CePA318IS

[CePa318IS]

Hey Everyone,

I decided to pick up a new hobby in car building/collecting.  I have always been a European Car fan and especially with BMW.  I have never owned a BMW until a month ago when I finally found a 1991 Alpine White 318iS in the right condition for me.  This has been a search 4 years in the making.  I am extremely happy I finally found it.  I was a VW man for the longest time and finally have decided to spread my wings to BMW.

I plan on learning this car inside and out.  I am huge into DIY so I will be making lots of pictures and articles on the work I will be doing with the car.  I plan on garaging the car in about a month to start tearing it apart.   At the moment the car is sitting outside with an outdoor cover on it under 4 inches of snow, so I do not have any pictures to post.  

For the most part I would like to keep this car stock for now.  I plan on replacing worn parts with OE parts except for the suspension.

General Build Outline
1.  Figure out what is causing tapping sound when driving before I tear the car apart.

2.  Tear down of ALL parts in car (organizing/cleaning/replacing worn parts)

3.  Bodywork
           a.  fix 2 really small dings on back pass fender, front pass fender
           b.  still deciding between stock IS front or genuine m-technic 2 front
           c.  Prep for respray

4.  Suspension - Everything you can possibly think of with suspension, I will be upgrading (If you cant handle the power, whats the point of having it eh?)

5.  Interior - Full working electric interior (keeping A/C) with addition of heated seats and upgrade the OBC.  Oh and I plan on converting the manual crank sun roof to power sun roof.

6. Transmission - Rebuild.  The tranny is actually fine, I just want to tear it apart and replace anything that is on the verge of going and I want to see what the inside looks like.

7. Engine (currently at 140,342 miles) - Rebuild (Dont really need to though).  The engine runs great.  There is tapping after warm up and I start driving.  Have not yet determined where that is coming from, but I will.  Maybe I can get some help from you all.  Like the tranny, I just want to tear it apart and see what the guts look like and replace any worn parts.

Thats pretty much the plan of build.  I have many more specifics, just did not feel like typing them all out right now.  I am glad I found a m42/318iS club.  I look forward to meeting you all and learning many things about this car I love so much.

Talk to ya later
Scott

[FL318is]

WELCOME!!! and congrats.  Plenty of help here.  Post pics when you can.

[CePa318IS]

Well bad news.

Last night I was driving home from the market and something bad happened.  I was about 3 miles from the house and as I made a switch from 4th to 5th gear, I start to hear, "plink, plank, bam, thwap, crack, and then boom.  Then lots and lots of smoke ensued.  I smelt burning oil.  I quickly and safely pulled over to the side of the road as to not create a pile up on the highway.  

I get out my trusty flashlight and open the hood.   I wait for the smoke to clear and then I inspect the engine.  I find the culprit with no problems.  I CAN SEE INTO MY BLOCK!!!!  There is a hole the size of my fist in the block. It looks like the piston slap finally took its toll and blew out my block.  From what I can see, I am missing a piston and a rod.  It appears they flew out when the block blew.

I was able to get the car towed back to my house.  It is now sitting.  I am trying to get my hands on a digital camera to take some pics to show everyone.  It looks like I have to decide what I am going to do with the 318IS.  I am keeping the car, I do know that.  The part I am not sure of now is what to do with the engine.  Should I replace the block and continue with the m42 powerplant or go for the nice power upgrade and perform a m3 swap.  I like both powerplants a lot, but this is kind of the kick in the pants I need to perform the M swap.  What should I do guys?  Please dont flame me for the desire for an M swap.  I know this is an M42 club, but I just am kind of anxious to do an M swap in this car.

[hoevesruperd]

money shift!!?
thats real bad news... if you can find and S engine for a good price, go for it. an M42 might cost you tenth of the price though... depends on your budget!
good luck

[twinpop171]

Sorry to hear about the blown m42.  Check out CR's BMW wholesale up the road from you in Newville.  Talk to Chris.  I haven't bought anything from him..yet, but he is super friendly and knowledgable.  I know he has done some swaps.  He had an e30 M3 DD with an m30 conversion that was pretty sweet.  He may be able to give you some direction.  Good luck and welcome to the club BTW.
Dan.

[CePa318IS]

Sorry to hear about the blown m42.  Check out CR's BMW wholesale up the road from you in Newville.  Talk to Chris.  I haven't bought anything from him..yet, but he is super friendly and knowledgable.  I know he has done some swaps.  He had an e30 M3 DD with an m30 conversion that was pretty sweet.  He may be able to give you some direction.  Good luck and welcome to the club BTW.
Dan.

Yea I have talked to Chris at CR's before.  My friend took me down to meet him like a year ago before I had a BMW and he is a good guy.  I oogled over his 2002's sitting on the side of his shop under the car ports.  I am surprised that so many people know him.  Apparently he is pretty well known around the area in BMW performance.  I am going down to talk to him next week when I get back from a work trip.  I think I have decided on an m42 replacement instead of the M3 upgrade for now.  If I cant find a deal on an M3, I will be putting a worked M42 back in (worked over of course).

I will keep you all updated as soon as I find a decent deal on an engine.

Nice to meet ya Dan


Scott

[twinpop171]

I will be putting a worked M42 back in (worked over of course).

I will keep you all updated as soon as I find a decent deal on an engine.

Nice to meet ya Dan


Scott

Nice to meet you as well. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.  There is a lot of help on these boards if you need it.
Dan.

[CePa318IS]

Well its been quite a while since I have posted anything. The update is that the car is still sitting in the driveway collecting birdshit. I was finally able to pull the airbox off to see the destruction. Here is some pics of the damage.
 
*Sorry about the links. I am having problems resizing the pics to viewable on the forums.*
 
http://freefall0118.googlepages.com/DSC02195.JPG
http://freefall0118.googlepages.com/DSC02197.JPG
http://freefall0118.googlepages.com/DSC02198.JPG
http://freefall0118.googlepages.com/DSC02200.JPG
 
You can see the rod sticking through the metal on the mount.  Does anyone know where I can get that mount piece replaced?  Anyone got a spare they dont need?  I did find a replacement good running m42 motor from white325. It shouldnt be to much longer before I can get it paid off and installed.
 
More updates to come
Scott

[CePa318IS]

So heres a few pics of his car on the lift about to get ripped into.
 



 
 
Reason why the motor is being swapped.
Pretty right. Oil pan had a hole the size of a golf ball too.
 

 
 
 


 
 

 






 


 


 

 
Motor is in.  She starts and runs.  We are having a problem.  The AUX fan wont kick on.  We are trying to figure that out.
 
More pics and video to come!

[CePa318IS]

I need to express my sincere appreciation to Mike and Matt (white325is and equalized customs).  They are the installers of the motor. They have gone above and beyond in helping bring my e30 back to life and on the road again.  I wouldnt be here if it wasnt for you guys.  
 
Thank you very much!