1985 not-there-yet 635csi

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Diabelko
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:50 am
Location: Poland, Europe

1985 not-there-yet 635csi

Post by Diabelko »

My newest toy, companion and love - '85 635csi. It's not perfect (yet!). Previous owner had the car for 15 years and has very good maintenance history, all the bills and such, however guy wasn't interested in fixing the car by himself, so he decided it's time to let the beauty go

Stuff that needs some (probably more than some) attention:
  • Interior - currently it looks really bad in front (leather is peeling of steering wheel, dash is cracked, seats are a little bit too worn)
    Air Condiditioning
    Hood insulation
    Whole suspension (really, whole)
    New paint
    New antenna
    Wipers (they blow up fuse)
    Engine and gearbox mounts (car has that clunky sound during gear shifts)
    Every single front lamp is different
    Odomoter (stopped at 199k miles)
    Fog lights
    Reverse lights
Stuff that works:
  • engine
Pics time!
Freshly after changing the wheels to more appropriate ones.
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Not so nice interior...
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1985 US 635CSi
1999 EU 530dA
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dwcains
Posts: 1465
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2014 6:01 am
Location: Lutz, FL

Re: 1985 not-there-yet 635csi

Post by dwcains »

Not a bad looking car at all. 5-speed and sport seats are big pluses. None of those issues is too serious, and this site and bimmerforums.com will provide most of the info you'll need.

To get your steering wheel leather replaced, I'd recommend this place: http://www.leatherwheels.com/

~$175 + shipping, for smooth leather like the original. Lots of options like colored stitching, perforated leather, thicker padding, etc.

The '85 steering wheels are coarse-spline, and changed to fine-spline by the end of that year, so replacements are not easy to find. The vast majority of used wheels you'll see for sale are the fine-spline, which won't match the steering column.

Your wiper motor may be seized due to the old grease getting hard and thick. Fixed mine a few weeks ago. Easy rebuild instructions here: http://ozzel94.blogspot.com/
Dean
Lutz, FL

'85 635 CSi Euro #9402254
'87 Spider Veloce
'92 Spider Veloce
'08 350Z

Image
Diabelko
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:50 am
Location: Poland, Europe

Re: 1985 not-there-yet 635csi

Post by Diabelko »

Actually it looks way better than it feels on the road, because of the suspension. Thanks a lot. I'll try looking into the wiper motor this weekend and see what I can do.

Also, I've manage to restore back seats to mint condition. What happened to the seats wasn't actually any worn, but because they weren't used at all and California is pretty sunny, they dried up a lot. They started coming apart on stitches and leather was super dry. I talked to my friend which actually works with leather after hours (all the belts and small leather stuff he makes by himself) and he recommended me using Nivea cream to get them to normal condition. However this shouldn't be done too often, mostly it's technique used for moisturizing super old and dry leather once, so later on you can continue maintaining it properly once a quarter.

I recommend the method for people who are actually brave enough to try it. I did that couple of years back in my E39 and effect is still there and there's nothing wrong going back there, so that's why I proceeded with same solution for my new toy. No leather conditioner helped me restore that the way Nivea did. All those conditioners helped for couple of days and it went back to the same state it was before so I was kind of desperate.

Here's small howto:

First, you have to use some good non-greasy non-moisturizing leather cleaner to get all the stuff out of the seats. Spray it all over the seats, leave it for 5 minutes and clean it out. Leave the car open for an hour or so, so seats can be perfectly dry and start putting thick coat of Nivea on them. By thick I mean something between 1 to 2mm. 1 seat is 1 small Nivea pack (the size you can see on the photo below). You leave the car like that for two nights. After that it should be already dry and mostly in the seats, wipe it off. Leave it for an hour to completely dry and use leather cleaner (this time it's best to use all-in-one cleaners) again to get all the grease out of the seats. I recommend doing that a couple of times for couple of days (like 5 days, once per day), because for the first two days seats have tendency to sweat Nivea and are too shiny (even though when you touch shiny spot, you don't even have greasy fingers).

Bonus for people actually liking the smell - it stays in the car for a week. I'm one of those people.

On photos:
One seat is work in progress, the other one is after. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of 'before', however you didn't even have to touch the seat to notice it's super dry and stitching almost gave up.
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For some people it might be too risky or simply just bad by design, but works for me and it's the 2nd car I did that in.
1985 US 635CSi
1999 EU 530dA
KEVIN88GT

Re: 1985 not-there-yet 635csi

Post by KEVIN88GT »

great job on the rear seats.... seems like the body is in good shape.. may I ask how much you were able to score this find for? Did you estimate the cost of the suspension and mount repair?
Diabelko
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:50 am
Location: Poland, Europe

Re: 1985 not-there-yet 635csi

Post by Diabelko »

KEVIN88GT wrote:great job on the rear seats.... seems like the body is in good shape.. may I ask how much you were able to score this find for? Did you estimate the cost of the suspension and mount repair?
I bought this for around 4 thousand. I want to replace *whole* suspension, since almost all parts are in shape not acceptable for me or were replaced by some cheap chinese parts by previous owner. Using good parts (lemforder, febi), my estimation is around 2.5k USD. Which is kinda expensive, however I had that in mind buying the car. I was looking for good restoration base with healthy, rust-free body and strong engine. I am aware this is just the beginning of the journey and I'll spend hell of a lot money on this car.

Other than that, I am trying to find euro bumpers in a good shape which seems to be impossible. Would love to have Euro 635CSi, but those are so hard to find in a shape that actually makes *any* base, not even a good one.
1985 US 635CSi
1999 EU 530dA
KEVIN88GT

Re: 1985 not-there-yet 635csi

Post by KEVIN88GT »

Good luck with your journey. The 2.5k for the whole suspension is just the parts and you doing the work or that was with quoted labor?
Diabelko
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:50 am
Location: Poland, Europe

Re: 1985 not-there-yet 635csi

Post by Diabelko »

Just parts.
1985 US 635CSi
1999 EU 530dA
KEVIN88GT

Re: 1985 not-there-yet 635csi

Post by KEVIN88GT »

Ouch :). Again, good luck.
User avatar
dwcains
Posts: 1465
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2014 6:01 am
Location: Lutz, FL

Re: 1985 not-there-yet 635csi

Post by dwcains »

In the end, though, you'll have a car that will need little in the way of repairs for a good, long time, and you'll know that everything has been done properly. These cars aren't quite "investments", yet, but a nice car in good repair will certainly hold its value and be great fun to drive and own.
Dean
Lutz, FL

'85 635 CSi Euro #9402254
'87 Spider Veloce
'92 Spider Veloce
'08 350Z

Image
Diabelko
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:50 am
Location: Poland, Europe

Re: 1985 not-there-yet 635csi

Post by Diabelko »

Since thread is alive again, attaching more 'artistic' photos of the car (which quite conveniently hide all imperfections).
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IMG_0068.jpg
IMG_0068.jpg (319.58 KiB) Viewed 7508 times
1985 US 635CSi
1999 EU 530dA
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