Mike's Alpine White 1991 318is

[mike.bmw]

Super clean car. I like it!

To cut down on the coolant mess, I made a drain line from the block on my car. That way I can direct it where I want it to go, and not onto the sub frame to splatter everywhere.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks! Good idea on the drain line.

I recall seeing this car many times at Cars & Coffee, looks great. I'm near Tysons and come up to the show every so often, in my GC Impreza RS.

Lot of great detail work. I recall going through the same motions with my old 318iS.

Any complaints on the paint job Auto Quality Solutions did? Been looking for a good paint shop in my area that won't charge what D&V Autobody does...

Keep it up!

Thanks! I come from a Subaru background so I'm always checking out the Subarus at Katie's. I've seen some nice GCs there.

Auto Quality Solutions did a good job and I am happy with their work. D&V certainly does top quality work, but I've found their prices/estimates to be quite high in some cases.

[squidmaster]

What Subarus have you had? I'm on my 7th or 8th.

[mike.bmw]

What Subarus have you had? I'm on my 7th or 8th.

Check out the photos on page 1 (about 3/4 way down). '05 WRX Wagon and '08 STI. :)

[squidmaster]

Oh right right I remember now my bad. Using Tapatalk means we're on page 17 here.

Both were very clean. I also had a Volvo 240; I loved that car but it was a complete pile.

[mike.bmw]

1 Year Anniversary

March 15th marked my 1 year anniversary with the 318is. I've always loved e30s and after searching for nearly a year, I was fortunate enough to have the funds and find a clean example in Atlanta, GA. The car has never been in an accident and it's original paint shows well. When I purchased the car I intended to keep it stock (mostly) and use only genuine BMW parts when performing maintenance. I can say that I've stayed 99% true to that save for a rebuilt OEM steering rack and a new OEM-supplier radiator.

Over the course of the year of ownership I have really enjoyed both driving the car and working on the car. I've done a lot of the work myself saving thousands in labor. For the a couple of the larger jobs I've taken it to a local, trusted, well known BMW shop that I've been extremely happy with. R3V has also been extremely helpful in the process!

I probably overpaid for the car due to my excitement and traveling to purchase the car. Live and learn. Since then I've spent nearly the purchase price in maintenance (see maintenance log on page 1 ... will update soon with most recent work). So I'm into the car for quite a bit of money now, but I intend to keep the car for a LONG time, so for me that makes it worth it (for me).

The end of the first year of ownership came with some major engine maintenance (keep reading...).


M42 Reseal (and more)

Last week I dropped my car off at the shop for a thermostat replacement, radiator replacement, and engine reseal that included upper/lower oil pan gaskets, timing cover gaskets, and crank seal. I had asked the shop to look at the timing components (chain guides, etc) after it was torn down to determine if those needed to be replaced as well.

The shop updated me daily and provided a number of photos. The shop did an excellent job of cleaning all of the reused parts (timing covers, oil pans, etc). After everything was said and done I opted for a few more things:
- upper AND lower oil pan gaskets
- timing cover gaskets
- profile gasket
- timing chain guides (all of them $$$)
- valve cover gasket
- crank seal
- radiator (needed replacement)
- thermostat housing
- thermostat
- radiator hoses
- water pump (needed replacement)
- various bolts, o-rings, clamps, and other hardware

They did a ton of work. While the shop's cost was very reasonable for all that work, it still wasn't cheap based on the scope of work. Their parts prices rival some of the cheapest I've found online (which I really appreciate). I'm very happy with the outcome. I feel like my M42 should last a long time with all of this work in addition to the work I did last November to replace everything under the intake (fuel lines, injectors, coolant lines, vacuum lines, oil filter gasket and o-ring, gaskets, clamps, the list goes on...).

Some photos of the work and results:

Valve cover off:




Engine supported by a brace up top so that subframe could come out:


Timing covers off:


Going back together with cleaned parts, new water pump, new chain guides, etc:


Mostly reassembled:

[fresh_TD]

I can just imaging how much they charged...$$$$$$$$

[c0rbin9]

Just thought you should know that amongst all the high performance builds, 24v swaps, turbo'd cars - that this thread is consistently the one whose updates I enjoy the most. Love that you are preserving the car.

[mike.bmw]

I can just imaging how much they charged...$$$$$$$$

Yeah. Expensive, but not as bad as you might think. They do excellent work and found some stuff that I would've overlooked so I'm happy with the results.

Just thought you should know that amongst all the high performance builds, 24v swaps, turbo'd cars - that this thread is consistently the one whose updates I enjoy the most. Love that you are preserving the car.

Thanks! My budget has certainly taken a hit early on in the year, but I plan to keep moving forward.

A dash swap might be in my near future (I've been looking for one for a couple weeks now). It's a shame because the dash is in great condition except the one huge crack right above the instrument cluster! Might have to replace some other stuff while I'm in there. :devil:

I'm still searching for the correct small case 4.10 LSD as well. :)

[mike.bmw]

It was a good morning for Katie's Cars and Coffee.

[fresh_TD]

It was a good morning for Katie's Cars and Coffee.

You must of gotten there early to get that spot Mike!

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[mike.bmw]

You must of gotten there early to get that spot Mike!

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I got there around 6AM. The roads were wet this morning so folks didn't show up as early as they did last weekend. The only other e30 I saw was Sail Boat's awesome 1-owner, ~32K mile, Japanese import 325i sedan.

[Zeemz]

It was a good morning for Katie's Cars and Coffee.

I just got my car out of winter storage this past and have been itching to go to Katie's for the first time. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it probably until the 22nd. Hopefully you will be there again then as I would love to see your clean 318is in person!

I really enjoyed reading through your thread. Nicely done sir!

[jpod999]

Whoa, please tell me you've tried that Peruvian restaurant. If not, do yourself a favor and go immediately- order the Lomo Saltado. Although, the sign makes me think it's a pollo a la brasa place- still super good though!

Oh, and awesome 318is!

[stonea]

Whoa, please tell me you've tried that Peruvian restaurant. If not, do yourself a favor and go immediately- order the Lomo Saltado. Although, the sign makes me think it's a pollo a la brasa place- still super good though!

The real question is, do they serve Cusquena?

[fresh_TD]

The real question is, do they serve Cusquena?

You mean cusqueña

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