Sterling 318iS, less than sterling condition

[Aufbau Principle]

Hey there. Long time listener, first time caller. Just brought this fine specimen home this morning. First car, first E30, probably in over my head, kinda loving it. '91 318iS, 165,000 miles, Getrag 260. Drove reasonably well when I test drove it 3 days ago, now has a large coolant leak somewhere towards the firewall that means a full container of coolant disappears in about 20 minutes of driving around the neighborhood. So that needs fixing. Amongst other things. It's never going to be a show car, but I hope that I can turn it into a fun daily driver over the summer.

I'll update this post later with stuff, but for now, here's some pictures.

E30 (1 of 4) by AP Photomatic, on Flickr

E30 (2 of 4) by AP Photomatic, on Flickr

E30 (3 of 4) by AP Photomatic, on Flickr

[RUFFLZ]

Is this that hella rare unicorn of a color?
I think the color code was Sterling Rot if I'm not mistaken.

[alexw]

Awesome! I'm looking to do something similar this summer as well. Mind if I ask what you paid for it?

[phreshkid]

Is this that hella rare unicorn of a color?
I think the color code was Sterling Rot if I'm not mistaken.

I think Sterling Silber is what you wanted to say. I believe "Rot" in German translates to red.

[PeteD]

^

[navid41691]

Where'd you get this from? The dead sea?

[russc]

I think Sterling Silber is what you wanted to say. I believe "Rot" in German translates to red.

And "Rot" in English...?

[phreshkid]

Damn. I didn't see the joke in his post.


Carry on, nothing to see here.

[Cabriolet]

'91 318iS, 165,000 miles, Getrag 260.

It should be a g240. not a g260. they use different fluids so make sure u know for sure what you have.

now has a large coolant leak somewhere towards the firewall

means you have a popped heater core.

im hoping this car was free. bc you will spend 6k to make it safe to drive. if i were u. id part it and get something not from under the sea and driven by a 16 year old girl.

[E30 Wagen]

whoa, and I thought my eta was rusted bad...

[Link]

Every car can be saved.. I think. Just be careful not spending more money than its worth.

[Dj Buttchug]

Every car can be saved.. I think. Just be careful not spending more money than its worth.

LOL this is a good one.


OP you have a long road ahead it looks like, but it is an iS so that coo

[Aufbau Principle]

Right, got the upper intake manifold off and narrowed down the leak to somewhere on the pipe going from the front of the motor to the heater hoses from the firewall. Doesn't come from where the two hoses connect to the firewall.

E301 (1 of 2) by AP Photomatic, on Flickr

I also found this jammed between the intake and the fuel rail, partially melted, has motor oil in it. Anyone know what it is?

E301 (2 of 2) by AP Photomatic, on Flickr

As far as parting the car goes, I'm using a reference of a reasonably $4200 325i I test drove that had a mostly solid body, with the exception of a bent door and crunched rear valance. Sold to someone else the day after, unfortunately. This car was $1500, with new front control arms, new brake rotors and pads all around. Gonna figure out what's surface rust and what needs cutting and patching. If the patch jobs exceed ~$2000, gonna part it. Don't care about paint at the moment, long as it's not bare metal showing. From what I've found going through the car so far, it needs a new driver door, hood, and trunklid. Rocker panels aren't bubbling or rotted. Worst stuff seems to be the tail panel and front cowl below the windshield. How bad of an idea is this?

[eur04lif3]

You've paid $1500 too much, but it will be a good learning experience.

[FredK]

Welcome to E30s!

While I'm glad you saved this car from being scrapped, it is not very far from the scrapyard. My suggestion is to just drive it as-is for as long as possible, and not to dump money into the car. It would be extremely easy to chew through quite a bit of money getting this car into good shape.

If you pull the carpet, you will likely be greeted with rust everywhere on the floorpan. That would be my first order of business--to ensure the car is safe-ish to drive.