Puttering Around

Did some tinkering with the 5er over this weekend.
For starters, I ordered some parts from Bav Auto: couple bulb sockets to (hopefully) fix my non-working brake lights, mounts for the rear license plate to replace the busted ones, a screw kit to go with it and a new shift knob.  That all should be making it in within the next couple days hopefully.  I also took off the passenger side mirror to fix up the look of it and did some cleanup in the trunk as prep for the plate hardware.

First the mirror.  Nothing too fancy here, just took it off (two bolts and an electrical connection), took it apart and cleaned it up.  I sanded it down, gave it a thorough wash and painted it with a rubberized paint called Plastidip.  Plastidip is pretty popular in the VW/Audi scene for badges, trim, grilles and the like.  The finish on it is not perfect but for sure better than the old faded state it used to be in.  I will hit the driver side mirror with a few coats this coming weekend.

Old on top, refinished on bottom

The trunk was pretty dirty.  There were some old wiper blades and various debris floating around.  It also smells a little weird, but as far as I can remember it always has smelled a bit.  I pulled out all the carpeting and the spare.  I went to town on the rusted areas with a wire brush and some sandpaper to get off as much as I could before hitting it with some Rust-O-Leum Rust Reformer.  The stuff dries pretty quickly but I went ahead and washed the trunk floor carpet and the spare while I was waiting; made sure to check its pressure as well.  Everything generally looks better back there.  I think at some point I may look into one of those sprayable bedliner type things they use for pickup trucks.  Judging from some of the "trunk funk" stories I have heard it may be a good preventative item.

Next up is to put on the parts I ordered and finish up the seats and the second mirror.  After that it will be back to the engine bay to redo the vacuum lines.  I found one missing from somewhere and the hoses in general are getting pretty worn out.  I am looking into a silicone hose kit from here.  The owner of that shop is on MyE28 (or used to be?) and the kit has all the vacuum lines, washer lines and a couple coolant hoses.  It would be about $90 shipped but it would be worth it for me to have everything pre-cut with instructions and never have to worry about it again.  I'll keep thinking about it and update later if I decide to go that route.