Firstfives.org

On a very long road trip from the Bay Area the front hanger for the rear muffler has failed. The pipes are quite bent at this point.

Can anyone point me to a good exhaust shop (vintage bmw educated) in the Vancouver area?

Thanks!
Brian
+1.510.205.9416

Yeah - it's pretty easy to see how to get the new clips into the impact strip. The challenge I'm having is getting the old clips out of the bumper. They have little spring metal tangs that hold them into the bumper - in order to get them out you have to compress the tangs somehow. It's fairly diffic...

Is there a trick to remove these clips from the bumper? I've tried pinching them with a needle nose vice grips but no luck. The metal is surprisingly tough and only barely flexible.

Any help would be appreciated.

cheers,
Brian

Yep. It fit perfectly.

B

Funny. Having owned my 530i for a couple of years before doing the swap, I can imagine ever driving a stock car again. There's no comparison. I just spent two days driving my '78 530i through the mountains mapping out a rally course here in the high Sierra of Central California. My friend Chris and ...

Seats are currently at the upholstery shop being recovered... I was looking at the bracket under the driver's seat. Should I just forgo trying to use the brackets on the recaros and just use the brackets and adjustment hardware from the stock setup? Can anyone send me a photo of their recaro install...

I've seen flat bracket-like adapters on eBay a couple of times - with holes drilled in different places. If necessary, I could probably just make something similar...

I'm about to acquire a pair of recaros that came out of an E21. Anyone know what I'll need in terms of brackets/rails to install them in my E12? It would be great if someone has done this and can point me in the right direction!

Thanks,
Brian
braino@gmail.com

Per someone's PM - the cylinder, housing and a new key + expedited shipping from BMW DE was $70. Much less than I was expecting.

cheers,
Brian

Turns out you can buy the whole housing new from BMW. It's on it's way from Germany - should be here in 10 days...

I'll have to have the lock cylinder re-coded for my key but no biggie.

B

I did try his suggestion - but pretty sure one of the wafers was bent. The locksmith and I tried the ginger/careful approach but had to resort to more extreme measures...

yes, unfortunate.

cheers,
Brian

Locksmith came. Had to tear off the lock cylinder (who know if he "had to" - he did). Now I need a whole lock assembly. I'm wondering if this is something that can be ordered from Germany? Or is this something that I have to get from pic-a-part? Anyone have a decent spare around that I can...

Just got back from a biz trip, threw my computer and other luggage in the trunk and when I got home discovered that the trunk lock is jammed. From what I can tell, it's not coming back out - maybe the spring is too weak? I sprayed some lock-lubricant into it hoping that it would snap back out but no...

Hey Folks - I went over to my local BMW dealer (Weatherford - in Berkeley CA). They had the rubber scrapers from later 5-series. It's a significant upgrade. It fits into the polished trim, creates a really nice seal and actually WIPES fog, damp, rain off of the window when you open close. Even bette...

I've mentioned before that the rear suspension of my car is having a hard time keeping up w/ my newly installed 3.5 motor. The springs compress under load of acceleration and the left rear tire rubs if I'm on an uphill. I've been looking into what's currently back there. I've got bilsteins with what...