Back in the e30 game

[Jb325is]

Well, I've been out of the e30 scene for a little while now. But I just sold my e34 last week for the right price, and I've been looking for a dd. One of my co-workers told me one of his friends had a broken BMW a while back, so I go take a look.

Goodbye e34 :( I'll miss the shit out of this car




Anyways, I was thinking I was going to look at a 84 318 4 door or something because the kid wants next to nothing for it, but the car is the dirtiest '91 318is you've ever seen, and I mean nasty. Needless to say, I was pleasantly suprised. I looked around/under/ on top of it and it does not have 1 ding on the entire car, all original panels and everything. Kid said it needed a fuel pump, so I put a jump box on it and turns over, has spark, but no gas. Can't hear the pump before you crank the car either. So how hard is a fuel pump on one of these? I can't imagine its too difficult. Do all 318's have the same carpet? The carpet in this car was not the same as my 325, it looks "woven" or something. Is this another "318is only" thing? I ask because it is dirty as shit, and doesn't look like it will clean to well. It also needs a passenger seat and rear seat back (drivers seat is perfect..?). Any m42 related issues I should look out for? These are timing chain motors right?

So basically, is anyone parting or know of someone parting a 318is?

[golde30]

pump is easy, take out rear seat cushion, open up the panel on the pass side, viola, pump is rite there.

[e9nine]

WTF why did you sell the e34???

Anyway the 84 is an m10 but yes it has a timing chain.

My buddy has an m42 sedan in top mechanical condition but the body has some dings. Let me know if you're interested.

[Mike325]

That e34 looks sick.

That car is not a 318is. It is a 318 with a poopy m10 motor in it. Not a good engine. Slow as fuck. The pumps are easy to change. They are located under the car on the left, right before the rear wheel.

Edit: I guess I may be wrong on my pump location.

[Jb325is]

No no.. I meant I was expecting to find an old POS e30.. but this is a '91 318is, white on black


I sold the e34 for more than what I had in it, and I kept (and sold) the MK's. I also have a 540i/6 project, so while I miss the car, it has freed up a good bit of money for the 540

[e9nine]

Gotcha. Once you made out ok, that's nice. Oh man yet another white e30. I swear one would think all the white e30s are in GA.

As for the basic interior parts, keep your eyes peeled. I am assuming you want a sport interior right?

The 318iS does have an "interesting" carpet. I don't know if it's lighter or not though. Check the fuel pump relay as well. See if the pump is getting power before you pull the pump to replace it. I *think* I might have a spare pump for you. I'll check my stuff.

Come on on over to www.m42club.com :D

[Jb325is]

Yeah the drivers side sport seat is absolutely flawless, I guess thats due to the different material on the seats (compared to the 325is), but the passenger and rear seat back are in bad shape. Im thinking this carpet might steam clean pretty well if I pull the interior, which I fully intend to do.

I just realized who you are.. Did you sell Denton those staggered style 5's? I'd like some info on your 5 lug setup. Im looking to do a 5 lug setup for a reasonble amount of money on this car (since its a DD) with e36 stuff + z3 stuff.. but I'm worried about the wheel centering issue because I want to run 17's with a decent sized tire. Let me know about that fuel pump

[e9nine]

Correct - I'm Jaimie's friend who had the blue eta that you detailed a decade ago.

Shoot me a PM with your e-mail much easier to talk that way. My 5 lug is all e30m3 stuff but I know what the ingredients are if you want to try the other way with m-roadster/318Ti and e36m3 stuff.

[Teaguer]

Yep , pump is below the rear seat on the pass side and is a breeze to swap .

The M42 pump is M42 specific though .

I also have a good working pump removed in Jan , if you end up needing one shoot me a PM .

[euroshark]

You had those 18" MK Motorsports wheels on your E34 eh? Nice... Same set the guy was trying to sell forever?

[M42Technik]

The M42 pump is M42 specific though.

And it runs around $200-250 depending on where you get it. Also, here is a very nice writeup for the fuel pump, and an indispensable link:

http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/318ismaintenance.html#fuelpump

The job is one of the most dangerous for obvious reasons. Good luck!

Lots of the 318iS is specific to that car, its unique to other E30's in a lot of little ways, and very fun to drive!

[Jscotty]

So basically, is anyone parting or know of someone parting a 318is?

I know of a guy parting out a 325 with black interior. The passenger seat and back seat are in good shape but its not an IS so it does not have the sport seats. I don't know if you might do better finding it locally because I don't imagine that shipping the seats from Washington DC will be cheap.

[Jb325is]

You had those 18" MK Motorsports wheels on your E34 eh? Nice... Same set the guy was trying to sell forever?

I think I was the guy that was trying to sell them forever.. ended up selling them seperate of the car, so I came out alright.

Thanks for the info on the fuel pump, doesn't sound too difficult.

Jonathan

[M42Technik]

I know of a guy parting out a 325 with black interior. The passenger seat and back seat are in good shape but its not an IS so it does not have the sport seats. I don't know if you might do better finding it locally because I don't imagine that shipping the seats from Washington DC will be cheap.

More info on the car? Sorry to go OT...

[Hick]

......It is a 318 with a poopy m10 motor in it. Not a good engine. Slow as fuck.....

What makes the m10 a bad motor? They will run forever, cost nothing, need nothing to run and are a dime a dozen in junk yards. Ive got one that is all original with 290k on it. Replaced the oil pan gasket just this past summer and it just so happened to be the one from the factory. Not to mention that the m10 was/is the longest running production motor in BMW history.

So to say they are bad motors based on power output then thats a tall tail and rather subjective. Personally, id rather have an m10 than an m20 any day.

Back on subject, M42s dont need much, a bunch of people will tell you about the 'profile gasket' which is really no longer an issue. Aside from that, the lifters tick in cold weather or low oil pressure times. They are very nice and reliable motors with enough power to get you around town.