Project finished - 'MY22' 318is - bare metal, nut and bolt restoration

[Jokester]

Gotcha gotcha. It has Been 6 months since the thread started I forgot you wanted a more chill car.

It’s super fun to have a light car without a ton of power. Keeping it high in the revs on turns. Makes it feel like your going way faster than you actually are.

[burkey001]

No power upgrades to the m42? Not to be a buzzkill but that seems crazy to me with the amount of work you’re putting into this car.

Just LS swap it and call it a day. :)

Well, not really if you go read the first post re the intent of the car.

I got fast cars, I want a nice, comfortable and simple one we can take trips in. Dog in the back, bikes on the roof, away we go :)

Plus it's kind of fun to have an underpowered car. Means you can keep your foot in the pedal for more than 5 seconds before having your license suspended and car crushed for speeding :)

[Jokester]

No power upgrades to the m42? Not to be a buzzkill but that seems crazy to me with the amount of work you’re putting into this car.

Just LS swap it and call it a day. :)

[burkey001]

Just a standard spec m42 ��

[econti]

So what engine is going in? 2.1 stroker M42?

[burkey001]

So, with the mystery of the washer fluid sensor revealed – no overhead check panel = no low washer fluid warning light (validated against 3x different years and models of ETM) I can finish off the wiring harness in the engine bay.

So, the idea for this wiring harness is like the rest of the car “just a bit better and a bit more modern than the factory”. So, I have no interest in tucking the engine bay which is why I didn’t shave and smooth the engine bay. Sure, all the OEM sealer was slowly and painstakingly pull out and replaced with much tidier approach, but no holes were filled, no spot welds hidden, no filler in the engine bay. As it was, just neater. So too with the wiring harness. I want the wiring harness in full view, but I want it neater.

So, no Christmas tree clips. Instead, I use a 4mm rivnut in the factory clip hole and use a tyton hellerman cable standoff for mounting the harness. Harness stands clear of paint, no rub. Tidy cos no Christmas tree clips

Also no loom tape. Loom tape… how can I say… I don’t like it. I would rather use heatshrink, and not any shrink by DR25 because I want it to be durable.

Shrink looks cool but it needs LOTS of planning because you cant just wrap your way around stuff like you can with tape. You cant slide shrink over a connector either, so no connectors. etc

I was paying reasonable attention when I paid someone to make a harness for me a few years ago, so got a reasonable look at how they did it. Few years later, memory loss etc, heres how I did it. Which, whilst it could be done better (i.e. pay a professional) I’m pretty happy with how its turning out.

Sometimes got to take a flying lead off the main loom. So I pull the wires out, tape them off with some Kapton tape. Shrink the main loom on both sides, shrink the flying lead and then Kapton tape the join up

Then slide over some stiff glue lined shrink and do that and then stick a T&B zip tie to secure. Yes, I could use molded boots and epoxy, but I’m just not there ��


More splits of the main loom, between left and right side headlights / lights etc. same approach


Checking the placement of the brake wear sensor



Checking the placement of it all, including the earths I have to terminate.
The other criss-cross loom you see beneath is the HVAC loom and I’m going to redo that the same way (it was my test case)



With that side done, onto the other side… really starting to like how its looking.




The whole idea… factory but better…


And here is the RHS full done

My one gripe is you cant buy the bare connectors from BMW, you have to buy a flying lead (plug, lead and an injection moulded cover) so you HAVE to put a join the lead, which kind of shits me given the effort I’ve gone to.. But that’s just the way it is so I can roll with it


So, this is my contribution to pushing the E30 wiring game forward ��



Still playing with the flying lead placement into the headlights, but it’s not too bad right now. About 1000x better than OEM.





That’s all, enjoy ��

[TeXJ]

I just took my splash guard off to install a skid plate.

Man this build is looking hot!

[burkey001]

Short update. So I was starting to plug off this wiring loom, by putting all the bits in place (lights, washer bottle etc) and I see the washer sensor. And I cant find the washer sensor wiring…

Where is the washer sensor wiring I ask myself. Go back to documentation. No wire. Go back to pics. No wire. Go to ETM for 325is – yes wire. 0.5mm purple/blue. Go look at my other E30. 325is. Yes, purple / blue wire.

Get upset I have missed a wire. HOW I ask myself.

Go back and pull apart fuse box, again. No purple blue. Confused. Trace wiring back to instrument cluster. No purple/blue. more confuse. Long story short, I don’t believe that the 318is HAD a washer level alarm, as no check panel. Duh. Been so long since I drove the car I forgot. Now need to re-apply all the Kapton tape I cut off, reshrink the main harness… gah. Least it proved my documentation was correct.


Other things, new belly pan arrives. Finish is a little off. Kind of whitey/black because too much glass fibre close to surface. When I see this, I hit it with the heat gun / blow torch to very gently ‘melt’ the surface to get to a uniform colour.





See, doesn’t look too great. I could just ‘back to black’ it, but it’s a brand new product. I think we can fix.
After some heat gun therapy





Also, new vents arrived for dash. Debatable whether this was needed, but they sure are nice and stiff in their action

[vintage_appeal]

My goodness! This is what you call a build. I can only wish to do this to my e30. I am definitely locked into this thread. Please keep it going man!

[burkey001]

Awesome.
And thanks for sharing. There are hours of work photographing and posting - let alone doing the actual work.
The community says 'thanks'.

I have to thank Melon for posting your thread in another thread.

This is fantastic. I've only seen this level of detail on two other occasions. I am speechless.

You're more than welcome. Everyone loves taking pics of their stuff when it's shiny and new. The build thread is as much for my memories as everyone else :)


Car is not even close to being done, so rest assured much more to come.

[burkey001]

random piece of news, the shop that painted the car took out Grandmaster at motorex this year. Kinda cool

The guy who's going to trim the car did the interior in the above car too.

So, hoping for a nice trim job! :)

[Tzantushka]

You know you can order the plugs from anywhere that sells / can order BMW bits. the part number is actually on the back of the plug. The "1 378 402" for example. Just add "61 13" to the front and you have the full part number for an engine bay plug.

Awesome.
And thanks for sharing. There are hours of work photographing and posting - let alone doing the actual work.
The community says 'thanks'.

[MR E30 325is]

I have to thank Melon for posting your thread in another thread.

This is fantastic. I've only seen this level of detail on two other occasions. I am speechless.

[burkey001]

Great work there Burkey! Good to follow the progress on it.

I've never seen an e30 with the proper seals to direct air through the condenser like that either! The modern BMWs all have some sort of seals around the AC condenser to force the air through to the radiator.

On real OEM did that part seem to be unique to the 318iS?

Hey, thats a real good question Luke. TBH I dont know. I've had a few E30, even ones that looked really original, and I've never seen it. Maybe it's a euro thing for the AF92 chassis code.

Really learn a lot from guys like yourself and Jordan. thanks for taking the time to post pics.

Most welcome, hopefully mine runs like yours soon

Great progress.

Question on the OE connector housings...
- where did you get them from?

As when I just look at mine they crumble.
Our climate is not ideal for decades old Euro plastics

You know you can order the plugs from anywhere that sells / can order BMW bits. the part number is actually on the back of the plug. The "1 378 402" for example. Just add "61 13" to the front and you have the full part number for an engine bay plug.


i.e 61-13-1-378-410


tada - https://www.schmiedmann.com/en/catn-...1-13-1-378-410



love me some uncle schmiedmann. I reckon I will make their Christmas card list this year ;)

[lukeADE335i]

Great work there Burkey! Good to follow the progress on it.

I've never seen an e30 with the proper seals to direct air through the condenser like that either! The modern BMWs all have some sort of seals around the AC condenser to force the air through to the radiator.

On real OEM did that part seem to be unique to the 318iS?