Faye: My 1991 318is

[swimstarguy]

After a very long time of looking around for another e30 to replace the one I broke back in '06 I finally found one.

Mileage in the 230k range but runs like a dream. No hot start problems, stumbling, or weird noises. When I got it I was planning on picking up a new DD but she's too clean and I decided to make her my weekend/project car instead. Meaning I can do more impractical things than I would have otherwise...

The PO maintained the car very well. Even took care of the mess under the intake for me.

I have lots of big plans for her but I'll probably be too busy with actual responsibilities to every see them fulfilled.

Here's what I'm looking to do; I'll mark them off as I complete my goals.

-Power Steering
It's leaking all over my garage floor now. I'll probably just do a PS delete and be done with it. I've run lots of cars without it and I'm sure this'll be fine too

-AC
The air conditioning pump works, holds a charge and everything. It's just not switching on. I haven't looked at it at all yet. Could just be a fuse or something for all I know.

-Wheels and Tires
I'd like some more "enthusiast oriented" shoes on rather than what I'm kickin' now.
Anyone have recommendations? Won't see a ton of miles a year and no snow or rain or anything. I'm just looking for something fairly cheap but still grippy.

-Suspension etc.
New suspension on there now but I'd like something with a bit more pep. I wont' be doing anything seriously competitive but some for fun HPDE's, track days, or autox's here and there are planned.

-Engine
I love high revving little engines. I just do. I have no plans for a big 6 swap. I'd like to do an NA build to get a few more ponies loose and to feel a little more comfortable when I wring her out near the top. If funds permit, I'd like to do a turbo build. There are a few stations nearby that sell E85 fuel. I'm going to start doing serious research on high compression/E85 turbo builds. If I do anything with it at all it will just be to see if I can. I'm more interested in having fun than putting down impressive numbers.

That's all for now. Work starts this weekend. I'll also be continuously adding to my to do list.

[DesktopDave]

Welcome to the 'club.  Looks like you picked yourself up a nice little car.  Alpine white is a favorite of mine, looks really nice on BMWs.

Definitely ditch the PS.  I pulled mine and it's been great ever since.  These cars are so well balanced it matters very little.  An e36 rack at the same time is a great upgrade.

Not sure about the A/C.  Might be a bad clutch, relay or control unit.  Check R3v for that, they have a lot more traffic than we do.  You are in an elite; most of us have discharged systems (or they've been deleted).

The most loved combo on our cars is Bilstein Sport/H&R Sport.  Eibach, Ireland Engineering, Koni, etc all have excellent hardware as well.  BMW OEM MTech (Sachs) is a great compromise as well.

Looks like the PO painted the front & rear valences; it's just a personal preference with me, but I've seen some really nice Alpine White e30s that went the other way...the whole car is body-color matched.  Looks stunning when it's done right with an iS lip, wheel effects and some side skirts.

[sqlpython]

Welcome!
I have nothing to add regarding Trouble Shooting. I just wanted to say...
Nice Vehicle. Certainly, looks to deserve even an Engine.

 What is the interior wear like?  Photos?

[swimstarguy]

Welcome to the 'club.  Looks like you picked yourself up a nice little car.  Alpine white is a favorite of mine, looks really nice on BMWs.

Definitely ditch the PS.  I pulled mine and it's been great ever since.  These cars are so well balanced it matters very little.  An e36 rack at the same time is a great upgrade.

Not sure about the A/C.  Might be a bad clutch, relay or control unit.  Check R3v for that, they have a lot more traffic than we do.  You are in an elite; most of us have discharged systems (or they've been deleted).

The most loved combo on our cars is Bilstein Sport/H&R Sport.  Eibach, Ireland Engineering, Koni, etc all have excellent hardware as well.  BMW OEM MTech (Sachs) is a great compromise as well.

Looks like the PO painted the front & rear valences; it's just a personal preference with me, but I've seen some really nice Alpine White e30s that went the other way...the whole car is body-color matched.  Looks stunning when it's done right with an iS lip, wheel effects and some side skirts.

Alpine White's my favorite too. One of the reasons it took me so long to find the car I wanted. The body had to be clean, it had to be a 318, it had to be an is, and it had to be white. Worth the wait.

I'm also looking at e36 racks in the area. Waiting for a few to fall into my price range. I'll probably do it with the suspension further down the road and just pull the PS stuff for now.

I did see that the valences were painted. Not what I wanted but I figured I'd live with it. I'll probably do the Volvo lip thing if one turns up at the local salvage yard.

Welcome!
I have nothing to add regarding Trouble Shooting. I just wanted to say...
Nice Vehicle. Certainly, looks to deserve even an Engine.

 What is the interior wear like?  Photos?

Too late for better pictures tonight. I just took those on my way back from the DMV when I registered her. A graveyard was the only empty lot I found. haha. I didn't even think about the interior. It's clean everywhere but the drivers seat. :/ I've a few of those I'm looking at as well but it's not a high priority right now since the seat's still ~70% good

[ZaNDeR]

Nice looking car dude! Time to get some new valences haha

[swimstarguy]

Update...

She's been sitting in my garage for a long time.

Long story short, something broke.
I haven't been able to do much with the car since work has been a pain and I've gone back to school.

Can anyone give me any ideas on what to look for before I take the timing chain cover off? How FUBAR'd am I? Is it worth repairing or will the cost of the repairs be to the point where I should just gamble on something else?

At this point, I'm trying to decide what to do.
I wanted to freshen up the body/suspension/wheels etc. before going into the engine. I didn't want to dump a new heart into an old body. I wanted to make a car fit for something great but I had to do it in steps because funds are slow...

Do I do the engine swap/turbo that I was hoping for in a car with old stock suspension?
Do I waste money fixing this problem, get the car straightened out, and then go at the engine again?

ffffuuuuuuu

[deansweet]

Maybe the timing belt tensioner failed and got shot thru the timing belt cover?
Curious, does it still run?

Time to pull the cover and investigate. Your car is too pretty to not get running again!

[swimstarguy]

Step one will be getting my garage set up.

I have one light bulb, no work benches, and one outlet. Half of that one outlet has the garage door opener plugged into it too. :rolleyes

There's also no side door to the garage, if I blow a fuse with the door down, I'm stuck inside.

My dad and I were clearing out the wood the PO left in the back and he got bit by a spider. His foot changed color and swelled up for a week. He couldn't get his shoes on for days.

Long story short, my garage sucks.



So, engine ideas...
I feel like it will be cheaper to turbo the thing after repairs rather than trying to do an NA build. I've been talking to this guy about how he got evo pistons in his m42. I don't want to deal with FI though... :/

Any other I4's that can be swapped in easily that make decent power and don't weigh a ton?

[DesktopDave]

Take the cam cover off and see what's going on with that cam chain.  It's not unusual on the early M42 for the idler pulley to snap off, or for the chain guides to wear out, or for the tensioner to fail.  All can cause the chain to skip a few teeth.  I'd guess that your chain jumped, but that's an odd place for damage.  Maybe a cracked chain guide mount let the chain chew through the case?  Typically that happens on the passenger side of the motor though.

I'm hoping that you don't have 16 bent valves, but from that I'd say it's unlikely.  However, used M42s are cheap.  BMW made a lot of them - and the 318i was always seen as a budget car...so good ones are still pretty cheap.  You also don't have to have an e30 motor.  The later e36 versions will fit if you swap some belts, manifolds, etc.  I'd bet the post-95 M44 would fit as well, given some fairly major electrical work.

Swapping a head can easily be done outside with a few basic tools.  I've done it myself several times.  The M42 short block is truly rugged - they're almost always OK even if the head has totally self-destructed.

If you're staying stock, there's a guy selling much of what you need down in Zionsville, Indiana...here's a link.   He's less than 5 hours from you and it's an incredible deal.  $500 gets you a huge chunk of parts including a good motor, lift & engine stand, trim and other stuff  (I'd consider going halfsies if you don't need all of it).  I wish it wasn't so late in the season - I could pick it up in my van, visit family in Chicago & likely drop off whatever you need!

Another cheap, easy swap that's been documented all over the place is an M50 or M52.  The S5x is expensive, but correspondingly more powerful.  Find yourself an e38 530i 5-series.  They have the correct oil pan to fit the e30 chassis, they have a lightweight alu block and stock they run an easy 200 hp stock IIRC.  But if I had the expertise, I'd be looking to swap one of the new BMW turbo four cylinders (like the N20 in the 335i/Z4/528i/328i/X3.  Seems like an incredible motor, but that's a lot of work to swap.  Who knows what sort of fun the electrical interfaces would be.

If you want sheer power the best bang-for-the-buck is hands-down a smallblock like the LS1 or some variant thereof.  The BMW M30 is another cheap alternative.  My '82 6-series was nowhere near as lithe as my e30 - but what a tremendously sweet motor!