E12 M535i Project - 08-21-19 Update

[wkohler]

Matt, I appreciate the offer. Interestingly, that was one of a few reasons I bought your car.

I dropped by today to give Mike some money for materials since we didn't do that when he originally got the car. I also brought him the driver door after I stripped out all of the hardware and wiring. I was surprised as anyone to find that more work had been done. Mike got the tail panel welded in this morning and then used the old tail panel for patch panels to fill the holes for the rear side markers and the hole at the bottom of the spare tire well. I had forgotten to order a replacement tow hook for a whopping $6, but mine was actually in excellent shape, so it was reused. He also straightened out the "partitions" on the left and right side of the trunk which were caved in from the great care this car received from it's previous owner.











Here's the underside of the car where the rear suspension used to be:



Mike is also going to make his patch panels for this out of the tail panel. Fortunately, the outer wheelhouse is fine. Just a small bit of the "rear column" got eaten and the outside of the quarter. Shouldn't be too hard to fix.



There aren't many more repairs needed on the car itself. Fortunately, we haven't run into really any surprises. It's coming along.

[bkbimmer]

That looks awesome, so the new door you have is for a '76 and earlier? I really want to get my '75 back to early front doors.

[wkohler]

The part number shows it was for 9/79 on but everything I've seen suggests it can used for earlier cars. The mirror mounting is removable.

[bkbimmer]

The part number shows it was for 9/79 on but everything I've seen suggests it can used for earlier cars. The mirror mounting is removable.

Interesting.

[Adam W in MN]

Yours has so much less rust than mine! And very cool that it already had the proper rear diff mount enhancement done earlier in its life.

[davintosh]

Wow; how'd I miss this thread? I just get through drooling over Adam's project, then I see another e12 M535i with Chris' name on it. Kudos to you too, Chris; quite an undertaking! It's gonna be awesome.

[wkohler]

It's only been going on five years and hasnt really had too many updates so, I wouldn't expect everyone to see it!

It might get more interesting though. Hard to say. Weird how mine and Adams projects kinda crossed paths. Haha.

[Mark 88/M5 Houston]

Looking great Chris! Glad you found Mike to do the paint and body work.

[austin8753]

[Nanajoth]

Looking good, Makes me miss my E12.

[hubble1953]

Chris: m535 is looking good. Glad to see you having some fun times with this project. Miss my m535, but Matt will be taking good care of it:)
jm

[wkohler]

Mike has had a few small projects here and there, which is good. Last time I saw the car, it was sitting here:



Over this last week, he's been plugging away on the M535i, though.



He's got the rear panel all seam-sealed as messily as the factory did it.



He also seam-sealed a few other areas of the trunk that didn't have it before. There was also a small hole in front of the fuel filler compartment and that has been taken care of both top and bottom.



Floors were an area of concern simply because the left side of the car was soaked in brake fluid for so long. There were some areas that were "brown with rust colorations" but Mike blasted those and found they were simply surface with at most light pitting in the left rear.





Mike was working on the patch for the rocker. Fortunately, the rust was isolated, but I can't figure out why this was actually happening considering looking inside the sill area, everything looks peachy, both fore and aft of the affected area.



There was an area in the right footwell that I had noticed when I first pulled the carpet, but promptly forgot about it due to the concours condition of the rest of the car.

I caught it when I was removing the seat last week and asked Mike to look into it, fearing for what it might lead to. Yesterday, Mike sent me a couple photos since he had the chance to dig into it.





I was pretty frustrated when I saw that, since it was pretty much what I was afraid of and I was trying to figure out how to handle it. I called Mike and he had already made a piece and was welding it in. We were more concerned about the left side, but that ended up being a non-issue, apparently.

Here's how that came out:





He copied the ridge that was in the original, so it looks just as it should. I felt better.

On the left side, the brake fluid ate some of the seam-sealer, so that was remedied. I think I need to buy stock in a seam-sealer manufacturer.



Lastly, the repair to the right rear dogleg is completed as well.





I imagine next time I see the car, the hole in the rocker will be done. There are still some small repairs here and there, not to mention my annoying attention to detail, but it's coming along.

[tig]

<3

[pldlnr]

Very nice work. The car is coming along quickly. It's amazing how much work goes into getting one of these cars right. The e12 m535i is one of my favorite cars. I can't wait to see this one come together.

[leadphut]

even kate upton loves this

[Adam W in MN]

Great update Chris. Too bad about the floor on the passenger side, but when there's sound deadening and carpet covering it, I bet you'll quickly forget it. Personally there are so many other areas to pay attention to that the floor pans, other than getting them rust-free, weren't a huge concern for me.

Does your car have any cracks where the door brakes mount to the sheet metal? All four of mine had stress cracks that they welded up. And no cowl cracks on yours either?

What was going on in the rear dogleg, I didn't notice in before photos. Rust?

[wkohler]

I'm really glad to see Kate Upton approves.

It wasn't a huge issue with the floor and Mike cut out more than he needed since he wanted to ensure he cleaned up the pad that was under it. My real concern was where to get a suitable replacement piece from, but fortunately, that was an issue that didn't need to be addressed. I really don't understand how the tail panel has been able to give all of this good metal for patches.

Being an E12, it does have the cracks at the door brakes. I actually discussed those with Mike yesterday as I had mentioned it before, but in the scope of the other work, it's easily forgotten. He said that after he finished welding on the rocker, he was going to look at those. Fortunately, there is good access front and back, unlike the '75.

I have one incredibly small crack at the base of the cowl. It's hard to see now that the paint is gone. It will be addressed as well. We have already talked about it, but I'm going to stay on him about it.

There was rust at the dogleg. Three layers of metal meet up down there. Outer wheelhouse, the rear "column" (the part that provides the structure the quarter attaches to) and of course the quarter. The quarter had a hole in it, the rear column had a small bit of rot and the outer wheelhouse was virtually untouched with some surface which Mike easily removed. He made a piece out of the tail panel using a part that already had one of the bends, so I imagine it was up around the lock/license plate lights (which were free of rust). It worked out well.

[jodystevens]

As I said on FirstFives, looking good! Lot of work there!

[bkbimmer]

I would pull out all the tar paper to be safe, there could be more rust hidden under there.

Nice progress though, jealous!

[wkohler]

What I didn't mention before was the size of the affected area in the right front. The actual rusted area was about 2.5-3" or so. He cut significantly more than necessary since it was basically on top of that pad. That said, he still pulled out more sound deadening and found no further issues other than it being a giant pain in the ass to remove where things aren't rust-colorated.

I had stopped by Friday and Mike had applied a skim coat of filler in the areas he worked on to smooth out imperfections and whatnot. His plan was to do the schutz on the bottom of the car so he was mainly focused on the lower areas. Great. Saturday afternoon, he sends me a couple of photos of the car in primer. WTF? he called and said he stayed late Friday and finished the bodywork with a couple minor exceptions, but the bare metal needed to get covered. I got a call at 7:53 this morning and I freaked out thinking the shop burned down or something and it was just Mike confirming the paint code. I did that and also gave him the info off of the gallon from the B7 Turbo to be sure.

Since things were moving so quickly, after we talked Saturday, I spent yesterday stripping down the other three old doors and making mental notes on what needs to be done. He had made noises like he wanted the other doors, so I showed up with them today. Apparently, he didn't have room for them right now, so they went back home.

That said, not only is the car primered, but the underside is schutzed and painted! Mike also painted inside the trunk as well.














Not a great shot of that, but meh.



















On the front panel, Mike still needs to weld the oil cooler brackets onto the core support and we did discuss doing something to support the bottom of the grille support since it just flops around and the front end really has no real structure. Everything flexed like crazy when you opened and closed the hood. Mike suggested doing something using rivets after we fit the front spoiler and see how it all lines up.

After I left, Mike was taking a break and starting a quick project for one of the car lots nearby. He said his plan was to do the engine compartment tonight. A few things needed cleaning up in there yet that he was able to see once the car was in primer, particularly since it will be cleared.

Lastly, here's a shot of the mirror mounting/front window guide from the right front door. It's held in with two rivets through the door frame and a bolt at the bottom. There was also a bunch of sealant around the base of the mirror mount which isn't on the driver door.

[cddallara]

[davintosh]

Dang.

[Jelmer538i]

Nice! Why are there still giant holes in the hat shelf?

[wkohler]

There were giant speakers in there. We might do something about it. Unfortunately, it's tough to find cars that haven't had that done.

[Adam W in MN]

Damn that's some fast progress. I'll be interested to see what you do on the front end, I never noticed any flexing with mine when the hood was raised?

Mine has the same rear shelf hack job for larger speakers. I wanted to have them fix it in phase 1 of my project but without a donor car's rear shelf or something to work with, it was a time-consuming ask and I decided to leave it alone and concentrate on other areas where I wanted the hours spent.

Looking fantastic, good to see you're having him transfer the oil cooler brackets to your new core support!

[white chocolate]

Amazing work. I would love to have the amount of knowledge required to take on such a project. Looks great!

[tig]

Holy schutzed! (I didn't know that's what that stuff was called).

[bkbimmer]

There were giant speakers in there. We might do something about it. Unfortunately, it's tough to find cars that haven't had that done.

My 75 e12 has a bigger hole cut in by a previous owner, doesn't really hurt anything but doesn't look fabulous.

[bkbimmer]

Chris, the car is looking great from what I can see. Very Cool!

Make sure the stripes are straight

[Jelmer538i]

Same here with the E12 but I think it would be very easy to weld in some sheet metal there. Now there are huge, rough holes visible with the trunk open.
But rest looks very good.

I have the first pictures of how the headlight wiper/washer system is mounted ready for you.