1990 BMW 318i - update 11/4/10

[Robinxr4i]

I felt like the Volvo had drained all my mojo so I sold it and brought a broken E30

I picked it up off a mate a few weeks ago, with a snapped cambelt and blown head gasket. The engine which had done 157,000 miles seemed like an uneconomical repair as the parts to fix it came in at over £100. I found a replacement engine via E30zone which was £50 from Birmingham with 99,000 miles which I collected Sunday, took the old one out and put the new one in yesterday and had it running today (all in Halfords car park ;D ghetto mechanics FTW!) well proud of my self as it all went really well and fired up first time!

Anyway a few pics.....




I've already removed the black tint spray from the indicators and side repeaters, unfortunately the Azev's are not part of the deal but I've still got the SSR RS-eights that I brought for the Volvo (imo I think they will suit the BMW much better)

Think I'm going to do them red with a polished lips....


or maybe something else?







along with the wheels will be some fat spacers, skinny tyres and a bit more lowering.

Opinions welcome

[Neil]

purple & green!

[mk14dr]

Ace, Ive just got a 320iA touring and I'm loving it.

Well done on the ghetto engine swapage, they're not too bad to work on are they really?

Anyway, I think you should do the wheels purple with a green lip, like bruiser chew bars

[Robinxr4i]

Jan 26, 2010 22:44:00 GMT mk14dr said:

Well done on the ghetto engine swapage, they're not too bad to work on are they really?

I think it's probably the easiest car I've ever worked on! Nothing was seized and it all came apart easily, the wiring loom was all contained it its own little box that is hidden under the inlet manifold and there was plenty of room in the engine bay to play with only being a 4pot.

The real proof is I'm not a fast worker, and it only took me a day and a half to get the old engine out, the new one in and running in a car park on my own.

[petetong]

black with red rim...

looks like a nice E30... would it make a trip down to cornwall on the 28th??

oh and what happed to the sierra?

[rysz]

Good news man!

Ahem...



Rysz.

[Robinxr4i]

^^^^ Yeah thats a lush E30, if mine is half as cool as that I'll be happy ;D

Jan 26, 2010 23:14:57 GMT petetong said:

black with red rim...

looks like a nice E30... would it make a trip down to cornwall on the 28th??

oh and what happed to the sierra?

If I've got money and petrol I'll be there on the 28th.

The Sierra well........ I crashed it and the fix was a bit involved, instead of fixing it (which is what I should have done) I decided it was time to move on so I got a Volvo 360. Which I loved at first then got bored of real quickly. Now I wish I'd never got rid of the Sierra.

Moral of the story: What I had was a great fun car that I loved, and I forgot it

[ExJarkle]

Ace! Lime green and silver wheels would look good in my opinion.

[Robinxr4i]

Small amount of progress, towards the mot. The rear drums were seized, due to the shoes being rustier than the titanic.

From this.....


to this......


Boring I know, anyway on a more aesthetic note my friend Zak took it apon himself to mop and polish the car (he's got a thing about black car being shiny lol) IMO the result is fantastic, the paint was flat and almost blue in places, now it's shines like fook ;D The camera phone pics don't do it justice, compared to how it did look.











Fingers crossed going to do the welding to it tomorrow, as there is a small hole in the rear D/S wheel arch. Then with some tyres it should be ready to MOT , when funds allow

[mk14dr]

Looking sharp after only a little bit of love.

I hope you get better MPG than me, I can't see me getting more than 25mpg at the moment Still, mine makes an epic noise

[Robinxr4i]

Right! A long overdue update. Anyway the 318 passed the MOT first time, with only advisories for a crack in the windscreen and a little play in the steering wheel. The car drive nicely and skids okay considering it's currently rocking a horrid set of 17" wheels with relatively wide 205 tyres. I 've trimmed a whole coil off the front spring to address the fact the car had negative rake, it now sits with the front noticeably lower than the rear which is how I like it so there ;D

I finally took the plunge and started painting the split rims! I decided against a polished lip as I don't have the patience to do it myself and to get a local firm to do it was around £80 (not that expensive, but more than I can affords at the moment). I went for a florescent green lip and satin black centers. The florescent green come out in a matt finish so I got a friend with a compressor to lacquer them, he seemed to think it was a good idea to put some green/blue glitter in the lacquer too. Some photos…….