E30 Zone

i have been offered a 318is for a very good price.. its very shabby and quite rotten in places but this is no problem as i intend to use this as a donor car for my 316i.... engine swap.... u know.. a little project over winter

the engine knocks, rattles and and leaks water... but again this is no problem bcause im gonna rebiuld the engine before i chuck it in my car.

however ive done a little research on the 318is and it only came out in 1990 yet the car im buying is a E reg with m-tech 2 body kit. but it does say on the logbook that it is a 318is. and the cylinder head is definatly a 318is m42er. and it also has front and rear discs (vented at front)

so im thinking maybe one of the previous owners has done an engine + brake change. then i find out that the block from a 316i/318i is the same as the 318is.

my question is

could the previous owner have just put a 318is head on the original block if so how could i tell? someone help me out im well confused

it could be on a private plate mate

it could be but it doesnt seem very 'privaty' to me.

can you get some pics up and we can have a gander and see if we can make head or tail of it.
what is the actual reg aswell?

The VIN (stamped on the scuttle) tells you the model and year of manufacture amongst other things - try:

http://www.bmwe30.net/cgi-bin/datacgi/d ... Section=14

and http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do

ill have a another look at the car sometime this week and get some pics and ave a look at the numbers and stuff.
but i i was wondering if anyone could tell me what to look for on the block that would tell me its a 318is.

to be honest im not really that bothered if the actual car is a 318is or not im just after the engine really. but i dont want it if its just the cylinder head which is a 318is. unless you can just pop the head staight on a standard m40 block

this is well weird, would love to see pics.

im doing a 318i-318is conversion at the mo. i pretty sure that if you change the head you would have to change every thing on the front end of the engine like the covers, water works, chain and guides as the M40 is a belt. The one thing that might stand out is the mount for the coils. check to see if it looks genuine. under this might be the 3/4"(ish) thread for the old M40 single coil. Good luck. Hope this helps!

PS. Remember to take the coil mount off to use on your 316i shell though!!!

look at the chassis plate, it should say 318is on it!

M42 lump...

If the engine is an M40 block with an M42 head, chances are it's been built up by someone who knows what they're doing, by definition of the conversion.

If it runs well I'd be happy with it!

Chris-W wrote:If the engine is an M40 block with an M42 head, chances are it's been built up by someone who knows what they're doing, by definition of the conversion.

If it runs well I'd be happy with it!

i'm not so sure about this, so much is different in the m42, i'd be scared if it was an M40 block under there. its extremely unlikely though imo, as you'd need m42 pistons, rods, crank, m42 front timing gear/filter housing. why are you looking at an E plate M42 which rattles and knocks? you could spend a fortune rebuilding it. You'd be far better served to get something half reasonable in the first place imo. its not like a good m42 engine (with all reqd bits) is expensive to buy?

tim_s wrote

"i'm not so sure about this, so much is different in the m42, i'd be scared if it was an M40 block under there. its extremely unlikely though imo, as you'd need m42 pistons, rods, crank, m42 front timing gear/filter housing. why are you looking at an E plate M42 which rattles and knocks? you could spend a fortune rebuilding it. You'd be far better served to get something half reasonable in the first place imo. its not like a good m42 engine (with all reqd bits) is expensive to buy?

could the fact that someone chucked the m42 head on an m40 block be the reson why it rattles or is it simply not possible to do this?

thanks everyone. i appreciate everyones advice i am still gonna buy it coz its worth the money just for the mtech 2 kit. but does anyone know where i can get a 318is engine from???? or guide to prices