The Basic Tune Up

[sicknote]

ive bought a 318i recently and its about time i gave it a look over and clean/replace/tune
anything that needs doing to improve the performance really

im not a great mechanic (id say up to a 3 spanner dificulty level on the haynes manual ) but i know a little bit so if anyone can tell me general things to go for to give my car a well deserved tune up

BTW i live in Bristol so if anyone has any recommendations for garages and spares it'd be welcome

[e30_Turbo]

Send a PM to jonb, he's based in Bristol and will be your one stop shop for all things e30 mate!

HTH, Mark.

[massive]

If you havent already discovered:

www.eurocarparts.com

www.gsfcarparts.com

Make sure you use decent oil

[320Touring]

here's a basic guide I wrote on servicing your m40 318i

if you need any assistance, gimme a pm

http://www.e30zone.co.uk/modules.php?na ... ervice.htm

[Gwynleym10]

One thing which I think is very important with a m40, is before you change the oil, clean the head and spray bar (or even better replace it as its cheap)

Not sure if this is in neils guide but all u need to do is:

Take the Valve cover off (about 8 10mm screws) + pull vacuum pipe off.
You will then see the spray bar on, take if off clean/replace.
The clean the plastic tray+underside of valve cover and generally in the head.
I think Carb cleaner is OK to do this.
Make sure the matting surfice is clean and re-assemble possibly with a new gasket.

You don't need to tighten the 10mm bolts very much as the break pretty easily.

Change the oil....

While you got the carb cleaner out, take the AFM and bellow off and clean the Throttle body (open it up) and maybe the Idle control valve and the Afm itself.

One hint is to buy the carb cleaner from 99p shops as its a lot cheaper than the £3-4 halfords/gsf/ecp want for it!

Its also a good time of year to clean your cooling system out (use a hose and some rad flush - gsf sell some good stuff)

I'm going to do an idiots guide chainging an m40 timing belt soon (have loads of photos of when i just did it) so then you'll be able to do that as it its easy!

[sicknote]

nice one people

already loads of helpful advice on basic things i should really be doing by now and most of it doesnt need to much to do it

since moving up to bristol i have fek all tools and no space to work on it...not even a driveway!!

i've pm'ed jonb to see if he can help me out as well so i can get the beast back in top condition

anything else you can think of off the top of your head is appreciated

[Gwynleym10]

Tools are an issue, but you can do most things on the side of the road.

Cleaning out the radiator is an ar*e without a hose, I have been know to take the fan shround off and the rad mounts (make sure that the jubilee clips are OK) and take it down the jet wash!

Would have thought owning a e30 you need the basic tools, leave 'em in the boot if you don't have room in your flat ( ihave to do this!)

You'll save loads of money and learn a lot if you do!

[e30_Turbo]

Get it all running right then..............................










Whack a fecking HUGE turbo on there! and come porsche bashing with me

[sicknote]

lol

sounds like a plan fozzymonster