Picked up an E30 (first E30, first manual transmission car)

I posted this on an E30 forum... figured I would post it here too.

I had been searching for an E30 for about 10 months before stumbling across this one. The E30 appeals to me for all the usual reasons that make older cars appealing - light weight, analog feeling, relatively simple design/styling. Aside from those usual things, I gravitated toward the E30 more than my other options due to its eminent practicality and "jack of all trades" sort of utility. Sometimes practicality really counts for a lot, especially for something I had planned to use as a daily driver (plan has probably changed, but more on that later)

Suffice to say, lots of feverish perusal of Craigslist ads and frenzied calls to sellers were made for cars that I missed. In Texas, the good ones seem to go fast.

Finally this one came up, happily on the exact same day that I received a new job offer. Even more luckily, I was going to be traveling to a friend's house in Dallas where this car was located. It was around 2 pm and the car had been posted at 10 am for $4250. I called the seller immediately, built rapport like a boss, and luckily had him agree to hold the car for me to see it in 2 days. I'm glad I did this and don't think that the car would have lasted very long if I would have waited. This would also be my first manual transmission car, but when it comes to a 318is for $4250, learning stick on the car you just bought is a small detail.

Here are some pics. Car has been resprayed.

[B]Anyway, the car.[/B] As I've dug into the car I still think the price was okay (in the end I paid $4600 so he would take down the ad), but perhaps not the screaming bargain that I had initially thought. There are a lot of little things with it, with some things done by the previous owner that I found amusing/E36 M3ty. Hey, we were all 18 once. I did some stupid stuff with my 240 so I can understand it. Here are a few: roll bar behind front seats bolted to floor pan (I'm no mechanic, but this is dopey, right? haha), aftermarket carpet layed OVER OEM carpet, NO AIR FILTER ELEMENT, stuff like that.

It's got some Magnaflow muffler that sounds really good, just a little drone. Also speedo seems to read high, the tach low - when I was first revving the engine I was thinking damn this really is a race car, sounds like it's at 7k RPMs when it's really only at 4! Well, I'm thinking the tach is just busted.

The first order of business was to find out where the leaks were coming from, assess any rust damage, and get it fixed. About a week after getting it I pulled out the carpet and seats, and found this:

I want to repair this the proper way, which I think means bringing it to somebody who can weld in some patches. The rust doesn't go through the floor pan in any area. Any thoughts?

Today I changed the oil, air filter, and fuel filter. Here's what the immediate to-do list looks like:

-brake fluid flush -cooling system -timing chain tensioner (preventative) -valve cover gasket/inspect timing gears -fix lumpy idle (actually found out this only happens with A/C on - just dips and goes up, dips and goes up, again and again) -replace low/high beam lamps on both sides (H5006 lamps are proving difficult to find) -e-brake rebuild -hoses

I really want to firm up the brake pedal and fix the cooling system so I can take this thing to the autocross. I'm not about to drive it hard until I can be confident that the engine is running well and not hot, as I'd like to keep the block/head in rebuildable condition if possible.

The most pressing issue right now is the "hot" smell that I get when the car is warmed up. That, and the fact that the engine bay/parts are ridiculously hot after normal driving, makes me think the engine is running hot. The temperature gauge stays pretty steady at 1/4 but I don't trust it. Of course, I might be smelling something else but I want to make sure.

Probably going to be doing some cooling system troubleshooting next weekend. I can tell that the car has green coolant which was low when I picked the car up. Fingers are crossed that it isn't anything too serious, really the only thing that would really ruin my day is a cracked or corroded head, as I'd like to keep this car numbers matching if possible.

Until then, I'm happy to let this car sit in the garage, working on it when I can. The repaint is pretty nice except for a little orange peel, and I'm not in a hurry to start acquiring love taps and things from the rigors of daily driving.

Driving impressions/comparison to 240: The first thing that really amazed me was during the drive home on the highway I had a chance to just cruise, relax free from the effort of learning stick, and I noticed that the competence with which the car soaks up mileage is amazing for its size. Looking at the driver oriented dash and listening to the sewing-machine sounding engine, the word that kept popping into my head was "competence". I think I understand what people mean by German cars being serious. It just feels like a very competent machine on the highway, especially with the rebuilt suspension.

I can't really offer a fair comparison with my 240SX, as that poor car has original suspension with 150k, is automatic, etc. I do notice the difference in engine characteristic with the M42 being much more free and quick revving. It feels very racey and responsive in comparison. The E30 is more upright, and it feels it from the driver seat. The 240 feels lower. I love how close you are to the dash in the E30 - driving position is good.

It's also the little things that I've noticed. I've heard people say that the E30 has pretty nice interior materials quality and I've always thought "pfft, it's from the 80s, how nice can it be," but dammit if it isn't a very nice place to be! The door panels, dash material, etc. is definitely a step above.

Another thing is the design. The little connectors and things seem to have a nice positivity, a little tactile 'click' to let you know they are secure. It's things like that that make the car so nice to work on. If this is the way the Germans do things, I might be converted. Sometimes I open the trunk just to close it to hear it's solid "thunk." Driver's side door closes with almost no effort whatsoever - passenger requires a little more force.

Anyway, I think that's all for now. I'll be updating this thread periodically as I do things to the car.

A few tips since I have a good bit of experience with the 318/M42 engine:

1. Any of the available M42 chips wake the engine up somewhat. Better midrange and a slightly higher redline. I use the Conforti chip. Downside is that you need to use premium gas.

2. DEFINITELY think about opening the timing case to check if the car has the updated timing chain guide rail. This is the one piece of the M42 that is a ticking time bomb. BMW updated the piece for later cars, but a '91 may still have the original rail. While in there, look at the timing gears - if they have very sharp points on them, that's a bad thing that can theoretically cause chain to jump.

That said, you can find M42 engines for pretty cheap, so the other option is just to run the hell out of it and get a junkyard engine if you blow it up. But the timing stuff is really the only true weak spot of the engine.

Check radiator overflow tank (integrated) for cracks and broken seals. Pretty common. Not difficult to switch to a higher-capacity e36 or M20 radiator, FYI.

If you're autocrossing, go to MotorsportHardware.com and get some wheel studs and lugnuts. The lug bolts are a pain in the ass when changing wheels and an result in stripped threads in the hub. I've seen it happen more than once at the track/autocrosses/etc.

e30 gauge clusters are notoriously CRAP. I replaced everything with VDO stuff that read actual temps (water/oil) and such. Tach may or may not be bad...the M42 is a buzzy engine and at midrange it may sound like it's screaming. Easy way to find out....go hit the rev limiter. Should be (IIRC) at around 6700 stock.

Make sure you note the sticker on the transmission. Some G240s use manual trans fluid, other G240s use ATF (in the manual transmission). There should be a sticker on the bottom of it that specifies.

Hopefully the car has a functional stock 4.10LSD diff.

Not sure if the '91 had the battery in front or in the trunk stock. If it's in the engine bay, move it to the trunk where the 6cyl cars have them.

For headlights, I have the "DEPO Smilies" off ebay. They're actually quite excellent opticallyl (though the adjusters are lame)...we use them for stage rally at night, if that says anything.

If it's a sunroof car, check the drains into the trunk area for clogs or leaks - that can cause leaks into the passenger compartment.

Common rust spot is right under the gas pedal. Check it out. And the rear floors, as you alreay know.

If you're gonna autocross, go get a junkyard steering rack from an e36. With some minor modification it bolts right up and is much quicker than the school-bus ratio the e30 has.

Congrats. I think the 318 e30 is a more fun car than the 325, personally. Not quite as fast of the line, but much better balanced and nimble. Enjoy!

oh also, look up the "mess under the intake" modification. DO IT when you refurbish the cooling system. Check the "hard pipe" coming off the block...they tend to get brittle and crack. You can eliminate the throttle body preheaters and get rid of a LOT of those hoses and mess under there.

Thanks for the tips and helpful info, irish. Checking the timing chain guide is something I will have to put on the list. I don't have the time/comfort level to get it done quickly, but there shouldn't be too much harm as the car mostly sits in the garage. I still don't trust driving it for any length with how hot it seems to get.

The car already has a chip, previous owner wasn't sure which one.

If I can keep the engine in good enough condition to be rebuildable (might already be too late... I'm a bit worried about the head as I've heard these are fragile) and can repair the rust (really it's just surface rust... that pic makes it look worse than it is), I'll be happy. Really love the way the car drives. Swapped steering rack, wheels, that kind of stuff will come a little later.

Is there a way to tell which LSD it has?

Battery is in the trunk, BTW. Pretty cool, that. IIRC, it was basically an option.

With regards to the diff, you are looking for a plate stamped with the ratio, will say "S4.10" if it is limited slip. If there is no 'S," it is a stock differential (LSD was an option, and it is IMHO hard to find a small case 4.10 LSD these days).

Also check M42 club forums. Read about the oil pan bolts -- these cars have a two piece (upper and lower) oil pan, and the buzzy nature of these engines means that often times, some of the oil pan bolts will back themselves out. If this happens in the front, there is a potential for the oil pickup to suck air. Supposedly this has been the mechanism of several reported engine failures. Mine had two upper pan bolts which had backed out completely and were found in the lower pan (supposedly about par reading the thread):

http://www.m42club.com/forum/index.php?topic=594.0

318is is a fun car, congrats on the purchase. I read this board forever before buying mine -- was my first manual as well; learned to drive on the way home, through I-75/85 in Friday Atlanta rush hour

What kind of seats are those?

you MAY be able to see the top of the timing guide if you pull the valve cover. I think you can, but you'd have to take a really good photo and post it up and we can tell you if it's the old one or updated one. At very least you can see the cam timing gears.

I've never heard that the head is fragile, unless massively overheated it can warp. I've been running mine hard for 5 years of rallycross and recently stage rally with no issues. We have friends who enduro-road race an M42 car and I don't recall any issues with them either.

LSD look at the diff and on the right side of the rear cover there should be a metal "tag" hanging off of one of the bolts. brush it off to read it. If it's LSD, it will say "S 4.10". If non-LSD, it won't have the S. You can also check by jacking the rear of the car up and seeing if the wheels spin the same direction (LSD) or not (not LSD).

I forgot it was only under the hood on the early 318 like mine (originally an M10 car). All the 6cyl cars and the '91 318 had it in the trunk now that I think about it. I suggest you pull the battery out and the tray under it and check the metal pan. If you do have leaks, that's where water collects and that area is notorious for rusting on e30s.

Also for wet floors don't forget about the "elephant trunk drain" in the firewall.

Since a few of you have mentioned leaks, I'll go ahead and post this.

Two weekends ago, I ripped out the carpet and tracked down the leaks. I wanted to have the car in a downpour before I cleared any of the drain channels to make sure that my leak test was actually detecting the leaks I had, rather than if I had fixed all the leaks first and then be left wondering if the car didn't leak because the leaks were fixed or because it just didn't rain hard enough.

Ultimately, I parked the car in the rain and I found leaks coming from the upper right side of the passenger footwell, left tail light gasket, and here:

Not sure exactly where this water is coming from. I've heard there is a gasket near the rear side window - maybe there? Also seems like it could be coming from the corner of the back window.

I then cleared the elephant trunk (which was full of gunk) and the passenger side cowl drain below the cowl grate. I also checked the rear sunroof drain tubes, which were clear. I didn't get to check them for leaks as I didn't see where they begin in the sunroof area.

So the plan is to replace the tail light gaskets, the window seal, and then recheck for leaks. If it still leaks I'll be checking the sunroof drain tubes more thoroughly for leaks. After that, it's rust repair time, and then finally putting the interior back in.

DocV,

Dunno what kind of seats they are. They seem to have no markings on them whatsoever - I'm guessing cheap eBay seats?

That is a cool car for $4000.

I love the E30 body style, I almost bought one a few years ago, but I bought an E36 instead.

Nice! I bought my E30 318is almost 10 years ago - and I still have it. Great car, and I'll likely never sell it.

Irish's advice is spot on. I had good luck with a cheap ebay chip that came with my car; it actually was somewhat stronger (though about 1 mpg worse) than the MarkD chip I ran later. Megasquirt ended up stronger than both by a surprising amount, even never taking it to a dyno.

Gauge issue could be ground or SI board, but they do tend to be flaky. My tach reads off by about 500 rpm, but only below 2700 rpm. No idea why. Also, 6700 rpm on my tach stock actually ended up being 6400 rpm in reality. My limiter was 6400 stock.

Lighter flywheel helped my car out a lot - I went the lightened M20 route to handle extra power due to boost, but aluminum options are also out there. More lively around town and easier to rev match, but otherwise minimal difference. Electric fan was good for the butt dyno above ~5000 rpm, but otherwise no change. It did give me about a 1 mpg improvement though. Probably wouldn't have done it had I not needed the space for turbo plumbing.

Battery is in the trunk stock on all of them aside from convertibles and early M10 cars.

That trunk leak looks kind of like it could be from the rear window seal. It's either that or the sail panel trim behind the rear windows. A little bit of a pain either way, unfortunately.

Temp gauge should be vertical under normal driving, and the heater should be hot enough to cook you out of the interior. I've had two broken thermostats on mine, which resulted in running too cold. Underhood temps are fairly high I guess, but it's a durable engine and isn't really known to have cracking/warping issues or anything like that. The temp and fuel gauges are held on to the instrument cluster with an m6 (8mm socket) nut, which also acts as a ground. These get loose and/or corrode, which can cause poor readings and a bouncy gauge. Mine also sometimes sticks, and I have to tap the dash to get the needle to pop up. Old car quirks, I guess.

Yeah, M20 clutch (from a B25 car, not a B27) is a nice upgrade with reduction in clutch/flywheel assembly weight. I wrote a how-to and comparison that is stickied on e30tech.com (I think). You can definitely feel the difference.