The build thread in which I learn what an E30 is... '91 318is

[Garemie]

I would suggest doing both upper and lower pan if you're in there. You'll have to unbolt the motor mounts and lift the engine up about an inch to get the upper pan out, in my experience.

EDIT: Can you post more pics of the cloth interior? I like the way they were reupholstered. Were the door cards also done?

[Nate37]

M42 has a timing chain. Though dropping the lower oil pan to check the upper bolts and for pieces of timing chain guides wouldn't be a bad idea.

I have a pile of service records from the PO. It looks like the chain guides and tensioner were replaced about 5 years and 40k miles ago. What's the service interval for the guides and tensioner? It sounds like I don't need to worry about replacing the chain as long as the guides and tensioner are serviced regularly, correct?

The lower pan is leaking like a sieve, so I will be pulling that fairly soon. Debating whether I should just do the upper pan gasket at the same time.

[mike.bmw]

great find! when was the timing belt last changed? get to it... sent from hell using tapatalk

M42 has a timing chain. Though dropping the lower oil pan to check the upper bolts and for pieces of timing chain guides wouldn't be a bad idea.

[cheffy30]

great find! when was the timing belt last changed? get to it... sent from hell using tapatalk

[mjweimer]

Looks like a nice purchase! Sounds like you have a good plan of attack on the maintenance items which will also help you learn about the car. Seems like a little elbow grease and some cleaning products will get that thing looking fresh.


MJ

[Nate37]

Thank you! That's definitely on the list of to-dos!

[Nate37]

Thanks! Love your car as well, and your build thread has already been hugely helpful.

[Codym42]

Welcome to r3v. Clean car!

Hit those rockers with some black spray paint!

[mike.bmw]

Great starting point. Thanks for sharing!

[Mouse]

Clean car.....in for updates.

[Nate37]

Hi all,

This is my first post here, but I've wasted more than a few nights reading some of the amazing build threads on R3V, so I figured I would start my own to share this project I've taken on. Also to contain the endless stupid questions that I will undoubtedly have to (more or less) one location.

Last month I picked up this 1991 318is from a coworker with a minimum of rational thought. He was selling, I had always had the idea of E30 ownership in the back of my head, and that was pretty much it. This is only the second BMW I've owned (the first was a 2013 135i, which was unfortunately totalled recently), so I really don't have any experience working on them. Should be interesting.



The 318is seems to be in pretty good shape… 149k miles when I bought it, lived its life mostly in Utah and Arizona, so I haven't found much rust. Paint is in OK shape, with several pretty deep scratches that I'm hoping won't require repainting the whole car to correct. Except for a cracked dash, the interior is in good condition - the cloth sport seats were reupholstered by the PO and look good. The car runs pretty well, shifts smooth, and has functional AC that has already been converted to R134. That said, it still needs quite a bit of work, particularly in the worn-out suspension and maintenance items for the engine.

So I think my goal is to leave it mostly stock, while cleaning up the body and interior as much as I can, and addressing all the deferred maintenance that has accumulated over 28 years. I already have a truck that I can DD and a race car, so I really just want to have this as a fun commuter and weekend car. I'll do a few mods and updates, but want to maintain the original character of the car as much as I can.

Looking forward to learning more about this car and having some fun with it!

Couple more photos to show the starting point: