1982 BMW E21 316

[jdlp]

So i'm new to this, forums and old motors,  but recently (semi-accidentally) picked this up for not a great deal of money, its 1982 and appears to only have 3 previous owners (two in the same family) and 30k miles on the clock with a decent amount of paperwork to back up the claim. Its all completely stock and the plan is to keep it that way.. for the time being, I figure these are getting fewer and further between and don't really want to do too much that cant be undone.  That said it has had a few niggly problems, so far i have had to replace the front calipers and i'm have recurring carb related idle issues that i cant seem to resolve, what are the thoughts on a weber conversion?

I'll keep you posted on any updates if anyone is interested, here she is as i found her.:

[jdlp]

[peter96]

I'm afraid I know nothing about working on old BMWs but welcome to Retro Rides. I must say I do like your E21. That looks like its in pretty good shape and seems like you got a goodun. Glad to hear you're going to keep it fairly stock. Up until a few years ago I used to regularly see a white 320 E21 locally. It was pretty stock and looked all the better for it. It still even had the original steel wheels fitted. I still see the owner about but in a Mk3 MR2. Must see if I can nab him some day and see if he still has his E21. Sorry to ramble on. Good luck with yours.

[🇿🇼Kingludba🇬🇧]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Keep the updates coming.

[shielsy68]

now that is a cracking car one of the best shapes ever

[jdlp]

Morning all, i will keep you all updated, it looks increasing likely that I'm going to have to swap the carb, having had the whole thing in bits and cleaned, and having replaced the mounting gasket and all other potentially obvious culprits its still idling as rough as it always has...pffft

The body work looks pretty sound no signs of serious problems, an annoying hole in the lip of the boot sill seems to be letting water in which needs to be sorted, but other than that nothing causing serious worries.

Tried my luck with an MOT as a bit of a fact finding mission, failed on a hole in the front pipe (which someone had tried to repair with a bit of tinfoil pie case and string?!) a front break binding which has been sorted with new calipers and this dang idling issue.

Thinking of getting the steels tidied up but the main priority is getting it road worthy to enjoy the rest of the summer!

[peter96]

If its an old Pierberg carb good luck with trying to get it to run properly. If you can find a Weber convertion its probably the best way to go.

[ChasR]

Regarding the rough idle try removing the fuel cap when it is not in use and then refit it. On my Carina this was the cause of the poor idling, cutting out at low RPM and shocking MPG. That is if your car has a vented fuel cap. Otherwise I'd look to the breathers on the tank.

I do love an E21 ; I still remember seeing a 316i on Twin Webbers around near me giving it some stick. God it sounded lovely.

[jdlp]

thanks for that Chas, alas too late. After further attempts and getting nowhere fast i waiting until frustration was at an all time high, took the plunge and ordered a Weber conversion, it arrived at the end of last week all shiny and new complete with instructions for fitting...it will be fitted by the end of the week (he says optimistically).
Also on the to do list is to replace the down pipe, the majority I have found seem to be a single pipe out of the manifold however mine seems to be two pipes out of the manifold which then join into one before the first box. This seems to be the same as the E30 does anyone know if the equivalent E30 pipe would fit?