BMW 318i Touring (E30) | Shed of the Week

[Freewheel]

Shed - Keep on keeping on - I really enjoy your weekly pieces.

Nicely crafted - interesting cars and not too long... Never boring

Gratefully yours...

[ali27]

scottos said:

helix402 said:

The F1 engine was based on the M10.

Was just about to say that, as an m10 fan boy i couldnt let it slide

Crazy to see what looks like a relatively sound e30 at this money too!

Not sure i it's true but I heard a rumour that the BMW engineers used to leave the engine blocks which they used in the Brabhams outside in the same place they'd go for a penny, to weather them when building the turbo engines

[Cotty]

s m said:

As JACKO said earlier, the auto box really knocks the edge off the performance on these.
A friend’s dad had the saloons - manual they were markedly faster - we all had old Escorts and in manual form they were almost RS2000 acceleration - whereas autos were like 1300 engine pace

Modern cars don’t suffer much if at all with an auto - often they’re quicker

Back in the day the E30Zone produced two chips, the mild and wild. I went for the mild with my auto as it increased the midrange but not extend top end rev limit. With an auto the midrange chip allows more opportunity to double kickdown and my 325i auto will properly shift (for its age). Although only seen an indicated 125mph.

[Leins]

Cotty said:

Mine still looks good.

Love that Cotty! Remind me, is it a H26? Birds conversion?

[Rob 131 Sport]

I ran an E30 320i 2 Door saloon from 1993 to 1998. In black with a private plate it looked very cool for someone who had just turned 20. It felt like a really upmarket car after my previous Fiat Mirafiori Sport, Capri and Mk 2 Cavalier. However the handling in the wet required serious caution and there was little power in 3800RPM. It was also quite thirsty.

The word at the time was don’t consider a 4 Pot unless it’s the 318i S with the 16 Valve Engine as the performance was woeful.

[Cotty]

Leins said:

Love that Cotty! Remind me, is it a H26? Birds conversion?

I wish. It just has the Hartge wheels and stripes. There were only three Birds tourings made and no more parts to recreate one.

[Cotty]

Rob 131 Sport said:

The word at the time was don’t consider a 4 Pot unless it’s the 318i S with the 16 Valve Engine as the performance was woeful.

I previously had a 316 with the 1766 cc M10, mainly for insurance reasons. But it rode and drove very well.

Edited by Cotty on Sunday 12th January 10:05

[alex.baker89]

J4CKO said:

alex.baker89 said:

A lot of people are - as expected - commenting on the M40 being gutless and the car needing a transplant for a 6 cylinder.

I've owned my E30 318I 2 door for a while now and it is not gutless. A healthy, well maintained M40 runs well and keeps up with modern traffic. It feels normal and not under-powered, unlike the 1.6. The 1.8 is good for 120 ish mph, and feels relatively nippy if it wants to be. E30's are pretty light and small by today's standards. Put it this way, it weighs about the same as a 1.8 mk1 Ford Focus with almost exactly the same power output... more than enough.

Compared to the M44 in my E36, the difference wasn't as great as people make it out to be.

Haggle a bit and get it for a couple of hundred quid less, then enjoy it for what it is.

Edited by alex.baker89 on Friday 10th January 12:39

Yeah, but the 4 speed auto is the killer and if you are going to do stuff to it, may as well go a bit spicier..

Yeah, but I'd say that's the same of any auto 4 pot of this era. My point is that the M40 is a good engine and was very well tuned from factory. Agreed on your point though... the autos are sluggish. Either convert to manual (easy job) or sling a bigger engine in it (more expensive and time consuming).

Oh and on the comments for slow steering I agree on a lock to lock basis. Most people swap the rack out for an E46 club sport rack. Only about £120 and very easy to do. Makes it a much more wholesome car to drive apparently.

A well sorted E30 is a cracking daily in general though. I found that I had more problems with my E36 which had a stiff ride, with seats that give you back ache. When I have passengers in the E30 they're genuinely surprised by how comfortable it is in comparison to more modern stuff.

Edited by alex.baker89 on Wednesday 22 January 19:04