Introducing our "New" BMW 318is 4 door

Started by Jims5543, January 24, 2015, 07:45:54 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Jims5543

This deal took 3 months to hammer out.

So this story starts 5 years ago, a good friend from another forum purchased a 1991 4 door 318is with a 1999  M52B28 (~57K miles) and brand-new 2006 E46 M3 6-speed (~6K miles since install) in it.

When he told me about it I told him very clearly, when he was done with it, I will buy it, no questions asked just tell me how much.

So he emailed me back in November to let me know he was selling, I emailed back and said SOLD!! I overnighted him a 50% deposit and set out to sell the RX8 in earnest.

Then as events unfolded we decided on a January 3rd delivery, as the date was approaching I was realizing I had too much going on to get the car. As luck would have it his wife backed into a pole and her DD was in the shop so this worked out perfect, He DD'd the E30 and she drove his car. The E30 was a 3rd car for them.

So now came the fateful day of January 24th, we agreed this would be the day, Mrs5543 had no idea what was going on. She had no clue, having sold the RX8 she had lamented she would like a car again as her Great Aunt cannot climb into the FJ.

I smiled and said nothing.

So my son and I had to head to Wellington, Florida to drop the driveshaft off from his E30, this gave us the excuse to go on the road, we lied some and told her it was a long drive and we would not be back until 1-2 PM. We dropped the drive shaft off and raced to Miami (an hour from where we were) and Met up with the seller and did the deal.

I drove it home and as luck would have it  Mrs5543 and our 11 y/o were out on a walk to town to get some stuff, so I tucked it into the garage and waited.

Here it is tucked away:


So Mrs5543 gets home and I take her to the garage, she looks at the car, hesitates, then walked towards it and hugs the hood proclaiming this car is bad ass!!! on top of her lungs. I got a hug after that.

Then she took it in and really flipped out as I pointed out all the specialness about it. 

Here she is pulling away on her first drive:




This is Mrs5543 taking a pic after her test drive to post on Instagram.


The car? As mentioned a 1991 4 Door 318is with much much more... See below:

Quote
1999 M52B28 (2.8L 2793cc)
S52 Cams (E36 M3)
21.5 lb injectors
M50 computer (red-label 413 ECU) - used 318 harness box connected to 325 wires, with OEM BMW connectors. NO EWS.
OBD1 converted: M50 manifold, OBDI throttle body, OBD1 wiring harness/ecu/sensors
S52 valve cover
3.5" 540i AFM (1994-1996 540, 740, 840 - BMW part # 1362-1747156)
Conforti carbon fiber intake with ITG filter and Samco 3.5" to 3" intake elbow from Bimmerworld (yes, the expensive one!)
Chuck Stickley (CSS Motorsports) custom tune for M52 w/ S52 cams, 21.5 lb injectors, 3.5" HFM and stock E36 exhaust. Arguably better than Jim C chips for 24V applications and makes more power. Rev limit is 7200 RPM
New NGK plugs
7-Series brake reservoir - sits above intake instead of under like 320i – provides better maintenance access (and to fuel lines too)
Brake reservoir adapters from an E21
325ix brake booster
E28 M5 engine mounts
M5 master cylinder
All new gaskets where parts for the swap were changed (i.e. the oil pan gasket and oil sump gasket for the e34 oil pan and sump)
Fully converted R134a A/C (ice cold), using AC compressor from M50; stock lines with redone ends
Always frequent oil changes, and always with conventional 5W30 oil from BMW: the VANOS units on the M52 were designed to use the conventional oil slight pastiness/buildup as lubricant (thus a full synthetic is not advised for this application). Talk to Dr. Vanos about this!
New power steering lines, fresh power steering fluid and brake fluid
E30 M3 wiring loom cover

Old Pic of engine:




The interior:
Quote
Full leather swap in Natur from a 325is (formerly had ratty gray cloth) in great shape with arm rest/ski pass-through rear.
New near-mint tan coupe sports (perforated leatherette) with forward angle capability. All adjustments work. Comfort leather seats are stored indoors.
New full set of tan BMW floor mats with BMW logo, and (4) soft black rubber mats on top of those.
New power sunroof: completely new sunroof cartridge, installed and drain tubes cleaned.
M-Tech II steering wheel.
Airbag car - has the padded under dash panel.
New rear seatbelts/anchors, torqued to factory spec. I occasionally need to put my 2 1/2 year-old in her seat in the back, and was not going to take any chances with safety. She loves "daddy's fun car, the Bimmer."
UUC SSK, with all new bushings, plastic parts, etc. – and all OEM so in future can just use part numbers off the side of anything that wears out.
OEM BMW E46 ZHP/M 6-speed weighted short-shift knob with new boot
New (used) fully functional VDO "I" cluster with 7000RPM tach.
Maplight rearview mirror.
E36 window switch retrofit.
George Graves interior light delay with auto dimming.
Check panel and 13 button OBC (fully functional).
Sony CD head unit. MB-Quart separates front and back. Using OEM front door mirror corner tweeter enclosures.
Extra fog lamp switch wired to garage door opener (behind switchplate on top of head unit DIN chassis) in dash next to hazard switch. I'll leave the switch in place so you can do the same if desired.
Dynamat installed in front doors, backs didn't need it. OEM carpet. Trunk noise-reducing tar did not come on the 318, so the car is nice and light but could be a bit quieter.
Clean, complete toolkit, jack, full-size spare (on bottlecap), etc.



Marks Pic in Miami:


So, this car puts 210 to the wheels, the reason for the 2.8 liter 1999 motor  over say, a M3 3.0 liter motor? It was always planned to be supercharged, the 208 block is the same as the 3 and 3.2 blocks so the cylinder walls are thick and are perfect for forced induction.

The plan is to do some TLC (there is honestly not much) over the next 2 years then lay plans to toss a supercharger in for about 6 PSI which should make it a nice 300RWHP sled.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

Mudhen


94touring


Jims5543

Thanks guys

I question my sanity sometimes as the old cars appeal to me more than anything new out there.

So now we have a 24 year old car and a 36 year old car in the garage.

I guess I like the adventure of an old car.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

Jims5543

Registered and on the road, Mrs5543 drove it to the office this morning. She needs to work on her parking skills. I see door dings in our future.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

tsumini

WOW nice ride. E 30's getting harder to find.

jedduh01

#6
Awesome awesome ride - E30's have class-! and this one looks built right from a true enthuist with the right parts all around -  Complete package nearly all OEM....  328iS  = WHAAA!!!

Kinda Jelous!

Jims5543

Thanks guys, she is really sweet I am in love with this car. A perfect E30 in my honest opinion.  When my buddy bought this car 5 years ago I was super impressed and he has only made it better.

I have some things that need to be done, the power steering is making a lot of noise, not sure what is up yet, the pump may be on the way out. A common upgrade is to go up to a E36 M3 steering rack (probably buy a new pump as well) so I feel like that may be my first real big project on her.

Then there is just lots of little TLC things, tail lights are old and tattered, hope to either find some brand new ones or something in better shape.

Black trim (rain gutter, around doors side trim etc) is all very worn out and beat up. So that will be addressed, not sure how yet still researching.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

Jims5543

Picked up a cool little device to reset me oil change indicator for $15.



Also installed a subwoofer since we have an armrest (ski pass) in the rear seat.





Started wiring in the V1, should have it wired in this week.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

Jims5543

The tail lights were really bothering me. They are probably every minute of the 24 years old the car is and just done.

Before:


After:



Much better:


The car is debadged, it should have a 318is badge on the back, I toyed with putting a 328is one on instead.  I will most likely leave it clean back there, I like the look.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

94touring

Nice improvement.  First thing I did to the rx7 was put on efini badges.  Badges is where it's at. 

Mudhen

New taillights or did you refinish them somehow?

Jims5543

Brand new OEM lights, there was no saving the old ones they had millions of little cracks all over them, I was amazed they were still in one piece.

I did some shopping around and found them for about $50 less than the big BMW supply companies wanted for them.

Now I am trying to figure out what to door about the window weather stripping and other exterior trim pieces. They are all pretty shot.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

Jims5543

#13
On the other end of the of the car, opposite the taillights, the headlights have been giving us problems since the day I purchased it. The seller told me that the one headlight was finicky. Every time I had to drive this car at night that one low beam would never come on. I had to pop the hood and fiddle with the wires.

We were in West Palm Beach about 2 weeks ago for dinner and a movie in City Place, when we left I had to fiddle with the headlight, it would not work, then the other low beam decided to stop working too.  So now, at 10 at night I have no headlights 50 miles from home. I throw on the fog lights and only one comes on (a future project as well) so I drive home with 1 fog light and do not get pulled over.

I ordered a set of H4 lights and intended to swap them in, I went into the garage and realized they would never work, so I went online and ordered a $250 headlight assembly for both sides, all brand new bulbs, wiring brackets, etc... complete swap out.

We are leaving in the morning for Orlando, I had a day from hell at work today, the AC on my work truck started blowing warm, tons of stuff due, needy clients with requests, etc.. I did not get home until after 7 pm.  I went out and charged up the AC on the work truck hoping that is the problem, maybe a slow leak??

Then dived into the garage to replace the headlights on the E30 I really wanted to keep the Euro Smiley lights so I decided to go with non-DOT approved Euros.

Ripping everything out, the new lights come with some nice connectors on them, except they are no stock so I have no idea what brand connector to get to attach to them. Fuck it, I cut them off, I am hard wiring this bitch.



After some test fires, I finally installed using marine butt connectors that you crimp then heat to seal. They are amazing. I finally have Euro City lights that function in my headlights, just like my Mini has.

In the dark:


With my 15K LED shop lights on:



Holy crap!! I have headlights that work when I flip the switch!!

Next 2 pics in the dark:


High beams!!


And with the shop lights on:


I adjusted best I could for now, may have to do some more. It is just nice to know they will come on when I need them.

I wanted to do this when I take it off the road in the fall for paint and lots of TLC but sometimes you need to do things sooner.
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

94touring


Jims5543

Yeah, it sucked stressing because you never knew what the headlights were in the mood for.
I finally drove it in the dark last night, lots of adjusting to do, what looked good in the garage was not so good on the street. Gonna go to a parking lot one night and adjust them how I want them.

Back to the Mini now.

I need to wrap up the Mini by the end of July so I can move on to the E30, it has a long list of TLC items I need to do. I am also hoping to put a new clutch and lightened flywheel in it

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson

94touring


MiniDave

YOU should talk!!!!!   ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

MPlayle

Hey, Dan does get cracking on "the Mini" - everyone else's Mini, not his own!

:D


94touring


jeff10049

Went over to Vancouver WA. today with a friend to pick up this for his son who is getting ready to drive has a permit knew what he wanted and saved his money. He's gonna change the rims first then fix a few things over the next few months. until he gets his license. I Pulled over when we got out of the WA and Portland OR. Traffic ( took 2/3 of the way back to get out of it) and his son Jack drove it the rest of the way he's good for just learning and not driving a stick much.


stan360

#21
I did the I-5 commute into Seattle from Olympia for a bit....out here in Kansas, a 60 mile commute takes 45 to an hour and you can drive 75 many places....Not up there...too busy.  I spent a lot of time on I-5 doing 15 mph.   

jeff10049

yea, sometimes when I think the traffic here in central or. sucks I remind myself of what  its like over in portland or seattle.

MiniDave

Yep, here in KC we don't have rush hour, we have rush minutes..... ;D
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Jims5543

Quote from: jeff10049 on July 24, 2016, 09:00:42 PM
Went over to Vancouver WA. today with a friend to pick up this for his son who is getting ready to drive has a permit knew what he wanted and saved his money. He's gonna change the rims first then fix a few things over the next few months. until he gets his license. I Pulled over when we got out of the WA and Portland OR. Traffic ( took 2/3 of the way back to get out of it) and his son Jack drove it the rest of the way he's good for just learning and not driving a stick much.

Nice clean car, I like this kid and I never met him. My son was the same, he is on his 3rd E30 he has only owned E30's since he got his license.

Timing belt!!  Do it, no matter what the seller tells you, do it.

Looks like a really nice, car.  Best of luck to the lad.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride! -Hunter S. Thompson