1987 BMW E30 316, 41,000 Miles, Scotland

[shameson]

What a fantastic car, I love seeing them like this as you can admire how they looked straight out of the factory 27 years ago. How hard was it to find?

But actually in the US, the '84/'85 318i came with m10. When they rereleased the 318 in '91 it had the m42 which I have. Oddly, I really want to own the early 318i, with no options. Want it with manual windows, manual sunroof, a 5 speed and with euro bumpers. Something about that is really appealing. Certainly weird seeing the m10 in a late model, but that makes this car interesting. Definitely a cool find, keep us updated with more pictures :p

[RustyRuss]

Thanks very much for your kind words Shameson, much appreciated indeed :-) It took me va long time to find one as clean as this one I have to say! Ahh I never realised the m10 was released with injection in the states - the m10 318i was released here in 85/86 until 87 and the m40 b18 318i replaced that in 87 just like the m40 b16 316i replaced my m10 316 in 87. I really hope you find the early 318i your after :-) Ill certainly keep you all posted - sincere thanks :-) Hoper you are well. Kind Regards, Russell.

[johnnyp]

Hi Johnny, great to hear from you and thank you very much indeed for replying and for your kind words - that's much appreciated indeed :-) Great to hear from someone who has owned a 316!! Those 7 years in Switzerland must have been very pleasurable? What was your 316 like? You have confirmed the niggling suspicion that I had that the 2BE was a bit of knightmare setup...but seen as how im a purist im not going to bow down to the "just replace it with a Webber" ethos that ive heard so much about. I would genuinely and sincerely really appreciate the scans of the pages from the manual, thank you :-) Did you experience any woes with your 2BE at all? Hope you are well. Kindest Regards, Russell.

Hi Russell, well mine was a bit more road worn than yours. Fair bit of rust and the interior was pretty beat up as well. This weekend I'll have to dig around my external hard drive, round up some pictures and make a post about it (had quite a few options on it which you wouldn't expect for a base model). At the lab where I was working there were a bunch of older cars like mine that were passed around every few years or so between people coming and going and it showed.

So yeah the 2BE... if a part electronic computer controlled carb sounds like a crazy idea, well it was. How is yours running right now? Since your 316 has pretty low mileage, probably all of the main electronic components are still in good working order (choke flap actuator especially). Probably worth it to replace all the vacuum lines, since they can dry out and crack. Also if the car has spent a lot of time not being driven over the years, the gas evaporating from the carb float bowl can leave quite a bit of internal varnish. One of the best things I did was rip the whole carb apart and clean out all the built up varnish with naphtha. A point of warning though, before you start taking apart the carb for whatever reason make sure you mark all the relative positions of how all parts are mounted to the main body (again the choke flap actuator especially since you can rotate it and get it out of whack when you loosen the hold down plate)

With a bit of work I got most things in good working order but was always at the mercy of how well choke flap actuator was working on a given day. Most carbs have multiple ways to richen up the fuel mix at different times while driving, but with the 2BE all of these are handled by the choke flap actuator and if that goes on the fritz you'll have all sorts of rough running. Mine had the habit of closing up too much during a cold start, making the only way to get the car running by standing outside and having one hand under the hood manually keeping the choke open and one hand inside the car turning the key. Out of frustration I did actually go out and buy a replacment Weber but honestly even though it was easier to start with its manual choke, it never ran as well was the 2BE. Once nice thing about the 2BE is that it really sips gasoline, which made the car great for road trips.

Let me know how yours is running and if you run into any issues. It will be awhile before I can dig up the Haynes manual from storage but I have a fair number of pictures that could be useful depending on what you might need to do.

[mr.vang]

I really love the optionless of the car. single wiper, no stereo, crank window, ects.

[cunninglinguist]

Super clean car!
Are the mirrors electric?

[RustyRuss]

Hi Russell, well mine was a bit more road worn than yours. Fair bit of rust and the interior was pretty beat up as well. This weekend I'll have to dig around my external hard drive, round up some pictures and make a post about it (had quite a few options on it which you wouldn't expect for a base model). At the lab where I was working there were a bunch of older cars like mine that were passed around every few years or so between people coming and going and it showed.

So yeah the 2BE... if a part electronic computer controlled carb sounds like a crazy idea, well it was. How is yours running right now? Since your 316 has pretty low mileage, probably all of the main electronic components are still in good working order (choke flap actuator especially). Probably worth it to replace all the vacuum lines, since they can dry out and crack. Also if the car has spent a lot of time not being driven over the years, the gas evaporating from the carb float bowl can leave quite a bit of internal varnish. One of the best things I did was rip the whole carb apart and clean out all the built up varnish with naphtha. A point of warning though, before you start taking apart the carb for whatever reason make sure you mark all the relative positions of how all parts are mounted to the main body (again the choke flap actuator especially since you can rotate it and get it out of whack when you loosen the hold down plate)

With a bit of work I got most things in good working order but was always at the mercy of how well choke flap actuator was working on a given day. Most carbs have multiple ways to richen up the fuel mix at different times while driving, but with the 2BE all of these are handled by the choke flap actuator and if that goes on the fritz you'll have all sorts of rough running. Mine had the habit of closing up too much during a cold start, making the only way to get the car running by standing outside and having one hand under the hood manually keeping the choke open and one hand inside the car turning the key. Out of frustration I did actually go out and buy a replacment Weber but honestly even though it was easier to start with its manual choke, it never ran as well was the 2BE. Once nice thing about the 2BE is that it really sips gasoline, which made the car great for road trips.

Let me know how yours is running and if you run into any issues. It will be awhile before I can dig up the Haynes manual from storage but I have a fair number of pictures that could be useful depending on what you might need to do.

Hi Johnny,

Great to hear from you again - many thanks for taking the time to reply :-) Much appreciated indeed. Your 316 sounded as though it has bags of character and id really appreciate seeing some photos of the car :-)

I appreciate the input on the 2BE - a picture is starting to emerge of it - no matter what I will persevere with it as it sounds as though its a great thing once setup properly and especially when the choke flap actuator is having one of its better days!! It sounded like you would come to dread cold morning with one hand under the bonnet! The car will only be used on nice sunny summer / spring days and will be tucked up in the garage at all other times. I was reading that the only reason BMW went down the electronic route was to keep the M10 meeting the ever tightening emissions laws of the 1980's - would tie in with what you were saying about it being very frugal!

To be 100% honest with you Johnny - I don't know how its currently running because ive only had the car about 3 weeks - it got started coming off the delivery transporter and run up the drive into the garage and hasn't been started since - that 2 minute journey seemed fine but as to how it is actually on a run / once warmed up I really cant say - im desperate to take it on a little run around our village but the weather has been atrocious since its arrival!

I think I got lucky and found one of the manuals you have in storage: it was the only one I could see for sale on the internet so it should be arriving in a day or two, it states to cover the 2BE, is this the same one you have? Id still appreciate any info you have though :-)



Im looking forward to hearing more about your 316 with the pictures in your thread :-) Ill keep you fully updated with my little cars progress :-)

Kindest Regards, and hope you are well.

Russell.

[RustyRuss]

I really love the optionless of the car. single wiper, no stereo, crank window, ects.

Thanks mate, much appreciated indeed :-) Its the lack of spec that makes me love the car - its just so pure :-)

[RustyRuss]

Super clean car!
Are the mirrors electric?

Many thanks indeed for your kind words, much appreciated :-) Yes indeed...the sole gadget inside are its electric mirrors :-)

[pipeuy]

Wow that's a really clean car!

I recently sold my zinnoberrot 1988 m10b18 e30 (with jetronic fuel injection). It was somewhat similar to your car but the only optional it had was fog lamps, not even ps haha.

Well I hope you manage to keep it as original as posible since it really looks like it's just rolled out of the factory.

[RustyRuss]

Hi Pipeuy, many thanks indeed for your kind words - really appreciate that :-) Have you replaced it with another E30? that sounds identical to the car my Dad had in the early 90s - it was Zinnobar, a 318i and never had power steering but had foglights! That was the car that started my love affair with E30's :-) Kind Regards, Russell.

[pipeuy]

I see, forgot to mention mine was a 316i too. Ha it's cool that your dad had a car like that it sure can create a affection for them. Indeed I changed the 316i for a stock 1989 Diamantschwarz 325i, I don't think I could handle not having an e30 at the moment haha :p.

[RustyRuss]

Absolutely, I have many happy memories of being in his car at the time, I have some pictures somewhere ill look out :-) Your 325i sounds lovely, hope you enjoy the car, id love to see some pictures! I know what you mean, I was without an E30 for a few years there and you sure do miss them!!

[BLACKCHARM88]

Wow, very clean bro! Wheel caps FTW! Caps make my 325is "sleeper-ish", its so fun to troll mustangs and diesel pickups.

[johnnyp]

Hi Russell, Yeah I would imagine with your car all of the carb's main electronic parts are in good working order, considering the very low mileage of your car and its condition (unlike mine which I know for certain had lots of detrimental tinkering before I owned it). It is actually a really neat little odd piece of equipment overall, being the last carb BMW ever put in a car, and as you discovered an odd hybrid of traditional carb operation (making air/fuel adjustment on pressure differences) and modern computer controlled fuel injection like adjustments to pass emissions requirements.

As an aside, I would have said one of the last carbs ever put into a car but while working over in Switzerland my University owned, as a collective group car, a base model 1992 Renault Clio. From the factory it had a manually operated choke! More of a glorified go-kart than a car.

Even if you haven't driven it that much, if the ride is more or less smooth and it cold starts without a lot of fuss then the main components are almost certainly in good shape.

Yes you did find the right book! The beginning has a really nice overview of traditional carb functionality and design, which I found to be really useful having not had any prior experience myself working on them. The part on the 2BE is also quite detailed. It gives you all the info you need to totally take the carb apart and do a through cleaning and gasket refresh, which I strongly recommending doing at some point if you have a free day and have the desire to do something mechanically adventurous. Following the book the whole process is very straightforward. Giving mine a thorough cleaning really did make a noticeable difference while driving, it really doesn't take much varnish to build up in certain areas to have an impact on the carbs performance.

The nice part is you can still buy new gasket sets. Doing a quick search on eBay I found this listing but with a bit of searching you'll be able to find others up for sale.

http://www.ebay.de/itm/BMW-316-518-Pierburg-34-34-2B4-Vergaser-Rep-Satz-/190298757509?pt=DE_Autoteile&hash=item2c4eb09985

[RustyRuss]

Thanks Blackcharm, much appreciated indeed mate. Utterly love your 325i there, the caps look great and the car looks so mean - bet that surprises a good few people!!!!