A friend of mine suggested i post up my progress of my newly acquired 84 318i, so i guess ill throw myself to the wolf pack and see what happens.
First off, I like what i like, and I'm doing things the way i like them. I'm just into this thing for a daily driver and want to have fun working on it and adorning it with killer stuff. I have always loved e30s, and finally had an opportunity to pick one up. However, i dont have the funds to go full up resto rebuild, so i figured i'd keep it simple and take it all a step at a time. But stance was/is definitely in its future no matter what.
So i found this thing on craigslist, 158k miles (with the odo gears stripped), ran decent, and pretty clean interior, straight body and paint (no rust) so i pulled the trigger. Its an 84 318i with the m10. I know its not a 325, but damnit i couldnt find one in the time i needed and they were getting more expensive by the day it seemed. Hey, f@ck off its still an e30, and the lightest one ever made... Low and slow it'll be i guess :P
Here she is the night i got her and the next day... youve all seen them before i know. BTW: sorry for the iphone/instagram photos but its how ive documented the stuff and its easy and fast when i want to snap a pic.
Oh I redded out the rear light corners, and had a muffler and tip i liked put on. The whole exhaust had to be re hung. You can see them and the tails in the above pic.
Great fun little car to rip around. I was in love with the way it looked and drove right away, although i know the european models always got cooler trim. So, i knew i wanted to morph it a little bit, so my search began.
First thing i did was maintenance. I didnt really take photos of this but it included a long laundry list of parts from fuel pump to spark plugs to injectors gaskets, filters, etc. So heres a cool shot of the valve cover of the m10. BTW its fun and easy to work on, almost like a toyota. Yah i battled with the AFM issues and Idle control valve crap all typical of e30s. Ive almost got everything sorted at this point.
Whilst searching parts, i ran in to the CATUNED crew here in sac by chance, and was bullshitting with them about typical problems. Instead of a solution i ended up walking out with these lol.
And i got a sticker! Im cool now!
I went to euro sunday with my head held low in shame for bringing a nearly stock car to a meet with so many high end customs and exotics. But hey! i was still drivin a early e30!
So next was the odometer and tach issue. New SI board, new ODO gears, and i am still having the tach issue after this so theres more to be done but thats later. This is where the old batteries from 28 years ago fried the board with leakage.
Next, i found some complete euro bumpers in okay shape but they were down in ventura and im not paying double to have them shipped. so i drove.
and fit them in the ski pass of my is300
I couldnt wait so i put the front on that night and the rear the next day. Heres the front install.
The next thing up was something i was really excited about. It went on with the rear euro bumper. While waiting for it to come, i couldnt even find a picture of one installed on a car, so i really had no idea how it would look. I like it, it might be my favorite part of the car so far... Heres how it went....
and this is how the license plate sits for now until i can think of something better...
My brakes were in bad shape and dragging while driving so when rotors and pads came in i slapped them on with new fluid and a good bleeding....my calipers still need a rebuild tho...
Then a couple days later my euro front facelift was about to be one step further...real deal.
Heres the install of the headlights... Pretty easy and what a change for the better.
Grills on
Then headlights...
and my custom plate came today, nothing fancy, i just really wanted to use an umlaut on the plate, i have always liked how they look on the license plates. and i wanted a space to put the stickers. I like the stickers. Its not installed yet just waiting on the frame. It just means "early e30". The Hessen seal is for where my family is from. I thought it to be an appropriate and personal toutch. The year pollution sticker was supposed to be 1985 for my birth year, but the assholes shipped me 2014 instead. Oh well, not a big deal.
UPDATE: Bled the brakes again...
Robbed a nut from the a/c compressor for the power steering pump because it was loose... a/c isnt hooked up anyway.
this bolt to be mounted back right...
Then on the way to work the next morning, this happened...
The alternator came loose and wasnt spinning the water pump or itself, so no charge, no cool, no good.
My motor has had some very fierce vibrations since i got it at around 3700rpm, and nuts and bolts have basically been rattling out for the last 5 thousand miles. The blow by could probably compress an air tank, and the oil leak from around the head gasket was getting worse. I decided it was time, so i called in to work to let them know i wasnt coming in, and limped it to the CAtuned shop.
Hung out all day, made a plan with the guys, and left it there. I went down to the shop today to help Alex with the parts swapping to the new motor and to do the cleaning of parts so he could work on the more important stuff. I'm glad were doing it over there and not in my garage, having a lift and everything a full shop includes is very nice. Special thanks to all the CAtuned guys they are really good dudes, with true passion for these cars, i am so very glad to just be a part of it and the good things they do over there. On to the photos....
Ready for heart transplant
I showed up at 9, Alex already had the motor pulled...
We had a battle royale with one of the tranny bolts, ended up grinding the head off, but we tried everything else first...
So then i got to work on cleaning the replacement motor...Before i started:
And after a lot of wire brushing, wd40, rubbing, and singing along to every song that came across pandora...
I didnt take any more photos, but when i left alex was still working on it, we were about 70% done swapping the parts over to the new motor. But im also replacing the clutch, water pump, a couple coolant hoses, and there is some soldering work that needs to be done at one of the connectors. Parts come monday, and ill be back after work in the afternoon to lend another hand with anything i can without getting in the way. But hell, they might already have it in by then they do sick work. Thanks again guys. Stay tuned everyone else, updates in a couple days.
Oh BTW everyone with an M10, this valve cover is very well done by renewedfinishes, and it is for sale at CAtuned. I think its posted on their website. I just put it on here to see if i like it, and i do, so buy it before i decide to!!!
Drop is coming very soon, coils are waiting for customs approval, theyre just sitting in san francisco collecting dust waiting on some state worker to put his champ stamp on the shipment.
First off, I like what i like, and I'm doing things the way i like them. I'm just into this thing for a daily driver and want to have fun working on it and adorning it with killer stuff. I have always loved e30s, and finally had an opportunity to pick one up. However, i dont have the funds to go full up resto rebuild, so i figured i'd keep it simple and take it all a step at a time. But stance was/is definitely in its future no matter what.
So i found this thing on craigslist, 158k miles (with the odo gears stripped), ran decent, and pretty clean interior, straight body and paint (no rust) so i pulled the trigger. Its an 84 318i with the m10. I know its not a 325, but damnit i couldnt find one in the time i needed and they were getting more expensive by the day it seemed. Hey, f@ck off its still an e30, and the lightest one ever made... Low and slow it'll be i guess :P
Here she is the night i got her and the next day... youve all seen them before i know. BTW: sorry for the iphone/instagram photos but its how ive documented the stuff and its easy and fast when i want to snap a pic.
Oh I redded out the rear light corners, and had a muffler and tip i liked put on. The whole exhaust had to be re hung. You can see them and the tails in the above pic.
Great fun little car to rip around. I was in love with the way it looked and drove right away, although i know the european models always got cooler trim. So, i knew i wanted to morph it a little bit, so my search began.
First thing i did was maintenance. I didnt really take photos of this but it included a long laundry list of parts from fuel pump to spark plugs to injectors gaskets, filters, etc. So heres a cool shot of the valve cover of the m10. BTW its fun and easy to work on, almost like a toyota. Yah i battled with the AFM issues and Idle control valve crap all typical of e30s. Ive almost got everything sorted at this point.
Whilst searching parts, i ran in to the CATUNED crew here in sac by chance, and was bullshitting with them about typical problems. Instead of a solution i ended up walking out with these lol.
And i got a sticker! Im cool now!
I went to euro sunday with my head held low in shame for bringing a nearly stock car to a meet with so many high end customs and exotics. But hey! i was still drivin a early e30!
So next was the odometer and tach issue. New SI board, new ODO gears, and i am still having the tach issue after this so theres more to be done but thats later. This is where the old batteries from 28 years ago fried the board with leakage.
Next, i found some complete euro bumpers in okay shape but they were down in ventura and im not paying double to have them shipped. so i drove.
and fit them in the ski pass of my is300
I couldnt wait so i put the front on that night and the rear the next day. Heres the front install.
The next thing up was something i was really excited about. It went on with the rear euro bumper. While waiting for it to come, i couldnt even find a picture of one installed on a car, so i really had no idea how it would look. I like it, it might be my favorite part of the car so far... Heres how it went....
and this is how the license plate sits for now until i can think of something better...
My brakes were in bad shape and dragging while driving so when rotors and pads came in i slapped them on with new fluid and a good bleeding....my calipers still need a rebuild tho...
Then a couple days later my euro front facelift was about to be one step further...real deal.
Heres the install of the headlights... Pretty easy and what a change for the better.
Grills on
Then headlights...
and my custom plate came today, nothing fancy, i just really wanted to use an umlaut on the plate, i have always liked how they look on the license plates. and i wanted a space to put the stickers. I like the stickers. Its not installed yet just waiting on the frame. It just means "early e30". The Hessen seal is for where my family is from. I thought it to be an appropriate and personal toutch. The year pollution sticker was supposed to be 1985 for my birth year, but the assholes shipped me 2014 instead. Oh well, not a big deal.
UPDATE: Bled the brakes again...
Robbed a nut from the a/c compressor for the power steering pump because it was loose... a/c isnt hooked up anyway.
this bolt to be mounted back right...
Then on the way to work the next morning, this happened...
The alternator came loose and wasnt spinning the water pump or itself, so no charge, no cool, no good.
My motor has had some very fierce vibrations since i got it at around 3700rpm, and nuts and bolts have basically been rattling out for the last 5 thousand miles. The blow by could probably compress an air tank, and the oil leak from around the head gasket was getting worse. I decided it was time, so i called in to work to let them know i wasnt coming in, and limped it to the CAtuned shop.
Hung out all day, made a plan with the guys, and left it there. I went down to the shop today to help Alex with the parts swapping to the new motor and to do the cleaning of parts so he could work on the more important stuff. I'm glad were doing it over there and not in my garage, having a lift and everything a full shop includes is very nice. Special thanks to all the CAtuned guys they are really good dudes, with true passion for these cars, i am so very glad to just be a part of it and the good things they do over there. On to the photos....
Ready for heart transplant
I showed up at 9, Alex already had the motor pulled...
We had a battle royale with one of the tranny bolts, ended up grinding the head off, but we tried everything else first...
So then i got to work on cleaning the replacement motor...Before i started:
And after a lot of wire brushing, wd40, rubbing, and singing along to every song that came across pandora...
I didnt take any more photos, but when i left alex was still working on it, we were about 70% done swapping the parts over to the new motor. But im also replacing the clutch, water pump, a couple coolant hoses, and there is some soldering work that needs to be done at one of the connectors. Parts come monday, and ill be back after work in the afternoon to lend another hand with anything i can without getting in the way. But hell, they might already have it in by then they do sick work. Thanks again guys. Stay tuned everyone else, updates in a couple days.
Oh BTW everyone with an M10, this valve cover is very well done by renewedfinishes, and it is for sale at CAtuned. I think its posted on their website. I just put it on here to see if i like it, and i do, so buy it before i decide to!!!
Drop is coming very soon, coils are waiting for customs approval, theyre just sitting in san francisco collecting dust waiting on some state worker to put his champ stamp on the shipment.
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