I purchased this vehicle in September of last year. This is the original text of the Craigslist from the previous owner:
"1997 BMW 318ti with 3.2L M3 engine. Only 65,000 miles on engine. Body in excellent condition, 5 speed, moon roof, BBS 17" wheels, M3 front brakes, new rear brakes, very good tires. The only thing it needs is rear trailing arm bushings / rear sub frame bushings. Please email if interested."
I received four pages of documentation of the swap which was performed by Midwest MotorSport in Glenview, IL. From what I can see the swap was done when the 318ti had about 36,000 miles. The M3 engine came with the M3 cluster which currently shows just shy of 67,000 miles. So the car is relatively low mileage. The swap was done in 2001 and cost just shy of $17,000 according to the invoice I have for it. Now, most of us know that this swap would not cost this much if done today. I am not listing that number to say its worth that much. I am listing it because at the time, it seems that the swap was done correctly. I have invoices listing some of the following items for the swap:
Sach's Clutch Kit
High Flow Throttle Body
Euro Air Flow meter
LSD
Dinan Cold Air Intake
I can not say with 100% certainty that all of these items are STILL on the car, but it is my belief (and that of the previous owner) that they are… with the exception of the Cold Air Intake, which I have. For whatever reason the previous owner didn't think it was a good idea. He did tell me that he believes it is also Dinan chipped. I haven't confirmed that. The car also has the front suspension from an E36 M3 as well as M3 front brakes. I don't know the brand of them but it has aftermarket heavy duty sway bars as well. Another obvious modification is the battery was relocated to the trunk for weight distribution.
As the original ad states, he believed the car needed rear trailing arm bushings and sub frame bushings. This was due to some vibration of the drivetrain (specifically the driveshaft) during hard acceleration. This was ultimately fixed by replacing the driveshaft with a brand new driveshaft (which included the flex disk or "guibo"). During that swap I also noticed that the LSD was not an LSD after all. The car had a stock 4.10 open diff from the 318ti. I swapped it with a medium case LSD from a 525e E28, it's a 3.25. This was chose because its close to what the E36 M3 used in stock form. I also added a polly differential mount, polly transmission mounts, and refreshed the shifter with a Z3 1.9 Shifter and all new shift hardware. The car shifts very nice, and there is no vibration like there was when I purchased the car.
The only "Problems" I can think of is that the lights on the cluster are lit up. A Check Engine Light, Airbag Light, ABS light as well. The car run's just fine, but I have not ran any codes on it. From what I have read the Airbag light is a common issue with the 318ti's. The ABS lights might be because of the swapped brakes, I am not sure. I wanted to be 100% up front with that. I can't imagine its anything huge, but if it concerns you, bring a code reader with you. It hasn't concerned me, and the car hasn't given me any problems in the time I've owned it. If you run an AutoCheck or CarFax it probably will give you a warning about the odometer. Thats because of the M3 cluster. I did not have to disclose mileage here in Wisconsin at the DMV… But I wanted you to be aware.
The body is in good shape but it does have some scratches here and there. There is the start of bubbling rust spots on the inner fender lips. This isn't really visible and is early enough to stop. Interior is very clean black leather seats.
The car currently is sitting on some "sport" wheels from TireRack with two season old Blizzak's. They've got a ton of life left in them. I will be switching back to the BBS wheels probably this weekend when I get some time. Both sets of wheels will come with the car.
The car is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. We're about 45 minutes from Milwaukee or Chicago. I am looking for $7,000 or best offer. I am negotiable, but not too much. I would also entertain offers for trades. Specifically interested in E30 coupes in white or silver… But I'm willing to entertain any offers really. Ideally I am looking for a car + cash unless you have a very clean or unique car for a straight trade. I'm trying to clean up some debt (seems like I do this a lot) and so I'd be willing to drive a junker for a bit if you add the right amount of cash on top. Thanks for looking.
"1997 BMW 318ti with 3.2L M3 engine. Only 65,000 miles on engine. Body in excellent condition, 5 speed, moon roof, BBS 17" wheels, M3 front brakes, new rear brakes, very good tires. The only thing it needs is rear trailing arm bushings / rear sub frame bushings. Please email if interested."
I received four pages of documentation of the swap which was performed by Midwest MotorSport in Glenview, IL. From what I can see the swap was done when the 318ti had about 36,000 miles. The M3 engine came with the M3 cluster which currently shows just shy of 67,000 miles. So the car is relatively low mileage. The swap was done in 2001 and cost just shy of $17,000 according to the invoice I have for it. Now, most of us know that this swap would not cost this much if done today. I am not listing that number to say its worth that much. I am listing it because at the time, it seems that the swap was done correctly. I have invoices listing some of the following items for the swap:
Sach's Clutch Kit
High Flow Throttle Body
Euro Air Flow meter
LSD
Dinan Cold Air Intake
I can not say with 100% certainty that all of these items are STILL on the car, but it is my belief (and that of the previous owner) that they are… with the exception of the Cold Air Intake, which I have. For whatever reason the previous owner didn't think it was a good idea. He did tell me that he believes it is also Dinan chipped. I haven't confirmed that. The car also has the front suspension from an E36 M3 as well as M3 front brakes. I don't know the brand of them but it has aftermarket heavy duty sway bars as well. Another obvious modification is the battery was relocated to the trunk for weight distribution.
As the original ad states, he believed the car needed rear trailing arm bushings and sub frame bushings. This was due to some vibration of the drivetrain (specifically the driveshaft) during hard acceleration. This was ultimately fixed by replacing the driveshaft with a brand new driveshaft (which included the flex disk or "guibo"). During that swap I also noticed that the LSD was not an LSD after all. The car had a stock 4.10 open diff from the 318ti. I swapped it with a medium case LSD from a 525e E28, it's a 3.25. This was chose because its close to what the E36 M3 used in stock form. I also added a polly differential mount, polly transmission mounts, and refreshed the shifter with a Z3 1.9 Shifter and all new shift hardware. The car shifts very nice, and there is no vibration like there was when I purchased the car.
The only "Problems" I can think of is that the lights on the cluster are lit up. A Check Engine Light, Airbag Light, ABS light as well. The car run's just fine, but I have not ran any codes on it. From what I have read the Airbag light is a common issue with the 318ti's. The ABS lights might be because of the swapped brakes, I am not sure. I wanted to be 100% up front with that. I can't imagine its anything huge, but if it concerns you, bring a code reader with you. It hasn't concerned me, and the car hasn't given me any problems in the time I've owned it. If you run an AutoCheck or CarFax it probably will give you a warning about the odometer. Thats because of the M3 cluster. I did not have to disclose mileage here in Wisconsin at the DMV… But I wanted you to be aware.
The body is in good shape but it does have some scratches here and there. There is the start of bubbling rust spots on the inner fender lips. This isn't really visible and is early enough to stop. Interior is very clean black leather seats.
The car currently is sitting on some "sport" wheels from TireRack with two season old Blizzak's. They've got a ton of life left in them. I will be switching back to the BBS wheels probably this weekend when I get some time. Both sets of wheels will come with the car.
The car is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. We're about 45 minutes from Milwaukee or Chicago. I am looking for $7,000 or best offer. I am negotiable, but not too much. I would also entertain offers for trades. Specifically interested in E30 coupes in white or silver… But I'm willing to entertain any offers really. Ideally I am looking for a car + cash unless you have a very clean or unique car for a straight trade. I'm trying to clean up some debt (seems like I do this a lot) and so I'd be willing to drive a junker for a bit if you add the right amount of cash on top. Thanks for looking.
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