1983 BMW E21 316, advert pics, 01/04

Belle!

is the original chrome enclosures on your wheels?

d'origine les entourages chromes des jantes?

That's a very tidy looking e21. It looks great in red.
You could probably get a nice set of original 13" BBS wheels for it cheap enough (that's what I've got on mine) to keep it nice and original if those steelies are going to be a pain.

nice

That looks like a really tidy example! Rust protection is a good idea, particularly if it's getting used through the winter.

lovely motor mate.

i've always liked this old shape, so much so, that i went to view one today and it also has the chrome wheel trim rings fitted! its totally original, so i think they were a bmw item/option.
its going very cheap and i quite fancy it as a winter runner, but the tank leaks. any of you guys know where spares can be got?
sorry to hijack the thread a bit but with a bit of luck i might be the proud owner of one of these next week.

yours looks nice and clean-good purchase!

Nice car bud! Any engine mods planned? I ran my M10 engined E30 on bike carbs and though it was a bit heavy on gas, it went a lot better. Looked nice too.

lance1a - I've not got much planned engine wise, though a megasquirt system could be fun to fit.

This car has had a tow bar fitted at some point, but the wiring for the lights was fitted using those nasty in-line connector blocks and when the tow bar was removed they just cut the extra wires off. This has all been tidied up now and re-wrapped with vinyl loom tape.




It seems one of the problems of trying to find alternative wheels for these E21's is the small offset (ET) required, only 18 compared to 30 for the later cars, so I had to jump when I found a set of suitable alloys, which I picked up and fitted today.




Three of the tyres were flat when I picked them up as they had not been in use for a while, once inflated I could see that a couple of them are leaking by the rim slightly and one had a leaking valve. I was in two minds about whether to use them straight away, but seeing as that one is leaking by the valve, I shall see about getting all four re-furbished. I guess they should go back to a light-ish silver, but was wondering whether it would look better if any parts were picked out in a darker colour.

Try and find a Weber carb. It'll totally transform your car with extra MPG and a lot more go.

Well it's been a long time and I've not really had to touch this car, just use it, but with the MOT in a few months time I thought I ought to do a few of the niggling jobs on it.
Ever since I bought it, there has been a bit of a wobble to the steering wheel at speed, but this has got gradually worse with occasional metallic knocking sounds. I worked out that the steering chatter which was reduced by replacing the rack bushes was in part due to knackered bushes on the front lower arm. It turned out the front anti-roll bar was slack and hitting the lower arm.




The bushes had both both failed most of the way by the bond between the outer metal sleeve and the rubber failing.




Fortunately this made for easy removal of the out bushes by just cutting through the old outer sleeve in a couple of places and knocking it in.




With the new bushes pushed in place the ride is much better, but the tracking is now out as it's changed the geometry again.

After I bought my E21 I realised that the front seat base was broken, two springs snapped and a centre support bar broken in two places with one end detached from the frame. My plan now is to repair (weld) the frame, but will have to remove all the trim to reduce the risk of setting it alight.
As the trim is quite worn and it has to come off anyway I was thinking about fitting new seat covers, but can anyone confirm what colour they are? I'm guessing it could be mocca?