Firstfives.org

A good friend of mine bought a new E12 in 1978, which he has since sold. When he saw my car, he reminisced about his car and asked me how my trunk hinges were doing. He explained that the pivots wear out fast.

We took a look at mine and sure enough, one is well hogged out.

I took a look at the hinges in my 1980 528i parts car and there, a different pivot was worn out.

Another friend who owns a 1988 M5 (E28) had a spare set of "good condition" used hinges on the shelf. The E28 hinges are interchangeable with the E12 and are what BMW now sells for the E12. His spare set had a loose pivot as well.

All of this tells me that these are possibly poorly design and may need a little attention.

I am going to look into adding grease fittings to the pivots, as a lack of proper lubrication seems to be the issue.

It seems to be random. My first E12 had no noticeable wear at 325K the first time it was totaled. I had an E24 with so much wear they would overcenter and pop the torsion spring out. I had a pair of E23s with some wear, not so much it was a problem, but noticeable. My second and third E12s have some again. My E28 had none at 330K. Oh, they all had the same design.

I added grease fittings. Photos here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1030509870 ... directlink

<table><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/V ... site"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Du4x ... G_0419.JPG" height="300" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td>From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/1030509870 ... bsite">E12 Trunk Hinge Modification</a></td></tr></table>

<table><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Q ... site"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1cFB ... G_0422.JPG" height="300" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td>From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/1030509870 ... bsite">E12 Trunk Hinge Modification</a></td></tr></table>

<table><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/K ... site"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Ln-F ... G_0433.JPG" height="300" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td>From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/1030509870 ... bsite">E12 Trunk Hinge Modification</a></td></tr></table>

<table><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9 ... site"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-nr2f ... G_0442.JPG" height="300" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td>From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/1030509870 ... bsite">E12 Trunk Hinge Modification</a></td></tr></table>

<table><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/H ... site"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-PwXk ... G_0444.JPG" height="300" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td>From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/1030509870 ... bsite">E12 Trunk Hinge Modification</a></td></tr></table>

These should last a good while

Hmmm. That's not where I've had problems. I've only had problems with the flat link that the spring fits into. The slot gets elongated with age so eventually it overcenters and will no longer act as a spring. But some seem to wear and some don't.