advice please

[heppy19]

hi all, new to the scene and picking up my e30 318is very soon. all is well with that but from researching and reading far too much info on here i have some dilemmas.......

....all i knew a few weeks back is i wanted an e30 that i see going about all the time, so i approached the owner and we agreed a price, little did i know that it was a special 318is
i planned on doing alot of work to the car, suspensin, brakes, engine upgrade and possibly turbo (i used to play wit starlet turbo's, my last one had 230bhp built by myself) but with it being an is i get the impression its the wrong car to do it too?

so, opinions please people, keep it and make it my own? sell it and buy an e30 in need of rescue? and if i do keep it and do the engine etc are people looking for m42's, is suspensin, is brakes etc that i could sell on?

thanks in advance!!

[sihooker]

Some people revere the 318is as a special limited edition, and some see it as a decent platform for a bigger engine, so i'd please myself if i were you...

Good 'is engines will always be wanted by 316i/318i owners wanting to upgrade. Unless you're thinking of going to coil-overs then the brakes and suspension are pretty much 325i spec so you wont want to sell them off, and if they're the original shocks they'll probably be no good to anyone anyway.

[rix313]

Seeing as it's an iS keep the M42 in and do something special with it. People have done turbo conversions on them and you get some impressive results.

The other option is to super charge it. Appletree has just redesigned his Rotrex bracket and has a couple spare I believe.

[heppy19]

Unless you're thinking of going to coil-overs then the brakes and suspension are pretty much 325i spec so you wont want to sell them off, and if they're the original shocks they'll probably be no good to anyone anyway.

didint know this, thats a bonus! was def goin to go for coilovers tho, the brakes should be fine then with upgraded discs and pads.

the problem with doing somerthin special with the m42 is the costs involved. turbo/supercharging requires alot of work and i know forged pistons ect arent cheap. would rather spend my pennies on a 6 pot with 190bhp as standard.

[sihooker]

...so you'll be going the M50 route?

[rix313]

You might not be aware of quite how strong the M42 is. You can get alot from it before you have to start spending money changing all the internals. BMW kindly fitted the M42 with a forged crank and rods.

Give me a shout when you want some coil overs

[heppy19]

that was my plan when i decided i was going to get an e30. i think i just feel guilty for chucking the m42

i could maybe be persuaded to stick with the m42....any useful links to some tunnig options and costs?