Description
EXTERIOR.
Externally, the car underwent a 5-stage paint correction process, involving over 30 hours of detailing. Meticulous attention was given to every panel, bringing the paintwork back to life after several years of storage. The car is now in an overall extremely presentable condition, with exceptional attention to detail and no stone left unturned. It has been restored to a fastidiously high standard, ensuring its longevity for future custodians to appreciate for decades to come.
INTERIOR.
When it came to the interior it was already in a fantastically preserved condition, the leather is still remarkably supple with a deep grain visible on the upholstery. Our intention was to retain the original patina and smell of leather in the cabin, which immediately lets you know that you’re sitting inside a car from nearly four decades ago. That being said; internally the car was subject to a deep steam clean and wet vac, with all leather panels being cleaned, treat and conditioned, preserving its authenticity for a further four decades to come. Electrical components were subject to a number of tests, replacing all fuses and a number of switches and relays, ensuring all items were operating as they should. The Instrument Cluster was subject to a full strip down and rebuild, with a brand new SI Board, replacing all gears, needles, capicitors and faceplates, alleviating all of the usual age related E28 faults.
ENGINE BAY.
The engine bay was subject to a meticulous restoration with all hardware, reservoirs, caps and bonet latches being vapour blast-ed and passivated to an original yellow factory finish. The Valve cover sitting pride of place on top of the mighty M30 engine, has been colour coded in Alpine White 146 matching that of the body, with all emblems and firing order script being planed, polished and lacquered to a high quality finish. All vaccum and coolant hose clips have been replaced using BMW items. The headlamps and fixing frames have beenstripped and rebuilt, with all glass lenses being polished, springs and tensioners blasted and passivated, as well as plastic spacers and adjustment fixings, along with headlamp bulbs, being replaced and refitted.
UNDER CARRIAGE.
Receiving a full undercarriage strip down; the underside was assiduously cleaned. Much to our surprise like an archaeologist uncovering a mosaic floor of a Roman Bath house underneath a millennia of dirt, a pristinely preserved floor pan was revealed, with all of the factory beige under seal amazingly intact! Preventative repairs were sensi-tively carried out to the inner triangular sections behind the sub-frame mounting points - replaced with new metal, being cleaned, dressed and treat before being meticulously blended back in to the original undercarriage and sealed with a clear Waxoyl.
Whilst dismantled from the car, all subframe and suspension compo-nents were, stripped, blasted and powder coated in a factory gloss black, with all of the original hardware being vapour blasted and re-zinc plated in yellow passivate as per the original factory finish.
All perishable ancillary components such as bearings, bushes, suspension arms and tie rod ends etc, have been replaced with new high quality OEM items. The CV joints were stripped and underwent a comprehensive rebuild, with cupping plates and hardware blasted and re-passivated, the axle shafts were stripped and powder coated along with all ball bearings, cages and cross drivers being cleaned, degreased and reassembled using new grease, rubber boots and banding clips. Brake calipers and carriers were stripped, blasted and coated before being rebuilt using new pistons, replacing all rubber seals and gaskets. The pads, discs and flexi lines have been replaced along with the brakes lines being flushed and bled, complete with a new reservoir expansion bottle in the engine bay. The Fuel Tank has been cleaned and the Fuel lines have been replaced from front to rear, along with sections of brake lines, using high quality black coated steel hardlines courtesy of BMW. The Suspension system has been rebuilt with newly supplied Bilstien B6 shock absorbers as per the original build spec, replacing all rubber top mounts, boots and gaskets. The original factory springs were preserved, being blasted and powder coated retaining the original ride height, while the anti roll barswere blasted and powder coated, receiving new mounting brackets and rubber bushes courtesy of BMW, providing rigid stability as the day it left the production line.
Once reassembled, the undercar-riage was thoroughly treat from front to rear with clear Lanogaurd Rust Protection, ensuring that its current condition is preserved against the elements and the sands of time.
LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT.
Benefiting from a fresh coat of paint and new sound insulation, the luggage compartment is as clean as the day it left the factory. Complete with a full Heyco Large Extended Toolkit, spare Metric alloy, wheel brace and Bilstein Jack. Being a DC82 RHD model it is number 605 of only 712 units produced world wide in this configuration specifically for the UK market, with only 13 E28 M535i being recorded in circulation across all model platforms in the UK in 2024. Supplied new from Rydale Oldbury, which was later purchased by Sytner toward the end of the 1980s, the original owner knew exactly what they were looking for when they placed the order with the Sales Executive.
With a particularly specific palette, the Alpine White (146) paintwork, really pronounces the Green Tinted Glass, which is emphasized further against the tonality of the Pearl Beige (206) leather upholstery a carefully curated combination, with each element eloquently accentuating the last. The particulars didn’t stop there; with an extremely rare ‘sun-roof delete’ from factory, (which later custodians will thank him for), in favour of the highly sought after BMW Air Conditioning system, which was a bold statement of the time, giving this car a rather unique specification, being the only one we’ve seen in this arrangement. The car stayed local to the area throughout its life, until it was finally parked up and retired after around roughly 13 years of service. With no electronically recorded MOT until 2016, it is believed that the car spent a number of years laying dormant in an undercover parking space, until it was acquired indirectly through the purchase of the property in 2014. From here the car underwent a recommission courtesy of its new owner, receiving a full high quality ‘glass out’ re-spray, in the Sytner Solihull BMW Paint shop. Replacing all window rubbers, door seals and impact strips along with various other items of trim. Still sporting the original Cast light M-Technic Metric Alloys with which it left the factory, which is a rarity in itself some 37 years later! The wheels have been restored to their former glory with freshly powder coated barrels and centre-caps, finished off beautifully with new glossy BMW roundel badges and a gripping set of Michellin TRX Tyres. When we received the car here at schnell. it was already in a presentably acceptable condition given its re-commission overrecent years. Boasting an impressively comprehensive dossier of invoices, courtesy of the BMW Parts department, we’ve added a further wad of those under our stewardship taking the M535i to the next level.
