I started out looking for a 2002. I already frequent Pelican Parts BBS for Porsche 914 info and they have a BMW forum too. A little crawling around led me to Bimerforums want ads where I began looking for a nice '02. The site intrigued me, so I started looking at other areas. At first i looked at E21 threads because i had one in the mid-eightes when I lived in Germany (an 81 320/6 that was great for Autobahn but not for the Alps), That one met with an uncooperative 18-wheeler that chose not to stop when traffic signals dictated, After the E21 phase, I moved on to E30s. That is when I learned that an E 30 is really pretty close to a rebodied e 21. I also noticed a certainfervor from some posters about the four cylinder 3 series. I really never considered a 318. I wanted that inline 6 smoothness. But one group of 318is owners were just CRAZY for their little four bangers. I read more and more about the special breed of 318 E 30s with the dual overhead cam engine. The owners seem to emphasize the fun of lightness and revs, which sounded just like a 914. I was on the verge of closing a deal for one with all the desirable mods that was on the Bimmerforums classified, until the price reached $4000. I thought that was too much so I looked on autotrader and some other sites, and quickly learned that my particular selectivity was going to create a challenge. I enlisted some help. my brother soon found one a Rockville autos near DC. It looked pretty clean on the net. He test drove the hell out of it for a couple of hours, and called me. I told him to offer $3500 against the desired $3800. The dealer snapped it up. My bro drove it down for me. The coolant system commited suicide in the driveway, guage jumping and green stuff spitting, I thought I was about to learn about profile gaskets the first day of ownership. I parked it and started looking into parts. Happened to come accross Bilstien springs and dampers, drilled zimmerman rotors, and 16inch wheels and tires, timing chain tensioner, fan clutch, and the original requirement, a thermostat. So now I have about $5500 in it. It looks Ok but really needs paint and soon I'll need tie rod ends and bushings. Its also got the e-bay chip, but it does seem a bit stronger above 3500 rpm or so. I'm loving it. I'm also loving the community. Really a fun bunch of nuts. I'm really glad this board got off the ground!
