E30 Zone

I am really confused with this one, My e30 318i is a bit ill, its an 86 and i dont really know if its been taken care of before i got it, basically sometimes it coughs alot just after starting (and not early morning either) it has happeed bad after wet weather to the extreme of non starter and back firing, now i could just take it to my mechanic but i dont thing he knows and might just do nothing and charge me so i wanted to get some advice... can anyone help me. (i have been suggested either spark plugs, (which have been replaced within the past month and cleaned last sat. Or the injectors which i haven't a clue about) i am in uckfield e/sussex if any of you could come and take a look....) thanks for your help to keep this e30 alive

86 car? You have an M10 motor, right?

In which case, try a distributor rebuild...The advance plate in the dizzy wears out and moves around the mounting holes fucking up the timing....Check it one minute and it is spot on, next it is 30deg out!

Similar sort of thing did my head in on an old 1802 until it got so bad I could see it waggling around with a finger pressure!

Hey fella thanks for the advice i will take a look will report back later.

I had a similar issue with an '85 318i M10, basically the identical car to yours.

Started happening after wet weather, and started working backwards from the spark plugs, until I got to the ignition coil, which had been shorted by a water leak. Replaced the coil with an ebay special (new price here was $370, while an entire M10 engine costs $290 second hand).

Now the engine is perfect. When the coil was messed, it backfired, refused to start, and flooded.