316 CARB

[e30forlife]

Hi Im probably goonna buy a cheap local 316 carb 1800cc coupe as a retro daily hacker.
is there anything i should loom out for? never been near one in my life!
do they have a maunal choke or auto?
are there any cheap power or reliability increases?

thanks

dave

[e30bemer]

I have one!
Had hardly any probs with it!
Has a weber conversion!


Mine had a manual choke, and now is broke (cable snapped)

Only major problem was a head gasket blew and that was it!

cheers

[toby]

We had one when it was new! Not a bad car - the more it was thrashed the faster it went. Went fast for what it was. Petrol consumption was not great though. I loved that car! Red it was... I booted it everywhere and it never missed a beat! It did huge mileage too in a short space of time.

Many recommendations have surfaced for the weber conversion. You could go for a side draft weber performance conversion but that would be expensive - new manifold, fuel pump etc etc

Here's a thread about carburettor performance upgrades to an E30 with same engine as yours although it may be that these particular carbs may suffer badly with emission regulations, so choose carefully.
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... highlight=

(The original Pierberg carb (has auto choke) is not a favourite - it is complicated and had problems often with the ferrules that hold the floats for the needles and can be fairly simple to fix but they soon drop again - the repairs never seem to last well to that carb.)

The engine - the M10 - is brilliant in terms of reliability. It is chain driven so no cam belt to worry about.

It has its little annoyances. In cold weather the car doesn't draw enough heat when stationary to give heat through heater. This means when you come to a stop the heater blows cold. There was an upgrade available (extra pump) but few were fitted. Rear drum brakes annoy me and it has those.

Best upgrades probably just new ignition parts, probably nothing else is cheap. New suspension bits best value upgrade. H & R (front and rear) anti-roll bars are raved about and I don't think the 316 had a rear anti roll bar so a worthwhile purchase that would help take advantage of 316 the light weight E30. Also get some second hand BBS alloys. Ok, it's already getting expensive.

Look out for, as usual with old cars - rust, bad welds, smoke/bad noises from engine, oil/water mix = mayo look inside oil filler cap etc etc

I have to say though, I wouldn't buy a 316 now. I don't really like carbs and fuel costs are going to be bad relative to performance for a daily hacker - but if it's cheap you may be tempted to get it. A 325i is a much better car and are not expensive to buy.

Good luck with your decision man.

Personally I would like to have another M10 engined E30 so - a 318i M10 with megasquirt installed, and later with a turbo would be perfect. But that's big money.

[DanThe]

Dont bother with a 316, crazy fuel consumption and little performance.

The best everyday workhorse 4 pot to go for IMO is a 318i with the M10 engine. It will go forever and return good mpg. I converted my old 316 to a 1800 M10 injection not long before I sold it to a mate, he's put nearly 50k on it since and its now done well over 200k and doesnt miss a beat

[nwmlarge]

i found my old 316 to be quite quick for its small engine
as many have said petrol can get high but its really dependant on how heavy your right foot is

[Brianmoooore]

My first E30 a five year old was one of these. Not a bad car at all, untill I drove a 325! Sold it on for 50% more than I paid fot it. Pierburg carb was clapped, even at that age.

[e30forlife]

thanks for the replies guys!
ill be getting it for €200 and its a 87 red coupe.im in ireland & e30s make good money over here.
has re-cond calipers & new boge suspsnsion etc & aftermarket 15s.
although i have a set of 14inch ATS cups waiting to go on it.(& ill pick up a cheap 318is or sport interior)
i only drive 5 miles a day so fuel consumption shouldnt be an issue.
its just the reliability Id be concerned with as i need it to get to work on time.
im driving a renault megane at the minute & its draining the motoring blood & soul from my body.
need to get back into a e30 before i fall into a renault coma

[e30bemer]

Dont bother with a 316, crazy fuel consumption and little performance.

The best everyday workhorse 4 pot to go for IMO is a 318i with the M10 engine. It will go forever and return good mpg. I converted my old 316 to a 1800 M10 injection not long before I sold it to a mate, he's put nearly 50k on it since and its now done well over 200k and doesnt miss a beat

what was needed to do that??

hmmm very interested in doing that to mine!

[e30forlife]

what was needed to do that??

hmmm very interested in doing that to mine![/quote]

Id be interested in doing this at some stage as id have access to othe r m10s & possibly a m42!
but id prefer the cheaper m10 as this is justa cheap daily hack project car.

[DanThe]

Really straight forward swap, just a few wires from the ECU need connecting up to the clocks and an elec fuel pump plumbing in with a return line (you can use the same tank). Apart from that just the air filter box bracket and I think thats the worst of it

[DanThe]

Just noticed this on e-bay and thought of you M10 injection wanabees

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bmw-M10-engine-31 ... dZViewItem

Happy bidding

[m-dtech]

Really straight forward swap, just a few wires from the ECU need connecting up to the clocks and an elec fuel pump plumbing in with a return line (you can use the same tank). Apart from that just the air filter box bracket and I think thats the worst of it

a bit more info on this would be much appreciated.

as im having major grief with my carb.

[e30bemer]

Cheers dan, may have to walk down that path!

Hopefully it should give some more power!