Fall Special - 1991 318iC

[freeride53]

WOWEE! Reflective euro plate heckblende. Talk about rare.

Loving it.

[Poorhouse]

Rear shocks, springs and sway bar links done last night. Not bad.

Glad I didn't follow the Pelican DIY. It said to drop exhaust and diff to pull the springs, no need. With the shocks and end links pulled the trailing arms drop enough to get the springs out.

[Poorhouse]

Shocks were original and blown. Shock mounts looked fine though.

Was very happy to not fight any rust.

[Poorhouse]

Started on the front suspension last night.

I was intimidated about the complexity of these cars compared to what I'm used too.
Two ball joints on each control arm! Impossible! LOL.

Turned out to be not to bad. Everything comes apart easily. I had a correct sized ball joint puller in the tool box which really helped.

Used the car as a spring compressor and got the strut mount removed.

I don't have anything to pull the strut collar. Going to see if I can find a big set of channel locks today.

Struts are completely blown.

Amazes me how well BMWs drive with blown shocks/struts.

[Poorhouse]

Suspension is about buttoned up.

Front empty. Would have been nice to clean the wheel wells. The weather wasn't cooperating to get it outside and I didn't want to make a huge mess in the shop.



New stuff ready to go on.



I got everything in last night except the struts.


Rear is done. Shock, spring, RSM with plate, sway bar bushings and end links.




Couple notes:
- Strut collars came off easily with big channel locks. Nothing has been seized on this car which has been really nice.
- Brakes all look fresh so I'm leaving them alone. Only negative is both front rotor retaining bolts had the heads snapped off. Have replacements. Will try to drill them out.
- Surprised at how low the torque spec is for the control arm to body (47lb) and steering rack (33lb). Those figures may not be exact I didn't bring my notes.
- Used Loctite on those, hope that was correct?
- When I pulled the tie rod boots nasty black fluid poured out. I'm guessing the rack is leaking internally?


Edit - I'm going to try the Valvoline stop leak on the rack. I'd rather not replace it until the engine is out in a couple years.

[2mAn]

It's going to rise quite nicely when you're back to driving it. Is it snowing out there? E30s aren't that bad in the snow if you have a limited slip diff. Have you checked that yet? You always test it the old fashioned way... :devil:

[Poorhouse]

I'm so excited to try it out.

Tons of snow here. Almost 2' in my yard. Won't be trying it until spring. :(

I like to ski so it's a good thing, just bad for BMW driving.

I bought snow tires for my M3 when I got it. Couldn't bring myself to drive it in the snow... They started salting here a few years ago. Just couldn't expose the car to that stuff. I did take it around the neighborhood once (no salt in private neighborhoods). It was very capable and a lot of fun.

This car decodes as not having a LSD.
The tag on the diff is hard to read so I'm not 100% sure but would guess not considering how original it is.


.
Edit - Snow driving is what kept me out of BMWs when I started driving and got me into VWs. I'm dating myself here, but there was an article in Road and Track in the late '80's comparing 2wd and 4wd Audi 4000s and BMW 325s. The article said the 325is was basically undriveable in the snow. Few years later a friend had a 325is in college. This was the early '90s so it was near new. He spun it on the way to Willamette Pass in the snow. Came back after break with a new Cherokee.
I tried out a 325ix after I graduated. Didn't have the same feel as the 2wd car. Stuck with VWs instead.

[Poorhouse]

Finished it up. Minimal lowering as expected. I'm happy with the stance, if you can call it that.

It did drop enough that the tires now look massive. Waiting for a good sale to get 15's for the Euroweaves.

The springs are H&R sports specific for the 325iC. Glad I went with the drop hats to bring the front down with the lighter 4cyl.

Also confirmed no LSD. Could barely get up the driveway and into the garage. :laugh:

[Poorhouse]

Week long warm up cleared the roads here.

Took it out for a quick shake down cruise this afternoon.

The car is transformed. I knew it would be, but it's still amazing to experience a fresh suspension. Float gone, tight steering, less rattles, really nice.

The hr bilstien sport combo is really nice. Not harsh at all. Feels similar to the OE set up on my M3. Firm and controlled ride, but still compliant.

Cowl shake is significantly reduced. I attribute this to the Garagistic brace. This is a welcome improvement.

Looking forward to putting more miles on.

[Poorhouse]

Brought a friend home for the '91 today.

Two owner '89 325iC. 108k miles, hardtop, new timing belt, tires and battery. It's really clean but an auto. Was to cheap to pass up.

[Poorhouse]

Hardtop on the '91.

Really like how it looks.

Tires for the Euroweaves will be here this week.

I need to order an IS front lip. That will take care of the exterior.

[Poorhouse]

Now with Euroweaves.

[2mAn]

Looks great! What’s the plan for the other one

[Poorhouse]

We've been bombing around in it.
It's a really nice car. Totally different character than the red car. Plush cruiser, soft comfy leather, floaty suspension, automatic. Perfectly suited by the color combo, Bronzit, tan, brown top.

If I had infinite space I'd keep it.
But, I don't so it will be for sale soon.

[Poorhouse]

Some projects planned for 2019.

New upholstery from 9 stitch.
Going to bodyshop to fix the left fender.
Stromung if the group buy comes together. https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/sho...d.php?t=427805
Fix a few oil leaks and the mess under the intake manifold.
Maybe, finally sew in the new back window..