Hey all - I'm in a bit of a conundrum WRT my 91 318is. I bought it about 5 years ago with 120k miles on the clock. Roof paint was faded, driver's seat was worn, but otherwise, a fairly solid car.
Fast forward to today, it has 166k on it. It was rear-ended about a year ago - right rear corner pushed in about 4". Taillight did not break, doors open, trunk opens - relatively light impact, but combined with the other two issues it has, I'm pretty much done with it.
The Bad:
- Body damage. Still drives straight.
- Oil leak - from the front of the motor. Thought it was the lower pan gasket, redid that, nope, that's not it. Timing chain cover? Upper pan gasket? I don't know, but it is fairly significant - it needs attention. Car has never shown the oil light, but if you drove it for 500-1000 miles without adding oil, I'm sure it would.
- Vacuum leak at idle. I've done a fair bit of investigating on that one, I believe it to be the ISV. Replaced intake gaskets, hoses, etc. Car runs and drives fine, but at idle, it will display the CEL, which gives a code for "vacuum leak." Forget which code, but basically, it has a vacuum leak. Cleaning the ISV improved things a fair bit, but they degraded again.
- Driver's seat is wasted. Bolster is badly worn, seats need recovering.
- Faded roof paint, but wetsand + wax brings it back.
- No LSD. Dammit.
The Good:
When I got it, I went through the car. It has, within the last 46k miles:
- New timing chain, tensioner, guides, etc.
- New control arms
- New rear control arm bushings
- New tie rods
- New Bilstein Sports
- New upper strut mounts
- New rear shock mounts (although a slight clunk developed after the accident)
- New AFM (refurbished)
- New plugs
- New cam sensor
- New crank sensor
- New thermostat
- All fluids replaced with synthetics
- New rotors
- New pads
- New pad wear sensors
- New battery (less than a year ago)
It currently has nearly new Hankook studded snows on the OEM 14" wheels.
I'm still pretty angry about the accident - before the body damage, it was a respectable, clean, straight car, bomber reliable, all of the old-car issues had been dealt with, it is strong, handles well, cruises comfortably at 90+, gets great mileage (wife got 40mpg out of it driving the speed limit in Kansas, I averaged 32ish combined).
Fixing the body damage is semi out of the question for me. I was going to put a new ISV (idle stabilization valve, that's the Audi acronym, I believe the M42 people call it something else) in it, fix the oil leak, drive it until it was done. I figured it had another 40-50k in it.
I can't decide what to do with it. I've looked for a 91 318 with a blown motor/clutch/etc, but have not found one. I don't really have the time to get into that kind of swap-project, either.
I don't have time (realistically) to part it out.
I guess this is more of a "what's it worth?" than "what should I do with it?" email. It is in Morrison, CO (SW Denver). I'd take $500 for it. In some ways, it is worth a lot more. In others, not as much.
Anyone have an idea of what it is worth? I know parting it would be the better answer, but that's just not realistic.
Thoughts?
Iain
Topic: What to do with this car? 91 318is (Read 2500 times)