Mike's Alpine White 1991 318is

[mike.bmw]

Did you notice a difference with the tune up? I don't think my plug wires have ever been changed...

It's hard to know. I disconnected the battery and I'm not really sure how long it takes the DME to "learn" everything again. Plus I haven't driven the car much in the last two weeks due to weather and needing the 328 wagon's extra space for errands, so I don't have a back-to-back comparison.

I put about 12 miles on it this morning driving to work. It was rev'ing freely and everything felt pretty clean and crisp. It felt like it was pulling a bit harder, but that might be due to it running rich(er) after disconnecting the battery. Once I go through a tank of gas I'll have a better idea. :)

[mike.bmw]

I found these online while looking through Cars and Coffee photos from last Saturday. Much better photos than I've taken!

[getouth]

This car oozes pride in ownership [emoji1474][emoji1490]


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[The White Guy]

Mike,
Very nice 318is indeed! We have twins..yours is in nicer condition. Great work, keep us posted. You going to The Vintage? Hope to see you there.
Stan

[mike.bmw]

This car oozes pride in ownership [emoji1474][emoji1490]

Thanks!

Mike,
Very nice 318is indeed! We have twins..yours is in nicer condition. Great work, keep us posted. You going to The Vintage? Hope to see you there.
Stan

Thanks! I would like to go to The Vintage as I've heard great things. We're expecting a baby in early June so I will be at home for a bit and likely not doing anything car related. :)

Two minor updates...

Let there be light (and chimes)!
I finally fixed my driver's side door switch. The contact points weren't making good contact so the interior lights and chime were sporadic. I cleaned up the contacts and applied dielectric grease in the appropriate spots. Works 100% of the time now.



Steady as she goes
The idle would dip slightly below normal when letting the RPMs return to regular idle (putting the clutch in while coasting to a stop light). I pulled the ICV and cleaned it thoroughly with throttle body cleaner. And then I sprayed some marine lubricant inside (similar to WD-40 in consistency). It's been fine since.

[Rusty.Piranha]

Super clean 318is!!

[mike.bmw]

A few minor updates. A week ago I went to BMW of Sterling (VA) Cars and Coffee. Weather wasn't great, but a few older BMWs showed up which parked in the "vintage" section.





Today I changed my AC Belt. The old one was squealing. I ordered a new OEM belt, but received the wrong one in the mail, which I found out at the time of installation. So I made a trip to the local autoparts store and picked up a Duralast belt. At some point soon I'll do the AC belt (again), PS Belt, and alternator belt with OEM (or OEM equivalent) pieces. In the short term the squeal is gone as the old belt was quite worn and cracked.

Fan shroud removed (mmmm, new radiator):


Tensioner (newish) removed and old belt coming off:


New AC Belt on before reinstalling the lower splash shield and shroud:

[Olie92]

Super clean! Great looking car!

[cblais19]

Gorgeous car, glad to see there's some other NoVA folks around here - I'm heading out to look at a Laguna Green 'vert this weekend over in MD and was hoping to find some locals to bug/meet up with once I join the club :D.

mike - can you share the name of the shop who did your engine work? It looks like they did a great job.

[mike.bmw]

Super clean! Great looking car!

Thanks!

Gorgeous car, glad to see there's some other NoVA folks around here - I'm heading out to look at a Laguna Green 'vert this weekend over in MD and was hoping to find some locals to bug/meet up with once I join the club :D.

mike - can you share the name of the shop who did your engine work? It looks like they did a great job.

Good luck with the green 'vert! Hopefully it's a good one.

RRT did the last round of engine work (upper and lower oil pan gaskets, timing case gasket, timing chain guides, etc...), which I posted pictures of. I've gone to RRT for a few things on my e30 and I've always been pleased and impressed with their quality and professionalism.

Here are a few reasons I like them (in no particular order):
- They always provide a detailed, itemized estimate of work to include all parts, part #s, part prices, and labor costs.
- I've never felt like they're overselling me on something.
- I've called them a number of times for advice/brain picking in the midst of a project and they've been very helpful.
- They are easy to talk to.
- Top notch quality of work and professionalism.

[cblais19]

Thanks! 41 reviews on Yelp with a 5 star average shows that you're not the only person impressed with them ;).

[mike.bmw]

Mach V Motorsports / Grassroots Motorsports Dyno Day

I've been a big fan and customer of Mach V Motorsports in Sterling, VA for a long time. I've been a big fan and subscriber of Grassroots Motorsports Magazine for just as long. When I heard that they were having a dyno day event I really wanted to attend so I gave Mach V a call. I found out it had already booked up, but that I'd be #1 on the wait list.

Today was the event which was scheduled to start at 10AM. I arrived at 9:30AM and Dan offered to run my car on the dyno since I was early. Wooohoooo! Dan rocks.

It was really cool to talk with the Grassroots Motorsports folks. I've been reading their magazine for years, so it was nice to put handshakes with a faces. I talked about my car with Tim Suddard for a bit and he gave me some contact info for a few e30 parts sources in VA for some items I've been wanting to pick up. I also renewed my subscription for 2 years (got tired of going to the store to pick up the magazine).

I hung out for about 4 hours and talked to some old friends and some new acquaintances. A very fun day.

My 318is is mostly stock aside from Bosch Mustang fuel injectors (19#) and a SSSquid Stage 1 93 octane chip. The engine is original to the car and has 138K miles. The car made 119 hp and 110 torque to the rear wheels. That was consistent across 4 runs on the dyno. I'm quite happy with that!

Dyno Graph:



Dyno Video (Run #4):



Random photos:

[mike.bmw]

Saturday morning Katie's Cars and Coffee!

I met up with Sail Boat this morning. Always a pleasure to check out such a clean E30. An S52 swapped 318is also parked alongside. I met the owner of the S52 swapped car at the Mach V / Grassroots Motorsports Dyno day last week. Cool car!

[squidmaster]

The meets in your area are very nicely attended. Around here you'd never be so luck to have that many clean, well cared for cars show up

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[jpod999]

The GRM crew is great, Tim's son Tom used to have an E30 and is building up an LS1 E36 M3 now. Looks like a fun event!