The Shark, A Journey

"Shark-Attack" (shark-attack) 09/08/2015 at 16:17 • Filed to: BMW

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Alright Oppo, I finally took the time to put together a post on my 635csi! For those of you who dislike reading, many photos follow!

I’ve always had an interest in the more classic BMWs and classic cars in general for that matter. Classic European cars... hhnnngggg... but I digress. I set forth unto the unholy land known as “craigslist” in search of a new to me European classic, one that would get me where I need to go, but still needs work. Either I’m insane, I don’t learn my lesson the first time or because quite frankly it’s proper fun. Maybe an unhealthy combination of the three. I budgeted myself to 4k for whatever vehicle I chose, not counting anything I might need to address right away. and since I enjoy torturing myself I immediately started searching cars above my price range.

Now I’ve always loved the look of the e24, but quite honestly thought it was far out of my price range, so of course I searched for them. Boy was I pleasantly surprised to see the ad for this car, adult owned, mechanically sound (well, kinda. We’ll get to that soon), Euro front bumper (the only one that really matters imo). All this could be mine for one easy payment of $3999 the ad told me. It sounded too good to be true.

It wasn’t. A few phone calls to arrange someone to drive home the car I’d be borrowing were made and I was off to Washington, where I went to highschool. As soon as I saw the nose of the coupe peeking out from behind an apartment staircase I knew I *had* to leave with this car. I basically talked the seller down to 2.6k for the shark with the style 5s and very low mileage Winterforces, and another 1k for the Borbet type As, new upholstery for e30 sports seats, and the original M-tech steering wheel.

Now for the work that’s been done. I’ll try to include anything big I can think of, or anything interesting that I have pictures of.

During the test drive I noticed that it never really came up to temperature. No big deal, replaced the broken thermostat with a spare I had laying around for my 300e first thing. The engine bay was filthy, things were beginning to surface rust, wires had built up rediculous amounts of resistance, it was a mess. Since then I’ve replaced every ground wire, both battery terminals, every relay and fuse, various sensors, some refurbished Bosch 21lb injectors for a Ford 5.0, all new fuel lines and filter, vacuum hoses, flushed and replaced the coolant, updated 28 pin ECU, a 145 amp alternator to replace the old 80, Bosch O2 sensor, Interstate battery, Beru 8mm spark plug wires, and am currently working on converting the intake boot, and intake itself to m30 b35 running gear. This is just the tip of the iceberg, I couldn’t even remember all the little things that have been replaced or refurbished when possible. All accessories such as power steering and ac have been disconnected, and the ac compressor has been sealed and stored since the system had no charge anyway. It gets 15/40 in the winter and 15/50 in the summer, all synthetic, and does not leak a single drip of oil or coolant. The fluid in the auto tranny was replaced three times within a month and replaced with red line synthetic just to insure longevity, and the fluid in the differential has been replaced with royal purple 45w90. For my birthday my lovely girlfriend was nice enough to buy me a sandblasted b35 valve cover, which has since been painted red and gold. I’m not planning on converting to the m30b35 at all, it’s a waste of time for 20hp, if that, in my opinion. The b34s low compression lends itself well to boost anyway and as funds allow I may be working on a junkyard turbo soon. The only engine I would consider swapping in is a 12v Cummins turbo diesel at this point.

The interior was pretty gross, in fact the headliner, and cracked dash are still the two worst parts of the whole car currently other than paint but will need to be replaced with the front and rear glass seals. Since purchase I have reupholstered a pair of e30 sport seats, completely refurbished the steering column and kick panel, shampooed the carpets, installed the Alpine head unit from my w124, hooked up auxiliary, 4 home theater speakers (I’m still working on the aesthetics portion of this) JL amp and 12” JL sub. Also since i removed the power seats, I decided to remove the e-brake console with the seat controls and put it into storage. Since this left two mounting points exposed next to the e-brake handle boot, it would be a good place to screw in two cupholders I picked up at the local Fred Meyers. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but would take less than 5 minutes to revert to factory and no more arriving places with coffee spilled all over my lap, hooray!

The exterior of the car was also in need of some help. These cars are known for their rust, but I was lucky enough to find a mostly rust free example. The two places that were beginning to rust and have since been cleaned up and treated was the battery tray, and the lip underneath the trunk seal. The sunroof seal also leaked onto the drivers seat headrest (not okay for a DD in sunny Oregon) and the front bumper was missing it’s trim. Badges were also ruined or missing and have since been replaced. The paint on the roof was some kind of cheap spray job so it has since been sanded down and reverted to flat black until I can get the whole car resprayed. The only other exterior mod I have performed is to tint the front lights yellow.

I’m a big believer in the OEM+ look, so I tried to keep things looking like it could have come from the factory that way. Well for the most part anyway. Other mods include: Bilstein sport shocks and struts, sport springs with one coil cut from the rears, slotted rotors and stainless steel brake lines.

(Pressure washer starter broke halfway through cleaning this wheel well, first picture is old)

A final note: To all the euro naysayers out there keep this in mind. I bought a fairly neglected BMW, and in a year and several months of ownership have only *needed* to replace less than $600 worth of OEM parts and of course my labor to keep this car running and running well including fluid changes. It returns 21 mpg city and anywhere from 21-25 highway depending on how fast you’re cruising at, a huge improvement from the 10 mpg I was getting at purchase, and not bad at all for a 30 year old 3.5 liter straight six. There are still a few things it needs here and there but it’s well on its way to being where I want it to be at.

Think of anything I didn’t address? Let me know in the comments!

FrankenBlaster > Shark-Attack 09/08/2015 at 16:32

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Man. What a beautiful car. That price, too. It gives me hope that when I so decide it’s my time to become the caretaker of a vintage BMW there will still be an affordable one there for me.

FerioDreams > Shark-Attack 09/08/2015 at 16:38

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Amazing work! I love seeing people restore cars and keep them OEM to an extent.

Shark-Attack > FrankenBlaster 09/08/2015 at 16:48

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Get to it! Pre e34/e36 era BMWs are slowly starting to rise in price. Be prepared to put a lot of time and work into a cheaper one, but my god is it worth it. May not be the fastest cars (I’ve driven some fairly quick vehicles) but they really are their own driving experience.

RTeeJay > Shark-Attack 09/08/2015 at 20:49

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How did you learn to do all this? Haynes manual? Forums? Youtube?

Shark-Attack > RTeeJay 09/08/2015 at 21:23

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Believe it or not, mostly just by taking things apart and trial and error, with occasional help from a forum for some things. I’m a fairly quick learner. When I was younger I would also take apart a lot of old broken appliances (computers, blowdryers, vacuums, etc.) to see how they worked, and I’m sure that’s some of it.