The History on My Car
I purchased my car in June of 1999 through an private seller in Jersey City. To my disbelief the car had no rust on it what-so-ever, but needed a complete mechanical overhaul. One week after purchasing the car I set out on a ten day adventure that would leave me will the basic car I have now. What I purchased was a completely stock '86 535ia with a tan leather interior. The first project was to install a new trunk seal, and tail light gaskets, along with a new trunk lid(with 'is') spoiler which was in the correct body color and matched perfectly. A complete rust free tool box, jack, wheel chock, and lug wrench was installed and rear fog lights were wired. A new BMW antenna was also installed along with a new cable(the one in the car was cut up). This was the end of the first day.
Day two I replaced all of the door and window seals, and began removing the tan leather interior. With the complete interior out of the car, the work on converting the mechanicals began. Day three through five entailed removal of the exhaust, drive shaft, auto tranny, rear suspension, front suspension, pedal assembly, cooling sytem, AC, power steering, brake system, motor, and differential.
With the car in total pieces, a newer motor with 5 speed tranny was bolted to the front subframe and installed in the car. Once this was completed, it was possible to install all of the parts included in the technical specs section of my page. With all mechanicals installed, a black leather interior was installed along with the 5 speed pedal assembly. The new steering wheel finished off the conversion and on day 10, June 21, 1999 the car was reborn.
I would like to thank Motor Works West for all of the help and advise they gave me on building my car, and all my crazy ideas.
Motor Works West
And I would like to especially thank my father for all of the knowledge, advise, help, and support he has given me throughout the past eight years working on these cars. Without his help, I would not have the car I have today or the experiences that we have shared. Thank You!
Most technical proceedure on the conversion will be covered in
Technical Proceedures
Here is a list of parts that have been replaced:
Water Pump, hose, belts, distributer cap and rotor, oil pump, oil pan gasket, pilot bearing, throw out bearing, clutch disk, pressure plate, flywheel, rear pitman arms, rear subframe bushings, differential mount, upper strut bearings, front struts, rear shocks, springs, upper control arms, lower control arms, swaybar links, swaybars, swaybar bushings, oil pressure switch, oil filter housing and canister, power steering pump, brake master cylinder, brake booster, clutch master, clutch slave, front brake calipers, steering wheel, shifter, driveshaft, differential, muffler, cat., trunk seal, tail light gaskets, window seals, and door seals.