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Topic: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring (Read 3071 times) previous topic - next topic

Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

I no longer have this car, but having a greater respect and continued support for this forum I wanted to copy my build thread on e30zone over here. One so you guys can hopefully enjoy the story, and two so I never have to hang out on that forum again and can delete the short cut.

After my first Mk2 GTI back in the late 90's a bought this 1990 e30 touring 318i lux and to this day I still have very fond memories and it's the longest I've ever owned a car, I eventually sold it around after some 5 or 6 years, when at 14 years old and 114,000 miles on the clock it failed it's first MOT on me and I panicked. Can't remember what on, but I know it was trivial.

My old one from back in the day:


So anyway after getting my 2nd Mk2 back in 2013 to relive my youth and after bringing my wife to the National meet in 2014 she decided she wanted to have a car that she enjoyed too (and not the dull, boring and sensible Ford Focus estate we had at the time) so I bought her this:



I had my old one when we first got together, and she kind of took it over as as much hers as mine as I had a motorbike for everyday transport.

I've found out already this car was previously owned by an e30Zone member and was cover car on Total BMW a few years back. Although I'm yet to discover a copy.

The guy I got it from used it for his Brighton to London commute and I gather everyday he must have had a coffee en route, and everyday he must have spilled it! as there's stains everywhere.

So after getting it home to Bristol on Saturday, Sunday the deep clean started.


This even smelt of coffee!


Proof of the coffee antics, as well as a half bottle of wine under the passenger seat



The outside, underneath and bay all seem respectable. A bit of bubbling on the front o/s arch so might have to look at paint in the near future.

And there's a few bit in need of attention. Some of which I've already started separate threads for

Some staining in the passenger well, so I need to investigate if the heater valve has been fixed and just not cleaned or if this is still an issue:


Some 'dog related?' carpet damage




Will replace at some point but not urgent.

A broken carpet fixing,


Should be like this



From memory there should be a slot on the back of these to attach in position on the rear seat - possibly changed at some point??


Missing fixings for the floor mats


A small crack in the dash


o/s rear light unit needs replacing as water has got in and the chrome reflector dish has disintegrated - I think on the fog light.

Also, no pictures yet:

I've already picked up a period Sony CD player to replace the BMW Reverse RDS unit, so got this to fit.

The headlining is sagging, not sure if this can be fixed or if I need to try and find another one. A common issue for the Golfs too and I know gluing pretty common actually works and people ask silly money for replacements.

One of the tailgate hinge surrounds is missing.

One of the inner headlamp lens's is smashed and one front indicator lens is cracked.

The headlight height adjust doesn't work - but didn't on my old one either!

The BBS wheels could do with a refurb.

The storage flap in the boot (not the first aid kit one) the hinge is snapped so I'll be on the look out for new.

And the finish on the tailgate spolier is pretty poor. I think it's been painted at some point.

That takes care of the appearance, now the mechanics.

There's play in the steering, not sure if rack of the UJ coupling (steering guibo thing?) - or both! Need to check it out.

PAS fluid is yuk, so hopefully changing that will help too.

It's quite wallowy, so need to check all the bushes etc. 

The central bearing/coupling on the prop needs replacing - I had to do this on my last one.

and the rear diff is a little whiny  :(  hopefully not a big deal?


So a busy Saturday:

New NGK plugs
New HT leads, I'd forgotten what a sod it was doing that sensor under the air intake. Got my son to help with his small teenage fingers!
New air filter (old one was hideous)

Oil on the dipstick is still quite golden and all green service lights are on so I left that for now, although odd oil was done without checking air filter? Think I might do oil change soon and reset the lights anyway just in case the oil filter wasn't changed either.

Changed the PAS fluid, this definitely needed doing. I still want to fit a fast rack but at least for now this will help.

Also fitted new clutch slave cylinder, old one was leaking so gear change is better. Still room for improvement though. Haven't checked out how the linkage works on these but I'm wondering if there's a bush kit or anything that can be done to tighten it up. Quick-shift would be nice too.

Had a good look underneath. There's evidence of some new brake lines and the front end, lower arms, ball joints and track rods etc. all look in order. One of the bellows on the rack is a bit perished but not split yet! I'll hold off on this if I'm going to swap the rack.

Back end on the other hand is a different story, rear ARB drop links are shot and from what I can see of the rear beam bushes they ain't too clever either, can't see the top mounts but while I'm at that end I may as well do them, am I right in thinking e46 mounts are a direct fit and good upgrade?

Can't see the prop bearing as it's covered with the exhaust heat shield but from the noise in the cabin and from what I remember when my old one went I suspect this is also on it's way out.

I'll also change the oil in the diff and replace the fuel filter.



Standard loom was complete and unmolested



Plug and play ISO kit off ebay and now updated with Sony Xplod CD player. Not quite period correct but RED illumination so doesn't look out of place.

ARGH! fuel tank is leaking, appears to be split at the seam  :sad:

Not a lot of progress on the mechanical side of things. Solved the problem of an annoying rattle; after checking exhaust clamps, wheel bearings, ball joints and pretty much anything else under the car I could think of, my wife noticed one of the BBS centre caps wasn't looking very secure - hey presto! rattle fixed :o:

A bit box of bushes and rubbers has arrived from C3, so that's all on the horizon for the back end, as well as dropping the tank. At present we're just putting £20 in at a time which is keeping the level below the seam so no more fuel on the driveway. Not the best solution but the car's being used very little so it'll have to do in the short term.

Current task however is the sagging headlining.





which is now out on the dining room table, with the material stripped off:


And now I understand how/why they sag. It's a foam back material and the foam if firmly stuck to the headling, just as it's perished the fabric has separated from the foam.





So lots more scraping and rubbing later...






very nervous about this next bit, but bought some new material and spray adhesive so fingers crossed for my next update being a good one.

A few shots from today, didn't all go to plan and thing the box has to come out again tomorrow 







The car went in for a new Longlife Stainless Steel back box today. Only to discover the Cat was split and rattling so going for a full system now.... Ouch!  Mad but one less thing I'll need to worry about.

Got to play with fire last weekend...



Made a start on refurbishing the rear end with spare parts removed from a breaker. All bushes now removed with the help of some small bonfires, luckily it was a bit drizzly so none of the neighbours would have had any washing on the line, ready to start rubbing down all the metal work now.

Hopefully I spend a bit more time on it this weekend although I now need to swap the radiator from the breaker too as it's leaking.


Yey, New boots have arrived. I love it when the postman brings fun stuff

https://eddypeck.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/2015-03-20-10-16-22_zpsmzyscrzf.jpg

A couple of updates from the weekend. Took the wheels from the one I'm breaking, as they were all in better condition than the ones fitted and got the new tyres fitted, then gave them a bit of a deep clean before fitting...



I hate cleaning BBS  :mad:


Also swapped a front caliper, as it was binding a bit and got round to fitting the new steering boot, noticed it was split the other week when I was doing the clutch.

I got the proper clips with it, then realised I didn't have the tool to tighten it and wasn't sure I'd manage it with just pliers, so bog standard Cowboy ties will do after all, that's what I took off.


I managed to do it by splitting the track rod end (without damaging the boot) and pulled the boot over the ball joint so I didn't need to interfere with the tracking, which was just as well as I don't think the TRE was looking like it wanted to move anyway   :eek:

And just for good measure, a pic of the S/S system I had fitted a few weeks back


Still need to go back and get the downpipe done, you can see it in the picture of the boot. They didn't have time to finish the full system.


Made a start on the rear beam over the weekend.



Stripped back to metal with a flap wheel and various size wire brushes on a grinder. And my DIY soda balster for the small nooks and grannies.

I know it would have been easier to send it off for blasting but there's something very satisfying about doing a job yourself, and doing it well.

Bit more of an update, all rust removed and chemically treated. Then etch primer and a few coats of red oxide. Ready for gloss black next week.



I also tested the fuel sender with a spare out of the car I'm breaking. That seemed to work so swapped it over.



And since I had to remove the rear seats front hinge to get at the sender, I replaced the bar with the one from the breaker as mine had a broken clip.



Also swapped out the front indicator lens that was cracked with a good one. So slowly working through the whole car improving it where I can  :D

Started my second attempt on the sunroof panel last night. I wasn't happy with the first attempt and the material was catching on the guides when slid back.



More updates to follow. Sewing in the central flaps was more of a pain than I remember it being the first time.

A bit of progress from the weekend. The spare fuel tank had every bit of rust, tiny blemish or blister (to be fair, not many) ground back to clean metal, and rust treated:



As did the filler neck, rear arb, link pipe for the fuel tank and the diff got cleaned up too:



So the plan this week is to finish the prep ready for paint on all of this and the already prepared rear beam hopefully next weekend.

Another small update today. I've started bringing it to work to take advantage of my 'free' time over lunch to finish off a few of those smaller outstanding niggly jobs.

Job #1 faulty fuel gauge
So yesterday I swapped the instrument cluster, without joy so today I changed the fuel tank sender



Which seemed to do the job


Other eligible lunchtime tasks.... swap a headlight and replace the sunroof panel, and a good detail.

Right, I wasn't happy with my first attempt at the sunroof panel and it never fitted right so was catching on the runner and tore.



and as mentioned above I trimmed a spare frame


So, that got fitted today and as I never added any finished shots of the re-trimmed headliner here goes:


Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i TouringWe

Reply #1 –
Stepped it up a gear with the refurb over the weekend using my makeshift spray booth.






Just need to flip the fuel tank and do the top, and get the bushes fitted then hopefully get all this new stuff fitted soon.

Meanwhile got handy with a toothbrush



And gave it a good wash

If the weather holds out clay polish and wax is will happen over the next few days.


Grabbed half hour in my lunch break to clay and polish the bonnet.





If the weather holds out for the next week or so I'll work my way over the whole car  :D

Trailing arm bushes were fine but beam bushes took some effort. all done with a bench vice... not on a bench.







Looking forward to getting them in, this is the state of the current ones



I hate the way the rear end reluctantly follows round bends at the moment, it's really un-stable...


So with the beam bushed and nearly ready for fitting I concentrated on a few of the other bits. And I've scheduled in the rebuild for a couple of weeks.











It also has a cracked inner lamp, so using the thinners I've tried to de-cloud my spare lamps,




I've also painted the metal rings but haven't got a pic of them.

The car was actually bought for my wife so I haven't driven it all that much, but while I've been doing little jobs on it we've swapped cars so I can take it into work and tinker in my lunch break and I'm really beginning to enjoy it



The fogging is inside the lamps, the thinner was poured in through the bulb aperture and sloshed around. Left the unit lens down for a while to let is soak then flipped it over and drained out the fluid.



Ahead of the pending MOT I thought it was high time I addressed the final remaining item on last years advisories.

Weak Washers!

Once I started fiddling around it became obvious. The not-return valve was knackered, no signs of a leak, but once I started handling it it fell apart.

So new one fitted and now the wash jets blast away nicely  Very Happy Gotta love the easy fixes.

Made a start on the 'big job' at the weekend. Slow progress as I had to juggle wife, kids, dogs etc. so not as much time at it as I'd have liked but the car is up in the air with pretty much everything slackened off and disconnected ready for the beam and tank to be dropped.


Diff mount, arb drop links and trailing arm bushes all seen better days.




Here's where the fuel tank has been leaking from if filled right up



as a result we've had to limit it to only putting in £20 a time. Which hasn't been a real issue as the car is only used occasionally, but will be nice to get this resolved once and for all

Handy that it has a drain plug, I'd tried to use up as much as possible, needle was the wrong side of empty, but still managed to get about 5 or so litres out of it.


Discovered the rear shock had signs of leaking, which would explain some of the undesired handling characteristics


So I've got a spare set, not new but in better condition from a lower mileage donor. The top mounts weren't as bad as I was expecting but new ones are going in anyway.

Also even though I did the centre bearing I never got round to doing this last time I dropped the prop so I can finish this job properly now, just waiting on delivery.


And a few other rusty bits that are getting replaced



Very eager to get it all finished off now. This is possibly the toughest mechanical task I've ever taken on. I think I'd rather change an engine than have to do this again, but it will be so worth it.

More updates to follow....

Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i TouringWe

Reply #2 –
Oh and the final nut on the top mounts I did do the dreaded drop it down inside the car thing  Eek but managed to retrieve it with one of those magnet tipped extending pen things, phew - that was close.


Slow progress... and not getting the time I'd like on it with other family commitments etc but...


Got this lot dropped.


I remembered to undo the big not in the centre of the hubs and loosen all the bolts on the half-shafts to the cups before removing this time.

Also got the old tank out.... what a crusty old mess that was


Ran into a couple of problems, on one side the centre metal section of the bush stayed attached, shows how knackered the bush was as it fell apart.


And one of the fuel tank bolts sheered off in the bracket, drilled it and tried to use an extraction tool, then the top of that sheered off in the remains of the bolt!


Not great, but pleased to see the general underside of the car is in great shape and no rust.

Getting there, just wish I could get more time dedicated to it. With just an hour or two here and there it's really dragging on.



New front bush


New prop bearing and mount


Prop, diff and half shafts are all back in situ but not fully bolted up yet, fresh oil in the diff. Suspension and brake lines all connected up ready for bleeding. Then fit the heat shields and finally the exhaust and should be ready for the MOT. Probably only a few hours left. But I'm away for a bit and with other commitments I might not get those few hours for another couple of weeks. It's so frustrating.

Finally all finished, back on the ground and took for a short test drive.





not forgetting new lock washers, which I know some people tend to not bother with


Nice and tight and exactly how I'd hoped it would be. Made a real difference.

When I got back I left it to idle on the drive for a while....

then POP!

This coolant flange let go!



Gutted, and looks like a bugger to change  :?

Well that was pretty knackered!



And I was told why it might have happened, when I did the clutch that would have put tilt on the engine and the pipe would have been under pressure from the end connected to the heater matrix.

So lesson to anyone dropping the gearbox, disconnect the water pipes to the heater so no added stress is put on the plastic pipe.

I managed to get it out without removing too may items. I needed to do an oil change anyway and had the stuff so removing the oil filter gave an extra few mm



and I undid the bolts on the lower inlet support bracket and managed to leave the inlet manifold in place which I was very pleased about.

Forgot to add, when I dropped the oil I had to put a long breaker bar on to get the sump plug off. The crush washer had been crushed to a thin tinfoil disc. Unbelievable!

And in an ally sump I'm surprised it hadn't cracked.

the oil change had just been done when I got the car (backed up by clean golden oil on the dip stick, not just the word of the PO) so I'd not done it previously.

Glad to report a new crush washer was fitted and the plug tightened to the appropriate torque... and no leak.


Crunch time - MOT today.

The moment of truth after all my hard work and just got a call from the garage.

FAILED ... on emissions!

New Lambda Sensor due in for the morning. But if it turns out to be the CAT that's a new Stainless steel with lifetime warranty and the guys MOTing it are the ones that made and fitted it so the ball's in their court!

Just a bit annoying. I did all the stuff you can see. I didn't even think about emissions. As well as all the bushes, etc. New air filter, oil filter, oil and coolant. New plugs and leads not long ago. Fresh brake and pas fluid.... pretty much everything  Cry

Oh well, should be OK by tomorrow.




Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i TouringWe

Reply #3 –
And that's where the story ended.

During the period of working on this, my MK2 failed and I bought a Mk4 GT TDI as an emergency daily. When my wife drove it she liked the mod cons, of heated seats, air con, a decent stereo etc. and decided she didn't want the e30 anymore.

I only drove it a very short distance after completing the work and driving experience was fantastic, it totally transformed the car having all the running gear refurbished.

The car was put up for sale, I ended up with a couple of guys fighting over it and one offering £500 over the asking price to secure it.

It was bought in the end by a film maker, than had been commissioned by BMW to take one of their old museum bikes to the Isle Of Man Classic TT to film a documentary. He was offered the loan of a brand new 5 series but he wanted to authenticate the documentary by having a period tow car, and he said he's struggled to find on is such good original condition that "hadn't been slammed, abused or on some stupid wheels" his words! :lol:

I heard it was put back up for sale once the film was complete but I lost track after that and I'm yet to see the film.


in addition to what I posted on e30zone, there was the breaker I bought, but mainly I left that out of my build thread as the guy I got it off was a member and I promised him I'd take good care of it.  :oops:








but the almost bare shell at the end was bought from a lad down Devon way that was going to rebuild it back up to be a 325.


and finally, just some extra photos for good measure.






























Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #4 –
My two favourite car designs from the 80s - the E30 and the Mk2 Golf. Probably something to do the twin round headlights!

I wanted an E30 years and years ago - back when when a nice 325i sport was £3,500. I ended up buying my friends E36 325i (with m-sport kit and Alpina wheels) but sorely regret not buying and keeping the E30.  Silly me thought it was too old and I needed something newer to drive a few miles to work. Now look at me with my old metal I run around in out of choice.

I did register with the e30 zone but this must have been around 2002/3. Shame to hear it has gone downhill.

Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #5 –
After my first e30 touring way back when.... I got an e36, lovely example, very high spec. Was a saloon though and not long after getting it my wife started a business with a friend and needed an estate again so didn’t keep it long.

Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #6 –
Awesome read, didn't realise you went that far into the car! Although, it made me very nervous for my car! What was the mileage when you bought this one?

Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #7 –
To be honest I’d forgotten I’d done so much to it, came as a bit of a surprise when I started reading back through as I copied it over from the old site. Glad I copied it though else this would be lost now.

Dropping the rear beam was an absolute bitch but after all the bushes were done it totally transformed it. Unless you have records of it being done I’d certainly recommend doing it along with the prop bearing.

Not sure of the miles, I have to see if I have it recorded.

Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #8 –
I didn’t realise how much you had done to it... they are superb cars, more than capable in modern traffic , lovely to drive and so stylish... I miss mine a lot, miss yours?

Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #9 –
I've got into the habit of recording everything I buy and sell, so I can give you some stats.
I bought the car 16th August 2014 for £2025.00 which at the time was serious money for one of these, especially being a 318 and not a 320/325.

It was on 150k miles, oddly enough I thought it was less than that, but that's what I have noted. I guess that explains why, although the car was in very good state the rubbers were a little tired and after doing them the drive was transformed.

I bought the breaker for £650, I used a lot of the parts myself and sold everything else. I ended up making as much in profit as the car had cost me in the first place.

 Obviously I would have liked to have paid less for a part car, but it was a road legal, MOTed and running car which I actually drove home before I dismantled it so was probably a bit too good to break. The shell was sold on with the V5 and the guy was planning to re-shell his 325 so it wasn't a complete loss, the car didn't get wastefully scrapped or cut up.

This is not the first time I've bought a parts car for a project. It's certainly the most cost effective way to go if you have space to do it.

I spent a little over a grand getting the e30 sorted, which included £400 on a full stainless exhaust and CAT and tyres at almost £300, £160 on paint and consumables for the undercarriage refurb, the rest was mostly smaller parts and service items. So on the whole, quite a bit of labour but not a lot of expense.

I'm not sure when it was, but I think it was probably only around a year to 18 months later I sold the car. I got £1500 more than I paid for it so all in all, and with the help of the breaker I made a decent profit.

As for do I miss it? I have to be honest - not really!

It was Carole's car anyway, it wasn't really mine as I still had the Mk2 at the time. So maybe I didn't get to bond with it that much. My personal opinion is it hasn't stood the test of time as well as the Golf. It was a well built car, which just makes it more complicated to work on than a Mk2 and therefore less enjoyable. My first one was brilliant and served me well for many years so maybe revisiting it years later just left me a little disappointed, whereas getting back in a Mk2 brings back that massive smile from my first drive in one many years ago.

I do wish though I'd had more chance to drive it after it was finished. I literally finished it and sold it, maybe had I driven it more once complete I'd have greater respect for it.

I do think the e30 marks the high point of BMW, from them on I think other manufactures had caught up in design, production and build quality. BMW also lowered their standards on later models to be more competitive with the approaching threat from other brands. I don't see BMW as the prestige brand they once were. And looking at the modern 3 series, I think I'd be just as happy in a Focus.

Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #10 –
My sister had a 1990 1.6i auto back in 2002 and whilst it was quite a pretty decent car to drive, it felt pretty soulless.  To be fair, the fact that it had a pretty asthmatic 1.6 which was mated to a 4 speed auto box and would struggle to out drag her previous Metro 1.2 to 60 clouded my judgement somewhat!

It did have one option which I am sure no longer features on more modern BMW's.  There was a lever sticking out of the steering column that when activated, turned on orange flashing lights that told other drivers the direction you wish to travel.  Why BMW have stopped using this is a strange one as surely it could be seen as some kind of safety feature  :))
1988 8v GTI, 3 door in black.  It's a bit like me, doesn't look too bad from a distance but up close.......:D

Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #11 –
I'll agree and disagree with you a bit there.

E30, stonking car, wish I had one and it was a great time for the brand.

We've just bought a 5 year old 4 series as a family car (August 15th!) and after testing other makes, Audi/Skoda etc, it certainly was head and shoulders above it's counterparts in terms of spec and build quality. Also all of the small touches that are in the car makes you think they have really thought about the design.  Yes, they probably thought about it for one car and then cookie cutter designed it to the rest of the fleet, but they are still there.
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Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #12 –
Quote from: Monkey on
I'll agree and disagree with you a bit there.

E30, stonking car, wish I had one and it was a great time for the brand.

We've just bought a 5 year old 4 series as a family car (August 15th!) and after testing other makes, Audi/Skoda etc, it certainly was head and shoulders above it's counterparts in terms of spec and build quality. Also all of the small touches that are in the car makes you think they have really thought about the design.  Yes, they probably thought about it for one car and then cookie cutter designed it to the rest of the fleet, but they are still there.

Well I suppose the 4 series is a bit more in their premium range, so I guess that makes sense. While the 3 series for comparison is still very much in the company car "mondeo" class. I had an e36 after my first e30. It was a very highly spec'ed and very nice. But over the years I've looked at BMWs again, e46 in particular and found it very average.  Maybe they've reclaimed a bit of their prestige in recent years, a 5 year old car is not anything that's likely to appear on my radar.

Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #13 –
To be honest, it's not something that usually appears on my radar either, not usually a fan of modern cars.
Just with the new baby incoming, we wanted a reliable car and I've been saving like mad for nearly year.
One good thing about the covid is it's driven down prices in that market.
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Corrado G60 Turbo
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225 TT Coup
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911 Carrera 4S

Re: Eddypeck's '93 BMW 318i Touring

Reply #14 –
Bit of an unexpected update here.

I've just been in contact with the guy that now owns it. He's been trying to track down previous owners and started following me in Instagram. Not sure how he found me I only have 2 pics of it on my Insta account.

Anyway, he managed to get a copy of the fabled Total BMW mag:









Can't quite make it out but looks like 2009