Well... It's started. E9 is down in Alameda now.
 

Don (The total E9 Guru) loves the car. He has 4 or 5 of them in his shop now and is starting to work on taking mine apart.
I have a list of things they are going to do to it -

• Engine Installation (M90)
• 5-Speed (G265) Installation
• New Dash Wood
• New Dash
• Restore A/C
• New Heater Core
• Suspension refresh- for what is needed.
• Headliner Replacement
• New Seating Surfaces
• New Stereo (don't know what I want to install yet)
• Various items... the list keeps growing

And now that they have the car - work has started.

Dash is out. Interior getting removed and.... I get the call.....

Has your car been in an accident? We see some things with the sheet metal that don't look too good (in the area of the lower outbd corner of windscreen where it meets the ends of the dash).

I say not that I know of or the PO knew of (actually the guy working for Don knows my car from the PO when he lived in Portland - small world). No damage from the last 10 years. But who knows before then.
It appears both front fenders have (at some time) been replaced.

At that point - nothing too much - things can move forward - just need to make some adaptions and adjustments with the backing hardware used to reattach everything with (it was kind of a kluge job that I had originally - so we want to do a better job on the reassembly). The new fenders look ok and they have held up so that is more of a curiosity than anything else.

Then.....wait for it... I get the next call.....

We have rust. LOL. There are (at least) a couple of spots that need attention (one in a mostly minor way - the other more substantial, and affecting the exterior paint).
He sends me a bunch of pics and... Too bad I am not at home. I could use a nice glass of wine.

I take a deep breath and .... we get to discussing what the plan will be.
The value of the car (as is now and what it could be when fixed), what I paid for it, the cost of what looks to be needed... and the $$ of what I have it down there in the first place to be done.... All are conspiring against me and leading me down the 'get it fixed right' path... (and I guess that is a good thing)

It looks like I will be moving forward.... with what now is a (mostly) full restoration.

But - so we can know the full picture of all what the car needs, they have halted work (for now) and will get it on a lift and evaluate all the points of interest and let me know what it would take to fix everything (body and such).

I will likely end up repainting the car afterwards...
And that creates another quandry....
My car has a color that is not stock BMW (as such).
It was painted about 13 years ago - matched to a faded Baikal Blue.
Would I want to keep that color (Darker than Fjord blue, but not as dark as the real Baikal)???
I am liking what it is... But - I do also like Fjord too (my 2002 was that color). Baikal is ok too - but do I want to go that dark?

LOL - I did not expect to have to answer that question....
Oh well - we'll see how this turns out.

Just thought you guys would be interested in my saga...
Stay tuned....

Oh, dear.

just my .02 cents, but what was the original color of the car?

If you are spending a lot of money into a full restoration, might it be worth most in the end, if you keep it (or return it) to original color?

Just remember... E9s are beautiful.

Sorry to hear about the discoveries... but this is a great thread. Sounds like you need to be fully in or out. Do it right or bail. I'm glad you decided to go all in.


Can we get pics along the way for this entire restoration?

Ugh...ish. In for a penny, though. Make it what you want it to be and you’ll enjoy it forever. Make it what you think it will be, but not quite what you’d like it to be and you’ll regret it as long as you have it.

That’s my guess.

Thanks guys and gals...

Yeah - in for a penny, in for a pound.
The original color is (was) Baikal.

I'll be down in SF for a long weekend in Dec. I was going to stop by and see the car. Now I am GOING TO STOP BY AND SEE THE CAR. lol

so, ummm, about getting that e39 M5...

Definitely making an e9 as nice as possible is the way to go, IMO. I'd think they're about ready to shoot up in value if they haven't already. They are such a pretty car. Share pictures and updates as you can, I always find these restore threads very interesting.

oh yeah, definitely looking forward to pictures and growth of this thread

Yes.

Same

Here's an update...

There has been a lot of work done to the car now.
LOTS of discoveries - some good. Many not so....

The bottom line is the car's basic structure is in VERY good shape.
No rust in the usual areas that can cause issues with the E9.
Everything is in Great shape that way.
Suspension and main body members are doing well.
This is good news.

As I mentioned before - both front fenders had been replaced in the past (more than 15 years ago).
The work was done to a decent standard - to a point. The not so good point was the dash attachment is off on one end.
The investigation to find out about the fenders led to one big discovery...
At some point in the past there was a BIG electrical short/fire near the fuse box that damaged a bunch of wiring. The repairs were done in a bit of a cheesy manner - and explain a couple of problems I have with lights and such.
All that will be repaired - when the car is back in the 'going together' mode.

So - what are some of the highlights?

• Dash has been restored (new wood also). Set aside to install later
• Interior being disassembled
• M90 is finished. Will be awesome... Custom oil pump and EFI system (made to look period correct as a CSi would have)
• Car did NOT have LSD. Will have one now. Nuts.. More $$... oh well.
• Will get brake upgrade: Vented rotors front, solid rotors rear (from solid front and rear drum setup)
• Rear window mechanisms upgraded (regulators replaced and new motors)

The engine wiring harness is being created now. See pic
The rust is being cut out and the car will go to the welding shop soon.
From there - probably go out to Nevada to get painted (can use the preferred paints and chemicals in NV, not in CA).
Back to Alameda after and then put it all back together.

I have a couple of choices to make -
Stereo set up - I want to keep it period looking, but would like modern functionality....
Headlights - I have E-Code Hella's now - might be nice to get new ones...???
Tires - will probably get new tires after this is all done (will keep the wheels I have)

From there - will have some time kill.
Hopefully a restful time of it for a bit. Who knows, I may have to take a side trip to Reno... when the car is in the body shop... :)

I will update again as things progress...

nice, glad you are making good progress. Shell looks nice

That’s all pretty cool, especially uncovering the stories (even if you don’t really would rather they have not happened).

Hi folks -

I need to do an update - and will do so soon, but... There is a paint shop that has agreed to paint the car... I am small beans compared to what they usually do, but they have a CSI in there now (another out of the same shop doing my car) and it has turned out really good, so I expect mine will as well. (positive karma and all).

This is the shop

It is about two weeks away from going in.
Right now, the car is being stripped the body of 'everything' and being given a full degreasing.
LOL - along with my wallet... lol

More details to follow soon... But just wanted to get this bit out there now.

Haha how much over budget are you at this point? Did you hit 2X yet?

I can totally see doing exactly what you are. Once you're in, you need to go for it!


PS that link doesn't work for me

It didn't work for me either at first, but there is an extra http at the end. Man, that gallery was insane. Such beautiful cars and great paint work. Can't wait to see the e9 at the end of the process.

What color did you decide on?

Budget? I have no budget. That way, when I spend what I spend... I can feel I did the right thing. Kinda anyway. :ack: Still, I think, after this is all said and done- I will not be underwater in value... I bought the car so cheap 10 years ago, and the market has moved to the point that I should be ok...

Color - It will be the OE Baikal Blue...
A bit darker than it is now (the color on the car now is not stock).
It will be similar to this when done.
https://assets.hemmings.com/uimage/59615690-500-0.jpg

I fixed the post above with the URL of the shop. Yeah, some extra stuff in there. All ok now.

Great color.

A bit of an update for your reading enjoyment...

The car has been in the body shop about 3 weeks now. Will be in there about 12 weeks all told. I keep telling myself I need to be patient.
It is not working. LOL. I keep looking at flights to the Bay Area in anticipation of 'the call' to come down and look at it. :eeps:

That being what it is - some other stuff has been going on.

1 - Gauges.
This is the stock setup.
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NpIAAO...m8I/s-l300.jpg
There is a clock on the right. Big ugly analog clock. Such a waste of real estate.
I have a plan....
See the multi gauge on the left? It has the idiot lights for turn signal, high beam, volts, oil pressure and gauges for fuel level and coolant temp.
This is that it looks like in detail:
http://i.ebayimg.com/15/!BhiT1uQ!mk~...hCM6!~~_35.JPG

While the center two gauges are a bit larger than the other gauges, the other two (multi gauge and clock) are the same diameter... (well, actually - not quite - but close enough... lol)
I bought another multi gauge on eBay (from Germany).
I am having it converted to show oil pressure and volts instead of their original functions.
The fella doing the restoration work is taking care of it (going to Palo Alto Speedometer to have the work done). Even Don is giving me major Kudo's for my choice here.
Should turn out real slick. REAL slick.

2 - Dash...
- This is the stock dash
https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content...Interior_1.jpg

See the speaker grill in the center (the wooden horizontal slatted grill thing)?
That is/was the original speaker location. UGLY. And... not very 'musical'. LOL
Oil pressure and volts gauges. Some guys take out that grill and install gauges in a plate right there. Ugly (and why I am doing what I am doing above).
See this example
http://forums.carmudgeons.com/attach...7&d=1520313513

My new dash wood does not have that opening in it - or the grill. Just a nice clean piece of wood going across that area - left to right. Should be nice.
Sorry - No pic of what that will look like.


3 - Stereo...
Bought a nice old Blau Frankfurt to put into it (and spent way tooooooo much to do so). Supposedly all restored inside - I guess that is good. I don't envision listening to much else besides the exhaust note and the mechanical noises it will make. But - will be nice to have tunes (has an AUX input too - so can listen to my phone or such - even though I have no music stored on anything at all.... lol)

https://nebula.wsimg.com/17c265e8a3d...&alloworigin=1

Got the radio from these guys too (VintageBlau).
Now to figure out speakers and their location (front and rear pairs).

Enough for now.
Engine info next. Soon...



.

Fun! Looks like a vintage yacht.

you may not be the only one ;)

I received another 'we gotta talk' text....

Seems the car, in addition to having both front fenders replaced at some time, had a bunch of work done to the right side passenger door & rear fender (like the car had been sideswiped or something).

This looks to not be done by the same people that did the fenders (in other words - not the same caliber of workmanship. It was done 'OK', not great).

Don't know much more than that for now.
Good thing that there is another E9 there that they can use as a 'guide' - one that has the original body in that area.

Stay tuned. The slippery slope continues...

Ugh, sorry. :-/

This, ugh

Might want to watch this auction, to see where it lands

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-bmw-3-0csi/

Sigh, mission creep. Annoying.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-bmw-3-0cs-13/

Just plopping this here for when lip gets back.

Yeah - I see that one.

Also - update (kind of) for the car...

The fella doing the work has had some personal challenges with his 14 year old daughter (6 mos in hospital and the like) - so, my car has taken a bit of a back seat on his activities. I am ok with that - I am not ready for it anyway and I want it done right - and when he can focus on what he needs to do with that - that is fine.

So - will be a bit later...
Not much info other wise -

Engine installed.
Interior installed
suspension coming together
Transmission - dunno. He was going to have a shop give it a once over (crack it open and review). Don't know how that is...
Drive line needs to be shortened...
Brakes are being upgraded from solid/drum to vented/solid... (same as the later 3.0CS's)

Don't have much else right now. Maybe by summer...

What's this about?

Wasn't his car (earlier) converted from auto to manual trans?

No - it was a ZF 4-speed... and that trans is short.

The Getrag 5-speed transmission that I have going in is longer, so the DL needs to be shortened accordingly (to fit the space left).....

drive lines and angles are fun (not)

When I (well, we, I didn't do this work alone) singled the Volvo not only did I need a new drive shaft fabricated, I also had to rotate (shim) the drive axle as it was no longer connecting to the middle diverter axle.

This thread seems to mirror your experience:

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show...1641239&page=2

I'll take a look - Thanks

FYI - Car is still down in Alameda.
All painted
engine in
Trans not in
Interior - some in
Dash - going in presently
Suspension - getting ready
and the story continues...

Been really busy at work and with the new house - so, not much time to post...

Thanks for the link though - should be entertaining... (I hope - lol)