[AndyG]

Well guys, I have a pretty cherry BMW 318is with a freshly rebuilt engine that is showing signs of serious blowby. I'm too frustrated to tear the engine apart again to fix it, so I am looking to trade.

EDIT: Talked to my mechanic who did the engine, he does not believe that it is blowby and we are going to work on the problem. Stay tuned.

I am looking for a 164, a base model, 12v is fine, though it must be a manual something that doesn't urgently need a tb or water pump.

The car is sterling silver metallic, 5spd manual, slicktop, with the optional lsd. Paint is in 8.5/10 condition.

Pro's: Well aside from the oil consumption problems, let me tell you about the engine. M42B20, block was decked, honed, and bored .50 over, larger, lightweight pistons were used to accommodate. Crank was slightly polished. New timing gear, and basically everything from the oil pan up. Right around 7,000 miles on the engine. I have some paperwork, receipts etc. and some pictures if I can find them. New shifter bushings, comes with the mini BMW toolkit in the trunk, full size spare on one of the original BMW wheels. New OE clutch with roughly 7k on it

Windows are tinted 20%, aftermarket wheels (ROTA Slipstreams) though I personally prefer the OE BMW wheels. No leaks to speak of, head gasket was tested a few weeks ago and the test came back all good, coil pack conversion, no rust, though there are two small surface spots that I have pictures of. Nothing has burst through or bubbled. Paint is probably 8.5/10, still has that nice metallic flake too it.

Recent maintenance: Oil changed roughly 2,000 miles ago using 0w-40 mobil one european blend for winter. LSD fluid was replaced with redline 75w-90. ICV was replaced, though it didn't really do anything. passenger side rear, steel brake line was replaced. Pads have plenty of life and rotors look good.

Problems: needs a passenger side high beam, suspension is worn out so it drives a bit like a rocking chair. Idles a little weird when it's cold due to a wonky AFM. Steering rack is ready to be replaced with an e36 one. Who knows, by the time I get a trade maybe I'll have the new rack in. Car also needs a new throwout bearing, though I have daily driven the car for months and it hasn't given me any problems. It merely rattles if i let the clutch out quickly in neutral. I have a new throwout bearing ready to be installed. AC was deleted during the rebuild. Here is the second biggest problem. Mileage on the body is to be honest it is unknown. The original odometer recently stopped at 346k, and I swapped in a new cluster with 142k, though that one doesn't work. I will have a working odometer in the car by the time it is traded. Even though the body has high mileage the diff is good, the trans is good, no grinding or problems there.

Tl;dr The car is very clean, and has a lot of quality parts along with time and money put into it. It would make a great project as it is one of the more rare combination of e30's. the E30 318is was only sold for one year in America, and the metallic paint, slicktop, and lsd are a rare combo. This along with the 325is fetch pretty good prices when they're sorted out.

Location is Southern MD.

Here is my CL post: http://smd.craigslist.org/cto/4861539257.html

Edit:Here's some pictures

 

[stefmiesterb]

Well guys, I have a pretty cherry BMW 318is with a freshly rebuilt engine that is showing signs of serious blowby. I'm too frustrated to tear the engine apart again to fix it, so I am looking to trade.

I am looking for a 164, a base model, 12v is fine, though it must be a manuasomething that doesn't urgently need a tb or water pump.

The car is sterling silver metallic, 5spd manual, slicktop, with the optional lsd. Paint is in 8.5/10 condition.

Pro's: Well aside from the oil consumption problems, let me tell you about the engine. M42B20, block was decked, honed, and bored .50 over, larger, lightweight pistons were used to accommodate. Crank was slightly polished. New timing gear, and basically everything from the oil pan up. Right around 7,000 miles on the engine. I have some paperwork, receipts etc. and some pictures if I can find them. New shifter bushings, comes with the mini BMW toolkit in the trunk, full size spare on one of the original BMW wheels. New OE clutch with roughly 7k on it

Windows are tinted 20%, aftermarket wheels (ROTA Slipstreams) though I personally prefer the OE BMW wheels. No leaks to speak of, head gasket was tested a few weeks ago and the test came back all good, coil pack conversion, no rust, though there are two small surface spots that I have pictures of. Nothing has burst through or bubbled. Paint is probably 8.5/10, still has that nice metallic flake too it.

Recent maintenance: Oil changed roughly 2,000 miles ago using 0w-40 mobil one european blend for winter. LSD fluid was replaced with redline 75w-90. ICV was replaced, though it didn't really do anything. passenger side rear, steel brake line was replaced. Pads have plenty of life and rotors look good.

Problems: needs a passenger side high beam, suspension is worn out so it drives a bit like a rocking chair. Idles a little weird when it's cold due to a wonky AFM. Steering rack is ready to be replaced with an e36 one. Who knows, by the time I get a trade maybe I'll have the new rack in. Car also needs a new throwout bearing, though I have daily driven the car for months and it hasn't given me any problems. It merely rattles if i let the clutch out quickly in neutral. I have a new throwout bearing ready to be installed. AC was deleted during the rebuild. Here is the second biggest problem. Mileage on the body is to be honest it is unknown. The original odometer recently stopped at 346k, and I swapped in a new cluster with 142k, though that one doesn't work. I will have a working odometer in the car by the time it is traded. Even though the body has high mileage the diff is good, the trans is good, no grinding or problems there.

The big kicker: Blowby... I think. It recently started burning quite a bit of oil, like 1qt per 1,000 miles, along with a lot of oil building up in the intake before the plenum. Like I said, I'm too bummed out about my brand new engine having problems to fix it. Could be that the timing is off by a tooth or two, or the rings are bad. One is fairly simple, one is major.

Tl;dr The car is very clean, and has a lot of quality parts along with time and money put into it. It would make a great project as it is one of the more rare combination of e30's. the E30 318is was only sold for one year in America, and the metallic paint, slicktop, and lsd are a rare combo. This along with the 325is and M3 fetch pretty good prices when they're sorted out.

Sorry for rambling, if you I'll attach some pics after I get out of class. If you want to meet up and get the car on a lift to check it out be my guest, I have nothing to hide. Location is Southern MD.

I'd verify timing to isolate the issue to bad rings. It should be easy enough to check it. I've got a nice LS that you may be interested in. Complete service history, including belt service within the last 10k miles. Not looking to trade though...Good luck in your search.

 

[AndyG]

I'd verify timing to isolate the issue to bad rings. It should be easy enough to check it. I've got a nice LS that you may be interested in. Complete service history, including belt service within the last 10k miles. Not looking to trade though...Good luck in your search.

I agree. That is going to hopefully be my weekend project. If I sell the car I will keep in touch with you about your LS. It's all up in the air right now. I like the E30, but I definitely want a 164 which is what I was originally looking at.

 

[MarioGCosenza]

Im in New Jersey didnt read whats wrong with the car but i have a red 164L with some modifications to it, mostly sound equipment, the good, door cylinder switched, rebuilt engine by previous owner, all electricals work, car runs and drives and the clutch is good as well i would appreciate a quick response due to the fact the 318is is my current dream car.