M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS

FAQ / REFERENCE => Member Profiles => Topic started by: She loved E on September 14, 2008, 06:46:35 PM

Title: She loved E
Post by: She loved E on September 14, 2008, 06:46:35 PM: Howdy.

I picked up my 318is last month. So far its badass! :)

(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-030-web.jpg)

(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-035-web.jpg)

I got it to split DD duties with this:

(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/500e/500E-073-CC.jpg)

Basically, the Merc is the cruiser (319hp ftw, 3800 lbs ftl), E30 will get prepped for some lite track action (staying street-legal).

The plan:
1. Cosmetics - clean the paint, lose the pinstripe, restore shadowline & other trim
2. Maintenance - needs some suspension bushings, fix PS leak, probably drop the lower pan just to make sure nothing's amiss

That's it for now. Big thanks to friends in BMWCCA for persuading me to buy the car (previous owner is a CCA driving instructor and kept the car in GREAT shape). This forum is the shizz btw.

Kyle
Title: She loved E
Post by: dude8383 on September 14, 2008, 09:32:10 PM: E500 ey? Man I love those cars... I think they're one of the most classic shapes from the E-series.

Back to m42...it looks MINT!

Welcome to the board.
Title: She loved E
Post by: Jimmy Lewis on September 14, 2008, 09:39:00 PM: Yeah both cars look great, the MB looks very muscular, haha. Welcome.
Title: Nice!
Post by: bimma_318iS on September 15, 2008, 02:07:36 AM: I like your taste in cars!!

Very nice.
Title: Step 1: Remove Pinstripes
Post by: She loved E on September 24, 2008, 11:14:24 PM: Thanks for the compliments! :)

I got rid of the pinstripes. :D

Here's what it looked like...
(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-Paint-Resto-001-web.jpg)

Since there's no clearcoat, we know the stripes are above the paint. So all we need is acetone, a blunt object & elbow grease (aloe & vitamin e optional)...
(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-Paint-Resto-010-web.jpg)
(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-Paint-Resto-007-web.jpg)

Which leaves us with this...
(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-Paint-Resto-008-web.jpg)

Spend more time with acetone & rag and voila!
(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-Paint-Resto-013-web.jpg)

Dog approves...
(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-Paint-Resto-018-web.jpg)

Overall I'd say it took 8 hours to remove the stripes, & I went through an 8oz bottle of acetone. Some panels were easier than others, so results may vary.

One last thing for now... here's a sneak preview of the paint resto (note left vs. right :eek:)
(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-Paint-Resto-027-web.jpg)

More to come...

-Kyle
Title: She loved E
Post by: Asserti on September 25, 2008, 02:49:16 AM: very nice color! nice work!
Title: She loved E
Post by: Wise Old Dog on September 25, 2008, 04:56:11 PM: Nice cars. I see we have similar tastes in cars. I have a white 318is, and a white 87 W124 300d. I have the AMG aero 2 wheels like yours in the chrome version. That MB rules up on the highway. The BMW rules on the twisties.
Title: She loved E
Post by: Jtuner on September 25, 2008, 08:44:24 PM: VERY clean 318is :) keep up the good work,, the benzito is gorgeous as well, welcome to our lil fam
Title: She loved E
Post by: JP 91iS on September 25, 2008, 09:52:27 PM: I would be careful using acetone on your paint, it is a paint thinner and having acetone on your paint for extended amounts of time can tarnish or remove the paint layers.
Title: She loved E
Post by: She loved E on September 26, 2008, 12:49:43 AM: Quote from: JP 91iS;57385
I would be careful using acetone on your paint, it is a paint thinner and having acetone on your paint for extended amounts of time can tarnish or remove the paint layers.

Very true. Every 3-4 minutes I made sure to spray down the area I was working with quik detailer so that it wasn't on the paint for an extended period.
Title: She loved E
Post by: EN318isPDX on September 26, 2008, 11:27:15 AM: I dig the 666 plate on the merc
Title: She loved E
Post by: Eurospec on September 28, 2008, 05:51:09 PM: Very nice. How many miles on the E30?
Title: She loved E
Post by: She loved E on September 28, 2008, 10:39:27 PM: Quote from: Eurospec;57464
Very nice. How many miles on the E30?

Thanks! 170k. I'll try to get more interior & close-up pix soon. Overall its in very good shape, although there are a few details I need to work out.

Wise Old Dog - any pics of your W124? You don't often see those in white (or diesel!).

Kyle
Title: Removed the lower oil pan to find...
Post by: She loved E on October 17, 2008, 11:17:36 PM: one upper bolt loose and one floating in the bottom of the pan :eek: .

So, retorqued and good to go. Good news - no other bits of anything in the pan, so hopefully I'll be good for another 170k ;) FYI - removing the old gasket was a major PITA. Took at least an hour of scraping. Luckily the car was on a lift instead of on stands in my driveway.

(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-Oilpan1.jpg)

(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/318is-Oilpan2.jpg)
Title: She loved E
Post by: She loved E on May 22, 2010, 04:14:56 AM: no update in a while so here goes...

Suspension is DONE! Well, it was until I saw the reverse rake and just ordered drop hats to fix that. Then time for an alignment and suspension should be squared away.

In the rear I decided to go with stock RTABs after troubles trying to seat the IEs. BTW if anyone local is going to do RTABs PM me... I have the bushing tool for these that you can borrow.

Mr. Tony helped me roll my fenders YAY! to clear the 15x7 ET13 wheels I'm running. Still rub a bit in the back so its time to break out the grinder.

Hot start issue turned out to be the fuel pump. It had a loose connection and would short only when warm (WTF?)... then the used replacement pump I bought went bad two days later , so I lucked out and found a new VDO unit for cheap here: http://www.autobahnparts.com/ (these guys are really flippin cool by the way... ppl just chillin installing parts in the parking lot & they gave me a discounted cash price ).

what else what else... oh yeah, pics...

(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/IMG_1936-sm.jpg)

(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/IMG_1939-sm.jpg)

(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/IMG_1970-sm.jpg)

(http://www.kylejochai.com/reflexgti/318is/IMG_1981-sm.jpg)
Title: She loved E
Post by: jscribble on June 17, 2010, 09:56:53 PM: Those are some jaw dropping shots of the 'is. Very nice work.