twisted

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Hello, in this thread I will tell the story of how I purchased my '90 E30 318is and how I am restoring it.I am a Mechanical Engineer that live and work in Saudi Arabia, and I drive a Toyota GT86.In my home country, Lebanon, I wanted to have a car that have similar characteristics, and a project car that I can have fun working on restoring and bringing it back to stock condition during my vacation days.So I began searching online for one, and it seems nobody knew that a real 318is have the 16 valves M42 engine, came only in manual, 2 doors coupe and that only 30000 units were produced. All kinds of 318i were claiming to be an “is”, some with 4 doors, some with automatics, some with the wrong engine, ect... until I managed to get in contact with someone who sent me the car registration form showing the chassis number which I verified online, it was:Looking at the photos of the car, it was looking a beater neglected car:Since I was living abroad, I sent my father with a mechanic to inspect the car, and it showed no red flags, and there was no rust in the usual areas.It had no maintenance history, and the odometer has stopped working @ 160,000 km. The seats were leather from an E36.The market for E30 in Lebanon is quite prosperous, with clean examples in the range of 5000 $ price tag.So I got the car for 3400$, and repaired the exterior dangs and hits with black body filler. I also painted the hood as it was faded, as temporary solution until I can fully paint the car. The results are below:On to the maintenance issues, I ordered most of the parts from pelican, and I started addressing the known problem areas:1- Changed the chain tensioner with the upgraded one:I tried expanding it before installation, but it sprung open into 3 pieces and I could not get the snap ring back on. After many tries, I used grease andit back into position.2- Inspected the lower oil pan for loose bolts and broken chain guides, it was clean.3- Replaced the fuel pump as it suddenly became dead one day while driving.4- Replaced the water pump. This was a nightmare, the pump outside housing broke while trying to remove it with the bolts method, and then when using a chisel and a hammer, it came out but half of it was broken inside the block. We continued to remove the broken pieces carefully until nothing was left inside.5- The car was reaching normal operating temperature (at the half way mark) after 30 min while driving, so I knew the thermostat was broken, and it was:I replaced it with a new one @ 88 deg. C.Notice the build up on the thermostat housing, since Prestone radiator flush is not locally available, I flushed the coolant with distilled water, until I can get one online.While installing the thermostat, the metal housing broke, so I searched for a used one in the stores that sells used parts.The o-ring that came with the thermostat seemed a bit thicker than the old one, so there was always a water leak from the new housing, until we decided to use the old one back.6- Changed the spark plugs, fuel filter, rear disks (old ones were faded), air filter, radiator hoses, flushed the brake fluid and steering fluid, replaced the steering fluid reservoir.7- When changing the transmission oil, this was the quantity I found inside:From 1.2 liters required, this was what is inside only, I wonder how the car was moving.I filled with Liqui Moly 75W-90 GL4.8- I changed the engine oil to a synthetic 0W-40 grade oil, the one selling me the oil refused at the beginning to sell me as he said was for newer cars only, and not for old cars. lol9- Around 75% of the fuses in the fuse box were above the required rating, so I replaced all of them. The previous owner was so cheap, he used metal wire to fix a melted fuse:10- Fixed the mess of wires under the dash, replaced the airbag steering wheel with an M-Tech 1 wheel, and replaced the plastic shift knob with an original leather one:11- The car was idling rough, so I cleaned the ICV, and when you go WOT, the car was choked and cutting a lot and turning off between gear changes.I used STP Compete Fuel System Cleaner, but it showed no improvement.I decided to inspect the injectors and clean them if necessary, and I found this:Silicon was used to press the injectors in place :/Again I wonder how the car was running.I replaced all the o-rings with new ones and cleaned the injectors in a special shop.Now the car pulls strong @ WOT12- I noticed that in traffic, the temp. gauge reached the 3/4 mark, and the aux. fan did not kick in, when I looked at the radiator, the temp. gauge switch was missing !Also notice how the fan shroud is smaller than the stock one and not covering the complete fan:13- Replaced the front tie rods and rear shock mounts with E46 ones and reinforcement plates, below picture of the old one:14- The shift linkage is completely shot, you can move the arm carrier by hand.I am planning to replace the bushings in the future and installing a Z3 1.9 shifter.15- When I lifted the car, I noticed the tag on the differential saying 3.45, so sometime in the life of the car, it was changed from the stock 4.10 that came with. I will look for a 4.10 and replace it when I find one.17- The tachometer and fuel econ. gauge are not working. I replaced the SI battery but no results. I will see if I can replace the dash, or make more troubleshooting.18- When you put the car in reverse, the drivetrain shakes and clunks, I examined the transmission mounts and noticed that one was crushed, so I replaced them, problem solved.In the future I will do the engine mounts too.In the future, I am planning to:- change the wheels to 15" OEM basket weaves.- change the engine mounts and O2 sensor.- refresh the shift linkage and install the Z3 short shifter.- fix the aux. fan and fan shroud.- flushing the cooling system with Prestone.Thanks for reading.