The Hidden Problems I Unearthed in my 1974 BMW E12: Rust and More Damage

My 1974 BMW E12 520 is undergoing a fair amount of work to get back to the road, so here's what I've done and what else needs to be fixed to be back on the road.
As usual with any car restoration, when something gets fixed, you found something else need work too!
#bmw #bmwe12 #bmw5series #bmwlove
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[@pentagrammotorsport]

The car is coming along very nicely. Can’t wait to see it with its carbs back on and driving about! I’ve never seen screw-in metal arch liners before.

[@GentilsGarage]

Thank you. Can’t wait to go for a proper drive in it… its been 18 years! Yes, never seen it either, but was common on BMWs of this period. Begin that gap, I found dried mud and the skeleton remains of a rat!

[@Lot76CARS]

Brilliant, really coming together now.

[@GentilsGarage]

Thank you. I’m so glad to have finished the front suspension… it was a real pain!

[@markonmotoring]

An original.soare tyre thats too vig fjr the wheel well, very unusual. I sympathize with you doing those anto roll bar bushes as when i did the omes on my car it was a real struggke to get the new ones back in place. I fitted new shocks and springs to my car but had thevstruts assembmed for me so it was just a case if bolting them in. I cant believe the shicks were duffetent on eother side, thethey akways advise to replace blth together. I hope you are able to trace where the water imside the glovebox is coming from before it leads to further body corrosion.

[@GentilsGarage]

Yes, odd. That tyre was in that wheel well for 48 years and my friend who got it out while the car was still in portugal, said it was quite stuck and totally deflated, so maybe the compound got deformed once inflated. The Sachs shocks (blue) on the RH side look like a period replacement judging by the stickers, but as you say, should have been replaced as a pair. The rear shocks might be still the original ones, but I’ll wait a few more weeks to replace them. About that water leak, it was there when I had the car over 20 years ago, but I’ll be doing a couple of tests this weekend.

[@PROFESSIONAL.C-W]

Well done my friend, keep it up, I wish you luck

[@GentilsGarage]

Thank you very much

[@MillerCorner]

Great progress, mate! Can't wait to get it together with the W123 😎

[@GentilsGarage]

Me too. Once I get this car on the road we need to arrange a date between these two

[@riotagus]

I had one of them,a BMW 520 .2.0 L in brigth red , back in 91.

[@GentilsGarage]

That was probably a Verona red

[@passioninscale5554]

Oh, I can only dream that I will get my hands on the E-12 one day. Love 5 series, and it all began with this car. Thank you for the video, and good luck!

[@GentilsGarage]

Thank you very much, I hope you can get one too

[@petergreenfield6495]

Could your paint colour be a Merc shade called " English Red" from the late 70s/early80s....just a thought .

[@GentilsGarage]

Thank. Initially I though it was a random colour selected by the local BMW assemblers but after much investigation, I found that the colour is a orange brown called Castan and was specific to the SA market. There is only one car in this colour as it’s a BMW 2004SA that is on display at the PS Speicher museum in Germany. Only way to get a match is to have it scanned and mixed. There is a company in Brighton that does that service. Not cheap though!

[@habsom1406]

Very pretty car, love those wheels with the chrome embellishing rings. Overall looks solid but seems to have some localised corrosion, sadly when you start poking and cleaning back, it will probably double in scale with possibly more fabrication work than anticipated. Great work, keep up the good work dude.👍😎

[@GentilsGarage]

Thank you. Only surface rust luckily and nothing structural. I did have a good poke around and it was all solid

[@Tenkaichibudokai22]

Look great with new rubber 👌🏻

[@GentilsGarage]

Yes, certainly makes a difference. The wheels looks rubbish now 😂

[@fhwolthuis]

You did some great work, Gentil. I was wondering about the fuel lines, are they OK?

[@GentilsGarage]

Thanks. Yes, they are in good shape as well as the brake lines. The rust seems to be on areas that were hit by gravel/chip stone/rocks such as the bottom of the arches. Also couple of other bits that were water has accumulated such as the bottom of windscreen, which is a notorious place to get rusty on these cars.

[@nozzyfilms7469]

Awesome work gentil looking forward to seeing the carbs back on , I’m getting my carbs done for mine soon , just got it to fire up for the first time yesterday

[@GentilsGarage]

Thanks you. Nice one, it’s a great feeling getting a car fired up for the first time. Are you doing the carbs yourself?

[@nozzyfilms7469]

@@GentilsGarage I’m getting the carbs rebuilt by someone else and will be tuning it myself at home once it’s on , if anything goes wrong I can go back to him to tweak it

[@GentilsGarage]

@@nozzyfilms7469 good plan!

[@GeorgeAusters]

Isn't this MOT exempt?

[@GentilsGarage]

It is indeed, but because the car was only imported to the UK last year and many components were in a precarious condition, I thought of taking it to an MOT centre as an extra pair of eyes in case I miss something. I finished a few other bits since I made this video and I hope to get the car driveable next week or so.

[@GeorgeAusters]

@@GentilsGarage Nice one mate!