The Bimmer Basement

[Mpower5266]

On the R129 Mercedes; great cars, but...

Mercedes decided the Plastic GM used for interior parts was not brittle enough, so they developed a special, super brittle plastic which breaks when you simply think about trying to remove it. The make this plastic even better, anything made of it is 100 times as expensive as the GM piece would be.

Hmm, I am not familiar with that issue. I used to own one and the shop I used to work for serviced 100's of them over the years. Im my experience with r129's, they are fairly bullet proof except for the top hydraulics.

 

[WordMan]

Hmm, I am not familiar with that issue. I used to own one and the shop I used to work for serviced 100's of them over the years. Im my experience with r129's, they are fairly bullet proof except for the top hydraulics.

Look at any R129 forum. The plastic **** in the interior (overhead console, trim around any of the top stuff, rear view mirror, trim around the door latches, etc, are junk. Look up the used overhead consoles on Fleabay. They'll be broken and still go for a fortune.

Mechanically, you're correct. Except for the earlier "biodegradable" under hood wiring harnesses, they are bulletproof.

I need to rebuild the front top latch cylinders on my wife's. I bought the kit, but the job will have to wait.

 

[Mpower5266]

Look at any R129 forum. The plastic **** in the interior (overhead console, trim around any of the top stuff, rear view mirror, trim around the door latches, etc, are junk. Look up the used overhead consoles on Fleabay. They'll be broken and still go for a fortune.

Mechanically, you're correct. Except for the earlier "biodegradable" under hood wiring harnesses, they are bulletproof.

I need to rebuild the front top latch cylinders on my wife's. I bought the kit, but the job will have to wait.

I will look into it but I do have experience with crappy interiors, I do own an e36. I did the front latch cylinders on my buddy's car and it was cake. I am probably going to look at the car that Bruce H mentioned in a previous post this weekend. I have been chatting with my former boss about them, hes a professional mechanic and has owned 8 R129's.

 

[Hugo L.]

So basically the R129’s plastic is like that of any E36 generation BMW, and the wiring harness is like that of my 2005 Subaru’s tailgate. At least MB got rid of that idea, whereas Subaru was still using it in 2005. Who would’ve thought that using soy instead of plastic in wiring looms would be a bad idea?

 

[gearhead1960]

So basically the R129’s plastic is like that of any E36 generation BMW, and the wiring harness is like that of my 2005 Subaru’s tailgate. At least MB got rid of that idea, whereas Subaru was still using it in 2005. Who would’ve thought that using soy instead of plastic in wiring looms would be a bad idea?

The critters really like the idea....

 

[Mpower5266]

More boring e9 updates, Ill get those out of the way quickly.


Ran the fuel tank vent.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Installed more trim.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And installed the headlight buckets.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

More this week.

It was a pretty lazy weekend, hung out with friends Friday night. Spent most of the day Saturday hanging with the kiddos, napping and watching the 24 hours of Daytona. And Sunday was more of the same, I did sneak a wash in while it was raining yesterday afternoon which is always awesome.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

My wife and I had a long talk Saturday and we may start house hunting soon. We are a little worried about the future state of the market, we need more room for us and the kiddos, and a few houses in our neighborhood have sold extremely high. Now would be a good time to sell and maybe build something, but with new born kiddos its also a terrible time. We have started to look and I will miss the garage and wash bay but the next place will hopefully have a big shop with an indoor wash bay and lift. We will see, just starting the process.

 

[Purist]

E9 is coming together man, that’s exciting!

As for the the house stuff....best of luck with all that. Never fun, but you gotta do what you gotta do for family!


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[Mpower5266]

E9 is coming together man, that’s exciting!

As for the the house stuff....best of luck with all that. Never fun, but you gotta do what you gotta do for family!


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Yea and we may be a few years out but if we find something I want to jump on it. It would **** to lose my garage but there are a lot of things that we both want in a home that would be impossible in the current home. I want a room for an office or just to put all my ****, maybe a bonus room with a big sectional for watching sports or movies, and a big shop. My parents aren't going to want to stay in their big house forever so we would likely lose that shop eventually.

 

[Ronin22]

E9 is coming together man, that’s exciting!

As for the the house stuff....best of luck with all that. Never fun, but you gotta do what you gotta do for family!


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House hunting/selling/buying can be VERY stressful, but it can also be fun. Gotta keep the big picture in mind, and keep it as much fun as possible imho! It's not always easy, but it's doable. It's also cool visiting houses and dreaming of how you would remodel/expand/decor it

 

[M-technik-3]

Crazy idea but how are schools in your area? If they are acceptable there is always room to add another floor since your place is a single level ranch.

 

[Mpower5266]

Crazy idea but how are schools in your area? If they are acceptable there is always room to add another floor since your place is a single level ranch.

Schools are great and we would like to stay in the area. That thought did cross our minds but its a brick foundation and I dont think it would be cost effective to go up. We have a little room to go out on the side and finish some of the basement but we wouldn't get everything we wanted.

 

[Purist]

Yea and we may be a few years out but if we find something I want to jump on it. It would **** to lose my garage but there are a lot of things that we both want in a home that would be impossible in the current home. I want a room for an office or just to put all my ****, maybe a bonus room with a big sectional for watching sports or movies, and a big shop. My parents aren't going to want to stay in their big house forever so we would likely lose that shop eventually.

That's the way to do it! Just make sure you avoid those Florida lake-houses...they don't tend to work out! lol. Poor Matt!

Best of luck, man. Looking forward to joining in on your house hunting adventures!

House hunting/selling/buying can be VERY stressful, but it can also be fun. Gotta keep the big picture in mind, and keep it as much fun as possible imho! It's not always easy, but it's doable. It's also cool visiting houses and dreaming of how you would remodel/expand/decor it

Ya that's fair. It certainly can be fun....it can also be very stressful. It's all about doing it at the right time and hopefully making it as least stressful as possible. We bought our current house when my oldest was 3 months old and my wife was working 10-12 hours a day, so I pretty much did all the house shopping on my own.

But yes, having a "blank canvas" on which to draw is certainly a fun aspect of house shopping!

 

[Mpower5266]

That's the way to do it! Just make sure you avoid those Florida lake-houses...they don't tend to work out! lol. Poor Matt!

Best of luck, man. Looking forward to joining in on your house hunting adventures!



Ya that's fair. It certainly can be fun....it can also be very stressful. It's all about doing it at the right time and hopefully making it as least stressful as possible. We bought our current house when my oldest was 3 months old and my wife was working 10-12 hours a day, so I pretty much did all the house shopping on my own.

But yes, having a "blank canvas" on which to draw is certainly a fun aspect of house shopping!

What happened with Matt's lake house? I havent been watching his videos lately.

 

[Purist]

What happened with Matt's lake house? I havent been watching his videos lately.

Ohhh...you need to watch the inside the hex video where he talks about it. Long story short. Deal fell thru. The lake house was reappraised at $600k LESS than the original appraisal, so Matt backed out of the deal, rightfully so.


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[Mpower5266]

Ohhh...you need to watch the inside the hex video where he talks about it. Long story short. Deal fell thru. The lake house was reappraised at $600k LESS than the original appraisal, so Matt backed out of the deal, rightfully so.


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Ah, Im not in the Hex or whatever. I dont know why but hes started to rub me the wrong way lately. I think the Civic and Tesla kinda pushed me away.

 

[M-technik-3]

How about swapping places with your parents?

 

[Purist]

Ah, Im not in the Hex or whatever. I dont know why but hes started to rub me the wrong way lately. I think the Civic and Tesla kinda pushed me away.

Fair enough. I get it, but I’m still a big fan of his. I totally understand where he’s coming from with the civic. It’s two fold. Reliving his youth and modifying a car the way we couldn’t do, but wanted to, back in the day. And to introduce a new market/audience to the channel. Let’s be honest, the typical “Honda crowd” wouldn’t normally fit into the OG mantra. So he’s trying to bring them in slowly.

The Tesla I couldn’t care less about. I’m still shocked he’d even want one, with all the stuff you hear about built and paint quality. But I do get it from the mental side of things and wanting to try and help himself. But at the end of the day, it’s yet another audience he’s trying to reign in.

I have it on good authority that an e46 m3 might be next in line for him, which I’m certainly beyond excited about.

But to each, how own. I totally get how he would rub some people the wrong way. But that’s yet another reason why I’m drawn to the guy. He just does what he wants and doesn’t really give an eff.


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[Mpower5266]

How about swapping places with your parents?

I want to and their house has everything I want. My wife hates the house.

Fair enough. I get it, but I’m still a big fan of his. I totally understand where he’s coming from with the civic. It’s two fold. Reliving his youth and modifying a car the way we couldn’t do, but wanted to, back in the day. And to introduce a new market/audience to the channel. Let’s be honest, the typical “Honda crowd” wouldn’t normally fit into the OG mantra. So he’s trying to bring them in slowly.

The Tesla I couldn’t care less about. I’m still shocked he’d even want one, with all the stuff you hear about built and paint quality. But I do get it from the mental side of things and wanting to try and help himself. But at the end of the day, it’s yet another audience he’s trying to reign in.

I have it on good authority that an e46 m3 might be next in line for him, which I’m certainly beyond excited about.

But to each, how own. I totally get how he would rub some people the wrong way. But that’s yet another reason why I’m drawn to the guy. He just does what he wants and doesn’t really give an eff.


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I have nothing against the guy, I can just only watch so many exhaust installs and details. Haha. He did make a post recently about looking into a white e36 M3, that might get me back on board.

 

[M-technik-3]

She just need to make it her own.

 

[ct71rr]

More boring e9 updates, Ill get those out of the way quickly.




Installed more trim.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Man that is a cool looking front end!!

 

[Mpower5266]

Man that is a cool looking front end!!

I love it. Its my first shark nose BMW. Speaking of shark nose, we gave the it a face today.

But first we flocked its box....

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Then it was time to install its face. We did a little polish/clean up on its snoot.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

The nose job.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Add some eyes.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

And a shark is born.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

Sorry that was a little goofy but its a slow day at work and it was fun to kill a little time. I cant believe just how far is as come and how close we are to the finish line.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

 

[Arclitgold]

I bet you can’t wait to get that thing out for a drive!


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[Darinfred]

Awesome!

 

[Mpower5266]

I bet you can’t wait to get that thing out for a drive!


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I really cant. I am so excited to get it out for Sunday morning coffee run.

 

[M-technik-3]

Any thought of adding some E-code lights with H4/H1 set up for seeing at night and adding a relays so your fuses don't melt, Buzz fuses are not common anymore that is for sure.

Digging how it's coming together, the flocked glovebox is a nice touch guessing they were not that way from factory? I know E24/E28 and E30 were but not sure about an E21 been years since I have seen one of them.

 

[Mpower5266]

Any thought of adding some E-code lights with H4/H1 set up for seeing at night and adding a relays so your fuses don't melt, Buzz fuses are not common anymore that is for sure.

Digging how it's coming together, the flocked glovebox is a nice touch guessing they were not that way from factory? I know E24/E28 and E30 were but not sure about an E21 been years since I have seen one of them.

Its common to upgrade the lights and I may do it but right now I am just trying to get it done with time for some shake down drives before the vintage. The glove box was flocked but it look like someone barfed or something in it so we stripped it out and redid it.

 

[M-technik-3]

The Vintage is a go for this year, drat's didn't even think to look. I have been wantting to go for awhile.

 

[Mpower5266]

The Vintage is a go for this year, drat's didn't even think to look. I have been wantting to go for awhile.

So far it is.

 

[A35Plt]

Bring it up to Caffeine & Octane tomorrow? Weather is supposed to be good.

 

[ODIS]

Great thread! Congratulations to you and wife for the twins!

Enjoyed reading about your watch hobby and working on your cars. Wet sanding/polishing can be a ton of fun especially when the results are good.

Looking forward to the updates on all of your GJ activities.

All the best to you and family!

 

[Mpower5266]

Great thread! Congratulations to you and wife for the twins!

Enjoyed reading about your watch hobby and working on your cars. Wet sanding/polishing can be a ton of fun especially when the results are good.

Looking forward to the updates on all of your GJ activities.

All the best to you and family!

Thanks. Speaking of watches, I have another grail watch on loan. I am also playing around with watch photography a little. I think this shot came out pretty cool.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

No major E9 updates, but we are going to move it to my garage Saturday so I can work on finishing the detail after the kiddos go to bed.

Other than that, it was a pretty slow weekend. Hung out around the house with the wife and kiddos and watched the Super Bowl. I did go out to the hangar and started planning the next project after the e9 is finished. Just pulling back the cover and looking inside brought back a ton of memories.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

 

[Ronin22]

Can't wait for the E9 to be at your garage! And the hype for the Porsche revival is real!

 

[Mpower5266]

Can't wait for the E9 to be at your garage! And the hype for the Porsche revival is real!

I need to clean up my garage this week. I haven't really had a lot of time to spend down there so its looking pretty rough. I still havent put the tools away from when I helped my buddy fix his SL.

 

[smschriefer]

I still havent put the tools away from when I helped my buddy fix his SL.

Welcome to the child life.

 

[Mpower5266]

Welcome to the child life.

Its certainly been an adjustment but worth it.

Again, another small e9 update. We sprayed some undercoating in the fender wells.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

There is also a random hole in the both the front wheel wells. Its formed when the fender is seamed in over the front structure of the car, it leaves a fist sized hole in the wheel well that turns out to be a moisture trap. This is a before photo but it was also treated and undercoated to hopefully stop rust. We used a boroscope to check it out and it looked surprisingly clean.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

But the best update so far, possibly even better than the paint job. Those awful gold wheels have been finally removed.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

 

[nicholam77]

Nice work on the cars. I wouldn't worry too much about having time to clean the garage. At least you're getting it dirty. It's hard to find time for much of anything with babies, I can only imagine what twins are like.

You must have some friends with nice watches My grail would be the Pepsi (GMT Master II), but the Rolex GMT complication is one of my favorites. If you travel across time zones often, the quickset hour hand is brilliant. (I don't own one, just a fan).

 

[Mpower5266]

Nice work on the cars. I wouldn't worry too much about having time to clean the garage. At least you're getting it dirty. It's hard to find time for much of anything with babies, I can only imagine what twins are like.

You must have some friends with nice watches My grail would be the Pepsi (GMT Master II), but the Rolex GMT complication is one of my favorites. If you travel across time zones often, the quickset hour hand is brilliant. (I don't own one, just a fan).

He has his dad's old Coke GMT too. Someday Ill get to that level... maybe.

 

[Ronin22]

Don't ban me. I liked the gold meshies.

 

[Mpower5266]

Don't ban me. I liked the gold meshies.

I think color wise they looked good, but they were some hot garbage beat up Enkei's and they didn't match the look for the car. These look so much better but it needs more low.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

 

[Ronin22]

It looks awesome! And yes, it needs moar low lol!
Paint looks amazing!