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The is an element of preservation as well as restoration with this car, due to time, space and money constraints. it is only a 525 and not a 10k M535i after all.
How far do you go and where does it end? loll

it never ends

Just like children, emotional and financial sponges, sometimes you wonder why you bother, and then one sunny sunday afternoon its all worth it!

yeah totally, driving in the sun with the tunes up and actually making it to the destination and back. no other feeling of achievement

pandemonium001 wrote:Just like children, emotional and financial sponges, sometimes you wonder why you bother, and then one sunny sunday afternoon its all worth it!

I bloody hope so.

Been having a major garage cleer out lately, lots of trips to the scrappy and selling stuff to other forums and ebay, so that takes longer than you think.
Managed to fully weld up the front struts last night and replaced the front springs with 9" 500lb units, with the escort fronts 8" long, i nearly had coil bind so they will be going on the back to stiffen up a bit more.
sits an inch higher now at the front.

cleaned the loose paint of the brembos



4.7kg with pads & H/w compared to 5.9 kg for the ate cast 4 pots, which would you choose?
got 315mm discs on thier way as well, along with seal kit, pagid pads, had shims machined to center the discs on the e12 hub.
All in i should be £260 ish for the full conversion.

Got a bit more done tonight, "
dropped the back down a bit, screwed right down, with the helper springs removed, next move when required will be shorter dampers with 8" x 2.25" springs





started on the big brake conversion, 315x30mm brembo discs on,i think the 325 discs would have been to close under the 17" with those calipers. cocked up my ring size so need to get 2 more to ensure the discs don't run with a wobble





fitted the new front valance

I am not going to seam seal the join at the moment, it may need to come off in the future for charge cooler or intercooler.

painted the calipers

not perfect but, will do, it is going to get driven.



Hardware to fit the calipers and the brackets to make out of some scrap alloy.
stickers are ordered.
started block sanding the whole car, got a good few hours in that to do, chips to fill, little scabby its to do as I go
Not long till paint goes on now.

Starting to get some floor space back now thing are being fitted.

Tonights progress after being shouted in from the garage, lots of sanding the whole car with 600g and 800g. filling in some stone chips, but got bored of that for a while so started the brakes again.
The paint on the calipers is still a bit soft,24hrs later and even after baking in the oven at 60deg c, shhh don't tell the wife!!
i did thin with 2k xylene thinners so i could spray it, maybe i should have added a bit of hardener as well. It was supposed to be brush on and dry after 2 hrs.
but thought sod it and:

made paper template, then wood mock up, a file here and there and:


pads are 1mm in from disc.



clearance is a good 8-10mm from wheel



I could have been greedy and went for 325mm discs but.... whole setup would have been at least 2 kg heavier, so decided the smaller brembo discs and put the money saved to better pads if required in the future. plus the bigger pad area whill greatly improve the braking anyway.

evo 6 calipers so 4 pistons each and are 40 & 46mm pistons, so that will increase the clamping force for same effot but with slightly more travel as well.

Brakes 99% finished tonight.
test fit and installing remaning h/w


I spent hrs on the belt sander, tweeking and drilling


Stickers on, may not be right way round or whatever.




Bolted up and installed, fit exactly the same as the wood mok up plates so final pic would be the same just with a sticker added.

Brake Bleeding nearly finished but ran out of fluid, so will get some more then finish of and contunue with body work.

E12 now has 315x30mm discs with centering rings, cast alloy 4 pots 40 & 46mm pistons, pads are nearly dbl the origional size, braided single line, and is all total 2kg less than origional, all for £200 after selling old calipers, i got the Brembos free but required overhaul.

Brakes are now fully air free, feel good.
There is actually more pedal movement from wear in the linkage system than by applying the brakes.
So that will be the next to go.
manual pedal box on its way will be converted to non servo master brakes, and steering rack conversion done at the same time.
there is a bit of wear in the steering links so might as well do it now before the next MOT.

Got a Getrag dog leg:
after 3 hrs of pressure washing and TFR



drying next to the fire


home made plug tool


drained and mag plug


flushed out with 3 ltrs of ford 75w90 mtf oil

cleaned the outside


sanding sanding, degrease, more sanding


a few layers of upol 2k clear

New seal kit on the way to install then new fluid to install, Fuchs titan 75w90 MTF

got a E28 7kg flywheel on its way from germany as well. just need to choose a clutch kit
probably M5 sachs, black diamond or CG motorsport one. twin disk or paddle.

all the door locks have been cleaned and lubed, famous for being siezed and burning out the motors on the e12 as well.

Good job cleaning your locks

Pfew, you've not exactly been sitting still! Nice approach to all tech details and nice progress!