Canadian 318is

[Powling]

Hey all,

Long time lurker but first time BMW owner. I just picked up a 91 318is and wanted to start documenting it as my new project.

Specs:
1991 318is Coupe
All original with no modifications
5-speed
Black interior (mint with 1 small tear in the drivers bolster)
Sunroof
Original paint (pretty badly faded, planning on doing a respray eventually)
Original tool kit in tact
224k km's
Minimal rust. Only bad spot is a small hole under the battery box

On to the pics of her in her new home. I can't wait to put the radiant heating in my garage floor to use this winter! We just moved into our new house and I couldn't wait to put the garage to good use with a project.

[e30lyf]

very nice.. :)

[lagoon]

Looks like a great platform. Paint still looks like it has some life left (at least in the pics), maybe give it a good clay/cut/polish?

[c0rbin9]

+1 on trying to revive the original paint. It is good quality and will be very expensive to do an equivalent repaint unless for $$$. Less destructive restoration methods are always better.

[Powling]

I am going to see what I can do with the paint to restore it before going down the respray route. It definitely shows worse in person than it does in the pics though.

I would actually love to see some tips and how to's on single stage paint correction and how to get rid of the oxidation if anyone has any!

[tak7]

Looks really nice, welcome! Congrats on the new house.
Your seats are vinyl, not leather.
The paint looks like there's life left, as others have said.
Good Luck with your new car!

[Powling]

Looks really nice, welcome! Congrats on the new house.
Your seats are vinyl, not leather.
The paint looks like there's life left, as others have said.
Good Luck with your new car!

Didn't realize that. I figured they were leather but felt a bit harder from old age. Thanks for the heads up.

[Powling]

Update: Changed out the brake pads and noticed the old pads were cracked and SEVERELY worn. Glad I caught it while I could.

I did break the rear wear sensor while swapping the pads out though.

[Powling]

So after a wash and dry tonight I decided to take 30min and see how the paint would react to a quick coat of basic wax applied. I was actually really shocked by how much two quick coats of generic wax applied made to the weathered paint. This is without a good claybar, cut and polish as well. The only downside is now its showing the imperfections (scratches, nicks, bird poop, etc..) more now that the paint has some gloss to it.

The trunk had 1 coat of wax on the right side in the pic below, and the roof had two coats of wax applied.

[Northern]

Looking good. I'm surprised at how much the wax brings that paint back.

[Powling]

I think I found the cause(s) of my poor idle on the M42...can you say vacuum leak?!

I took the ICV out to clean it and see if that was the culprit and saw that a majority of the hoses are cracked, so I'll be replacing them with the 'mess under the intake' rerouting mod and hopefully this will fix my idle issue.

[MR E30 325is]

That looks terrible.

But your car on the other hand, looks awesome! Paint looks fantastic in pictures. Spend the money on a professional detailing, you wont regret it!

[Powling]

That looks terrible.

But your car on the other hand, looks awesome! Paint looks fantastic in pictures. Spend the money on a professional detailing, you wont regret it!

Thanks! The more elbow grease I put into the paint, the more it comes to life. The front bumper, valence and lip need to be sprayed because of how badly oxidized they are. The hood will need a respray as well because of the deep rock chips on the front of it, but we'll see how well we can get it the paint to come to life.

[spanish pants]

Definitely do the "mess under the intake" mod. Apart from eliminating prone to failure parts, your pocket book will thank you too.

I think I found the cause(s) of my poor idle on the M42...can you say vacuum leak?!

I took the ICV out to clean it and see if that was the culprit and saw that a majority of the hoses are cracked, so I'll be replacing them with the 'mess under the intake' rerouting mod and hopefully this will fix my idle issue.

[Wille30]

Looks great! Hard to find one in that sort of condition in Toronto.