1991 318i Daily Build

[markd248]

Yesterday I bought my first E30 for $900. It's a 1991 Brilliantrot 318i in pretty excellent mechanical condition. It has 205,xxx miles and the body definitely shows it. The two driver's side doors are from a donor car after it had an accident. There's some rust behind the back driver's wheel and that's about it. Everything else looks pretty solid.

My goal is to first bring everything up to working order and then give it a few additions. It'll need a PA inspection and emissions which is happening this week. After that I'll address it's issues; it needs new shift bushings (z3 shifter too while I'm there), new OBC, rear driver's window motor, and a door lock fixed.

My plans are a nice drop, probably GC coils, tint, smoked smileys, black kidney, new muffler, intake, and new wheels, but I'm in no real rush yet.

I'm still a college student so I want something thats nice to daily but fun in the twisties. I'm planning on keeping some money aside for a full swap down the road once the M42 calls it quits.


DSC_0023 by markd248, on Flickr

DSC_0025 by markd248, on Flickr

DSC_0026 by markd248, on Flickr

[mr ilia]

I love 318i sedans.
I have one myself.

Welcome to the club!

[illest318i]

Looks awesome for $900.

Welcome to r3v!

[markd248]

Thanks guys, definitely loving it so far. It's a big change from my 2006 RSX-S, but I honestly think I love driving this way more. It's gonna need to be tightened up, but for $900 I'm very happy.

[markd248]

So it's been about a month with the 318i. The inspection and emissions are good, I blacked out the kidneys and repainted the front grill. Cleaned up the rear speakers since they were a pretty disgusting silver and added a Volvo Lip. I also added a Z3 1.9 shifter and cleaned the whole interior and the seat reclining gears.

Next up will be a 13 button OBC, a fairing for the roof rack, and replacing the broken fog light and turn signal.


photo 1 by markd248, on Flickr

photo 2 by markd248, on Flickr

photo 3 by markd248, on Flickr

[TimKninja]

Needs less chrome Kidney and a good polish!

[markd248]

It's been a while since I've updated this. Since the last I've done a lot of maintenance (brakes, fluids, belts, new exhaust, etc), fixed rust issues, analog clock, plate filler, another set of weaves with snow tires. yakima rack, thule fairing, and fixed other minor things. I'm proud of where this is going and I've learned how to do a lot of stuff as I've done everything but the body work on my own.

In the near future I'm thinking of 5 lug swap, front seats, suspension work, installing my plate filler, custom made wooden shifter (friend has a lathe), and some go fast bits. I'm currently trying to find the source of the leak into my driver's foot well.

I'm still tossing around the idea of a 24v and trans swap since the original m42 and trans are at 215,xxx miles. But lately I've been thinking of boosting the M42. I know its less accepted and possibly less powerful, but I'll retain pretty good gas mileage and it should cost significantly less, so long as my M42 is going to last. Here are some pictures, all taken with a Nikon D600, Nikon F5, or iPhone:

Hauling pallets to build a bookshelf:

IMG_3734 by markd248, on Flickr

Getting the Christmas Tree:

1photo 2 by markd248, on Flickr

You can see the major rust before it was fixed:

1photo 3 by markd248, on Flickr

Getting fixed:

photo 3 by markd248, on Flickr

Fixed:

photo 4 by markd248, on Flickr

DSC_3913 by markd248, on Flickr

Brake Work:

IMG_4231 by markd248, on Flickr

Interior Work:

1photo 5 by markd248, on Flickr

Snowstorms:

1photo 1 by markd248, on Flickr

1photo 4 by markd248, on Flickr

After receiving a buff, taken earlier tonight:

DSC_3905 by markd248, on Flickr

[eur04lif3]

Get rid of that hideous lip!

Otherwise, nice project.

[FunfGan]

Flip the lip and mount it, will look 10x better.

But car is looking good so far! In for more progress.

[benz-tech]

nice lookin car for the money. As a fellow Volvo lip owner, they are better than nothing. Not much better, but better. Just save up for an Is lip. That's my plan too.

[markd248]

Lots of changes since my last update. I've also taken it on a 10 hour road trip up to Acadia National park with no issues. Drove with A/C on for much of the trip and returned ~30 mpg the whole way there and back. So I've been pleased with the M42, but it has 220,xxx miles and I'm mentally preparing for it to quit.

Actual upgrades:
Tan Vinyl Sport Seats
MarkD 93 octane chip
H&R Race/Billy Sport suspension set up
Shadowlined trim
Euro Plate filler
Analog clock

Housekeeping:
Removed rust and sealed off floorpans
Reinstalled Carpet
Fixed exhaust
Odo gears and working on tracking a cluster power issue

Future plans:
Lug nuts to stud conversion kit
Spacers

Going Kayaking


Trip to Acadia National Park

[Ocell]

Car looks great! What a steal for $900. All your work is really sorting it out nicely.

[markd248]

Thanks, I absolutely love it but it's definitely going to need a full paint job soon. There are some mismatched panes that don't show as much in pictures.

[econti]

Did US 318i get the M42?

[318kid]

Did US 318i get the M42?

All post facelift USA BMW 318's got the M42 and all came in manual. They were only really sold one year here in the states (1991). The earlier version '84/'85 318 had the m10.