1987 BMW M535i

[sideways535]

Long time lurker on here. I thought I'd finally get around to posting a few pics of my M535i. I bought this in May 2012, its a late M535i in Alpine White, with manual dogleg gearbox.

The pics I'm posting for now were taken soon after I bought it, and its changed a little since. I got it with a mixed up interior - it was originally a kindof Pea Green, the whole thing, seats, carpet, dash, plastics, everything. I've seen some pics of the car taken a few years ago, and it looked grim. The previous owner to me stripped most of the green out, changing seats to Recaro cloth in cream, and some other bits such as door trims etc.

A couple of months ago, I got lucky and found a complete Recaro leather interior with door trims and carpet. I've since fitted the seats mindful of pulling them back out soon, as I've now amassed an ICE install after pulling out the previous owners woeful attempts.





Cream seats and door trims now departed, and replaced with black. Still has dash as pic. The dashtop is still green, and is on the list to go black. I may keep the cream lower half, I don't mind it so much.

[cecotto479]

I put the beige interior in it. If you want the original, I think it's still here. Howling it was, though. Decent car. Looking good still.

[sideways535]

Jan 19, 2013 20:51:57 GMT cecotto479 said:

I put the beige interior in it. If you want the original, I think it's still here. Howling it was, though. Decent car. Looking good still.

Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I've seen the pics someone uploaded them on the RR thread on Pistonheads from when it was owned by a fella in Scotland.

Its only done 1000 miles since I bought it, I've changed the rotten front wing, and have a Superchips ecu for it. Otherwise, I'm going to keep it pretty much stock, its too nice a car to mess with.

[sideways535]

I found a couple of phone pics of the interior as is now





And this I hope to fit as soon as I have got the recon alternator on, currently in the shed..

[bountyhunter]

love M535's

turned my last one (arctic blue) into a track toy which I sold last yr to one of my best m8's and its now rotting away never used

yours looks fab in Alpine White and loving the hartge wheels.
M30 engine is surpringly tuneable too (for a price) and they can be made into something pretty damn quick.

one nice upgrade to consider is late spec E28 M5 arb's
they stop the lean, whilst not making it uncomfy or crashy

[Mark]

Always liked these in white with black leather. Hartge rims look great too. All in, a very nice car.

[misterbob]

I'm very, very seriously looking at picking one of these up later this year, as a 'new' daily driver to replace the Euro-Box

What's it like on a long run? I quite often have to do 2 hours plus drives, and my current Golf GT's one trump card is how comfy it is on a long run.

I do however long for something with more 'soul' and driver feedback.
My old man had a black E28 528i with M-tech spoiler and LSD from new.
He always said it was one car he regretted selling.

Just love these shark-nosed Beemers

[sideways535]

Jan 21, 2013 19:23:58 GMT misterbob said:

I'm very, very seriously looking at picking one of these up later this year, as a 'new' daily driver to replace the Euro-Box

What's it like on a long run? I quite often have to do 2 hours plus drives, and my current Golf GT's one trump card is how comfy it is on a long run.

I do however long for something with more 'soul' and driver feedback.
My old man had a black E28 528i with M-tech spoiler and LSD from new.
He always said it was one car he regretted selling.

Just love these shark-nosed Beemers

Its a proper mile muncher - you can sit in the fast lane at 80-90 mph all day long, if you don't mind some pretty rubbish fuel economy. Its got a lot of mid range torque, and pulls well at overtaking speeds. It makes a big difference to have sports seats if you doing some long journies.

An E28 is a proper A - road/motorway car, whereas an E30 is far more fun on B-road, and can be thrown around a lot more - depends what you expect in terms of driver feedback. All M535i/535iSE's have an lsd as standard - my last was lowered by -30mm on boge springs, it transformed the handling. I don't think i'll go too far with mods on this one though as it looks OK as it is.

[misterbob]

Jan 21, 2013 22:34:42 GMT sideways535 said:

Jan 21, 2013 19:23:58 GMT misterbob said:

I'm very, very seriously looking at picking one of these up later this year, as a 'new' daily driver to replace the Euro-Box

What's it like on a long run? I quite often have to do 2 hours plus drives, and my current Golf GT's one trump card is how comfy it is on a long run.

I do however long for something with more 'soul' and driver feedback.
My old man had a black E28 528i with M-tech spoiler and LSD from new.
He always said it was one car he regretted selling.

Just love these shark-nosed Beemers

Its a proper mile muncher - you can sit in the fast lane at 80-90 mph all day long, if you don't mind some pretty rubbish fuel economy. Its got a lot of mid range torque, and pulls well at overtaking speeds. It makes a big difference to have sports seats if you doing some long journies.

An E28 is a proper A - road/motorway car, whereas an E30 is far more fun on B-road, and can be thrown around a lot more - depends what you expect in terms of driver feedback. All M535i/535iSE's have an lsd as standard - my last was lowered by -30mm on boge springs, it transformed the handling. I don't think i'll go too far with mods on this one though as it looks OK as it is.

What do you reckon you're getting, real world MPG wise?
One of the big reasons (other than style etc.) I'm considering an old performance saloon like this, is for driver feedback.
The Mk5 Golf I have grips and handles brilliantly, but it's just so 'numb'. I have absolutely no idea what's going on at the wheels whatsoever.
Added to which, when I'm really trying to push on, it'll just wash out in understeer.
Very safe, very predicatable.....but sadly also very boring!

It is however, extremely comfortable - something that does matter to me now that I'm not 21 anymore!

What's parts availability and cost like? Especially consumables like pads, discs etc.

Hope you don't mind all the questions! I'm just really fired up about hopefully picking one of these cars up this year!

Bob ;D

[teaboy]

Really nice, don't be shy with the pics.

[cecotto479]

Jan 19, 2013 21:24:10 GMT sideways535 said:

Jan 19, 2013 20:51:57 GMT cecotto479 said:

I put the beige interior in it. If you want the original, I think it's still here. Howling it was, though. Decent car. Looking good still.

Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I've seen the pics someone uploaded them on the RR thread on Pistonheads from when it was owned by a fella in Scotland.

Its only done 1000 miles since I bought it, I've changed the rotten front wing, and have a Superchips ecu for it. Otherwise, I'm going to keep it pretty much stock, its too nice a car to mess with.

Did it have the "Japanese style" front bumper then? I actually bought a complete car just to get the front bumper for that one.

Bumper donor:-



Your car as I found it:-



Your interior in its original home - a Diamond black M535i -

[sideways535]

Jan 21, 2013 23:19:37 GMT misterbob said:

Jan 21, 2013 22:34:42 GMT sideways535 said:

Its a proper mile muncher - you can sit in the fast lane at 80-90 mph all day long, if you don't mind some pretty rubbish fuel economy. Its got a lot of mid range torque, and pulls well at overtaking speeds. It makes a big difference to have sports seats if you doing some long journies.

An E28 is a proper A - road/motorway car, whereas an E30 is far more fun on B-road, and can be thrown around a lot more - depends what you expect in terms of driver feedback. All M535i/535iSE's have an lsd as standard - my last was lowered by -30mm on boge springs, it transformed the handling. I don't think i'll go too far with mods on this one though as it looks OK as it is.

What do you reckon you're getting, real world MPG wise?
One of the big reasons (other than style etc.) I'm considering an old performance saloon like this, is for driver feedback.
The Mk5 Golf I have grips and handles brilliantly, but it's just so 'numb'. I have absolutely no idea what's going on at the wheels whatsoever.
Added to which, when I'm really trying to push on, it'll just wash out in understeer.
Very safe, very predicatable.....but sadly also very boring!

It is however, extremely comfortable - something that does matter to me now that I'm not 21 anymore!

What's parts availability and cost like? Especially consumables like pads, discs etc.

Hope you don't mind all the questions! I'm just really fired up about hopefully picking one of these cars up this year!

Bob ;D

You can easily get it to do 15-16 mpg by zipping around town. On a motorway run, it will do 24-25mpg but I get too easily tempted to scoot off in lane 3..

A lot of parts of easy to locate, and there's a good selection of prices. BMW still sell loads of stuff, and GSF/ECP sell all the consumable items. Only things that can be a pain are unique bits - such as trying to find a used plastic wheel arch extension is almost impossible !

You should definitely get one soon, as prices for the bigger engined cars are firming up. Sellers are asking silly money for decent M535i/SE's now. I sold a lovely 535iSE manual about 4 years ago with 12 months MOT for £900, and the guy broke it !

[sideways535]

Jan 22, 2013 1:00:24 GMT cecotto479 said:

Jan 19, 2013 21:24:10 GMT sideways535 said:

Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I've seen the pics someone uploaded them on the RR thread on Pistonheads from when it was owned by a fella in Scotland.

Its only done 1000 miles since I bought it, I've changed the rotten front wing, and have a Superchips ecu for it. Otherwise, I'm going to keep it pretty much stock, its too nice a car to mess with.

Did it have the "Japanese style" front bumper then? I actually bought a complete car just to get the front bumper for that one.

Bumper donor:-



Your car as I found it:-



Your interior in its original home - a Diamond black M535i -

Thanks for posting the pics, I vaguely recognize your user id from e30zone. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by a J style front bumper... I thought the guy I got the car from fitted the beige doorcards, but he was a bit of a bull$hitter, whoever did them must have a good masking tape supplier, lol.

Any idea where I can get a front plastic arch extension ? BMW want £100 !

[cecotto479]

The guy I sold it to was no bullshitter, I don't think. Nick? Seemed a decent guy. Had a bit of bad luck with it. Broke a cam follower shortly after he got it and then had the engine reassembled wrongly IIRC.

I fitted the door cards. Definitely. No masking tape involved.

It had a monstrous plastic Japanese style front bumper on it when I bought it. I'll see if I can find pictures. Horrendous.

I think I have a couple of E28 eyebrows. I'll check if they're front or rear. I've a feeling they're rear.

[sideways535]

Jan 23, 2013 9:07:33 GMT cecotto479 said:

The guy I sold it to was no bullshitter, I don't think. Nick? Seemed a decent guy. Had a bit of bad luck with it. Broke a cam follower shortly after he got it and then had the engine reassembled wrongly IIRC.

I fitted the door cards. Definitely. No masking tape involved.

It had a monstrous plastic Japanese style front bumper on it when I bought it. I'll see if I can find pictures. Horrendous.

I think I have a couple of E28 eyebrows. I'll check if they're front or rear. I've a feeling they're rear.

That's the guy I bought it off. When I removed the door cards, the insides were held together with masking tape.... and he told me he had spent 'a good few grand on it', that I just couldn't see in the car, especially as he hadn't fitted a replacement wing he'd bought for it, fitted the $hitest tyres known to man, and my 9 year old could have done a better stereo install. At the end of the day, I had a good idea of what I was buying, and was happy with what I paid for it, so I've got no issue.

The front bumper on the car is the one as per the photo I posted initially. I'm fairly sure its a factory mtec item.. Id be very grateful if you get a minute to check to see if you have a front wing brow! Thanks for the background on the car, much appreciated.

[macp]

Stunning car I have to say I loved the original setup of the cream seats but style and taste is very individual and what keeps us interesting as human beings

[sideways535]

I made a little unexpected progress today, as the change in weather meant it was no longer completely covered in snow. I got to change a failing alternator to a shiny nickel plated one:



And fitted my newly painted kidney grille. Can't decide to keep it black or chrome.

Before


After

[little feat]

Chrome .

[skinley]

The black grille looks good but a bit too modern for the age of the car IMHO.
Love those headlight wipers.

[cecotto479]

Chrome.

I have an immoveable rule that anything that comes into my place with a matt black grille leaves with it in the boot, E9 Batmobile spoiler stylee, and a chrome one fitted in its place.

Sorry, the eyebrows I have are rear ones.