1st Post! 318is Qustions.

[paulym]

Hi Everybody,

I'm on my second e30 now (i had a 1988 320i which came to an unfortunate end with a parking meter ), i have a 1990 318is now which i love.

One question i have is which colours were these available in as mine is laser blue and i've yet to see one the same colour?

Also i'm very keen to help the car retain it's value (especially after what happened to my first e30!) so what makes a good 318is and what should i watchout for? the car has done 106,000 miles which i think is pretty low but also the point where things start needing replacement?

As you may guess i'm no petrol head but i love my e30's.

cheers

[Simon13]

cracking cars

they came in red,white flat colours and the metallics black,silver and blue.

Blue and silver being the rarest colours by a mile! Well done they are my 2 fav's for this car

have a good look through the history to see whats been done already. plus a good look over the car.

If your lacking mechanical knowledge we can help!

your main concern will be not canning it from cold as these engines in particular will not take the abuse u can throw at a 320 lump. The heads crack to, so keep an eye on engine temp and the oil and water levels

They don't rust generally like most other E30 saloons due to the fact they were built at a different plant and had extra galvanising and undersealing. Which is a very good thing!

I also expect your suspension will be a tad tired and due for replacement. Depending on your budget of course!

hth

[Cava]

Hi mate,

Welcome to the forum. There are plenty of 318is nuts on the site (including myself) so you should get plenty of advice. The car only came in white, black, blue, red or silver. You do indeed have one of the rarer colours as red and white seem to be the most popular. If you want to preserve the cars value, just keep it standard, well serviced and maybe add a few bits that could have been fitted to the car from new if it does not already have them (15" bbs cross spoke alloys etc). The only other thing that you may hear mentioned is possibly getting the timing chain replaced but this varies depending on owner / car / budget.

All the best,

Cava

[Dan318-is]

Yes check the tensioner has been replaced frequently, of not, replace it with an e36 one. Cheap and easy fix.

Other than this just treat them with respect from cold!

Also check too see if your profile gasket has ever been replaced although i imagine it will have by now

[Simon13]

Yes check the tensioner has been replaced frequently, of not, replace it with an e36 one. Cheap and easy fix.

Other than this just treat them with respect from cold!

Also check too see if your profile gasket has ever been replaced although i imagine it will have by now

that was a warranty issue and should of been replaced with an E36 M42 one which doesn't suffer with the same problems as the original E30 one

[iDreamBeemer]

Really useful iS reference is this site

http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell

Loads of details which I've found really useful.

When I was looking for mine I did come across a Laser Blue but it was riddled with rust and nice blue smoke from the engine made me walk away. Real shame as this is my fave colour by miles.

Agree with keeping it original, maintain good service history and make sure the bits that go are fixed, like timing chain!

[Kedge]

Nice little cars these are.

To keep the value just do little things to it like add factory options to it, not to many i haven't got now , just make sure you keep it serviced regularly and don't thrash it and theres not too much that can go wrong.

Have any of you had your chain replaced recently? Just looking for a rough idea of how much an independent BMW garage might charge as i don't fancy doing this myself.

[Cava]

I was given a rough quote of Ԛ£150 in parts and 3-4 hours labour time (I think they charge 40-50 an hour) when my car was serviced a couple of weeks ago at a bmw specialist.

[paulym]

wow, i must say i'm impressed with this response, this forum is a real find!

As far as changes to the car, the previous owner had fitted a full scopion stainless steel exhaust with twin dtm which is maybe a little loud for my liking, and a k&n induction kit. Also a set of 5 spoke alloys which are ok but only 15", and the 318is badge has been removed. The interior is the original leather, but i have changed the dials for white ones which have a blue led backlight (sound a bit boy racerish but matches the pioneer head unit beautifully!).

As far as servicing, the previous owner was pretty good but no sign of any major work and no belt changes etc. since i've had it it's had a new rad and water pump and the brake pipes had to be changed at the last mot. Also the body work has been rvamped recently with most noticeable dents gone and the only signs of rust (under bonnet by windscreen removed). The only trouble i have now is the speedo hardly works anymore!!! I'm sure there is more but i've forgotten what!

[Dan318-is]

no belt changes etc!

There is no belt on an IS its a chain my friend

Check the plug at the differntial is clean/properly connected - this is where the speedo gets its reading.

And i have also read that Is's do not respond well to any type of induction kit? Just food for thought . . .

[Simon13]

check the plug is in on the back of the diff. It could be lose or fallen out. This is how the car works out how fast u are going. If it's ok then it's something in the instrument cluster which i can't help with!

[Kedge]

I was given a rough quote of Ԛ£150 in parts and 3-4 hours labour time (I think they charge 40-50 an hour) when my car was serviced a couple of weeks ago at a bmw specialist.

What parts was it they were going to use or did they not say, Leicester Sytners wanted Ԛ£280+ just for the parts!

[tim_s]

depends how much of the timing chain stuff is changed. Ԛ£150 will do a basic chain job. chain and tensioner are also much cheaper off gsf rather than bmw if you want to save some money. chain +tensioner from gsf = Ԛ£60 inc vat, from BMW, around Ԛ£120 iirc. if you replace the bottom sprocket, side rails and chain using chain and tensioner from gsf, the total for parts is somewhere around Ԛ£150.

[Kedge]

Thats strange, when i went to my local GSF they chain was the only thing they said they stocked and was still about Ԛ£45, they said the tensioner would be ordered from BMW for another Ԛ£45 and they couldn't get any of the other parts

Think i'm just gonna take it to a specialist, tell them what i want and see what they price it all up as inc. labour.

[Nick45]

Also i'm very keen to help the car retain it's value (especially after what happened to my first e30!) so what makes a good 318is and what should i watchout for? the car has done 106,000 miles which i think is pretty low but also the point where things start needing replacement?

As you may guess i'm no petrol head but i love my e30's.

cheers

Pauly, if you've still got the extended iS front lip spoiler, make sure it's well attached - they tend to go walkies. I think they really help define the car & look far better than the stock one

[tim_s]

you not keen to do it yourself kedge? if you take it to a specialist, make sure you're clear on exactly what they're going to replace!
btw gsf definitely do the tensioner, i ordered one a few weeks ago (didn't use it in the end though and got a refund), the tensioner's on their website too.

[Cava]

I think the place that serviced my car deals a lot with ECP so I guess that's where they quoted the parts prices from (although I supplied all of my own parts from BMW for the service with them).