318iS Daily Driver (In the UK!)

[MouseRat]

Hello from England!

I have been after an E30 for a while now and I've just recently picked up a '91 318iS so I wanted to join a forum to learn some stuff.
I have done plenty of research on E30's but I've only done some small jobs on cars before so I'll likely be after advice here and there if something a bit more challenging needs to happen.


Onto the car...

It's a 1991 H reg 318iS.

I am the third owner - the first had it until a couple of years ago and kept a full service history so it's not rusty in the usual spots and has had plenty of bits replaced when needed.

134,000 Miles and its pretty clean!









M-Tech Wheel and OBC :)



Engine bay could do with a clean...



Thanks Guys. I look forward to browsing with you all

[fresh_TD]

Nice pick up..no clean that engine bay:-)

Sent from my Samsung Note 4

[Cephas]

Nice car and welcome! I really like the interior - looks clean.

[E30 Wagen]

Welcome. Looks like a really nice car!

[MouseRat]

Thanks! I love driving it very much but there's a couple of things I need to sort...

This weekend I need to figure out why there's no heat coming out the vents. I'll start with replacing the coolant and bleeding the system (coolant is quite murky so I was going to do that anyway). A bit of reading suggests checking the heater valve that lets warm coolant into the matrix so I'll check that too!

[tak7]

Beautiful car, looks really clean and I love the Uberkaro! oh, and welcome to r3v

[Spiff325iS]

So clean. Great find and a great first E30. "the most E30-ist of E30s"

[DEV0 E30]

Looks exceptionally clean!

Love Mouse Rat's single "5000 candles in the wind" too.

[MouseRat]

So clean. Great find and a great first E30. "the most E30-ist of E30s"

Mr Regular

"Driving an E30 now, in 2014 is sort of like finally banging the prom queen except she's 41, 4 kids deep, twice divorced and out of options. But you're taking the plunge anyway just so you can say you did".

He's mean to be coming to the UK to review viewers cars next year..maybe he can revisit...

Looks exceptionally clean!

Love Mouse Rat's single "5000 candles in the wind" too.

Bye Bye Little Sebastian!

[swboat12]

Really nice car!

[MouseRat]

Had something strange happen recently...

The temp gauge was showing the temperature to fluctuate quite a lot (not long after starting and driving from cold it would show past the half way mark and when stopped in traffic it would go a little bit higher than that!). There was also no heat coming from the vents.
Today I started to bleed the coolant system and quite a lot of bubbles came out...so then I gave the hose going to the heater matrix a squeeze and a lot more bubbles came out. I carried on just bleeding the system until straight coolant was coming out the bleed screw hole. This fixed the hot air problem - I can now be warm on the way to work! My guess is that air was trapped in the matrix, but I've no idea how that would have happened in the first place...

I shall see tomorrow if this has also fixed the temp fluctuation.

[SSE30]

Had something strange happen recently...

The temp gauge was showing the temperature to fluctuate quite a lot (not long after starting and driving from cold it would show past the half way mark and when stopped in traffic it would go a little bit higher than that!). There was also no heat coming from the vents.
Today I started to bleed the coolant system and quite a lot of bubbles came out...so then I gave the hose going to the heater matrix a squeeze and a lot more bubbles came out. I carried on just bleeding the system until straight coolant was coming out the bleed screw hole. This fixed the hot air problem - I can now be warm on the way to work! My guess is that air was trapped in the matrix, but I've no idea how that would have happened in the first place...

I shall see tomorrow if this has also fixed the temp fluctuation.

Check fan belt tension and replace the belt if it's old. If you are experiencing any slippage, the fan won't operate at full speed and you will get funky temperature fluctuations. That fixed the problem on my M42.

[mikelat]

To get that yellow shit off the engine compartment use oven cleaner. Spray it on, wait 20 minutes and rub it off with a green scouring pad. DON'T get it on aluminum parts though just steel.

[uturn]

From the photo, you're missing a fan shroud. That might have an effect. Check the receipts to see if the profile gasket has been replaced, also the water pump.
Very nice ride! Congrats!

[aintnothang]

I love that plaid.