'90 Euro BMW 318iS M42 M-Tech 2 - Lazur Blau

[PieterVN]

This weekend i made the time to give the car its first compounding and polishing. I'm not a professional by any means.
I just bought my first dual action polisher with some Rupes 3-stage bottle set. (Coarse, fine & ultrafine). Paintwork has seen better days. It has multiple deep scratches on the hood.
So i put 2 days of work in it and sealed it of with a Wax coat.



The difference is very noticable but it is nowhere near a perfect paintjob. I did not get the chance yet to look at it in the daylight because it has been raining for multiple days now.

Before: (looked like previous owner washed this car with sanding paper)




After: (deepest scratches are still visible, but to get these removed i think wet sanding is needed.)



Also tried my polisher on the rear lenses, i was suprised what a difference this made.
(Left: just first stage compound, right: how they originally were.)



In the meantime i also received my new oil seals for my spare gearbox i have laying around. When driving i have this rather metallic noise coming from the drivetrain.
I can't seem to figure out if it was the gearbox, CSB or differential. I found this gearbox for a price i could not resist so got it. Maybe i'll swap it out to see if the noise comes from my old gearbox.
If it's not the gearbox, well than i have an M42 318is gearbox in spares. In the EU the 318is (M42) cars are quite rare in comparison to the normal 318i (M40) cars. So it doesn't hurt to keep your own personal stock of these parts.

I'll post pictures when changing the oil, seals and cleaning.



In the meantime trying to figure out how i can attache more than 5 pictures in one post. Anybody that can help me? Thx!

[PieterVN]

Wow! Beautiful E30s! The 318is looks fantastic. Any interior shots?

Hi Mike, thanks for the kind words.

I attached some interior shots, not the best i made but they do the trick. At this moment i'm searching for an original BMW Bavaria Radio to install. There was an Alpine (not Alpina) radio system installed in the car, but i was not very happy with the way it looked. Also attached a picture of my "piece de resistance", the VDO Alpina Gauge reproduction. Very proud of this partl!

At the moment i only changed the steering wheel to an original M-Tech 1 385mm wheel. And installed these aftermarket but classy looking black fitted carpets to protect the original carpet.





This summer i installed a reproduction VDO Alpina Gauge. Very useful while driving to monitor different parameters.

ACHSE: Rear Differential Oil Temperature in °Celsius
MOTOR(1): Engine Oil Temperature in °Celsius
SAUGR.: Vacuum Pressure in bar
MOTOR(2): Vacuum Pressure in bar

And a little extra sound clip to celebrate the start of this topic. Any reason is a good reason to post a sound clip :D

[mike.bmw]

Wow! Beautiful E30s! The 318is looks fantastic. Any interior shots?

[PieterVN]

Hello everyone,

I'm starting this thread to post the story of my 1990 BMW 318iS that i bought in May 2020.
Being my 3rd E30 in general and my most 'unique' one yet.

Basic information about the car
Colour: LAZURBLAU METALLIC (294)
Upholstery: ÜBERKARO II ANTHRAZIT (0379)
Type Code: AF91
Body type: Coupe
Model: 318IS (EUR)
Steering: L
Engine: M42
Displacement: 1.80
Power: 103 kW
Drive: RWD
Transmission: Manual
Production Date: 1990-06

Options:
L819A National Version Spain
S199A Without Catalytic Converter
S210A Dynamic Stability Control (ABS)
S215A Power Steering, Variable Ratio
S300A Central Interlocking, Electrical
S350A Tinted Glass Green
S410A Front Electric Window Lifter Regulator
S510A Headlight Adjustment Low Beam Light
S530A Air Conditioning
S680A Radio Antenna, Manual
S687A Radio Pre-wiring
S850A Additional Tank Filling For Export
S958A Wiring Loom Extra Check

Extra options added afterwards:
S288A BMW light alloy wheel, cross spoke 29
S320A Deleted Model Lettering
S556A Ambient Temperature Sensor
S675A BMW Sound System
S682A Automatic Radio Antenna (Hirschmann)
S690A Casette Holder
-------- OEM M-Tech 2 Front Bumper & Valance
-------- OEM M-Tech 2 Rear Bumper
-------- OEM M-Tech 2 Spoiler
-------- OEM Pfeba Aerodynamic Side Skirts
-------- Alpina VDO Digital Vent Gauges Reproduction
-------- Z3 1.9 Gear Lever (Shortshift)

About me & the car:

My name is Pieter, i'm a 24-year old Belgian that has been intrigued by cars since i was very young. I have been driving cars since i was 17 years old.
Fascinated by the '80's & '90's it was needless to say that i would love to own and drive a car of this period.
So my car adventure began in september 2017. I bought my first project car, a '94 Land Rover Defender 110 300 Tdi. In the 4 months i owned it i went for a couple of offroading sessions but i did not like the harsh abuse the car had to endure.
I prefered to take care of my precious possesions. So i sold the car december 2017 and made a bit of profit.

In the month of march 2018 i bought my first E30. A 1990 BMW E30 318i M40 Convertible in Brilliantrot with 145.000 km. The car allready had endured some optical mutilation (personal taste) but when looking beyond all the ugly frill it was a technical good car.
So i learned to work on this car. (servicing, brake discs & pads, suspension,...). I took the car back to it's former glory (original BMW Style 5 15 inch wheels, original exhaust, removal of some hideous parts...)
The car has been very reliable for me the last 2 years. It never let me down. But because there was not much to do on this car after a couple of months i decided to get another E30. I still own this E30 to this day.

In March 2019 i bought myself my second E30, A 1988 BMW E30 320i M20 Touring in Diamantschwarz. This car only had 86.000 km but needed some basic servicing and beautification. I had been parked for a couple of years under a tree and needed some love.
Long story short, I sold the car after some work in December 2019 and made some profit on it.

In March 2020 (i start to see a pattern here ) i began searching for another project. Because of the Corona-Virus/Covid-19 we were put on technical unemployment. And to fill in the time i began searching for a 318iS. I found a car in Spain after a couple of days but it almost looked too good to be true. An original 318iS with original M42 engine, 206.000 km and equipped with some rare original M-Tech pieces. I checked out similar offers and made some calculations. I had never imported a vehicle from abroad and the pandemic didn't make it any easier. At first my plan was to visit the seller in Spain when the lockdown was over. But this was going to take ages and i did not want to risk to lose this car. So i decided to buy the car after a thorough inspection (over 200 pictures and video files). The seller was an absolute wonderfull & patient guy.
About a month & a half after i first laid eyes on the online ad, the car was parked on my driveway.

It was not a new car by any means. But an almost rustfree example with some basic things that needed some work. Perfect for a guy like me.

I will try to update frequently when i do some work on my car. In the meantime, if any of you have any questions about the car, please ask.

My 318iS:


My 318i Convertible:


My 320i Touring (sold):