M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => General Topics => Topic started by: Boris3 on November 24, 2013, 07:57:33 AM
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Picked up a 1991 318is slicktop for a winter DD. One owner in Chicago until 167k and then four other owners and 235k on a broken odometer. Last owner stored more than drove it for the past three years. Brilliantrot with grey cloth. Needs a bit of love but a solid car. I've tracked down three of the POs for history on the car. Lowered on intrax springs. So far I've replaced fluids, filters, hoses, belts, blower resistor, new lower oil pan, missing upper pan bolts replaced and all locktited, replaced rusted wheel studs/lug nuts, added a Sump Armor skid plate, disintegrating hood insulation removed. Timing chain is quiet. Forum has been a big help!!
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/24/uda8etu9.jpg)
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Welcome to the 'club! You have a great little car there. It seems you've really covered the bases too - I can't think of any non-routine M42 maintenance you've missed. That's quite refreshing!
If you get a chance, can you post more pics! I'd love to see some pics of the suspension in particular.
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Thanks! Best guess is the suspension was changed around 168k by a PO from Chicago in 2006 I haven't been able to track down. Intrax springs (126/250) with Kyb shocks. Rides well but wouldn't have been my choice of a combination. Lowers the car about 1.5" f/r and a softer ride than the H&R sports Bilstein sports combo I had for a while on a 325i. The wild card on ride quality though is the old Fusion HRI 185/60/14 tires that came on the car. Need better tires and proper sizing to get a better feel.
Some pics showing ride height from the last PO:
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/24/apa2uqed.jpg)
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/24/e9abybav.jpg)
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Good thing you have a skid guard...that looks awfully low. I was curious about the KYBs on an E30 myself. I've used them on other cars; they were cheap and worked well. I like Bilsteins, but they can get a bit jittery on slow-speed & poor quality roads.