Project Log First Bimmer 318i DD

Purchased my first bimmer last thursday for 700. Its a 1993 318i Bought it from a family that just wanted it out the driveway. Husband bought wife a new audi and she jus had no more use for it. Its a 5 speed that has 270K miles on it. They werent really big car ppl but kept a record of all maintenance. Basically anytime they heard a noise it was put in the shop so maintenance is basically up to date...but im still going to address the common issues these cars seem to have. I originally was lookin for an e39 but couldnt pass this up after going to see it & test driving it

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Plans for this project:
Re-do suspension Making this my daily driver so im looking for a comfortable drive. I've been searching and it sounds like Koni srt.t with stock springs should be a comfortable ride. What else should i look into replacing while im redoing suspension

Re-do cooling system car has 270K miles jus figure it would be a good idea to get it out of the way now.

Changing Blower Motor & Resistor already on the way hopefully solves problem with no heat checked fuses already.

Fix front passenger door doesnt want to open. *FIXED*

Change weatherstripping around front and rear windshields. It looks like they put some kind of goo around it.

Fix front passenger window it struggles to go down stops quarter of the way from top and when you put it back up goes off track.

Change to m3 bumpers & sideskirts with roof spoiler & ac-s trunk spoiler

Tint

Clear coat is peeled off so repaint same color with spoiler & bumper & sideskirts same color


Here are some pics first day home havent even cleaned it yet

Welcome to the fest!

Love the color. Calypso is sort of unusual. Not rare, but not as common as black or silver. Not crazy about the gray skirts or black wheels though. That can be changed if you so desire.

Look through those maintenance records and see when the cooling system was last overhauled. If it's more than ~75k miles, it's due.

Yea the wheels & skirts are definitely getting changed not fan of them either. When i checked the records it had been done in 2012 but i didnt look at the miles still gonna do it myself just for reassurance its at 270K miles & its the original engine/tranny.

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I have a 96 318i. One thing about the M42/44 engines is that they last almost forever when well taken care of. If the water pump and radiator were taken care of, along with the thermostat, hoses, expansion tank, you're good to go. Just focus on getting some stock rims on that car, get rid of the grey side skirts, and that ugly wing on the back. It's not even for a BMW.

People dog on the 318i a lot because of the lackluster power of a regular 6-cyl BMW, but for long trips, daily driver duty, and Sunday cruises, I love the car. Plus also it was a one-owner car and the original owner had it since 97. The car was in immaculate shape. I will convert it to a 6cyl in the future. But for now, the engine is more than awesome, especially with today's gas prices going on the up and up with no end in sight.

Better yet, anyone know if an S14 engine would fit in an OBD 1 car?

Originally Posted by hnaz

I have a 96 318i. One thing about the M42/44 engines is that they last almost forever when well taken care of. If the water pump and radiator were taken care of, along with the thermostat, hoses, expansion tank, you're good to go. Just focus on getting some stock rims on that car, get rid of the grey side skirts, and that ugly wing on the back. It's not even for a BMW.

People dog on the 318i a lot because of the lackluster power of a regular 6-cyl BMW, but for long trips, daily driver duty, and Sunday cruises, I love the car. Plus also it was a one-owner car and the original owner had it since 97. The car was in immaculate shape. I will convert it to a 6cyl in the future. But for now, the engine is more than awesome, especially with today's gas prices going on the up and up with no end in sight.

Better yet, anyone know if an S14 engine would fit in an OBD 1 car?

Basically my exact thoughts when i bought it body is in really good shape the engine/trans hasnt shown any problems. Got it to clean it up and make it my daily driver, its my first manual drive car also. Only thing wrong right now is cant get front passenger door open and the blower wont come on. Pretty sure its dead she said sometimes it would come on sometimes it wouldnt.

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Originally Posted by B1mm3rB

Basically my exact thoughts when i bought it body is in really good shape the engine/trans hasnt shown any problems. Got it to clean it up and make it my daily driver, its my first manual drive car also. Only thing wrong right now is cant get front passenger door open and the blower wont come on. Pretty sure its dead she said sometimes it would come on sometimes it wouldnt.

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For the blower motor, may want to consider replacing the resistor.

As far as the passenger door, does it open from in the inside or outside? It may be your actuator. Not that hard, but it is a pain to maneuver it inside and out. Either that or the lock itself.

Door doesnt open at all outside handle feels like its not attached at all, inside handle feels like its almost close to opening but jus wont. I think its just the latch the driver side door had acted up when i went to buy it (perfect timing helped knock the price down) sprayed lubricant on latch & its working fine now.
The blower im gonna go through & test all possibilities before takin it apart & testing it once i get a lil warmer weather 0 degrees at the moment

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Is there a way to check the blower motor without taking everything apart first???

Did you get the handle fixed? Also your best bet is to just replace the blower motor and resistor it's an old car and chances are they are going to need to be replaced. Plus if you replace them now you won't have to worry about them anytime soon. If you don't want to spend full price on new ones check a junk yard.

Thats a good point previous owner never mentioned replacing the blower motor so might as well jus replace it pretty sure its due for it anyway. Didnt get the passenger open yet. had found a deal on a driver seat & drove to get that over the weekend. Mine original one was ripped & the driver side heated seat wasnt working but the passenger side is.

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Originally Posted by B1mm3rB

Thats a good point previous owner never mentioned replacing the blower motor so might as well jus replace it pretty sure its due for it anyway. Didnt get the passenger open yet. had found a deal on a driver seat & drove to get that over the weekend. Mine original one was ripped & the driver side heated seat wasnt working but the passenger side is.

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Yea I mean it would just be your best bet to replace them. Have you pulled the door panel off and looked inside the door? The handle system on the 93 e36s are a bit sketchy.

I have the door panel off but havent messed with it much. The outside handle isnt connected at all the inside handle is connected but jus not pulling all the way.

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Have you tried manually pulling the long metal rod that connects to the inside handle? That might open the door to help you figure out the issue.

Nope havent tried that yet? Will try that tomorrow. Hopefully that works cuz this would be a lot easier wit the door open

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Alright, keep us posted. And if you have any other questions or concerns just holler.

Updated first post with plans for this project. Any input & advice is appreciated, especially on where to get the items im looking for a good price or things to look out for.

The weather stripping around the rear windshield can be done without pulling out the rear windscreen. It requires plenty of liquid soap detergent for washing dishes and working from the top and moving downward. It's painful without the tool that looks like a heel spur, but can be done with patience.

As far as the passenger side door lock, once you get it open, it sounds like you need to put some lithium grease in there and let it settle in to lubricate everything. BTW, does the power lock work for it on that side? If not, might as well take care of the actuator as well while the panel is off. Just unplug, pull off, put the new one on, plug it up, good to go.

Yea i found the write up for the rear windshield gonna order the weatherstripping today. Is the front windshield the same or do you have to take it out to change the weatherstripping???

The actuators are working fine jus think i need to get it open & lube it up like u said

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The front windshield needs to be removed if you are going to replace the seal around it, unfortunately. But the bottom cowel piece is simple enough for sedans. On coupes, it is a nightmare to get the two tabs at the far end of the cowel to go in and underneath the windshield. Some people just cut off the tabs since they serve no real purpose as it is.

For anyone else interested, this is SUPER easy to do:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1736909

The plastic tool can be found at harbor fright, primitive auto, pep girls, etc.

Any tips for getting this door open outside handle is broken. The inside door handle works door jus not opening.

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SUCCESS!!! Got the passenger door open. Wish i would have been a little more patient wouldnt have broken inside handle. But like i thought the latch was just stuck. I took the door panel off & removed the weatherstripping on the middle pillar to expose the door latch. Sprayed a bunch of wd40 into the latch and it opened right up. I was wrong about the outside handle though. It does work you just have to push the handle back down after opening the door. Im going to guess this is just a broken spring??? What should i use to lubricate the latch since wd40 dries up over time??? Will post pics just in case it might help anyone else.

This is right after getting the door open


Here is where i sprayed the wd40 to get the door open. Removed the door panel and pull backed the weatherstripping to access the latch. Sprayed it in there let it sit for a second then opened right up

Quick question does your mileage stay with your gauge cluster or is it saved with the car? May need to change gauge cluster but want to keep original mileage. The overlay is peeling off on the gas and temp gauges...

Originally Posted by B1mm3rB

Quick question does your mileage stay with your gauge cluster or is it saved with the car? May need to change gauge cluster but want to keep original mileage. The overlay is peeling off on the gas and temp gauges...

It's saved in your CPU I believe. It should be fine.

Got some more work in today. Got the new blower motor put in but now having idle issues when i turn on my heat. So have to figure that and did some de-uglyfying. Took off the sunroof cover and that ugly wing. Looks 10x better already in my opinion. Will be figuring out this idle issue, it may have to just adjust the throttle cable in the middle of re-installing blower motor realized i was leaning on it, And probably putting on tint the next couple of days

Before

After


Wing Before

Wing After

Also are these vents on the side of the blower motor always supposed to stay open???



Nevermind this post i was just extra paranoid as i usually am with working on something new, but i figured out how it works, but couldnt figure out how to delete this post so just edited it...