1991 BMW 318IS build thread

[industrious]

This will serve as my ongoing project build thread for my newly acquired E30.

1991 BMW 318IS

-current mileage says 189,xxx however i see that the odometer is not working so actual mileage is unknown.

-M42 for now

-appears to have a cam and was told the same but who wants to sink money into the poor little 1.8L 4 cylinder. One of the PO decided to nix the AC and power steering . I also believe these cars came with LSD however the diff has bound to have been welded.

-springs (haven't tried to read the writing on them to find out what they are exactly and I will visit that when the time comes)

-exhaust (terrible) appears to be 2in and did not have a muffler what so ever when I picked it up. Put on a thrush to attempt to quiet it down however it is still terribly loud.

-interior leaves a lot to be desired. The rear seats were some reupholstered something or another but they look awful and I don't need rear seats anyway. There were interior lights in the car and the trunk light had been cut, the license plate lights had been replaced by trailer license plate lights (really guy). So I have new interior lights, a glove box top with light, and license plate lights on order. I soldered and heat shrunk the wiring for the trunk light and that now works. The sunroof was replaced with an aftermarket unit and I noticed some wetness behind the passenger seat so that will be addressed once the culprit is found. Front seats have been replaced with some reclining race-style seats with home made brackets ( :hitler: dear E30 gods what have I gotten myself into?) Control panel in the roof looks like crap. 6 button OBC has the bleeding LCD screen. No radio. Battery in trunk (maybe this is OEM like my E92?)

-Exterior missing multiple trim pieces and the lower sheetmetal needs love. Windshield wiper motor is shot.

[ak-]

Looks like a solid platform to make your own!
Battery in the trunk is OEM - few, like convertibles, had them in front.

[industrious]

Looks like a solid platform to make your own!
Battery in the trunk is OEM - few, like convertibles, had them in front.

Thanks AK- :up:

[industrious]

here is the funky reclining race-style seats. If anyone near by has a set of stock cloth black seats in decent condition and would like these i am willing to swap.


pulled out the OBC because the screen is leaking and is of no use if I can't see it as well as the top check panel because it looked like crap. There was no radio with the car nor do I need one so that will get a factory block off. The other too panels will get blocked off as well since they are way too hard to find in good condition. Time to break out the C.A.D. and build some block off templates. This car will serve daily duty to rest my poor tundra that gets bad mileage and needs TLC itself. My commute is only 20 minutes at around 0600 so its not too hot out.

[Ronan]

When you pull that motor I would be very interested in the Cams. I love the m42 haha. And the 318is had the LSD as an option not standard. Just look at the tag and see if there is an S on it.

[industrious]

the 318is had the LSD as an option not standard. Just look at the tag and see if there is an S on it.

Seems to me like the diff is welded as it grabs too hard when taking off from turns like how a 4wd vehicle does when it is engaged.

[c0rbin9]

Sorry about the seats. I had a similar pair in my car when I got it and they were decrepit piles of shit.

[industrious]

thanks for the empathy Corbin :up: these are very much that. Wish i had some progress worth updating. I have managed to get new license plate lights and dome lights (hella) since one of the PO used trailer lights installed in the license plate light spots, there were no dome lights in it when i got the car, the constant on works but not when you open the doors. There is no door chime and the horn doesn't work so chasing those down now.

[industrious]

Built some block off panels looks much better



Still need to address the check control panel in the headliner, I made a panel to go over the hole but I'm contemplating filling it from the inside and compressing the fabric around it. Now to work on tilting the wheel down.

[MR E30 325is]

^^ Spacing the steering column down has been highlighted here on R3v before.

[industrious]

Much progress today, pulled the cluster to count the odometer gears and ordered new ones from odometergears.com, I used their replacement gears when I had to repair my throttle body actuators in my E92, great company, fairly local, and super helpful. I was cleaning driver's side door jamb and my dome lights started working, I'll chase down the culprit later but for now they work intermittently. I have been having an issue with not having any interior lights anywhere else either, mainly the instrument cluster but also all of the other interior lights; behind the illumination panel, the cigarette lighter, hazard light, defroster, etc... I found a temporary solution by accident when I was chasing down what was getting power and what wasn't. I found that if you ground the brown/white wire from the socket at the illumination panel then all of the rest of the sockets have power, in conclusion the dimmer is not properly grounding out and sending out the right signals. I looked into spacing the steering wheel since my car is an airbag model there is little information on how to do it, instead of using square tubing ill use flat stock to make another set of mounting points to lower the wheel. I'll try to get on this tomorrow or Friday.

[mike.bmw]

Was it originally a slick top? Looks like there's an aftermarket pop-up style glass sunroof now.

I only ask because mine was originally a slicktop and the dealer installed a Webasto Starlite 4 upon original purchase in '91 (doh!). If you find a place to weld in a patch panel on the roof let me know. I've been considering making mine a slicktop again.

Looks like it'll be a fun daily!

[industrious]

@mike.bmw it was a slicktop and one of the PO put in a Donmar Funsport. Getting a patch panel welded will be down the road but something I would like to do.

[mike.bmw]

@mike.bmw it was a slitktop and one of the PO put in a Donmar Funsport. Getting a patch panel welded will be down the road but something I would like to do.

Cool. Let me know if you find a place and I'll do the same. I briefly looked around after I bought the car, but didn't have much success locally. Plus it wasn't much of a priority for me, just a long term goal. I look forward to seeing this thread progress!

[industrious]

Acquired some parts to spruce up the car some more:

Practically new rear ashtray
Non-ripped sun visors
88-89 Hella low beams
all from member Lanceloti (thank you for the smoking deal)

Plans are to retrofit the Hellas for some great light output.

Has anyone else had gas line/tank problems? I am considering doing an aluminum fuel tank where the spare goes after I cut out the sheet metal and doing braided lines under the car to remove the cruddy looking fuel lines. Anyone else have any ideas?