Thread: BMW E36 318is Coupe Journal

I thought I'd post up a journal of my car. The modifications up to date and what I have planned. Hope you enjoy it.

Car: 1992 BMW 318 IS Coupe (Bought in August 2006)
Owner: M3Power

The first pic is a few days after I bought the car of ebay. The price was about 700 pounds. At the time I had 2000 pounds to spend. I decided that it was a good idea to get the car at that price and slowly work on it. When buying I knew that I had to change the middle to rear section of the exhaust system and get a new driver's side door mirror. So I said to myself you have a 1000 pounds left.. Probably fit an m3 bumper, put some second hand leather and then work on the details.

Unfortunately there were lots of small things that I didnt know about the car and they had to be done before the mot. That is break pipes, lower arms and ball joints and a set of tyres(which I was going to do anyway). However that used up most of the 1000 pounds.

Then I take it for the mot expecting to pass and they find a crack in one of the alloys which a week before was not spotted when I paid 400 pounds for my tyres. So now I had to look for a new set of wheels. Always loved the look of the motorsport wheels so I bought a replica set of quarry motors. The second picture is from the day they arrived.

Later the same day I got my mot and tax done. All ready to go...

The car with the new wheels on can be seen on the third picture

Now that the car was legal to drive it was time for a new upgrade. Sound system (Fourth picture)

This is my new headunit installed and I have a pair of 4 way 6x9 speakers along with an amp to drive them waiting to be installed. Also I am after a good component set for the front. As soon as I find what I am looking for I will install everything together.

Too lazy to study for my exams and excited that I got my new speakers.. so I started working on installing them in my car..

Now they are all working perfectly. I mounted the woofers of the components and got the trim back in place. The tweeters are working but I am trying to figure out the best way of mounting them onto the door card. But because I am getting a new interior on monday I'll wait until then for that..

Also the amp and rear speakers are installed as I posted before, but I have to get rid of that mess in the pics so you dont see any wires around..

Alright.. Another update to my journal.. This looks like a good month for my car

From Pictures 1 & 2 (Before)
To Pictures 3 & 4 (After)

Now they just need a good cleaning..

Next new gear and handbreak gaitors as well as a gear lever.. Hopefully I will be getting these during the week

Edit: I also need to fit the door cards which are sitting in my garage. I will be doing that in a couple of weeks when I will be completing my sound system

Just received this email from BMW about my cars factory specs.

"Thank you for your email to BMW Customer Information.

We can confirm the following information regarding the BMW 318IS Coupe you query.

BMW 318IS Coupe - Registration - K......

Colour - Diamond Black Metallic

Upholstery - Anthracite Cloth

Ordered Options-

Alloy Wheels-Cross Spoke

Electric Sliding Roof

Halogen Front Fog Lights

M Technics Steering Wheel

On-board Computer

M-technic Sports Suspension

If you would like more information on this model or to obtain older brochures An alternative course of action is to access the BMW Owners and Enthusiasts Website. This site is a source of much information and it may be that one of the members recognises this part and is able to offer you further guidance.
...
"

Pictures of my new gaitors and gearknob

Just a quick update to show you whats coming up..

Well today I fitted my new 4 inch speakers on the doorcards.

I did put them back in the car and they sound very good. I am very pleased. I will take more pictures in a few days. Also today I bought a new 4 channel DSL amplifier. The plan is that I will be getting a 4th pair of speakers to fit in the rear door cards. These will be mid/low range speakers which should enhance the low frequencies since I don't want a sub.

So my set up will be the following

Infinity 5.25 inch Components in the front
Pioneer 2 way 4 inch two way speakers on the door cards
Mid/low range 6.5 speakers on the rear panels
6x9 on the rear

The infinity and the rear panel speaker will run of the dsl amp. My current amp will run the 6x9s and the 4inch ones will be powered through the head unit.

Well got up this morning and the plan was to clean the ICV (Idle Control Valve). But before I go on about that the good things started to come yesterday.

In the morning I got up and went to Dave.F so he could install a K&N filter on my car. Got there but remembered that I left the adaptor at home! So i had to go back get the adaptor and go back to Dave's house. Got there and Dave installed the filter(Big thanks!! ). He tried to fit one of his famous heat shields however we found out that it wouldn't work on my 318IS. Then he spend about an hour trying to get the filter at the best position possible and added an extra cold air feed. The filter sound's amazing. There is no indication whatsoever of a filter when you are not pushing the car but as soon as you step on the accelerator it you can hear it and its great! I have been driving with my music since then just enjoying the sound.

However on the down side yesterday Dave spotted a cracked pipe. Today I while cleaning my ICV i found out that it is the pipe connecting the ICV to the air filter. Therefore that has to be the source of my idling problems. While on the ICV I decided that it was a good idea to clean my engine a bit because it was nasty.

And last but not least last night I bought an MK motorsport exhaust from Germany. Can wait to receive that and get it fitted!

Here are a couple of pics

A cleaner engine (1st Picture)

The new filter (2nd Picture)

I ordered this on Thursday. Shipped on Monday and got here this morning. This is my new MK Motorsport Exhaust. As some of you may already know I bought it off the ebay motorsport sale that was posted in another topic in the forum. THe people at MK Motorsport were very helpful and replied to all my emails very fast and willing to help.

Hopefully this will be fitted sometime this week

sorry about the mess in the back of the pic. I just got up and I was too excited to do anything else first

well I couldn't wait so I fitted my exhaust today. Went down to the local ATM and asked them if they could do it for me..

and from Pictures 1 & 2 to Pictures 3 & 4

I don't have a picture of when it was finished as I had to leave. However it looks right in place. The diffuser was not cut now but was left like that from the previous owner. So I take no credit for the cut on the diffuser!

I didnt have time to get a good feel of the exhaust however I'll be doing that later on tonight. And just to add it had REMUS as well as MK Motorsport written on it so I am guessing that MK used remus exhausts.