Messages

1

Member Profiles / Flavor Dave and Bad Kitty

« on: December 25, 2011, 05:21:18 PM »

Well, some pics from when I bought it back in August: http://imgur.com/a/RlVdJ#0

I have since, well, broken the sunroof XD, cleaned the engine bay with a rag and carb cleaner, cleaned out the air intake and throttle body, put on new tires...

I should really take her out on a mountaintop and take a few new piccies

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Member Profiles / Flavor Dave and Bad Kitty

« on: November 19, 2011, 06:34:07 PM »

Thanks for the welcome.

I will post some pics soon, and thanks for the heads up about the bleeding and the water/coolant ratio.

Cheers,
Dave

PS: Water Wetter makes your water wetter!

3

Off-topic discussion / 318is badge, wrong side????

« on: November 17, 2011, 05:41:04 PM »

I run 32 square, but I will try lowering the fronts to 29 and see how that changes the feel.  Thanks for the idea, as I do a lot of stop'n'go city driving on crappy roads.

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Engine management / Oil type question?

« on: November 17, 2011, 05:35:50 PM »

I use Mobil 1 0w40.  Bought it and a regular oil filter at O'Reilly Auto Parts (equivalent to AutoZone or Advance), no problems whatsoever.  When I bought the car, it had normal 10w30 dinosaur oil, and the car was sluggish until it warmed up a bit.  The zero-weight is thinner at ambient temperature, reducing the amount of initial engine wear.

I'm an insanely heavy driver (60-120 mi/day) so I'll be changing my oil often, every 7500 miles or so (three months).

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Member Profiles / Flavor Dave and Bad Kitty

« on: November 17, 2011, 05:23:17 PM »

Hello there,

They call me Flavor Dave at my workplace, and honestly I have no idea why.  I'm about as hood as an Easy Bake oven.

This past August I was fortunate enough to find an E36, 1993 318iS (M42), brillantrot, JA04375, with 184K miles on it for $2200.  Everything on it is stock except the catalytic converter (previous owner replaced it in '07) and the stereo, a Pioneer with a missing faceplate (/facepalm).  I haven't gotten around to swapping the stereo out yet, as I enjoy listening to the car itself.

I'm a pizza delivery guy, so I rack up anywhere from 60-120 miles per day on this beast, and I'm going to do my absolute damnedest to keep it in tiptop shape.  Hence why I came here - actually discovered this forum looking for a thermostat swap DIY (mine is stuck open, it's been running cold since I got the car, but in San Diego that doesn't really mean a whole lot as it never gets cold here.); my buddy Jason (E34 Dinan525i manual swap, E29 535i) and I will tackle that either this week or next.

The only things wrong with the car that I noticed, not counting the stereo, are:
1. Thermostat stuck open
2. Sunroof cassette broken (happened two weeks after I bought it, cheap plastic crap)
3. Interior lights for window switches and temperature dials (except for the AC/rear def buttons) do not work
4. Instrument panel goes schizo 1% of the time, refusing to read anything until I shut off the car and restart
5. AC needs recharging
6. Power steering hose has small leak

Except for the instrument panel, these are all things I can accomplish repairing in the next year.  Because the fluke happens so seldom and I've learned how to tell how fast I'm going by feel alone, I probably won't replace the instrument panel unless I decide to switch out the 7-button OBC with the 18-button (as I was told to replace them in tandem to preserve compatibility).

I will also be eventually adding foglights and angel eyes (DRM in Kearny Mesa makes E36 angel eyes, and I really like how they look on the E36), and I'm not sure whether I'll swap the tails with the white-top M-tails or not, as the amber really doesn't look all that bad against the Brillantrot. (If I had Boston green or something, I most certainly would.)

Pictures coming soon; I have to take some worth showing first.

Nice to meet you all.

Cheers,
Dave