A Distraction of Sorts: My 1991 BMW 318is

[CubbyChowder]

A part of me is saying that I should've never bought this 318is in the first place, strictly because it takes focus off my other BMW, a '73 2002 Roundie which is up at my dad's house completely disassembled, awaiting labor and love.

My other half tells me this was a great decision, for a few reasons. Not only does my 1998 Honda Civic (which I bought mainly as a commuter while I build the 2002) provide zero sense of pride in what I drive, it completely misrepresents me as a person. The faded forest green paint, accompanied by "altezza style" tail lights and "JDM style" headlights (which I can confidently assume were purchased off eBay categorized under "price+shipping=lowest"), as well as oversized tires and a CD player that was probably manufactured before I was even born just don't really mesh well with me. Don't get me wrong, it's been dead reliable since I bought it 6 months ago and is ultra efficient, but something is missing.

Plus, it's a perfect candidate for me to gain some experience in automotive painting. I plan on repainting this e30 myself in preparation to paint my 2002 sometime in the near future. I will stick with the original DiamondSchwarz Metallic color, which happens to be one of my favorite BMW colors.

Anyways, here it is. Near mint black vinyl interior (minus a cracked dash) and a healthy engine/drivetrain. Since it will be my daily driver, I want it to drive comfortably. I plan on replacing all the suspension bushings, rebuilding the shifter, performing general/preventative maintenance and I want to eventually build a set of coilovers and get a nice set of wheels to finish it off. Enjoy!






Shea Butta snuck in on the last shot

[///M42 sport]

i hear ya, my 318is was the first car i bought myself...on the cheap. Its mechanically sound, but has major hail damage. I find myself undecided on which e30 I want to spend my money on...the daily or the cabrio. So far I've been spending money on both haha.

also i have to add the 318is is alot more enjoyable to buzz around town in so I justify my cash that way.

[Simon S]

:up:

[Varinn]

I'd rock the car as is, it'd make a great daily beater/track car if you focus completely on the mechanicals. I'm also curious, how do you drive with that massive gangster lean in the seats?

[Blackout]

Shea Butta snuck in on the last shot

[series88]

I think you just bought this off my buddy. :) enjoy it

[CubbyChowder]

I'd rock the car as is, it'd make a great daily beater/track car if you focus completely on the mechanicals. I'm also curious, how do you drive with that massive gangster lean in the seats?

I'm not going to do too much to it, just a few things here and there. I do want to build a set of coilovers for sure, and like I said just tighten everything up.

As for the seats, the pics make them seem to "lean" much more than they really do. I think it might have to do with the fisheye lens I was using, they sit pretty upright actually. I've never understood how people comfortably drive with the seats all leaned back.

[CubbyChowder]

I think you just bought this off my buddy. :) enjoy it

Denny?

[series88]

Yes sir. I wanted that car before he even bought it. Good runner!

[CubbyChowder]

Yes sir. I wanted that car before he even bought it. Good runner!

Yeah I'm stoked I got it! I basically had to put a deposit down on it before even seeing the car in order to make sure I got it before someone else did haha. I hate buying cars that way but sometimes you just gotta risk it if it feels right.

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Not much action yet, still waiting to sell my Civic until I can put some money into it. Still figuring out what suspension setup I want to run, it gets pricey really fast with these e30's. Pretty much any coilover option that I'm interested in will cost me about $1000 give or take, which isn't really how much I wanted to invest, but I'll just save up for a while and it'll be worth it.

I called my local paint supply shop and they have a pretty killer kit deal running right now, $225 for a gallon of base coat and a gallon of clear coat. I'm going to buy the "upgraded" clear which apparently yields better results, so it'll be about $260 total. This is about half of what I was expecting to spend, so I was pleasantly surprised by this. The guy said mixing the original DiamantSchwarz Metallic color will be no problem, and that the color will match nearly perfect. I'm stoked! I can't wait to repaint this thing.

I'm also awaiting my odometer gear repair kit, should be here within the next few days and I'll have a working odometer again. The odometer went out 3 months ago at 170k, so I want to get it fixed so it'll stay closely accurate. It's seen maybe 2k miles since it went out.

Yikes, I'm rambling.

Anyways, this is first real purchase I made for the car. A keyless entry system by German Engineering with the flip blade key fob's. I'm a former MKIV Volkswagen owner (which use the exact same flip blade design), so these fobs hit home. I had to have them. Can't wait to get this kit installed!

[LuckyHenriksen]

Nice project, looking forward to see what you do with it

[CubbyChowder]

Nice project, looking forward to see what you do with it

Thanks, I actually sent you a PM a few days ago, did you get it?

[LuckyHenriksen]

Oh shoot, on SW right? I haven't been on there forever. I got the email notification but I haven't read it yet -__-

I will check it out right now

[CubbyChowder]

Oh shoot, on SW right? I haven't been on there forever. I got the email notification but I haven't read it yet -__-

I will check it out right now

no worries!

[CubbyChowder]

Got the keyless entry all wired up and working tonight. It's so satisfying locking and unlocking it with the fob haha it's the little things that get me.

Had a super stupid moment earlier when I tested it out for the first time. Got everything wired up and wanted to see if it worked. I closed my doors and locked it, locked no problem. Went to unlock it and it didn't work for some reason, that's when my stomach dropped. I managed to lock my only key and my phone in the car haha I felt like such a dumbass. I was just caught up in the moment and eager to try it out. Luckily I managed to fish the key out with some metal wire but I put a small dent in my outer metal pillar area. One more thing to fix before I repaint it. Anyways, I got it unlocked, fixed the wiring and cleaned everything up. I'm super pumped on the key fobs, although they feel a little cheaper than the MKIV VW ones that I'm used to. Regardless, rad kit and easy install! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.