E30 Zone

I picked this up two weeks ago from Northwich. Got it for a bargain price, needs some bits doing on it, but the body work looks good.

It's done 161,000 with service history.











One of the biggest things that needs to be sorted on the car is the loud ticking coming form the engine. I've had the rocker off today to check that there is oil at the top and there isn't any damage. This is what I found:-





I now need to find out what's gone on before doing anything else

Looks well serviced

not sure if the oil pumps gone or not, but the oil 9 the dip stick looks a bit thick

Probably confirms an oil change was due a long time ago!

don't know whether bother to change the oil now or get the head off or even find another 318i engine to drop in

Find some oil of the right grade, but intended for diesel engines, and run it on that for a couple of months, before changing the oil and filter again.
This oil has more detergent content than 'petrol' oil, and will gently remove some of the sludge that has built up in this obviously neglected engine.
With luck, the hydraulic tappets (the cause of the tapping) are clogged rather than worn, and you may find a considerable improvement.