What to save from an e12 parts car?

davekillen

davekillen

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Hi all, I'll be starting a restoration of a '73 3.0csi soon. In preparation, I picked up an '80 528i (sadly too far gone to save) for its 5-speed. I've pulled all the obvious stuff like the engine, transmission, driveshaft and diff, along with the complete L-jet system, window motors, brake calipers, pedal box and the wood trim from the door panels. Is there anything else I might be able to use on the e9, or that would be valuable to e24 owners or others? Thanks for any ideas and I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time on this board once I get going on the e9.
 
Hello, Dave. Welcome to the forum! I am relatively new as well and I live in the Portland area, as you can see. Great to hear about your restoration quest. I don't have answers to your questions but hope you will post the progress on the forum for us to follow along. As you may know, you will get some great advice/expertise here that can save you money and heartache. I bought my coupe last year and it needed some engine bay/mechanical sorting.

Best of success with this!
Mike
 
Welcome Dave. Looks like you've kept the best parts. Have you determined whether the diff is and LSD unit? I believe e12s had a 3.45 final drive. Seats are a direct fit upgrade for e3s. I was in your shoes 15 years ago when I swapped a 528i engine and 5peed in to my coupe. Lots of great e9 knowledge on this forum. I'm in SW Portland.
Good Luck with your retoration.
 
It’s the little things…..

The power window switch bases- you keep 1/2 of them and I will buy the other 1/2.
 
Thanks everyone! Scott, I'm actually keeping the armrests for another project, sorry (and it sounds like they aren't the same as what you'd need anyway). I've pulled the power window switches so all set there (sfdon happy to sell you a pair). I'll pull the dash (it's cracked but not horrible) and heater valve and keep as much of the wiring harness as possible, great call there. Not sure how to keep the subframes as I'll need the shell to roll in order to have it hauled away? Thanks everyone for all the ideas! Oh, and John, the diff is a 3.45, but not an LSD.
 
And the little self-tapping screws (we call them “parkers”) that are used in the interior e.g. dashboard and door. Always handy to have a box spare
 

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The rear shelf that supports the rear seats is the same pressing as the E9 and E3, it just doesn't have the tangs on the side. These often rust out in the coupes. The floor panels also have the same stampings as the coupe form memory.
 
I like to keep the knobs, headlight, fog light, cig lighter and the rear window defrost. It's an upgrade for 2002's because of the green illumination on the defroster switch.
Also thanks for this post, I'm parting the same car right now, I would have missed some things.
Ed
 

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I need to add to keep the defrost switch too, it's a 3 wire switch, the 2002 switch has 2 wires, you need to add a ground to get the light to work in a 2002.
 
Wes said:
The rear shelf that supports the rear seats is the same pressing as the E9 and E3, it just doesn't have the tangs on the side. These often rust out in the coupes. The floor panels also have the same stampings as the coupe form memory.
Click to expand...
oh wow if the floors are the same that would be amazing, the e9 definitely needs floors and I've read about how the replacements all have some inaccuracies. Thanks for the heads up! I'll cut out the seat support too.
 
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