8 Series international Owners SoCal 8s August 2012 Car of the Month Issue by: Fern Mora, Southern California Greetings from Stavanger, Norway
In this month issue we reach farther North across the Great Pond to Stavanger, Norway, and feature Terje Nordhus with his award winning 1994 SCHWARZ 2 (668) 850 CSi for our; Car of the Month Terje s huldra66 Story Terje says he's young guy at 45years but still feels like 22 (sometimes) He bought his first car at 17, a Datsun 120Y for almost nothing but then again his car had a problem, the gearbox was gone. This was the first car he ever laid his hands on to repair and he has not stopped since. After three engines, three gearboxes, and seven years later he decided to part with the car. His interest for BMW started years ago when he almost bought a e30, but this time it had a blown engine. Which was another fixer upper. Sadly, he had to let the deal go. At the time he was serving in the military and could not afford it. After his military service was over he bought a e28 528i that he had a lot of fun with and kept it for 7 years, The number 7 seems to stick with in his mind. He has never sold a car without having it at least 7 years, so the CSI will be sticking around for a few more years. Example of a e28 528i
These are NOT pictures of his actual cars e21 e39 Terje also owned a e21 before Terje and his wife bought the e31 850 CSi, and a e39 Touring now owed for 10 years, and a previously owned e93 320-Cabrio. Both of him and his sons also own e39 s. At one point they actually had 6 BMW s parked in the driveway. Currently there are 5. Terje s interest enjoys working on older cars. The CSI is not going into any mechanics garage if he can help it. Untrustworthy mechanic might want to test drive it just to have fun. Instead Terje learned as much as possible about the car, by using the forums and DIY for advise. The knowledge he gained helped to perform preventive maintenance and repairs to keep it running, knowing the work is done right. So far this has been successful. For the 21,000 (13,050 miles) driven kilometers he has driven, it has never broken down. e93 Since a very early age fixing electronics or mechanical things has been a passion. Apart from cars his interest has been the pinball machines, jukeboxes, old radios, and lately brewing beer. Besides working on cars these are Terje s Hobbies Yah! Brewing Beer Working on Electronics Jukebox Pin Ball Machines Fixing Old Radios
The Search for that perfect CSi began. Once Terje figured out that the car had to be a 850 CSi with black interior and SCHWARZ 2 (668) exterior with low mileage and a good maintenance history, the search started but it was not easy to find. There was only one other car in Norway with the same spec s so the search continued all over Europe. Q: What made you pick the 8 Series over other BMW models? A: It was love at first sight, 5 years of thinking and looking at advertisements before I said to myself; It has to be now or stop looking, then it happened relatively fast. The search occupied most of his time encompassing a wide variety of color combinations and price. He was determined to find that perfect CSi he wanted he knew it was out there someplace. After a long time of searching he found it. The car was in Munich. It had been owned by a BMW dealer ( EHRL) for many years and on display. After some price negotiation over the phone he finally made the deal. However he had to fly to Germany to pick it up. On his way home he luckily got to drive on the Autobahn for 1,900km (1,180 miles) before finally arriving back home. The car s history indicated that the car had not been registered for 7 years, which was worrisome. The only issue was the slight differential leak, which was fixed quickly. Another problem occurred when purchasing the car since it had to be exported from Germany and import to Norway and pay those high import taxes. You really have to love a car before take this step because it will almost double the price of the car before you have a license plate on it. How Much!
Specifications Engine Performance Features: Engine Size: 5,6l HP: 380 Software: N/A Turbo: N/A Supercharger: N/A Air Intake: N/A Major Upgrades to Engine: Full visual upgrade winter 2010 where all parts got cleaned / repainted and polished Special Interior Design Features: Seats: OEM Headliner OEM Trim: Wood trim sprayed with piano black finish Shift Knob: Replaced emblem with new original 6 speed Manual Special Lighting: N/A Pedals: OEM Exterior Features: Color: SCHWARZ 2 (668) Side Skirts: OEM Trunk Spoiler: None Front Lower Spoiler: OEM ( CSI type ) Side Mirrors: OEM ( Euro CSI type ) My Suspension is all OEM
Like most 8 owners not being able to just keep it asis. Some personal touches were added which made it special. The steering wheel was not the original OEM wheel car was delivered with from the BMW factory in 1994. Someone had changed it prior to him purchasing the car. My first change was removing the steering wheel it had and replaced with a three spoke BMW wheel with M stitching. The new steering wheel was modified with a thicker grip and thumbs rest for comfort and handling. BBS-LM 19 with10mm spacer Tire Make: Continental Tire Size Front: 245/35/19 Tire Size Rear: 285/30/19 These wheels are not original but he felt it made the car look a bit more modern than the OEM and look great on the 8 series. Only one other picture of an 8 Series with these types of wheel was found. If he ever decides, he can easily get original rims mounted back again. Here is the work that has been done Refurbished/Rebuilt front suspension, Replacing suspension arms and bushings. Replaced coolant expansion tank and hoses for PM. Replaced and repacked bearings on rear axle Replaced FTP assemblies due to stone chips Glass blasted rear axle oil cooler and repainted.
Q: What is it about the 8 you enjoy most? A: I love driving it, especially long trips, it has 123.000km (76,428 miles) on the clock now, 102,000km (63,380 miles) when I bought it. Love the look and I can sit in my garage and just look at it for hours Any Special Mention: I have. to mention the 8er-Alpina Tour we participated in this year; This was truly a great event with great people 1994 850 CSi Stavanger Norway Owner: Terje Nordhus One - on - One OEM with 6 CD changer Q: Do you work on your car? A: Yes. I like to maintain it and improve it. By improving I mean getting it back to factory state inside and outside technically. I don t want to forget the absolutely best part, all the new people I got to know through the 8 Series meetings and tours as well as on the Forums Q: Have you done any interior improvement? A: No, but the wood trim was painted black piano. Yes I know, it s not original but it was done before my time and it actually looks good to me Q: What is your favorite pass time? A: My car is stored 6 months every winter inside a heated garage. You can see some old radios on the shelves that I repair. I have a pinball machine there that is fully Terje s Man Cave operational. My garage is my hobby room. I plan to have a refrigerator with some homemade beer in there soon
Q: Any improvements to your Engine? A: This is my engine compartment after a pretty big clean up. I took out all plastic parts, removed the old yellow wax coating that was EVERYWHERE, and then I put the plastic parts in the dishwasher. My wife was not very pleased with that. Under The Hood Finally used a generous amount Maguire s tire gel on the plastic leaving it on for some days before wiping the plastic dry and it looks like new. Intakes were also polished and repainted. All other metal parts were cleaned and polished and brought back pretty close to factory state, before BMW added the wax. The only thing that is not original is the Oil filler cap. I think this one looks great. Wow that s a Super Clean Engine Bay It Looks New!
Q: Have you had any major issues with your car? How old are your tires? It s time to check the age of your tires on the sidewall A: So far, I been very fortunate for the 21,000 km (13,050miles) I have driven it has never let me down. The only issue was a blown tire this summer. I will recommend all 8er owners check the date on their tires. I found out that even if the treads are great they can suddenly blow out. Mine were 9 years old when it happened to me at the 8er-Alpina Tour this year. This could have been really bad at high speed luckily this happen at low speed and there was no damage to the rim, just some burnt rubber Q: Will you ever sell your 8 and get something else? A: Will I ever sell my CSi? What! Wokke s Car NO! I will probably end up with one more I guess. I am thinking about possibly getting a worn down or wreaked CSI to fix, modify, paint it yellow (wokke s color) and lower it so it s nearly unusable. Something I would not do to my nice 8er.
Q: What Media Exposure have you had? A: BMW Magazine May 2011 in the article about the Norwegian e31 meeting. Where we were featured in a 6 page article which discussed the Norwegian E31 meeting. Being an e31 owner has lead me to organize 8 Series events in Norway together with Egil (Noggie on the forums) I am part of the www.8coupe.com registry volunteer team as well as www.8er.org the international 8 Series Club Here is a map of one of our weekend tours that was held in Norway last year Stavanger Fjord Cruice Route Kristiansand Here is the tour they took: The city of Stavanger, (A) Norway was their starting point. The red line is the Fjord Cruice route and the destination is the red dot. The yellow ring indicates the area where the scenic drive took place on Sunday. The blue line is the return route down from the mountain which was combined with the return trip home. Some owners took the ferry from Kristiansand Norway back to Denmark.
Beautiful Scenic Picture of the May, 2011 Tour A Rock Between Two Hard Spots Been There! Atop of Eagles Nest at the Norwegian meeting. Winters are tough in Norway lasting 6 months Upon arrival they drove up a winding mountain road and parked at the restaurant at the top, nicknamed The Eagles Nest". For those that were more adventurous they walked up to the mountain so that people can enjoy the view, this was not a long walk, perhaps 15 minutes. After a while they walked down and had dinner at the restaurant. More about the tour here: http://www.8er.ch/forum/showthread.php?t=11455
1 st Place Q: What Awards Have You Received? A: I took 3rd Place in 2010, then 2nd Place in 2011 and finally 1st place this year at Bilentusiastene, Norway yearly meeting. I competed with all makes of cars. Each year I had an improvement, before finally received the 1st Place Prize this year. My cup is shown here Also received Best car in category 1990 to 1999. Awarded 1st Place BMW Stavanger, Norway 2010 For: Best in show. Awarded: 1st Place Sweden 2012 For: People choice Awarded 1st Place Estland in Norway BMW Meeting 2012 (Estland as written in Norwegian) Winner of The: Peoples Choice award in Estonia Winner In 3 Countries Norway Sweden And Estonia. Not many can say that!
Terje s Closing Comments You Got Mail! A Personal Message From Terje: Nice License Plate! I would like to thank everyone that makes the Forums alive, those guys who started and those who now run the 8er register www.8coupe.com. All who have and are planning meetings. You all know who you are. Those that put a lot of effort in making DIY documents for the community This is what keeps the 8 Series alive, interesting and affordable to own. I would also like to mention the different meetings I have attended and there will be more as I love these meetings. 2 x Swedish E31 meeting 2010 and 2012 1 x Norwegian E31 meeting 2011 1 x Poland meeting E31 2011 1 x Netherlands meeting E31 2010 1 x Estland BMW meeting 2012 Denmark Poland Sweden Norway Vienna 2013 I can t wait for the next meet I m Planning to attend the Vienna meeting in 2013 Here are the links to more information about the activities in Norway, Sweden, and surrounding countries www.8er.org www.8coupe.com http://8coupe.com/about/registryvolunteerteam.aspx
August Issue 2012 Here s to huldra66 SoCal 8s and I would like to Congratulate you for becoming our newest addition to an exclusive group of members that have been awarded, Car of the Month Car of the Month Cheers! Fern Mora, SoCal 8s