E30 Zone

My 320i has pretty awful fuel consumption, and isn't that nippy for a 2l.
Apart from getting Ant's chip (Which I will try and buy soon) what can I do?
Does cleaning the injectors do anything? What other 'in tank' or cheap options do I have? It's a Ԛ£700 car, so I don't want to get it serviced professionally.
It's due an inspection, but I was just going to change the oils myself. That won't affect performance though.
Cheers!

kingbreezer wrote:My 320i has pretty awful fuel consumption, and isn't that nippy for a

Sounds about normal for a 320.
I get the impression that this car is a bit lacking in servicing?
Just because it's a Ԛ£700 car it doesn't mean that it should be maintained to a standard anything less than that for a Ԛ£7000 car. Doesn't need to cost though. E30 parts are cheap and they are DIY friendly.
What state is the air filter in? Tappets? Plugs?Gas test results from MOT?

Brianmoooore wrote:

kingbreezer wrote:My 320i has pretty awful fuel consumption, and isn't that nippy for a

Sounds about normal for a 320.
I get the impression that this car is a bit lacking in servicing?
Just because it's a Ԛ£700 car it doesn't mean that it should be maintained to a standard anything less than that for a Ԛ£7000 car. Doesn't need to cost though. E30 parts are cheap and they are DIY friendly.
What state is the air filter in? Tappets? Plugs?Gas test results from MOT?

It has a full history, but has been standing for a while, so the inspection light is on. The tappets are only just short of perfect. Don't know about the rest, it's worth doing I suppose. MOT was perfect.

I will bow to Brianmoooore's superior technical knowledge any day of the week, but worth checking simple replacement items such as dizzy cap and rotor arm, fuel filter, spark plugs etc, has anyone messed around with the air flow meter at any stage?

How awful is awful, 30mpg? or 15mpg.

A basic service and check of the engine should get it running better.

does it miss fire at all, is it hard to start, does it idle properly?

Andy_magic wrote:How awful is awful, 30mpg? or 15mpg.

A basic service and check of the engine should get it running better.

does it miss fire at all, is it hard to start, does it idle properly?

Sorry, should have included that info.
It starts first time, idles perfectly and seems smooth. At a push I can get 30mpg on motorways, but it is rarely above 20 at any other time. My average, being very careful, is 23.5mpg. I had just thought I'd get better. Maybe it's a general E30 thing.
What cost would I be looking at for a standard 100k service at a specialist? I mean it had a full service at 95k, but has been standing for 9months since then.

At a push a 320i will give 30mpg, they aren't very economical due to a lack of torque.

I would expect that a decent service that includes having the CO set and checking all the brakes are not binding will probably help no end, other basic stuff like tyre pressures and wheel alignment will help.

I've no idea on the cost of servicing as I do all my own work. I am sure someone can help there.

PS. I know adjusting CO doesn't affect mixture whilst driving but it will help MPG if set correctly

320i is a cruiser. It isn't geared to be nippy (pulls best in 3rd above 4000rpm) !

Likewise, stick to 70mph on the motorway and you should get nearly 40mpg. Doing anything else anywhere else tends to drink petrol.

Motorhole wrote:320i is a cruiser. It isn't geared to be nippy (pulls best in 3rd above 4000rpm) !

Likewise, stick to 70mph on the motorway and you should get nearly 40mpg. Doing anything else anywhere else tends to drink petrol.

Tell me about it! Anything above 70 or below 60 causes huge sucking noises. Added to that my power steering feels decidedly dodgy now... How much money and hassle is a new rack for a 320ise?

Basic servicing is priceless in my experience
Oil - Always worthwhile
new plugs & leads
Dizzy
Rotor arm
air filter
simple ones like these
then get a tune for about 60 quid. if any good he'll tell you all you need to know about your car.
these jobs never fail on keeping an e30 on the road.
mine has 184000 and works hard and still sings like a junior
good luck m8

Don't you wish there were a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There's one marked 'Brightness', but it doesn't work.

In my opinion basic servicing on the M20 is very user friendly. There's plenty of helpful people on here to lend a hand if you get stuck. Buy a decent manual and skip through it before you start.

To do the basics:

Oil filter, Decent oil, Spark plugs, Air filter, Coolant change etc should cost no more than Ԛ£35.00. My advice is to steer clear of Halfords and get onto GSF or ECP and they will do you a good deal.

My two pennies worth

hey hey, you have a 320! good on ya, they are brilliant cars. i get 270 miles to a tank, filled her up with some 97 octain fuel the other day iv now got 160 miles on the trip meter and she isnt even half way yet! basic service does them the world of good, but if you want to tune it you can put a 325i throttle body on her or you can do the right thing (provideing you have a mint body) which is chuck a 325i lump in her!

e30bmlover wrote:filled her up with some 97 octain fuel the other day!

Why?