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Well, I finally talked my g/fs uncle into selling me his 1986 528E BMW.. Now I'm stuck w/ the fact of, I know absolutely nothing about these cars. I'm more of an Olds kinda guy myself.. I'm not looking for speed with this car, as I'm a small block kinda guy.. But I wouldn't mind havin somethin cool to look at. So my first couple of questions are.. Can I buy a set of newer BMW rims for this thing? Something around the 92ish year? Anything I should know before I buy a set of rims for it.. Is there some weird BMW thing where some won't fit? I know, stupid question.. But I don't wanna buy somethin and it be a waste.. My next is lowering the car. I've never been interested in lowering a car before, so I'm not exactly sure how this is done. Do I just buy a set of lowering springs for it? Or do I need to replace the shocks too? How much am I looking at this costing? Honestly, I don't mind going as cheap as possible and dealing w/ a rough ride. I probably won't end up keeping the car for too long, maybe just a span of a year to 2. I've heard of people heating the springs to lower a car and Ive heard of cutting them.. Is this even an option? If it is, what're the sacrifices.. And in that case, do the shocks need to be changed? Please excuse my lack of knowledge here.. No flames, just help me out.. My next questions are on interior.. I'd like to find a set of leather seats for it.. Do they need to come out of a 528E? Or will a diff. year or model bolt right in? I know this will seem so stupid to all you die hards, but I gotta start somewhere.. And I can't find anything online. I've searched AOLs search engine and Yahoo.. But I have more questions now then when I started. Please help.
Your 86 528e is in the body style family called e28, this should help you out a little as we generally refer to cars by their body type. I don't know much about wheel fitment but I do know that if you have TRX tires and rims you will want to replace those.
When lowering your car you will want to buy lowering springs and shocks designed to work with a lowered susspension. H&R and Eibach are good spring companies and Bilstein, Boge, and H&R make good shocks, this is by no means a complete list of manufactures just some that come to mind real quick. Replace the shocks while you have the assembley apart on an 86 the shocks are probably bad unless they have been replace recently. DO NOT heat or cut the springs! This creates a saftey issue as springs are tempered to achive a specific rate and heating will unevenly temper them leading to unpredictable handling among other bad situations.
There are a few options that you have for part sourcing: our forum sponsor Europersona (Post in the Bimmer shop area or click the banner at the top of the page), bavauto, Turnermotorsport, and a myriad of others.
Ben
__________________ "It's not because I'm an aggressive driver, it's because I'm an idiot" actual quote from my wife.
You should use Bilstein sport shocks. They run about $405 for the complete set at Turner Motorsport. $630 will buy you Bilstein sport shocks and H&R sport springs in a package. Contact the seller to see which Bilsteins these are the sports, heavy duty, touring, or comfort.
Ben
__________________ "It's not because I'm an aggressive driver, it's because I'm an idiot" actual quote from my wife.
As far as wheels, stay aaway from 3 series wheels. they won' fit. Anything for a 7 or 6 series wheel will fit. You can get leather seats from the 535 but they probably won't be in good shape considering the age of the vehicle. You can recover in leather from Katzkin(sp?).
Iv got an e28 535i, let me warn u about rims. i dont know how it is on your car but my rims and tires are metric so if u switch the rims. you will need to buy new tires too.
__________________ <span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'><span style='color:blue'> theres no replacement for displacement </span></span>
im so hardcore. i dont even have cup holders
<img src='http://madmansrealm.com/forums/uploads/1101610420/gallery_18_1_1103159534.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Hey, welcome to the forums. if u need any engine help u can ask me and i hopefully will have an answer; i can get pics of my engine if stuff goes wrong to show u what to do and help u out more. i have a 1985 528e. so just lemme know if u need any help. The first thing i replaced were my rotors and calipers, those went bad the quickest when i inherited the car. Brembo is ur best bet and u can find a good set for cheap on e-bay new. there is a guy i know that gave me a hell of a good deal so lemme know if u need rotors, or any help with any engine or any thing with ur car.
Check it out I mean I am not an expert on the whole suspension issue. For my 540 I simply used Eibach. I understand that the brand is a little generic but I mean whatever works. Its lowered and along with my 19' rims its looks a lot cleaner than before. Take this from me, I am not sure what sort of things each brand of springs have to offer but go with the ones that are recomended and most reliable but all of them pretty much do the same thing.
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