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XCRN : 1995 BMW 525i

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    #31
    Repainted some of the trim today. And really looks nice.

    This is before where it has just been cleaned.



    After.








    Here you can kind of see the difference in color. The painted one looks a bit faded but it is nicer in person.




    I also found a colony of ants underneath one of the rear bumper trims. So I took it off and power washed it.



    Gave a good opportunity to get an idea on the hidden rust and it is not too bad. Mainly the exhaust area and gas tank from this view.

    Be unique, like every other person.

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      #32
      Some more small stuff today.

      Repainted the door handles.




      And I got power again so I could move the car to asphalt and I took off the wheels to clean them.



      This was behind all 4 wheels so a brake job will be needed soon after the manual swap.

      Be unique, like every other person.

      CB7 Sold________________________E34 Sold________________________E39 Current

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        #33
        Looking great! I've always been a fan of 90's BMWs. How do you find the cost of parts compared to the Accord?

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          #34
          Originally posted by Scolirk View Post
          Looking great! I've always been a fan of 90's BMWs. How do you find the cost of parts compared to the Accord?
          It is a bit more but requires more effort to find the bargains. To give an example the Accord Exedy clutch kit can be had for ~$120 and for the 525i can be had for ~$160. It is not that the parts are more expensive, it is that only the expensive brands are available. Accord you could get the Koni Strt struts for $320, but the Strt are not available so if I want Koni I would have to get the yellows. But when it comes to dealer prices they are horrible compared to Honda dealer parts. $100 for a fill up in the diff using BMW fluid.

          But over all the junkyard is the same and my main source for larger items, though in OH BMWs of this vintage are non-existent and leaves me to finding part outs which people know there are not many of these around and will charge a bit more for them. Though I did get and entire manual swap for $675 which is not too bad compared to the Accord (from what I hear, never did it myself).
          Last edited by XCRN; 08-14-2014, 11:01 PM.
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          CB7 Sold________________________E34 Sold________________________E39 Current

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            #35
            Every day it is looking less like a ran down beater, though in reality it kind of is.

            I got the hubcap emblems back on and I replaced the front tires for $120 installed. Not balanced yet but they are good for moving the car around when needed.






            And here is some photos I got because I got bored. I wish I had a real camera.











            Be unique, like every other person.

            CB7 Sold________________________E34 Sold________________________E39 Current

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              #36
              Productive day today. I finally got all the windows working right. The rear 2 just needed a screw jammed in it, like the DIY posted on page 1 by punkrampant, thanks again for that. The driver window had many things wrong with it. To begin, the arms were not connected to the window and the second issue is that the grease turned to a hard clay like substance on the regulator rail and the slider would not budge. I believe the previous owner attempted to fix it and failed and just left the window disconnected from the regulator. Either way I fixed it by taking out the window and power washing the rail and the slider of the hardened grease. It works now and not a single dollar was spent on it today.
              Be unique, like every other person.

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                #37
                Started stripping out the carpet today. The reason is that it is really dirty and I think I am going to dye it black. I do plan on going full black eventually but tan with black carpet is very attractive to me. As of now it is all out and originally it was a 2 piece carpet which is nice but because I did not feel like tracing the wires I just made it a 3 piece carpet.




                Here is some of the dirt stains.








                I do like seeing no rust on the floor boards.
                Last edited by XCRN; 08-18-2014, 06:10 PM.
                Be unique, like every other person.

                CB7 Sold________________________E34 Sold________________________E39 Current

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                  #38
                  I like the progress keep it coming!

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                    #39
                    Thanks, I should be starting a new part-time job soon to at least have money coming in to finish the swap. I have the money right now to finish it, but I need some coming in for those unexpected charges. But with a job and school things may be slowing down from what they are now but at least updates will be more than just cleaning.

                    Also with dying the carpet black we are going to try hair dye since my new friend who will help with a lot of this project has an absurd amount of black hair dye for god only knows why and we are going to try that on his Corvette tomorrow. If all goes well I will attempt this on my car and the hair dye is cheap. RIT is $2.50 a box when hair dye is $0.99 a box for the same amount. Worth a shot since his carpet was going to be thrown out until he discovered when I was cleaning my carpet that Dawn dish detergent and a power washer will clean the carpet well.

                    I realized that the pictures show nothing as to how dirty it was in areas. Tonight it is going to dry and tomorrow I will get pictures of the difference maybe it will show how dirty it was then.
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                      #40
                      The carpet looks much cleaner. Dawn dish detergent works great for this kind of stuff and worked really well on some of the plastic pieces where dirt was deep. The carpet is still drying because there is thick foam sound dampening underneath the carpet that acted like a sponge so it might be drying outside for a few days.



                      Be unique, like every other person.

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                        #41
                        I need to pull the bench seat out of the S10 I got and clean the cab real good also. This is motivating me to do some of the stuff I don't need funds to do.

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                          #42
                          The free stuff is the best stuff.
                          Be unique, like every other person.

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                            #43
                            So I made a mistake with painting the exterior trim, I forgot to use clear coat and it rained hard on it and messed up the paint job I re-sprayed them and made sure to clear coat them. I figured out a good way to spray it. I use the VHT suspension paint and use wheel clear coat. And what I found out by accident is I use a dried out Armorall wipe and rub the trim 10-15 minutes after I finished with all of the coats, same with clear coat. I think what the rubbing does is move excessive paint to areas where it is lacking and it gives a good solid look.

                            I also got the front fender trim, fixed the gas door hinge, and made one small step for the black interior.




                            Probably need one more can of fabric paint. I would also like the black rear deck with black interior.
                            Be unique, like every other person.

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                              #44
                              Did more today. For some reason the picture turned out horrible so they are not as they appear entirely.

                              To start today's update, I polished the inner tail lights with tooth paste. They look new and they match the outer tails which are new.



                              PS, in the picture below the only exterior rust can be seen.





                              I also started dyeing the carpet and I have learned from my mistakes with the CB7. Below is when I attempted the black interior on the CB and used fabric paint on the carpet.


                              http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showpost...6&postcount=15

                              You can sort of see the tan popping out from the black but it was worse, really bad camera on the phone at the time.

                              With the CB I eventualy went to dyeing the carpet in a kiddie pool and turned out better, like I said before:
                              And dyed the carpet so it went from black with spots of tan to dark grey with spots of a lighter grey, so better I guess.

                              http://www.cb7tuner.com/vbb/showpost...2&postcount=37

                              It was better but not good enough to be black.

                              Well this time around I did a different method and it turned out so much better and was cheaper. With the CB it was too many cans of Fabric paint to $50 of powdered RIT dye.

                              This time around I spent under $20. I got 3 bottles or liquid RIT dye, a spray bottle, and a stiffish dish brush. I began with 2:1 hot water to dye ratio in the bottle and rubbing it with my hand to adding more dye randomly and using the brush, and even at some points just pouring the dye. I bought only 3 bottles and was able to get the front driver as seen above and the entire rear, and I still have a bit more. I need one more really light coat on the driver (the one on the picture) and a medium on the entire rear. There is no tan in the carpet, this method goes deep into the carpet and really darkens it. More work, less money, better results.



                              Hopefully tomorrow I will have finished with the driver and rear sections to take a better picture outside since my phone does not do well in artificial light. But the carpet is more solid looking than the picture and darker too.
                              Last edited by XCRN; 08-23-2014, 12:55 AM.
                              Be unique, like every other person.

                              CB7 Sold________________________E34 Sold________________________E39 Current

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                                #45
                                Update on the carpet.

                                Here is a pic of the beginning of the piece in the front and one night for the other 2.




                                And here is some after a quick coat, dried in a barn for a few hours, and l set out in the sun to bake for about an hour now. The front only look un-even from the brush strokes. If I were to brush it all one way it would have a consistent color. The rear section was still drying at the time the picture was taken and looks a bit flatter now.

                                Passenger


                                Rear


                                Driver



                                I also had to redo all of the trim from a "oh shit" moment. So when I initially painted them I forgot to clear coat them. No big deal, just gave it a quick coat of paint on top and started to clear coat them. Well here is where I made that moment, I left the trim outside overnight by accident and it rained overnight and ruined all my work so I had to redo everything. But it is all clear coated and has been sitting indoors for 2 days now.

                                Last edited by XCRN; 08-23-2014, 06:23 PM.
                                Be unique, like every other person.

                                CB7 Sold________________________E34 Sold________________________E39 Current

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