and even the M20 in the 528e is reliable . Recent BAT sales are strong and that makes me happy. Mine is a 86 535i manual, BLK sport interior , Alpine white and euro bumpers . Appreciate you guys posting this video! 💪💪
OMG, in Los Angeles I bought an ‘88 535is brand new with a 5-speed. Loved that car: sold it before I moved to a snow and salt state because I couldn’t stand to see it rust away.
I love this E28! I built a 533i that I showed at Greenwich Concours. Stereo upgrade is awesome, but those cassette players are worth their weight in gold! If working they’re worth a pretty penny!
Nice video lads. On the stereo swap: My '87 E23 has the speaker negatives at chassis ground potential rather than floating (like in every other car stereo ever made ever). This means you can't drop in a replacement head or amp, you either deal with a janky transformer to convert from floating to fixed, or you do what you did and rewire every speaker. (Or you do what I do, and just talk to yourself.) The audio setup on these '80s BMWs is so weird, not just the speaker -ves. You guys made the right decision to rip-and-replace.
I remember my 1st E28. I had an Alpina with the 2.8L I6. Although it had a bad head gasket, it was such a beautiful car and a classic design. Great video.
Reminds me of back when I was stationed in Germany back in ‘91. There were nice cars EVERYWHERE! I had a ‘79 5 series with BBS wheels.
I was in Baumholder in 1989 and had a 1983 318i with a five speed manual transmission. What a blast even stock. I miss that car a lot.
@@montypowers624 man Baumholder sucked!!! Cold and wet! Not to mention there was ALWAYS a hill even if you ran downhill🤣🤣🤣
That air dam makes a world of difference. Obviously wheels and coilovers make a huge difference also, but the air dam is right up there near the top when it comes to transforming the look of any car.
The problem with the fuse boxes starts with the use of fuses with aluminium.the different metals ( copper in the fuse box.) creats galvanic corrosionbetween the fuse an the blades holding them.
This is a fantastic vid for vintage mid 70's-80's BMWs. A lot of the things discussed can apply to any 3/5/6/7 series cars of that (the best) era.
I 1000% agree on the first step being roundel replacements. I'm an E12 guy and that's the first thing I replace on my project BMWs every time. It just feels right.
As for the radio wiring: BMW used a "common ground" wiring on the speakers. It takes a bit to figure out how it works, but basically instead of running a negative wire back to the radio it instead just grounds to the body. For what it's worth I think the best answer is to run new speaker wires if possible.
Add a period correct M5 rear spoiler to it. And the M30 engine is very boost friendly in stock form, slap a turbo on it and keep it a straight six.
Love the vid, can't say that enough.
Not a boring second in this video. The car came out really nice, great job! There are products for restoring the cracked leather on the bucket seats. I wouldn't even worry about Euro bumpers and air dams or any of that stuff. It will never be a trophy winner for authenticity.
My Dad had an 88 535is. My memory of this car was driving it from Florida to a BMW Octoberfest in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. An absolute pleasure to drive,
Fantastic. Very first car I drove, learned the clutch on this exact model, white with tan interior..lol. I regret getting rid of mine so many years ago. E28's look better every year.
Owned 3 535is E28’s and put stereos in all of them. It’s a pain. Easiest way I’ve found that also retains OEM speaker wiring is to bypass OEM amp in trunk and merge the head unit feed wires to the speaker input ones. Still a hassle and always a hurtles. Love these cars!
Coming from a BMW guy in the UK, I found the wheel choice to be unusual. The originals are such a big part of the overall look.
I used to have one of these in the M5 version. Bought it new in 1988 I absolutely loved it. Mine ended up with a blown motor. Then a corvette crate motor transplant. Sick it was sick in 1993. Sold it for a rock bouncer. In 2003.
Owned our e30 since 87. Had a e28 m535 Euro for about ten years too. Also an e12. All at the same time. Loved the e28, feel sad about selling it after watching this episode.
I just put in the new wires for the speakers on all the pre-1992 BMW's I owned and used the plug and wires that came with the new head unit. I also did not bother running the head unit through the ignition switch because I always found it very annoying that the head unit turns off as soon as you turn off the ignition, so I just ran the live and memory wires straight between the head unit and the battery positive.
Very important however is to connect the positive wires for the head unit to the battery positive last to prevent any dangerous short circuiting of wires and the blowing of the inline fuses on the chassis because they were connected to the battery first. If you have to connect the positives to the battery first you can separate the inline fuse holder and connect the one side of the holder and wire to the battery and the other side of the holder and wire to the head unit to prevent short circuiting the wires on the chassis. Also make sure you run the wires through the OE rubber grommet so that they do not chafe through and make live contact with the chassis over time.
I made my own wire pulling tool for these jobs which is just simply a four metre wire, the same thickness as coat hanger wire, folded double to form 3cm loops on each end and wrapped it in heat shrink tube.
This was uber-nostalgic for me, considering I had a grey ‘88 535is years ago and foolishly gave it to a family member.
They are quintessential BMW perfection! Oddly enough I never knew about the bumper drill. Now I feel like scouring the web for another. Cheers!🥂
Extremely rare I’d watch a video this long in its entirety but this was an easy watch! Can’t wait to see the progress on this 👍
At age 16 my grandfather gifted me a 1986 535i almost identical to this car. I absolutely loved it. Drove it to 300k miles. Gosh I wish I still had that car.
These cars are just SO GOOD. It truly is a shame that BMW doesn't build cars this way anymore. I don't mean they shouldn't have progressed, but their aim is no longer the same and it's apparent. This budget build is just what I was looking for.
Thanks!
Well said.
Love the approach to this car. Its what we all want-better looks, better ride, reliable. Room for upgrades later, but enjoying it now. I hope Anthony is really enjoying it. It would have been nice to see him turn more wrenches on his own car though. Thats a really satisfying part of it.
Such a good and extremely relatable episode. The roundel swap brought a tear to my eye. Well done.
When I was a kid my parents friend got a new 3 series BMW. I was probably 13 years old. He took me for a ride and did a pull onto the highway! Changed my life! I now have owned 5 BMW's with the latest being a 23 M240i. Great video I would love to do this. Imagine a B58 in that car! Probably not possible but we can dream!
This car definitely has the right size wheels this time because I don’t think 17s look good on this car but the 16s with the chunky tires so good
Bumper tuck on my 86 325es...did it by myself, and didn't require bashing into a wall. If you use as 3/16" bit after the initial 1/8" hole is drilled...can then compress the shocks by hand.
My father had an 88' M5 and it was crazy fun to drive. Powerful and fast inline 6 with a 5 speed that would really open up and sing if you were couragous enough to stay in it. He traded it for the 12 cylinder 760, and we both hated it.
Big grats to Anthony, this is an awesome build and an awesome first project. Fun to watch. Please keep us updated when the final touches make there way here.
Love this project. Thanks for showing it to us. An e28 is top of my list for my oldest to learn how to wrench on his first daily driver rather than joining the crowds owning something bland and new…
28:28 It is an incredible sensation. It's a peaceful experience of unadulterated satisfaction, relief, accomplishment and giddiness.
Words cannot describe it! My first (and last time) I got new wheels, tires and suspension was in '03 on my first car, a '94 Celica ST, but I still remember it fondly. 🙃
I cannot explain to you how relatable the radio wiring section is. It makes me feel so much better to see others struggle (not in the mean way, just feels relatable.) I could not get the radio to work on my e30 for the life of me and I eventually said screw it and ran brand new speaker wiring anyways to make sure it worked, so I was stoked to see that I wasn’t the only one who resorted to that too lol
I had a 1986 535i. I put over 750,000 miles on it. The motor was still tight but everything else was falling apart ie windows,seats etc. I drove it 140 miles a day to commute for 8 years. I miss that car
140 miles per day for 8 years 😮 You’ve got an iron a$$!
such a cool fix up! wow. shame that its an american bumper model but considering that, anthony has done a 10/10 job on modifying the e28. Ive got one sitting in my neighbours yard waiting and you've only given me more reason to start my own e28 journey! keep up the vids!!!
The Car definitely looks worthy of the oh so boojie BMW community. It sits pretty on the new rim and tire set-up. All the little touches have given that car it deserves to have. Well done SW
Hey mike, I'm sure this is going to get absolutely buried, but instead of using trim paint that can get scratched and leave a very harsh contrast in finish you should try out "solution finish". It sounds fairly generic, but it works like absolute magic. It doesn't seem to apply like most plastic & trim "restoration" creams that almost feel like leather boot dressing (to me), instead its much more like India ink, and its an extremely thin fluid that just re dye's the black plastic trim.
I just scooped up a 40k mile bone stock XJ Cherokee from the original owner, and all of the black trim had suffered quite badly from oxidation/sun bleaching. After a quick scuff with the rough side of a sponge or fine brillo pad to get some of the chalkyness(?) and 20+ years of road grime off, it wiped right on and left a finish that was literally darker than some of the new (aftermarket) replacement trim pieces I ordered.
A word of caution though, less is definitely more. I applied it somewhat heavy on my first couple pieces and the act of buffing the shine out with a microfiber cloth is easily 10x more difficult than just going light and maybe doing another lighter second coat. Treat it as if you were applying paint.
Anyways, Love the content! This brings me back to the days of us messaging back and fourth on tumblr when you were building your m5 tribute e28!
Nice to see two of the main people that made me love E28's, Mike and Jeremy, together in an E28 in 2024. Ultimately the guys that pushed me indirectly to get my own E28...which I've now owned for 10 years.
when i was 15 id go on the stanceworks forums a few times a day and binge all the build threads looking at everyone’s projects, mikes e36 with the acs’s was my desktop wallpaper for like half a decade. My dad has an oxford e34 525i that i wanted so badly but never got, fell in love with how composed it felt in a corner
now im 27 and i just got my white e32 735i/5 to good running order after purchasing it august 23. i’m too big for a 5 series, but i have dinan rear sways from a 750i and a steering rack out of an e31, i wish i could leave it stock but my heart is set on a motorsport inspired sorta build, with itbs and a set of headers and maybe a port and polish who knows. this dream has lived inside of me for going on 13 years and its due in such large part to all the sick shit i’ve been exposed to through stanceworks, so thank you.
Mike, I used a super fine plastic "polish" as a cleaner for my 2002's grille and it worked awesome, the product is Vuplex and did a great job of the nearly 50 year old plastic grille thats much like those E28 ones.
I drove a 1986 535i in High School, I absolutely loved this car
I bought my 4th Mercedes W124 (1991 250TD, diesel, 5 speed) 4 years ago and one of the first things I installed was the same exact radio. Together with ESX speakers and a Blaupunkt powered sub.
My 3 speaker sytsem sounds decent. Yes it came with only the 2 dash speakers.
For reference, my 1976 BMW 2002 also came with diving board bumpers. They started in 1975.
We paited last night a '86 BMW 525 i it was very similar to this one, the only difference is the front and rear bumpers had more chrome and a skintone color. Nice upgrades, i personally would have kept the old rims, the new ones are nice, but the old ones suited the car.
You should get red46 skid plate, is a real saving complement for carter hits even if the car is not lowered. Love E28, got mine since 9 years ago and is going to be with me as long as possible
Sorry for that but : f yeah ! from approximately 1:37 to 1:50 the setting sun in the background and the color of the building+fabric underneath are amazing ! so yeah cheers Anthony, and thank you for these kind of frames please
I use the same continental radio in my sentra. It's amazing! Clean sound, strong bluetooth connection, and the built in speaker is very useful
Nice. Thanks for supporting Anthony - he does a great job and deserves some love
Love it! I have an E28 525i euro. Same radio PITA swap out. Love the fuse box swap, might need to do this next. Along with coilovers and AC upgrade.
Man, you always deliver really cool uploads. This is something anyone could do with some tools space and a very limited budget. These old Beemers are solid platforms for an entry level home garage guy to learn on with parts accessibility and heaps of style and variations to choose from. Awesome job as always!
32:28 Why on earth would you engine-swap the 3.5 liter in that car? It's a great engine to keep in there!
Those front thrust arms will benefit from the targeted pin treatment.. this will let him keep stock rubber for smooth straightline driving and it halts/binds the bushing during turn-in which makes it handle WAY better.
Nice episode! I installed the same Continental head unit in my 91 318is. The USB port on the front is only for an in port - not a charge port. After pairing with your phone, turn up the phone volume or else the sound level will be too low. You can select the music type on the unit to alter the output.
Nice car indeed, had one in early 90s. Good at doing long distance at speed. Needed extreme care to keep the rust at bay. Mounting low stiff suspension and low profile tyres might serve purpose of looks and possibly track lap time but,, there goes what this car is really good at,, comfort at speed.
Having driven plenty of E28's and E34's along with E30/E36/E46, I gotta say the whole steering box vs. steering rack debate is largely overblown. A steering box car with a good alignment and fresh steering components (tie rods, center link, idler arm) drives really well, and when cruising on the highway it's nice to have something that's a little more forgiving on-center. You don't need a crazy 1.5 turn rack for a daily driver, that just makes everything jerky. Having tracked cars with steering boxes, they tighten up quite nicely when you're in a turn.
Omg! loved the video and the journey of this e28! you guys did an awesome job and really happy for Anthony! I own an 05 e46 but had the opportunity to own a 74 e9 (3.0 CS in eggplant) as my first car years ago. still kick myself to this day! lol. old school bmw designs are classic! hopefully I'll see that e28 on the streets of LA someday! rock on!
I owned a 535is. A little corrosion, but a strait unmolested example. Alpine White like this one, with the red leather interior. Only thing I didn’t really like was the auto transmission. I considered a manual swap, then restore, but sadly one of my daughters totaled it. So I have a soft spot for the E28. Forgot to mention it was an ‘88.
Simple and clean. How every first build should be. And to have you and the boys next door there for support? Anthony couldn't have had a better scenario for his first go!
#CommentForTheAlgorithm
I use to have a German car shop. I personally had 5 of those cars. I sold all of them by just simply driving the cars. People would be waiting by my car after parking it.
Good on you for leveraging your experience to help your buddy build something he can be proud of.
I… did not use insulated butt connectors, and, also staggered the connections with the heat shrink tubing to not make a big bulge in my stereo harness I built for my Miata. It most definitely takes more thought on which wires to cut longer and shorter, and which corresponding wires on the other side are cut shorter and longer, respectively.
OMG, new roundels on an old BMW is something I've experienced and it's wonderful. (I picked a color match part)
Also, a long time ago I replaced a stereo with a $150 JVC cd player on a GM harness so I know that confusion.
A practical move to do some cosmetic improvements first to boost the spirits. I like what you did with the original bumpers, by pushing them back it improved
the look of the car and still left room to afford front and rear bump protection and I personally would have kept them. A new air dam is going to get damaged for sure in the future,
it's almost a sacrificial item anyways as the original attests to.
The universe has a great sense of humor. Much like Anthony, I have a newer (2019) Civic. Unlike Anthony, I may not willingly be parting with it, as it was in an accident (everyone was okay, which is the important part) and it might get totaled. If so, I'm considering a 1992 190e, which is my affordable dream car. I've found a few pretty nice examples that just need some TLC and a good going over to make sure they'd also be a reliable daily driver.
I'm happy to see he's got a great car that he loves. The man does fantastic camera work and he's gotta be a great guy if he's working with you.
A cool car which even in Germany extremly underrated . Love to see that there are some cool friends in the US of this solid German Car . Have fun with it and always a safe ride . Greetings from Germany :-)
looking forward to seeing those euro bumpers fitted. recommend you go for a boot lip spoiler one of the standard ones that would look really nice. Also shorten those exhaust tips and find some proper chrome covers looks like the exhaust needs raising a bit as well.
Roasting Khalil's body work was hilarious
Any time someone says the word "unhinged" to describe the way someone is doing something, I can't help but at least giggle. 😂
@@chandlerbraaten847especially when theyre in the business of door making. learned my lesson the hard way
The bumper hack is so wow. I’m so amazed, never thought of that. I wanna do it on my e24 now lol
Ha! As both a “newer” Honda Accord stick-shift daily-driver, and an enthusiast owner of all things “3-pedal German cars”-I absolutely approve! 😁
Haha the bumper mod is hilarious and awesome. I always thought they were fixed and never knew they had shocks you can collapse. Great stuff.
If you took a propane torch to the plastic part, it could of gotten rid of the fog on the black. Baseball stadium maintenance workers use this trick to clean up the seats in the stands in the baseball stadium and make the seats look brand new.
2014 my first car was 520i E28, white also. totally original and good condition, 250.000 kilometers driven. I paid only 2000euros for it. nowdays you cannot get that car even under 10k in finland..
So awesome! Looking forward to future episodes! Love the rationale budget approach! Fantastic looking e28!
These type of videos definitely motivate me to get back in the garage and wrench on my project. Great looking E28!
As a german, I congratulate you on your choices and developing taste. Good on you brother 😊
I super-enjoyed the process :) Congrats to Anthony! There are some awfully-decent re-cover kits for E28 sport seats.
I am also a HUGE e28 fan. Some day... Some Day. That fuse box upgrade is SO cool.
That thing looks awesome! Congrats to Anthony!!
Be glad you did the speaker wiring all new. A lot of e28's had amps to boost the woeful radios of the day. But compared to modern radios the amps are pathetic. If you got the stock wiring to work, there would've been a big chance it sounded tinny and horrible because of that. Happened on my e28 ('88 520i m20b20 Shadowline)
not often is a build on youtube thats not only excellent like that one but realistically affordable, 10 out of 10 🔥✌🏻
I had a 1983 320i (factory orange) - - - I loved that car!