For all you DIY'ers - Project TI has begun!

[Htraitor]

Hello all,

I'm new to BMW's and 318it.org but not to tuning cars. I've been a Honda guy for many years (Still am) but recently decided to try my hand on German engineering. So here goes...

About a month or so ago my wife's co-worker said she was selling her son's TI because he slid into a ditch last winter. She said the car still drives but needs some cosmetic work, therefore she would sell it very cheap. Like most DIY'ers, she had me from "hello." I asked how much and she said $800. I decided to drive out her way (about an hour away) to go for a spin and see how much work it needed.
When she opened the garage where it's been sitting since the wreck, I could tell that it was going to be a great deal. Turned out that right before the wreck, her son (mainly her husband) paid for a engine swap to replace the old motor and refreshed all the major components. The other day she called and said the price was now $600 and I said "SOLD!"
Long story short, I have been buying parts all week and have begun tearing the car apart to bring this TI back to life.

I've added some visuals and will keep you posted with my progress. Cheers!

C

[roadrash]

Welcome, neighbor!

[tiFreak]

that's a great deal, nice name too

[Jean H.318TI]

^^^^ hahahahaha

welcome to the forums and good luck with the fix

[Recon427]

Welcome!

Shame to see a 318ti abused like that by some teenage kid. And his father bought the new engine? Lucky kid.

[ChItalian1027]

Welcome!! Good to see your taking the time to replace the ti!!

[Htraitor]

Well it's been a little while since I posted on here but I’ve made some progress. The last post was when I was debating on whether or not to take the car to body shop to have the frame straightened...well I did and man am I glad. They saved me a ton of time and headache and gave me a list of parts that need to be replaced to get back to spec.
I ordered a replacement fender and when it came it was for another car altogether. (I think a 5 Series) When I called the company they told me it was too expensive to ship back so I could just keep it. (how nice of them) I still haven't ordered the replacement fender but should be in the near future unless someone has one they'd like to donate. I ordered the passenger side mirror and it too was the wrong one so i sent it back an got lucky on Craigslist. There was a local guy who sold me both for $50. I bought the A/C condenser from another local guy who later sold me a set of 42's. I lost my job and just decided to go to school full time but since my awesome wife is still making decent money I can continue the rebuild just at a much slower pace.
I'm a long way from finished but here are a couple of shots. My parts list is growing but if you guys know where I can pick these up cheap or feel the need to donate them hit me up.

Passenger side rear trailing arm
Passenger side fender
Passenger side tie rod
LCA bushings (all)
Front bumper support brackets (all)
Thermostat

For Sale:
Random BMW (3/5 series fender)

Here are a couple of before and after shots, enjoy!

Before:


After:



New Shoes

[dave45056]

Have you tried contacting FNEG? He is near you and had lot's of parts. I bought a hood from him last month.

[Htraitor]

Man it's been a minute since I've posted to this thread. I've not been able to use my garage because a friend of ours is staying with us now. Since all her things wouldn't fit into storage some of them made it to my garage. :-/ Now that the weather's nice I had some time to climb under the car and refresh the suspension. It felt like I was riding on metal and the car's handling was seriously unpredictable. I guess that should be expected with over 240K miles on the chassis.
Up front I replaced the control arms, (including front and rear bushings) sway bar bushings, tie rods.
In the rear I replaced the sway bar bushings. I have the sub-frame bushings but need to figure out how to pull them. I was trying to avoid a dropping the entire subframe to press them out but I may end up doing that if I can't get the hand-held tool that pulls them. If I go that route I may just wait until I pick up the trailing arm bushings and just do all of them at the same time. We'll see...

I've only owned 1 auto 4cyl and it's been many years ago so as slow as this thing is I don't know if its slipping or normal. Recently the car's been acting like it was about to stall under moderate braking which led me to replace the transmission filter, gasket, and refill with some high mileage Dex III. There was only about 3 qts in the tranny so I'm sure that was a big part (if not all) of the problem. I'm feeling more comfortable working on the car now so if the auto tranny dies a manual swap may be in my future.

Side note: Anybody in Nashville (Donelson area) drive a dropped Hellrot TI with red angeleyes?

[Htraitor]

Here are a few photo's:

This is what 240K miles looks like...







Ah, the infamous BMW power steering leak...

[familytruckster]

Funny, my car with 108K looked the same underneath.

Car looks great for that milage, mine is beat bad and only has 150K on it. Same color too!

And the same trans....lol

[rochey6957]

Does anyone know why the power steering in our cars leaks like that? Is it in all e36's? Just curious

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by rochey6957

Does anyone know why the power steering in our cars leaks like that? Is it in all e36's? Just curious

Because the reservior cap has a vent on it.

[Htraitor]

Mine was leaking from the outlet hose running to the cooling line. I used one of those metal clamps that tightens by screw to get a better clamp around the hose.
Afterward I sprayed Royal Purple degreaser on the bottom of the engine and power washed it. When I checked the other day it was nice and dry. :-)

[rochey6957]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

Because the reservior cap has a vent on it.

oh ok so its supposed to leak a tiny bit ic