Tune Up Question for the M10B18 Gods

[vzereeys]

Hello, my name is Steve and I just recently acquired a 1984 318I for the hansom price of $840. She had 133k miles back when the odometer broke.
Engine is a little rough but she gets the job done.

Current symptoms:
- Hard starts in the morning, have to give it a little throttle for it to start
- Idle bounces between 950 to 1150 RPM
- Tapping noise (I believe its the valves?)

So to remedy those annoyances, I did some research and came up with the following:
- Valve adjustment (0.008 cold)
- Clean/replace injectors
- Clean/replace 02 sensor (bosch copper?)
- Clean/replace MAF sensor
- Tune up (spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor, air filter)
- Rebuild/replace fuel pressure regulator (rebuild kit?)
- Replace/clean Elevation sensor (how to clean?)

The only thing I did currently at the moment was replace oil filter and change out the oil with VR1 20w50 Synthetic (SO EXPENSIVE!)

My question is, in what order should I do those? And am I missing anything? My goal is to have it purring like a kitten without rebuilding it.

Thank you,
Steve of Lagrange, GA

[E30_Pare]

Don't run a cap & rotor from vatozone. They have platinum tips & don't work as well as copper tipped OEM parts.

For valve adjustment .008 intake side/.010 exhaust

Delete icv. Easiest way I did was use some rubber corks from lowes. Less vacuum lines = less leaks.

Set idle with set screw on throttle body.

Last oil change I did was with some castrol high mileage 20-50w helped a ton. U must warm up your car before getting on it though. Heavy weight oil won't circulate through the head well cold.

[thebutterson]

The spark plugs are the bosch coppers, not the O2.

You can get the generic O2 sensor if you don't mind splicing wires.

I've never heard of replacing the atmosperic sensor, post here if you do.

If you think the car runs well one it's warmed up and on the street, don't worry about the fuel pressure regulator.

Put a test light on the plug for the cold start injector to see if it's getting power on cold starts. If it is, pull the injector, reconnect the plug, stick it in a bottle and try again to make sure it's spraying fuel.

Use the Shell diesel oil, it's supposed to have more additives that help our old engines, and it's $13 a gallon.

[Hey_You]

I think all m10's hate the cold. Most ICV's don't work right. Just delete it. Get a good set of spark plug wires, cap, and rotor. Doesn't seem like you have a fuel issue.

[jeffnhiscars]

Shell Rotella is not available in 20-50 so you should only run it in the colder months

[vzereeys]

Ahh, too kind sirs.

ICV delete mod seems easy enough.
Will test the cold start injector.

-thebutterson- why would I have to splice the generic o2 sensor's wires?

[SoopaGhetto]

for valve adjustments, ive always done .008/.008 (in/exh) cold

definitely ICV delete. saves a lot of headache trying to resolve the idle. one of the best mods i performed.

the barometric sensor really doesnt do too much. i know most just leave it unplugged (i did).

do valve adjustment first. if they are way out of spec/over due, that could cause erratic idle and poor performance. you may even regain some lost power.

then tune up (cap, rotor, spark plugs, spark plug wires)

if your car runs and drives fine, i wouldnt worry too much about injectors, o2 sensor, afm (not maf), and fuel pressure regulator

have any plans for the 318i? pics? and Welcome!

[vzereeys]

Thank you for the warm welcome. Pictures will be up soon!

So I took off the fuel rail and injectors off today and noticed that the injectors have a lot of dirt and sand around the spray tip. What does that mean? I checked the intake elbow (while I was doing the ICV delete mod) for rips/tears but didn't find any. By the way, what do I do with the ICV sensor?

My plan for the car is to make it a fuel efficient (at least 30mpg) and a reliable daily driver.

Also, what's a good muffler for the m10b18? I want it sporty but not obnoxious. As a reference, I love the exhaust of the G35s.

[Hey_You]

I have a vibrant muffler that has no cat, or res, love the sound, but it's obnoxious. I will probably add a resonator here in a bit

[Rockwool2117]

for valve adjustments, ive always done .008/.008 (in/exh) cold

definitely ICV delete. saves a lot of headache trying to resolve the idle. one of the best mods i performed.

the barometric sensor really doesnt do too much. i know most just leave it unplugged (i did).

do valve adjustment first. if they are way out of spec/over due, that could cause erratic idle and poor performance. you may even regain some lost power.

then tune up (cap, rotor, spark plugs, spark plug wires)

if your car runs and drives fine, i wouldnt worry too much about injectors, o2 sensor, afm (not maf), and fuel pressure regulator

have any plans for the 318i? pics? and Welcome!

how does one go about deleting the icv

[SoopaGhetto]

1: removed the ICV
2: block off all the holes that the ICV was attached too (cold start injector/intake boot)
3: adjust the throttle screw for idle. do this while at operating temperature.
If you live in a cold climate, you may experience a tad harder start up, but will immediately disappear once the car is up to temp.