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New owner of 1984 533i

7K views 19 replies 4 participants last post by  catso 
#1 ·
Hi all, I am a first time BMW owner. I bought a 1984 533i off cl for $1000. It seems to be in very good running condition. I bought it from the son of the original owner (his dad who passed away). I even have the original sticker. The car has 149XXX on it. Everything works on the car except the windshield wiper fluid sprayers. I haven't tried to fix them yet, I was hoping for suggestions. The only other problem the car has seems to be with the breaks. When I get up to speed and then apply the breaks the car shakes and the "break lining" light comes on. I'm not sure what to do about it.
 
#3 ·
Brakes are pretty easy to work on and parts shouldn't be very expensive. The shaking could be from worn suspension components, particularly control arm bushings, but start with the brakes first. Get yourself a good repair manual. The Bentley 5-Series E28 service manual is the best.
 
#4 ·
I'll keep updating the work I am doing to my new toy. I put new rims on so I didn't have to mess with the TRX tires. The tires that were on the car when I bought it had dry rot and no tread left. I also replaced the badges, which really helped to bring the car back to life.
 
#9 ·
tales from the junk yard

I snagged an instrument cluster from a 88 535i. My cluster does not have fully functioning gauges; the tach is stuck at 2000rpm whether on or off, the gas mileage works only when it wants to and my odometer stopped working. I am hoping to snatch some parts from the junk yard find to make mine whole. When I took mine out to compare it is different. I have a 84 533i, so are they interchangeable? is it possible to swap out the tach part and put it in my cluster? has anyone attempted this or something similar?
 

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#10 ·
I snagged an instrument cluster from a 88 535i. My cluster does not have fully functioning gauges; the tach is stuck at 2000rpm whether on or off, the gas mileage works only when it wants to and my odometer stopped working. I am hoping to snatch some parts from the junk yard find to make mine whole. When I took mine out to compare it is different. I have a 84 533i, so are they interchangeable? is it possible to swap out the tach part and put it in my cluster? has anyone attempted this or something similar?
I'm pretty sure they changed the design in '87, so your '84 probably isn't interchangeable. Try searching at Mye28.com and see if anyone over there has done it.
 
#13 ·
some parts for sale

I have determined that the gauge I have will not work in my car so I am selling it and some other parts I have.

The gauge is from a 88 535is $65
Floor mats from the same car (beige) $50
sport steering wheel $85
Window switches from 84 533i $3 each
Fuel door motor $10

If you have a request for a part, shout out, I might have it
 

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#16 ·
One of my headlights was weak and upon further inspection the glass was broken. It was a small hole presumably from a rock. I decided to replace my headlights all at once.

When I took the grill off the metal housing for the lights was rusty so I took care of that while I had it apart.

I used a brass wire attachment and a drill to remove the rust, then I painted them with flat black rust inhibiting paint.

I also decided to paint my faded grill pieces- same basic procedure as the mirrors.
2000 grit wet sanded and then painted with dupli-color trim paint.
 

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