Canadian 318is

[windsor318is]

canadian e30 here! lookin good!

[Il Duce]

Awesome thread & car! Don't know how I've missed this one. Love seeing the progression/transformation over the years.

[econti]

Tips from a fellow TD5 owner:
Bin the EGRs if you can, wind up the wastegate actuator rod so it builds more boost, and delete the mid muffler. They go so much better with that done

[Northern]

Really nice update. Awesome garage, awesome Defender. Great detailing and future plans for the e30 as well

[Powling]

Been a while since I posted an update here, but lots has happened (in life) so I figured it was time now that things have slowed down.

In February I got a new job in marketing for MBRP performance exhaust based here in Ontario, Canada. It was a 3.5 hour drive from my previous home, so we packed everything up, sold our place (within 12 hours for well over asking - market is nuts) and bought a new place 10 minutes from my new office.

Sitting on 10 acres with a massive garage and loads of storage space. The newly renovated (inside only) house even came with it, ha!







The previous owner was a motorbike guy so he appreciated someone buying the house that would get good use of the garage. So much so that he creeped me online, found out I had an old BMW so we made our street number sign reflect who the new owners were. A nice surprise on move in day!



Anyways, onto BMW stuff. Finally got my OZ decals installed. I also have 3D printed faux-lock centre caps that I still need to paint to match before installing, but that will be for another post.



...and spent loads of time hanging with car friends this summer.













Turns out an old friend of mine that haven't spoken to in 5-6 years some how lives in my new town...and is into old BMW's as well. He's the man behind Chromatic on YouTube, and recently took the E30 in for a detail that was documented in one of his recent videos, you can see it here.

Before Chromatic got his hands on it...



...and after he was done with it a few days later.









Then I got an itch that needed scratching. I loved my 2019 Tacoma as my daily, but with the craziness of the used car market, I cashed in and sold it. In under 2 years I put 90k km's on the truck and sold it for about $1500 less than what I paid for it. I'll take that as a win...

...and rolled it into a stupid but "had to do it" replacement. Always wanted one and the opportunity to get one came up so I jumped on it. 2003 Land Rover Defender 110 TD5. Originally from Spain, never winter driven and rust free.









...and immediately became accustom to what Land Rover life will be like.



Which brings us to present time. Just returning back from spending Canadian Thanksgiving weekend on a 1600km camping trip with my wife and dogs, and you know what, the Defender didn't have one issue the entire trip.







Even though most of my spare time will be spent keeping the Defender running, I'll be sure to keep this thread updated more often moving forward. Especially since my plans for the E30 will soon involve pulling the M42 to start a rebuild into an ITB kitted stroker...or at least thats the plan.

[mike.bmw]

I like the red on white! Very cool that you were able to get them redrilled to 4x100.

[Powling]

I was finally able to get my OZ's finished, minus the red OZ Racing decals which are on their way. I ended up having them fill and drilled to 4x100 rather than running adapters which I am happy I did. Running 15mm spacers in the rear and 5mm up front gives me absolutely zero rubbing.

Because I converted to wheel studs for these, the two front caps don't fit anymore but thats ok, I have a solution for that as well. But I did test fit them on the rears and they are going to look awesome once refinished.

[D.Martijn]

Oooh just read through your thread, great updates!

Those OZ's look proper!! :D

[mike.bmw]

Those are going to look so good on your car.

[Powling]

Finally tracked down one of my bucket list wheels this week, in a rare fitment as well. OZ Rally's in 17x7 ET40 size, but 4x114.3 pattern. I will be running adapters for these of course, but worth it for the rarity of them. Will also be getting them refinished in classic white with red decals.

[Powling]

Dodged a bullet not buying that Land Rover!

I want one so bad but I know it will be both financially and mentally damaging.

Congrats on getting married! That looks like a great honeymoon.

Awesome work on the cooling system and rear subframe refresh. Glad to see you are out and enjoying the car!

Thanks Mike! Honeymoon was by far the best experience of my life so far.

[mike.bmw]

Congrats on getting married! That looks like a great honeymoon.

Awesome work on the cooling system and rear subframe refresh. Glad to see you are out and enjoying the car!

[2mAn]

Dodged a bullet not buying that Land Rover!

[Powling]

Well, other than updating this thread in the late fall last year showing my new daily driver, I haven't kept this thread as up to date as I've wanted. Anyways, time for an extended update to where we are today.

Starting with the fact that last September I got married.


Quickly followed by spending two weeks in Europe for our honeymoon. First week was spent touring the Scottish highlands in a rented Defender with a rooftop tent and all the stuff we needed to be self sufficient. Needless to say, Scotland quickly became our favourite place we've ever visited and we will be back many more times in the future.








Came across a group of Porsche gentlemen on a tour of Scotland, one of which had a genuine 964 RS.


Next up was Munich for Oktoberfest, with a quick stop in at the BMW museum of course.






From there we went to Paris for a few days...


...and finally ended up in London before heading back home to Toronto, where I was delighted to find the following waiting for me post honeymoon.


The coming days I set about tearing out the entire cooling system for a much needed refresh. This is when I found out the previous owner tried to solve a coolant leak with LOTS of stop leak.












I tried to see if I could dissolve some of it with harsh chemicals (I forget which ones, it was months ago) which promptly did absolutely nothing.




So everything got replaced with new or like new parts. Radiator, thermostat and thermo housing, water pump, BMW blue coolant, etc. I also flushed the block at least 5-6 different times to ensure I got as much out as I could. I'm happy to say that now the M42 runs much cooler and seems to be happier. Not a drop of coolant leaking anywhere as well.

Parked away for the winter months while I collected parts for a complete rear subframe rebuild.


A few more parts that needed replacing over the winter, including the firewall exhaust heat shield, manifold studs, nuts and gaskets, sway bar bushings, and some odds and ends.


Starting before Covid-19 came, I pulled the subframe out for a much needed full rebuild. I replaced all the bushings, parking brakes and cables, rotors and pads, por-15 on the subframe and trailing arms, new driveshafts, new diff fluid, etc. It was a lot of work and most of it were things I had never done before. But it all worked out and now the car feels really tight!




Did some drives and hangouts with some friends, including taking my dad for a drive on Fathers Day.












Coffee with my friend Randy and his beautiful 964 Carrera 4.




Bought my own RTT to enjoy, and absolutely love it.


For where I am in life right now, I have my perfect 2 car solution. Later in life this will change, but for now this is perfect for me.


Came across a guilty pleasure of mine and contemplated becoming a glutton for punishment, but decided the price tag wasn't worth the kick in the balls.




Purchase an extremely rare piece of literature specific to the Canadian market E30's from 90/91, with a strong focus on the promotion of the 318is. Its in 10/10 pristine condition and is a great piece to go along with the car, given its originally a Canadian ordered 318is from day one.










...and thats all I have for updates up until now. Hopefully more coming (and more frequently) in the coming weeks/months!

[2mAn]

Seems Toyota trucks and E30s are a common pairing of vehicles for many owners here... Makes sense living in the Maple North lol

What did you end up doing with the fender?