Afterlife

Front struts of "E28" E28 live on in this car now.

Afterlife

Shocks and springs of "E28" E28 live on in this car now.

R.I.P.

The car was totaled in an accident (no injuries, no fatalities, in case you're wondering).

It would've been a waste of perfectly good parts to just scrap the car, so the decision was made to buy it out and part it.


The process in its early stages, all updates will be posted right here. For now, let's just say that the right front quarter (part #41351961672 is demolished together with the steering, oil pan is gone, one wheel out of four survived. The rest is to be defined.

UPDATE: The parting process is over, the car is in piles of parts on the floor now. They still need to be identified and cataloged - but mostly, this is your usual set of parts - frame damage made the car a wreck, but parts are mostly fine.

Exact list of original parts for this specific car (obtained by VIN lookup) can be found at realoem.com.

Following is the part list (live document, updated as the work progresses). If the part is not listed, it hasn't been taken off yet. Note, the spreadsheet is scrollable in both directions. Full screen version is here. Shipping origin zip code is 85254.



If you want parts, leave a comment with the part number and contact information. Comments are moderated, your identity will not be disclosed.

Knock-knock

Who's there?
Diff mount (thanks to wise folks at MyE28.com for helping to pinpoint the problem).

Symptoms: heavy sharp knocking sound when sharply dropping off the gas, or accelerating in reverse.

Cause: rubber in the diff mount (part #33171125290) has split apart.

Advice given: don't replace it with the same part (around $200 today), replace it with part #33171129786 (around $80 today), rationale being, quote:

If you replace your diff mount three times in the same time it takes for the 535 one to break, you break even. Chances are you won't be doing that. In fact, I'd be very surprised if that was in fact the case. -- ck"

It is interesting, though, that the part that failed seems to be that very part, not the original #33171125290. If that's the case (will know for sure when the part arrives), it's time to start counting.

Cheap[er] Oil

Mobil 1 High Mileage engine oil:

• Froogle: about $7.99 + shipping per quart
• Checkers: $6.99 + tax per quart
• Walmart Super Center: about $20 + tax per gallon.

Just don't go changing your oil at Walmart - though if you're reading this, you're probably safe.

Funny, Walmart worker I asked about how many quarts are in a gallon thinks there are five. Figures.

REPLACE FASTENERS!!!

Lesson learned the hard way (one, two, three):

• Either plan on replacing fasteners and grommets that are in your way;
• Or remove and inspect them before ordering replacement parts.

It's the tradeoff between your money and your time (which is, by the way, also your money, and also non-renewable, unlke money).

Latter practically means doing the job twice and in some places that means risking weakening parts that are extremely expensive or troublesome to replace (trailing arms, engine covers, head and body), so just bite the bullet and buy extra fasteners and grommets. They may not be cheap, but at least you won't be caught unprepared with your car non-driveable, or have to do the job twice.

Pitman Arms

I mean, what's there to do - unscrew four bolts, screw them back on, right?

Wrong.

Maybe so if that's the car you've owned from the day one. Then you may probably get away with just the pair of dogbones like this.

Not so if that car is used, or should I say pre-owned, or should I say pre-<censored>-up. In that case you're likely to find, say, a missing washer or two (part #33311125916), or a destroyed bolt (part #07119914848).



So either you spend more cash on the complete set with fasteners like this, or you're going to be running around looking for bolts and washers anyway.

It's up to you to decide what's more expensive - about $50 in price (that's the difference between the pair of arms and pair of complete sets) or the most non-renewable resource that you have in your life - your time. Plus some money on missing/bad parts, of course.

One more thing: dogbones that have gone bad (picture on top) look identical to new ones, made by Karlyn. I don't know how much time does the metal need to go dark and gloomy in a hot and dry climate, but the old dogbones look very, very new and shiny after so much as being dipped into white spirit and cleaned lazily with a toothbrush. Rubber on them is absolutely thrashed, though - look at the big picture. I have no clue whether the new parts are any good or not, but you bet that if they aren't, you'll see the update here as soon as I find them going bad. For now, though, I'd say that if I had to make a decision again, I would've gone with the more expensive complete kit.

UPDATE: The story is far from over. Check out this thread at MyE28.com, and take a close look at this picture: