Niceyellow vrs' BMW 318ti Compact

[niceyellow vrs]

Greetings,

 

You may or may not have seen the devestating news that the Brisk Rover has finally died :(. Luckily I'm all done with motorsport events for this season so it hasn't caused me any championship issues.

Anyway, a replacement has been sorted this afternoon. A deposit has been paid for this bad boy and I shall pick it up next Sunday.

 

 

 

 

It's a 2001 X reg BMW 318ti Comapct with just 67000 miles on the clock. Comes with the 1.9ltr 4 cylinder engine with 140hp.

 

I found it on gumtree advertised with just a cracked mirror glass and a bit of a crease on the rear arch where someone got a bit close to it down a country lane. With an asking price of just £500 these cosmetic issues really weren't causing me any concern. Well worth a look I thought so made contact and took a gander.

I was very pleased with what I saw. It's been well looked after and even has a full service history. Could do with a bit of a wash but overall not a bad looking car. Mechanically it all appears to be well and it drove absolutely spot on :thumbup:

 

Looking forward to getting it home and prepping it for competition. Top of the list will be fitting a limited slip diff :rofl:

 

Watch this space.

[Tomote]

Ooo :-)

Will keep a watchful eye on this as the transformation looks like it will be fun.

How much work needs to be done to get it to competition spec?

[niceyellow vrs]

Depends how far I want to go with it. Currently the motorsports I do don't require too much above a standard car so I'll be starting with extra lights for the front, I'll throw my harnesses in from the Rover and I'll put a sump guard on it for a bit of protection down the lanes. It's definitely getting a limited slip differential for better driveability and sideways fun. As and when money permits I'll look at bucket seats a a roll cage. First thing to do though will be get it mot'd and then have a right good poke around it all to make sure nothing's going to fall off

[sigarland1987]

Have a chat to mk4gtiturbo on here, he is currently in the process of converting a E36 compact to a track weapon with the 2.8 big six etc. 

 

Good base for a toy though

[Dark_Hero]

Sad to see the brisk rover die, but this looks like a great replacement

[niceyellow vrs]

Sad to see the brisk rover die, but this looks like a great replacement

 

Indeed. It's gonna be painful dropping it off at the scrap yard but it was never going to last for ever. Been thinking for a while that I'd like rear wheel drive so now's the time.

Might have to cut some of the panels into little pieces so I can frame them and sell them to anyone who wants a little piece of history

[Dark_Hero]

Any bits that are mildly charred still?

[niceyellow vrs]

Still a bit of bubbled paint on the bonnet

[niceyellow vrs]

MOT booked for next tuesday so that'll be a chance to get a proper look underneath while it's up on the ramps :thumbup:

[Dr Zoidberg]

Did you tell the previous owner what you plan to do with this?

[niceyellow vrs]

Did you tell the previous owner what you plan to do with this?

 

Of course. They were quite excited about it

[SNH]

Good little cars these, mate of mine drifts an e36 compact with a 3.2 m3 engine in.

[niceyellow vrs]

So I got it home last night and have spent today having a good poke around it, servicing it and sorting a couple of things ready for it's MOT tomorrow. It's had fresh oil and oil filter, new plugs, as well as air and fuel filters. I've had it running most of the day whilst tinkering to try and condition the battery a bit as the previous owners put a brand new one on the car but have just had it sitting there for a few weeks not doing anything. Left it on charge all last night and now the little dot has turned a healthy green colour instead of the black.

 

First thing though was to add the obligatory Hello Kitty sticker.

 

 

 

I've even managed to make the dented arch look a bit more presentable.

 

 

A few taps with the hammer and a bit of wood, a little bit of T Cut and it's not looking quite so offensive anymore.

 

 

Everything seems to work, even the aircon is nice and chilly

 

I've also learned today that when you reconnect the battery, the doors automatically lock themselves. Good job the keys were in my pocket

 

So it should be good for MOT tomorrow and then I can tax it and start driving it. Had to change insurers this morning as Greenlight, who I had the Rover covered with, won't cover any BMWs at all. Most disappointing. Nevermind, It's insured with Brentacre who have been covering my Octavia for the last few years.

As long as it passes it's MOT tomorrow, it'll be getting a 120 mile round trip to Cheltenham and back  as I have a meeting to go to and it makes sense to see what it's like.

[niceyellow vrs]

So I took it for an MOT this morning and it passed with just 2 advisories. Slight oil mist on a front shock and rear brake pads are getting low. So it's now taxed aswel and on the road.

Just gotta keep it on the road, all those roundabouts are pretty slippy this time of year

[niceyellow vrs]

So I've had the thing for a week now and I'm very pleased with it. Such a lovely car to drive, very comfortable, refined and quiet. I've done about 400 miles in it this week and it runs lovely. Only thing I've noticed is a slight knocking from the front on really bumpy roads which I reckon is just drop links.

 

I've got my spot lights on already. Found some really handy mounting points where the bumper bolts on so it was easy to just notch a bit out of the bumper and attach the brackets straight on. The plastic trim evn clipped back in place over the top so looks nice and neat.

 

 

 

 

 

Wiring was easy enough once I found a conveniet gromet through the bulkhead, underneath the battery. I put a nice little rocker switch on the consol next to the gearstick and I was able to hide the relay within the engine bay fuse box so everything is all tucked away nice and tidy. The mounts are that solid that I don't need to bother adding any steady bars to the top of the lights.

 

 

 

 

When I bought the car, the driver's side mirror was broken, cracked glass and the mechanism inside was busted from where someone has clattered it down a country lane. I'd glued it in place and stuck a replacement glass over it for the MOT but I found a pair of replacement mirrors on ebay in almost the right colour. The passenger mirror was an unpainted one. the new pair have gone on this morning and the old ones are in the garage as spares.

 

 

 

Got it a bit dirty last night down the lanes as I was running course closing car on a road rally. Couldn't push on that much last night as it was so foggy. Going over 30mph required serious bravery :D

 

 

So going forward, it needs a limited slip diff. Sideways action can be induced while the roads are so greasy at the moment but I would like a bit more predictability. That and a quick rack from a Z3 will make it quite a capable little toy. :D

Edited 17 December, 2016 by niceyellow vrs

[TriggerFish]

If the Z3 ones prove hard to find, check out the E46 '067' purple tagged racks. 3.0 turns (and I think a similar ratio to the Z3 2.7 racks) but can be picked up for about £30 on eBay.

 

Good project though - watching with interest!

[niceyellow vrs]

If the Z3 ones prove hard to find, check out the E46 '067' purple tagged racks. 3.0 turns (and I think a similar ratio to the Z3 2.7 racks) but can be picked up for about £30 on eBay.

 

Good project though - watching with interest!

 

Funny you should say that, I just bought a purple tagged rack last night off ebay. Cheapest I could find was £50 delivered but still a lot cheaper than the Z3 racks. Indeed 3 turns rather than 2.7 but they do give a bit more steering lock which will be better for doing the Autosolos. Just need to sort out a diff now.

Edited 18 December, 2016 by niceyellow vrs

[TriggerFish]

Ah, a bit late then, but at least you got one anyway. I can't remember which system the E36 uses, but the 067 rack on my E30 with E30 tie rods doesn't have a mechanism to equalise pressure between left/ride gatiors, so they kept blowing off. Might be something to look into before you pick up tie rods, as you might be better off with e46 units if they'll fit properly.

 

Does a 'normal' E36 diff fit? As these use E30 rear ends, are you limited to just the E30 range of diffs, or can you graft a regular e36 one in there?

[niceyellow vrs]

From a bit of research the rack should be ok with the e36 rods and ends on it. Diff wise, the easiest route is a 188mm medium case diff from and e30 along with e30 medium case shafts as that's a direct bolt in upgrade. Just got to find one with a sensible ratio. Either a 3.64 or 3.74 is the recommended over the standard 3.45 of the open diff it comes with. That'll give a bit of an acceleration improvement without making it rev it's nuts off on a motorway run.

[TriggerFish]

If you've not already done so, I'd join the E30 facebook group and the e30zone.net forum. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2246490843/

 

There's been a couple of medium case diffs for sale in the last week. I think there was a freshly refurbed 3.71:1 on there for about £500-£600 towards the end of this week which might be worth a look. I've got a 3.91 in my e30, and my 4th is the same as 5th in the e36 (1.00), and 4th would be too revvy on a motorway for sure. I somewhere around 3-3.5k at 70ish, so dropping it into 4th would be way too loud.

[niceyellow vrs]

Interesting developments :D

 

On Monday I took a trip to Greenwich to pick a suitable limited slip diff with a quite hard to come by ratio of 3.64. (Standard is 3.45) so ever so slight better acceleration but not causing it to rev it's nuts off on the motorway.

 

Managed to get it for a sensible price aswel and then I also picked up a pair of the required E30 shafts on the way home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I started to extract the old stuff on Monday night. That was all going fine until I tried to get the nearside driveshaft out. It was seized solid and eventually I had to give up for the night before all the hammering upset the neighbours.

Eventually it popped out the next morning after a night of soaking in pentrating oil, heat a ****load of beating.

 

Old diff out and you can see the size difference between the two.

 

 

Once the shaft was out I then needed to liberate the ABS rings and tack them onto the new shafts. I didn't take a picture of that as my welding is quite frankly **** and it's too embarassing. It is functional though so that's fine.

 

Once that was done, everything was ready to go back in. I got the new diff in last night been wasn't feeling to well and got very very cold so had to call it a night and put the tools away. Recommenced this morning  and found that I also needed bigger bolts to connect the shafts to the diff. No bother, there's a decent tool shop in Aylesbury and they sorted me out with some appropriately sized bolts with a 12.9 tensile rating. Once I had them it was all bolt straight up, fill with oil and go.

 

 

Initially results are good. Locks up nicely and sideways action is now very predicatable and controlled. :thumbup:

 

 

 

[niceyellow vrs]

So yesterday was the first time I got to use the car in anger. Did a little Autosolo organised by Bristol Pegas Motor Club. The aim of the day certainly wasn't to win, I wanted to learn to drive the car as my rwd experience is somewhat limited, particularly with a slippy diff. The diff works well and I was starting to get the hang of it by the last run of the day :D

 

[niceyellow vrs]

The first run of the day. Not a good one, just wanted to find the limits :D

 

[mk4gtiturbo]

Watching this with interest, as stated above I have one the same but my build will be slightly different to yours.  I'm still collecting bits, but so far I have a 2.8 6-pot, with some nice bits, gearbox, 3.07 LSD from a Z3.  I must get around to updating my build thread!!

[niceyellow vrs]

Watching this with interest, as stated above I have one the same but my build will be slightly different to yours.  I'm still collecting bits, but so far I have a 2.8 6-pot, with some nice bits, gearbox, 3.07 LSD from a Z3.  I must get around to updating my build thread!!

 

I'm sticking with the standard engine in this mainly to keep within the rules for the things I do. If I changed the basic engine type, e.g going from 4 cylinders to 6, I'd have to run in the specials class in Autosolo which would be very uncompetitive as it'll certainly be no match for a caterham style kit car. Also, for road rallying you're only allowed a max of 4 cylinders.

It's currently 140bhp which is plenty enough for Autosolo and I don't like to have too much power when down the lanes as it's all too easy to end up doing silly speeds without even trying.

 

Latest development is I've got my 4 point harnesses in.

 

 

I certainly missed them on the last event, I'd forgotten how much energy goes into holding yourself in with standard 3 point belts. I can now concentrate on driving the car without falling out the seat. As for seats, I'm sticking with the standard seats for now, spent too much money recently :D Long term I'll probably go for something better bolstered out of a more sportier E36 BMW. Could go for full on bucket seats but a lot of the events I do require a fair bit of travelling to and from them so it's nice to retain a bit of comfort. I'm doing an Autosolo this weekend which is 3 hours away so case in point. Normally I wouldn't go quite that far but it's a good chance to get a bit more learning/testing in before my favoured championship starts again next month.

 

Think that's it for now :D