What am I getting into?

[Exton_Dubs]

So after many, many, years doing the VW thing I have decided to make the leap into the world of BMW. I am picking up a 95 318ti 5 speed tomorrow with the M-Sport package. It was a good deal and I am a sucker for black German cars with tan leather interiors. I have started doing my research and I am already looking to invest in J!M's swap guide and an S50 motor. My last 2 builds were ground up restorations of a 95 VR6 Passat 12V monster. More recently I built an 85 Cabriolet running a built 2.0L Jetta motor and Yamaha R1 race bike carbs. I am generally pretty good at figuring things out myself, but will occasionally seek out help or ask stupid questions.

I will post up some pics after I get it home tomorrow in the 106 degree heat...

[familytruckster]

Welcome, they are pretty easy to work on. One of the easiest cars to work on I've ever owned. Most parts are surprisingly reasonable or just downright cheap.

You're fairly local, and we are having a small meet on the 31st, one of the cars attending an S52 swap, and the owner has done another 6 cyl swap too.

[UberWagen]

The TI is a greattt car, one of my most favorite I've ever owned! Super simple, smooth driving, straight forward, fuel efficient-to me anyway-, very reliable car. I personally haven't done the 6 cyl swap on a Ti, but I work on my Ti and VW's quite often. I've heard a lot of good things about that swap guide, and from what I understand, as long as you have that book, it's not bad at all. If you can work on a VRsucks, you can work on a 318ti for sure. So you built a bike carb'd ABA? What injection are you running?

[Exton_Dubs]

Originally Posted by UberWagen

So you built a bike carb'd ABA? What injection are you running?

No injection. Custom fabricated intake manifold with four 40MM carbs. External Carter fuel pump feeds them through a Holley fuel pressure regulator. Very much like an ITB setup, but substantially cheaper if you know what your doing. But that project is leaving to make room for the ti.

Also looking into the M50 swap. Less power than the S50 but seems like a more straight forward swap. That will be a winter project, first I need to pick it up tomorrow and get it home in the 110 degree heat.

Where is the GTG going to be at the end of the month? Depending on my schedule I just might stop in and introduce myself.

[familytruckster]

Meet info is here...

The intersection of 137 and 83....

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33782

[cooljess76]

If the ti you're looking at has a tan interior, it didn't come with an "M Package". Many people slap Mtechnic front bumpers and moldings on their ti's and then lie to people telling them it has an "M package" when in fact it's just a base or active model. It's so obvious to ti enthusiasts because most people who do this don't swap out the rear bumper(the 318ti Mtechnic rear bumper is unique to the ti and costs about $400 plus paint) or the interior which sport models came with leather/cloth two-tone sport seats, door panels and black headliners, pillars, dash, consoles and carpet.

The only ti's that came with Mtechnic trim in '95 were ClubSports. There were only 300 of them built. They came in two colors, black or red. All of them had manual transmissions, LSD's, two-tone red/black sport interiors, sport suspension, 16" 5 spoke aluminum wheels, luxury side skirts, and along with the Mtechnic moldings and bumpers, they came with Mtechnic mirrors.

'96 and later 318ti sport models came with all of that, minus the mirrors and LSD. Interior color as well as paint color was available in more options, and manual or automatic transmissions were available. They made thousands of these.

I don't understand why people feel the need to lie about what they have. I mean, it is what it is. There's nothing wrong with a base model. If you added an Mtechnic bumper or other Mtech parts, cool, but don't tell people your car has an "M package" because unless it came with everything mentioned from the factory, you're only kidding yourself.

Then there's the people who make up their own model names "Hi my names Douchebag and I drive a 318ti "M" Sport..." First of all, there's nothing "M" about your car except for some stupid plastic trim. It's not faster, it doesn't have an "M" powerplant or "M3" suspension or even an "M" interior. It has SPORT suspension, a SPORT interior and the same 4 cylinder motor that came in the 318i 318is and 4 banger Z3. It's a 318ti SPORT, there's no such thing as an "M" sport.

Welcome to the forum, sorry about the rant

[Exton_Dubs]

I ran the vin and it said it was a sport package. Are their different levels such as sport/club sport? It is black, it has the LSD, body kit, manual, and the seats are not original. P.O. Switched them because original seats were beat and wanted leather. Either way it won't matter long because I intend to motor swap, suspension swap, and shave everything. I prefer sleepers as to not draw the attention of 5.0, my peers whom I work with, and the local D-bag fart can racers. Good looking out and I don't mind the rant. Thanks for having me.

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by Exton_Dubs

I ran the vin and it said it was a sport package. Are their different levels such as sport/club sport? It is black, it has the LSD, body kit, manual, and the seats are not original. P.O. Switched them because original seats were beat and wanted leather. Either way it won't matter long because I intend to motor swap, suspension swap, and shave everything. I prefer sleepers as to not draw the attention of 5.0, my peers whom I work with, and the local D-bag fart can racers. Good looking out and I don't mind the rant. Thanks for having me.

The only cars that came with Mtechnic trim in '95 were ClubSports and there was only 300 of them. '96 and later sport models came with Mtechnic trim. '95 sports came with sport suspension, sport interiors and most if not all came with LSD's. '96 was a limbo year, I think some '96's came with LSD as an option while others came with ASC and some did not. '97 and later came with open diffs and ASC+T. Your car is likely a sport model which means it came with sport interior, sport suspension, 16" 5 spoke alloy wheels, LSD, but since it's a '95 no Mtechnic trim. Again, unless it's black or red with a 5 speed, millpoint red & black interior, Mtechnic mirrors, moldings and bumpers, it's not a clubsport.

I prefer a cleanly modded sleeper too over an overly done fast and furious looking car. I've owned a base model as well as a ClubSport and a Sport. My current ti is a Sport and although it has the Mtechnic trim, I've still seen sharper looking base models. The Mtech stuff looks nice, but it's over rated IMO. Doesn't really do anything for performance, but it looks cool. I've had people, with no knowledge about ti's, come up to my car thinking that I added the Mtechnic stuff. They're usually shocked when I tell them it came like that from the factory. Then you get the kids with modded e36's that see the Mtechnic trim and automatically want to race you. It gets old I'm currently in the middle of a swap myself. Most people here are angry at me for taking so long, it's been a work in progress for the better part of three years now, lol. When it's done, I just hope it'll look like a cleanly modded 318ti, nothing more nothing less. Besides wheels, lighting and suspension, the rest of the outside should look stock and simple. This is what's going under the hood:

[Exton_Dubs]

Probably just a sport then. I am fine with that. Pardon my ignorance, but what motor is that. Obviously a 6, but M50 or S50? Can't tell them apart at this point, looks like you can eat off it though.

[cooljess76]

It's an S52. M50's (2.5L) and S50's (3.0L) are OBDI while M52's (2.8L) and S52's (3.2L) are OBDII. Your car is a '95, so it'll have an M42 which is OBDI, '96 and later models came with M44's which are OBDII. For ease of the swap, you should go for an M50 or S50, although since your car is a '95, it's not difficult to convert an OBDII engine to OBDI if you wanted more power and a lower mileage engine. On the other hand, installing an OBDI engine into an OBDII vehicle is not only more complicated, it's also illegal.

[Exton_Dubs]

I just picked up the Bentley manual for the E36, I live and die by those suckers... Not a car guy in training but can read and figure just about anything out with the trusted Bentley at my side.

Words to live by by Jay Pfeiffer: Maintenance before mods.

I need to fix the passenger door handle so it opens from the outside, go over the suspension thoroughly, and pick up some front brake rotors and pads.

PO said instead of buying lowering springs/cup kit/coils he decided to take and have the OEM springs cut. IMHO that is about the dumbest thing you can do so that is going to need to be addressed ASAP.

Also have a feeling that at some point I am going to need to have the windshield repaired/replaced. I will find out at 3 when I pick it up and drive it home 2 hours what the situation is.

Anyone who can recommend parts suppliers I would appreciate it. I see German Auto Parts has a good selection of OEM stuff as does Autohaus.az. I am sure though at some point I will run into something that I can not find anywhere.

[Exton_Dubs]

Originally Posted by familytruckster

Meet info is here...

The intersection of 137 and 83....

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33782

I did a google map search for directions to this place, I need to drive north to Harrisburg to get on 83 and then drive south through York into MD according to them. It looks like it will be almost 3 hours for me so unless I can find some sort of short cut through Gettysburg on 30 I can not give you a definite answer at this point. It is on the 31st correct?

[cooljess76]

Cool man, I also recommend picking up a Haynes manual. The Bentley is far better, but it's good to have both. Over the years, I've found a few errors in the Bentley, mostly when building my S52, some more serious than others. The Haynes manual is pretty much worthless by itself, but it does cover some things that the Bentley doesn't since neither of them really covers the 318ti specifically. It's kind of a pain, but I like to read the Bentley and then verify the info is accurate in the Haynes before I start working on something.

Seeing that the previous owner cut the springs, I'm sure you'll be pretty busy fixing a bunch of Mickey Mouse stuff. Anyone who would do that, probably did other crappy stuff throughout the car. There's plenty of info in the knowledge base section of this forum. Any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Welcome to the ti family, be sure to post pics when you get it.

[Exton_Dubs]

Here is a tiny pic from my phone...

[cooljess76]

Sweet! Those wheels are called DSII's(Double Spoke II), they're stock on '98 and '99 M3's.