In my never-ending quest to keep the car in good condition, I tackled the radio.
Now this is a rather special radio, being a Blaupunkt Berlin RCM 303A, fitted at the factory, for an obscene amount of money. It is the first Sat Nav that Blaupunkt made, is devilishly complicated, and amazingly, still works.
It has 5 antennae for the radio, one for the sat nav, and one for the phone (that I removed when we bought the car, it being the ridiculous handheld-with-coiled-cable type...). There is an amplifier the size of a suitcase behind the left trunk trim, an antenna center behind the right trunk trim, a few antenna amplifiers above the roofliner behind the sunroof. The main antenna is on the roof, with 1 each in the rear side windows, one each in the bumpers. The 10 CD changer is in the spare wheel (18"), the nav CD reader in the right side under the rear trunk floor. There are magnets in the front wheels and feelers attched to the brake disc dust shields. There is a small screen in front of the shift lever, covered in leather, as everything else in the car.
I needed to change the main antenna on the roof, it not working anymore.
Now for the rant: absolutely *everything* that was out of plain view was botched in the radio installation. The wheel disc dust shields were cut with tin snips to attach the wheel feelers; every single control box was duct taped behind the trim, of course, the tape let go long ago, and the parts were moving around, some of them falling on the rear headliner and tearing its mountings off... I mean, duct tape on this car?... The hole in the roof was not trimmed, with shards and rusty edges everywhere.
It took me several months to correct everything (finishing this weekend), and the simple fact of attaching all the parts solidly to the car and cleaning the connections had made everything work again. I have chosen to disable the sat nav by placing the wheel feelers behind the wheelwell liners, as I do never use the function.
A warning: check the bottom of your doors! The lower M-Tech moulding is a trap for water and dirt and hides misery very well. I caught it in time, and now the car had 4 new lower door mouldings, on repainted and cavity-waxed lower doors, that should never rust again.
Bad luck has nothig to do with this.
Yes tie-wraps. There is no room for anything else, and you can't really drill up there. Plus most of these parts do not have provision for screws/nuts/bolts.
At least it doesn't rattle, and works.
Bad luck has nothig to do with this.
Yes tie-wraps. There is no room for anything else, and you can't really drill up there. Plus most of these parts do not have provision for screws/nuts/bolts.
At least it doesn't rattle, and works.
Oh, the joys of a hand built, one off cars.
Nice work!!! I have to say, your car is truly awesome(if I haven`t said it before)
Sakke
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"You can´t afford cheap things if you´re poor"
way to get after it George. I'd love to see a photo of the units in the trunk areas and how they crammed everything under the rear deck and side pieces.
If you decide to tackle the roof rails, something I am doing currently, here is a thread with pictures on the disassembly of the sun roof cassette and other headliner related areas. http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1036601
Geoff,
If I attack the roof rails, it would be to remove them and weld the holes shut, and I will not do theat unless I must repaint the roof fr any reason. I daydream of a Touring with a smooth roof, free of antenna, rails or sunroof...
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GeorgeK
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[OT on]
I have played and am still playing with that thought. It's a lovely car, appearantly in lovely condition that is almost perfectly specced. The problem is I very much dislike (PC version) the two most popular e34 M5 colours. Anus and Gaytona......
Have caught myself looking at that touring like looking at a girl you know you'll regret in the morning, and if you don't you probably still don't want her to hang around. But with the difference that this will actualy leave for even money once an even more suitable example has been found an aquired (could take years, have seen 1 non sunroof 6spd M5T worth saving in 10years) , and the girls mentioned above tend to give a heap of crap once that happens. I'm just not sure what to do. Yes I want another car, no I don't want another car if it doesn't say from the moment I see it. And I really really really hate Gaytona, but am trying to picture it with dark contrast sills (yes I know they were probably silver originaly, that's 50% of why I hate Avus and Daytona in the first place)[/OT]
Am looking at that post daily for quite some time, but everytime I see one in that color (at least twice a day as both Midnightsun and 65-PP-__ are on my route to work, both D.V. M5T 5spds 1 mile from eachother) I think "if only". I don't want to feel "if only" when buying such a perfect car. We'll see, leaving for Italy today.
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Dragracing a BMW is like taking Jessica Alba fishing. Some might considering it fun, but think of what they missed....
[OT on]
I have played and am still playing with that thought. It's a lovely car, appearantly in lovely condition that is almost perfectly specced. The problem is I very much dislike (PC version) the two most popular e34 M5 colours. Anus and Gaytona......
Have caught myself looking at that touring like looking at a girl you know you'll regret in the morning, and if you don't you probably still don't want her to hang around. But with the difference that this will actualy leave for even money once an even more suitable example has been found an aquired (could take years, have seen 1 non sunroof 6spd M5T worth saving in 10years) , and the girls mentioned above tend to give a heap of crap once that happens. I'm just not sure what to do. Yes I want another car, no I don't want another car if it doesn't say from the moment I see it. And I really really really hate Gaytona, but am trying to picture it with dark contrast sills (yes I know they were probably silver originaly, that's 50% of why I hate Avus and Daytona in the first place)[/OT]
Am looking at that post daily for quite some time, but everytime I see one in that color (at least twice a day as both Midnightsun and 65-PP-__ are on my route to work, both D.V. M5T 5spds 1 mile from eachother) I think "if only". I don't want to feel "if only" when buying such a perfect car. We'll see, leaving for Italy today.
Only thing is that if it is a M5 touring you really want, there is not that much to choose from(as you have noticed). So it is pretty much down to finding a decent car with the spec you want and buying it irrespective of colour.
Little more options if you buy a Wreck/badly maintained example- but this is often associated with Huuuge!! amounts of money on top of the cars price.
DV is indeed a bit hrrrmm, how should I put this, jolly colour. But it being one of the most popular even now, means that it is relatively ok to sell if you find another car with "better" colour.
Have a nice time in Italy, I did 3 weeks ago
sakke
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"You can´t afford cheap things if you´re poor"
The hole in the roof was not trimmed, with shards and rusty edges everywhere.
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