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

[PieterVN]

Pieter - amazing car, with a rare color I've still not seen in the wild. I can tell the car is in great hands!

By the way - your English is great, particularly since you Belgians juggle like 3 official languages that aren't English, right?! I lived in France for a couple years, so I'm about one-and-a-half lingual, but you're on another level :).

Yeah, i love this color too. I've seen quite a bit of Brilliant red, Diamantschwarz and silver iS's over here, but only seen one other blue one.. maybe it was more expensive from factory or '80's people weren't very fond of blue idk..

Thanks! Yes sir, in Belgium we speak Flemish (our own version of Dutch), French and some people speak a bit German. It's very complicated but comes down to this: Belgium is divided in 3 pieces regarding languages (Flanders, Wallonia & the German speaking community).
In school we all learn the basics of Dutch, French and English. Some do learn German depending on which education your following.

I only had one year of German in school but i'm very interested in this language and learned a lot on my own. Also my job as an international automotive purchaser helped me to expand my vocabulary in these different languages.

[mike.bmw]

Great work on the rear diff and everything else. The stud kit does make installation MUCH easier.

[PieterVN]

Great work on the rear diff and everything else. The stud kit does make installation MUCH easier.

Do you have a similar kit installed Mike?

[mike.bmw]

Do you have a similar kit installed Mike?

I do! I have a spare small case S4.10 that I've test fitted (long story) that has a stud kit:

20190209_135604 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[PieterVN]

I do! I have a spare small case S4.10 that I've test fitted (long story) that has a stud kit:

Heheh, you make me want to install my diff again as soon as possible! Good things to look forward to. I must say, I'm a jealous of your S4.10. Are price also crazy on your side of the pond?
Here in EU the small cases easily go for +- 700 to 900 Euro (+- 850 to 1100 $). Looks like a lot of US cars came with these

[mike.bmw]

Heheh, you make me want to install my diff again as soon as possible! Good things to look forward to. I must say, I'm a jealous of your S4.10. Are price also crazy on your side of the pond?
Here in EU the small cases easily go for +- 700 to 900 Euro (+- 850 to 1100 $). Looks like a lot of US cars came with these

Yeah, it's not a hard job with the stud kit. The small case S4.10 was an option in the US on the 318i/is, unlike the standard equipment LSDs on the 325is. So they aren't plentiful here either, unfortunately. I've seen them range in price from $400 to $1000 USD. A lot of people advertise they have a "small case" when they actually have the "medium case" version. I searched for a decent condition small case S4.10 for a while. I eventually found one and took a road trip with my daughter to pick it up.

Good luck with the pending installation! :-)

[PieterVN]

This weekend is all about anticlimax .

Yesterday went and got my new torque wrench that I will be using to reinstall everything. I need an adapter piece to use the 3/8 wrench with my 1/2 & 1/4 sockets, I don't have a 3/8 set (yet).
Well what do you guess, they ordered the wrong adaptors.. "No problem!" he told me, "I will order them and they will be in tomorrow." (so todays date).
Rang them up before getting in my car; "Yeah, we can't seem to find the adaptors, they got lost in transit so it will be Monday or Tuesday..."

Damn...

I admit it, it are these small things that sometime screw up your weekend. In the week I always look forward to the weekend and think about all the things that I'm about to do. This weekends planning I was going to finish the differential and install it back in the car... Even more frustrating is that there is nothing much to do next to working on my car here in Belgium. Because of the pandemic everything is closed, you can't meet up with your friends, the weather is shit...


At least there is some small progress, yesterday I went to see D.Martijn. He has a seal driver kit and put in the new oil seal into my carriers. Thanks again man!
I also installed two new O-rings (81x2) that go around the carriers.

IMG_20210115_173907 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

IMG_20210115_174220 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

With the new seal installed I cleaned up the shims that go behind them, oiled up the o-rings to prevent them from ripping or damaging them and then tightened them by hand in diagonal order. When searching torque values I found that these should be torqued to 30Nm. I want to make sure it's installed correct, but I need the adaptor for my torque wrench to finish this up... Both sides installed and waiting to get checked.

These are the torque numbers I found for all the differential bolts. They are a combination of Bentley Manual and numbers I found on forums.

Carrier bolts to housing	8x	30Nm
Differential bushing	1x	87Nm
Speedosensor	2x	10Nm
Fill/Drain plug	2x	55Nm
Halfshaft bolts	12x	58Nm
Driveshaft bolts	4x	72Nm

Differential cover.

6x.

36Nm

IMG_20210115_161530 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

IMG_20210115_160950 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

IMG_20210116_102908 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

Next up I installed my mounting studs with a small drop of Loctite.

IMG_20210116_104458 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

And to finish the "differential chapter" of today I cleaned up all the old hardware so mounting goes smooth. Also halfshaft bolts got a clean, when installing these I will also add some theadlocker. The differential cover also has its new bushing installed and got quick blast in my buddies blasting cabinet. Still have to pick it up though.

IMG_20210116_140744_01 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

On Tuesday I went to get my dealer order that I made the last week of December. Finally I had all my clips and screws to finish the speaker install on the rear shelf.

IMG_20210116_142339 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

I'm happy with how this turned out eventually. All ready for blasting cassette tapes when I'm back on the road again at the end of the winter/beginning of spring.

IMG_20210116_150337 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

IMG_20210116_150326 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

IMG_20210116_150403 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

[AlpinStar]

Yeah, i love this color too. I've seen quite a bit of Brilliant red, Diamantschwarz and silver iS's over here, but only seen one other blue one.. maybe it was more expensive from factory or '80's people weren't very fond of blue idk..

Thanks! Yes sir, in Belgium we speak Flemish (our own version of Dutch), French and some people speak a bit German. It's very complicated but comes down to this: Belgium is divided in 3 pieces regarding languages (Flanders, Wallonia & the German speaking community).
In school we all learn the basics of Dutch, French and English. Some do learn German depending on which education your following.

I only had one year of German in school but i'm very interested in this language and learned a lot on my own. Also my job as an international automotive purchaser helped me to expand my vocabulary in these different languages.

Guessing you're right 80s people weren't as fond of blue - I don't recall seeing too many blue 80s cars, though I did used to drive a metallic blue '86 Volvo!

Thanks for the info on languages - interesting that it varies so much by region. I wish we spent more time learning other languages in school; it makes traveling so much better. Also, your job sounds interesting and fun!

Love what you did with the rear parcel shelf and speaker install. It turned out great, and it's cool that you paid attention to the little details too, like going to the trouble of finding OEM screws and clips. Not many people would bother to do that for a speaker install, but I too enjoy those kinds of details.

[PieterVN]

Finally made some progress, so today was a good day.

This week I received my adaptor sockets for my torque wrench so I started mounting everything to spec on my diff.

I torqued these on both sides to 30Nm and added a small drop op Loctite 243.

IMG_20210121_171539 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

The rear cover got a rather poor sandblasting job, my friend told me he had some problems with his nozzles. So decided to just install it like it was. I put on a new paper gasket and a small bead of sealant.

IMG_20210121_172654 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

I torqued to cover down to spec and added a new o-ring for the speedosensor. Gave the mounting bracket a small coat of paint. Nothing too crazy. Installed the drain plug (55Nm) and temp sensor for diff fluid. (25Nm). Then I filled her up and put her under my car. Oh yeah, don't forget the new bushing that has been installed.

IMG_20210123_133732 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

Final pictures before installing:

IMG_20210123_134739 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

IMG_20210123_134744 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

I installed her and gave her a few turns. Oh oh... rattling noise coming from the driveshaft that comes from the gearbox. Guess what... turns out I pulled it too much back and it came undone. The marking were pretty obvious to remount but I lost quite some time removing the exhaust, heat shielding and differential again. Luckily my stud kit made the install pretty easy.

received_1853594598126458 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

This is how I ended today. Everything back together and ready for testdrive tomorrow. But I forgot to mount the washer type banana shaped pieces to the bolts that mount the half shafts to the output flanges.. Guess that will be for tomorrow.

IMG_20210123_171405 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

[PieterVN]

An update on some small things I tackled in the previous weeks. It's very wet and cold out here the last weeks so not really tempted to do a lot of work on the car.

The rear window fill strip shrunk over the years because it endured some heat in Spain so around the corner pieces I had these gaps of half and inch on each side.
A couple of months ago I bought a set of used ones but that were in better shape than mine.



I started with removing the old ones. in the corners you see how much dirt has accumulated over the years of not being mounted properly.

IMG_20210130_111254 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

I ordered some corner pieces some weeks ago and mounted one of them. The old one was all crooked and ugly shaped. Quite a difference in colour but I will apply some trim restorer in the start of the season to cover up the difference.

IMG_20210131_175803 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

I used a tool to replace the strips but It was a complete pain... if I look back on it I think I still used not enough soup. It got mounted with some scratches. here and there but in the end it looks already much better than before.

IMG_20210131_175808 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

Also when I got the 2nd hand fill strips from my friend he had another rear right side windows frame laying around without damaged paint. So I also got that one and finally got to installing it.

My old window frame:

IMG_20210130_171100 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

Window removed:

IMG_20210130_135249 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

New frame installed, hmmm how lovely.

IMG_20210130_153855 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

IMG_20210130_153900 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

Then I found out my rear upper strut mounts have seen better days. On the left one I got quite a bit of play and it causes a lot of noises. So I figured I replace both of these with OE Lemforder ones. I also checked my struts. They look original, they are not leaking but almost show no resistance when pushing in. This will probably increase the handling of the car with a noticeable difference.
I really like the stance of my car right now so I plan on keeping my springs and combine them with Bilstein B4 of B6. I plan on doing the fronts & the rears. But I did not make my mind up yet. I've read that the B4 are about 10% improved stiffness over the standard OEM struts. B6 are the performance dempers which are quite a bit harsher to drive with. I have 2 friends that both one one of these sets. One guy that has a 325i Touring with a Bilstein B6 setup with Eibach springs. The other one has a B4 kit with original springs. I plan to meet up with them and have drive with the springs to see the difference and make my decision afterwards. Really want to have a sporty but comfortable ride. I'm not planning on tracking this car.
There is also a 200 euro price difference, the B6 kit being the most expensive ofc..

I also started cleaning my trunk. It was necessary. Started with depilling my carpet.

Before:

IMG_20210206_093217 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

While doing the job notice 2/3 already done.
IMG_20210206_103440 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

After removing the woolliness and deep cleaning:

IMG_20210206_113156 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

Afterwards I also deep cleaned all the side carpeting.

IMG_20210206_131858 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

Before and after of the jack mounting spot. You get the picture..

IMG_20210206_114427 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

IMG_20210206_120439 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

Still have to deep clean the trunk itself with some water and lots of brushing. To be continued.

[PieterVN]

Finally, the first days of nice temperatures, no rain and no more salt on the roads have come to Belgium. Already did my first rides of 2021.
Differential turned out great and without the noises it feels like another car. Just pure exhaust sound without bearing noises and I fell in love again.

Today I reinstalled the boot carpeting.

IMG_20210220_094650 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

Also this morning I came on 2 cars that were from sale from an older gentleman. No online ad. I went to take a look and bought the two cars.
They look mostly rust free, E30 has some damage from an accident and they were parked 10 years ago. The goal is to make them presentable and sell them on with some profit. The profit will be used to finance more IS parts and upgrade.

An Achatgrün 1983 316 M10 carburetor two door.

IMG_20210220_112119 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

And a Sierrabeige 1982 E21 M10 Injection Automatic

IMG_20210220_112110 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

In the afternoon I went for a drive with a friend of mine. First time I had the car in good sunlight after the polish job. This winter he let the bodyshop paint his IS front spoiler and mirrors. Damn the car looks good this way.

IMG_20210220_152941 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

IMG_20210220_170403 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr


IMG_20210220_170325 by Pieter Van Nevel, on Flickr

[PieterVN]

Double post..

[AlpinStar]

Wow, you've been busy! Nice work on finding those two cars - that should keep you busy! And nice work on the diff too. Does it make any noise at all, like can you hear any rattling/knocking when letting out the clutch with no gas in reverse? Asking for a friend ;)

[Tzantushka]

Also this morning I came on 2 cars that were from sale from an older gentleman. No online ad. I went to take a look and bought the two cars.
They look mostly rust free, E30 has some damage from an accident and they were parked 10 years ago.
The goal is to make them presentable and sell them on with some profit. The profit will be used to finance my ongoing addiction to E30.

There, I fixed it for you.

Nice photos by the way!

[mike.bmw]

Lots of progress! Excellent work on the diff and interior cleanup. The brick building and stone parking lot make for a very cool photo of the two E30s.

Very cool to find the other BMWs. Build threads for those as well? :-)