Long time BMW driver, "new" e30 318is owner...

[GrippyDrifty]

Coming from the 2002 world (I have owned and raced 3), fellow enthusiasts always made referrences to the e30 318is and how similar characteristically it is to the 2002. So after selling my last 2002. I needed a new car and came up on a fantastic deal on a clean 318is. So, I got it. It's been 3 weeks and I have fallen in love. My GF is literally jealous!!. Here are some pics of my ride, enjoy:

Here she is with a blacked-out grill and turn indicators:

For the life of me, I could not get a clear/steady shot:

I dig this pic although it's rather blurry. My camera was mounted on my steering wheel and i was doing a buck ten on a long right hand sweeper in an undisclosed location :

Here she is sans a lip, wash, stock grill and turn indicators:

Just a pic from a drive the other day(same day as the pic above):

And another:

THE perfect pic opportunity:

So there she is. Next up is an aluminum flywheel, Dinan chip, Suspension, suspension, and suspension. Oh, and I'm also painting my bottle caps. Can't decide wether to do them ALL Black or Charcoal--I don't like them with a polished lip. A little photoshop help<<hint, hint.


And for kicks, here's a pic of my last 2002:

[Simon S]

welcome.

you've got a nice platform there.
almost a dead ringer of how my 318 looked upon purchase..

Cheers !

[mikeedler]

wow, the 02 actually looks cool with bottle caps.
its cool that you like your car so much. give it about 4 wax jobs in a row, and you will like it more.

[GrippyDrifty]

Mikeedler--Seriously, my paint job needs a serious buff!! (or 5 wax jobs :)).

[Digitalwave]

Was your car repainted pink?

[GrippyDrifty]

^^^^^^LOL.

Ha. No it's actually oxidized Brilliantrot. As I mentioned above, she REALLY needs a good buffing!! Anyone feeling generous?;)

[mikeedler]

thats why i said that. If you wax it a few times, you will be really surprised at how good it will look. once again, loos like a really nice car, I just think it needs to be lowered a bit, but I think EVERYTHING needs to be lowered.

[bergie33]

That car looks familiar. Art, is that you?? Did you ever decide on a diff?

- Karl B.

[2002maniac]

Nice car! When are you getting your next '02? 318is' and 02's make great playmates.

[GrippyDrifty]

Hey karl! Sorry for the delay on the response regarding the diff. Hmmm...I still haven't made up my mind. Sorry, it's just that I really wanted to help my 0-60 time, but I have since made an interesting discovery. People with the original 4.10 diff say that one has to to shift into 3rd around 50ish mph, killing the 0-60 acceleration. On the other hand, with my 3.91, I shift into third at exactly 60mph. I know kind of lame of me to be focusing on 0-60, when I could technically focus more on the 0-80 or even 0-100 :P. Also, I'm getting incredible gas mileage and the other night I took her up to 116mph-and was only @4500 rpm!! What to do?

[GrippyDrifty]

2002maniac--Unfortunately I don't have an '02 in my future anytime soon. I'm a college kid living in San Francisco. So, 2 cars in a city where parking is probably as easy to attain as NYC, not happening. We'll see though.

[E30_pilot]

hey, i remember you on club4ag.

Glad to see you went through and got a 318is.
Car looks good.

[bmwsmurf]

Same color as my recently acquired 318is.. congrats!

Why does it have bottlecaps instead of the stock weaves that came with this car?

Engine is a little buzzy but man what a fun ride.

[GrippyDrifty]

PO threw these on here before selling me the car. It originally had some cheap rice wheels--was an 18yr old girls' car. The bottlecaps are very clean, but came with TERRIBLE tires. Sizes were as follows: 205/65/14, 195/70/14, 195/65/14, and a 195/60/14!!! And all diferrent brands!! The first thing I did was went and looked for some relatively cheap, but sporty tires and ended up getting some Fulda Assuro high performance alll season tires in 195/60/14. They look good and handle extremely well in the wet--I live in SF!! Dry performance is not bad at all, either. I thought I had decided on painting my bottlecaps charcoal, but saw an e30 with black ones and now I'm undecided again!! ANY PICS OF A BRILLIANTROT E30's WITH ALL BLACK OR ALL CHARCOAL(NO POLISHED LIP) BOTTLECAPS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!

[bmwsmurf]

I hate black wheels. Looks like they're dirty.

Black with silver lip is somewhat acceptable.