1981 528i

Future Plans
The car has improved immensely since I first purchased it, but I'm not even close to where I want it to be. One thing that was a major stepping stone to getting the car how I wanted it was my purchase of a different daily driver. I was very worried about what Chicago's winters with all the salt and it would do to the car. My fear was that I would not be able to get a new car before rust had taken hold of my E12. Fortunately due to some unforseen circumstances (trading in my wife's Explorer on her 325ci which wouldn't arrive until June, this was in January, and being solely dependent on my 528i which broke down a week later), I ended up getting a new car. It doesn't have a Roundel on it, but at least its German. And its cheap to own and operate. A 2002 VW Jetta TDI (diesel) 5speed. Great for my 50 mile a day commute to work. With that taken care of, the E12 gets to hide in the garage and stay away from the bad weather. And most importantly, as it doesn't have to be put back together in time for work on Monday mornings, I can do more work to it, including complex stuff like putting in a new engine! I know alot of this may read as "pie in the sky" drivel. A friend of mine doesn't believe in having writeups on your car with your "modification plans". I know, its entirely possible that I may never get to this point with the car, but what's the harm in dreaming? It gives me something to shoot for. And as for selling the car, whenever I think of that, seeing the beautiful lines of my E12 make me wonder if there can ever be another car that looks as good as it does.
Paint and European Bumpers As you can see in the hood photo, the paint on my car is in bad shape. Peeling, oxidized clearcoat, and very faded from being in the sun. The repaint will be in the original color. Its not my favorite color, but I want the door sills, engine compartment, everything to match. And the only way to do that with a repaint is to strip the car down to a bare shell, which is hideously expensive. So we'll just repaint in the original color. The paint should fix 20 years of door dings, paint chips which are slightly rusty, and while we're at it the massive, ugly US bumpers need rectifying. One of the reasons I picked my car, and one of the reasons I was so apprehensive about driving it year round, was that it came to me as a 99% rust free car. The one picture to the right shows some rust starting under the rear bumper. Its really just surface rust though. Also, not pictured, is an every larger growing bubble by the front, passenger fender. This doesn't concern me though because when I repaint, I plan to get euro front fenders (that don't have holes for the ugly US side marker/turn signal lights). This will work well with the euro bumpers. The middle picture is a comparable to my car's color, euro car to show the euro bumper difference. The piece that will integrate with the euro bumpers is the E12 M535i front airdam. There are only a few choices available really to an E12 owner for a front airdam. One is the Alpina front airdam, which surprisingly isn't THAT expensive (Alpina parts usually are astronomical). However, while nice, it isn't quite what I want. I do however like the BBS airdam, but the problem is BBS got out of the aerodynamics business long ago, hence this part for a 20 year old BMW is extremely rare and hard to find. Then there is the E28 535is airdam or the body kit offered by BMP Design. Both are very similar but not suited to my tastes. This leaves the airdam that came from BMW Motorsport on the E12 M535i. Not cheap either, but it is really the look I want. The look of an M535i! (the picture to the right of a fresh airdam, unpainted, is not mine, but came from someone else. Below that, is a picture of the airdam on a white, E12 M535i. The final piece of the puzzle is the rear spoiler which is another topic of debate among E12 enthusiasts. The consensus is that the BBS rear spoiler is the best. It is slim, attractive, and not huge and bulky as the E12 M535i one is. Unfortunately, as I said, BBS no longer makes this piece and hasn't for years. I was EXTREMELY fortunate to locate one that was old store stock so it had never been painted or installed. It was in Austria though. After 3 months of emails and wrangling it came to me, for a bargain price even with shipping. It is safely tucked away in my garage for the day when it is installed (when the car is painted). I plan to have it painted body color to match the car. It came with all hardware and even the BBS decals! Here is a picture of the BBS rear spoiler mounted on someone else's car, and below it, a picture of the spoiler I have waiting to be installed. The last exterior part that I want to locate is a complete, European E12, headlight washer/wiper system. This is in my opinion a VERY trick item, and it will be a (possibly insurmountable) challenge to locate. The 518 badge pictured is something I picked up in an Ebay auction from Europe. Its waiting for the repaint because I'm going to put the 518 badge on for kicks. With the 3.5l in there, it'll give hot rodders sitting behind the car something to think about. laugh. I hear the Germans are into this, rebadging their larger engine cars as a base model to fool others.

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Here are some images of my favorite E12's I've encountered while surfing the web. They serve as encouragement for me in my quest to turn my E12 into a worthy, classic, BMW. FYI, the grey car with all the Cibie lights isn't an E12, its an E3 Bavaria, however, it is the car that inspired my Cibie light fanaticism, therefore it qualifies as inspiration for my car.