Well I sold the Toyota ST185 last august or so and a few months ago I picked up this BMW. No real plan for it, but its growing on me. I got it cheap, and it came with a boat load of issues. Funny thing is... vehicle is not grey market, even passed tech inspection by cali/carb and is 50 state legal.
What it is -
notes in bold
1996 E46 318i Saloon, 4 cylinder-single cam-non vanos M43B19TU and 6 speed transmission.
Engine knocking, no oil pressure
Factory options:
-6 Disc CD changer & tape deck
-Grey cloth interior,
filthy
-No sunroof
-Alarm
-Anti-Lock Brakes
-Air Conditioning
-Cruise Control
-Rear Window Defroster
-Power Door Locks
-Power Mirrors
-Power Windows
DS regulator broken
-Power Steering
-Side Airbags
-Tilt/Telescope Steering Wheel
Modifications:
Exterior:
-Custom Lamborghini Pearl White (Balloon White) paint job
-CSL style front bumper
Actually a modified M3 bumper trimmed and Glassed to fit the sedan, needs paint
-Projector headlights(HID 6k) / Updated smoked LED taillights with smoked corners & side markers
-AC schnitzer roof spoiler
-Euro-Spec CSL trunk
-Mtech rear bumper
(needs repair and replacement black part)
-Black grills (spraypainted)
-E46 M3 style power mirrors (convex blue mirrors)
-Window visors
-Vibrant exhaust
(aka muffler)
-Limo tint all 5 windows
-Luxor1 LED license plate lights
Suspension/Brakes/Wheels:
-Suspension Techniques Coilovers
-Brembo 4 pot front
-OEM 335i (Style 189) 18in wheels w. Bridgestone Potenza RFTs (225/40 front | 255/35 rear) "run flat tires"
Interior/sounds:
-Suede roof liner, suede shift boot & suede e-brake boot
-Carbon fiber wrapped trim
-Silver gauge rings
-Rare Victor steering wheel with silver trim + audio controls
-Luxor1 LED interior lights
-MB Quart speakers
-MB Quart crossovers
Engine/Misc:
-Polished valve cover
________________________________________________
So yeah... the motor is blown, ds window wont go up for down, cluster wont communicate, interior is disgusting, HIDs wont work, front bumper is cracked and chipped, rear bumper is cracked and saggy.
So far I have gone through the car and I have imported a replacement M43 engine. However I am using a M43B19 from a E36 instead of an E46. They are cheap, but they are said to be more reliable. Inspected regulator, tried resetting K bus to access cluster verified cluster wiring.
2011 Photo I have found of it.
Photos when it was for sale when I bought it.
Notice cluster light and idle and all the crap
In my hands, got it transported and towed to tot he garage.
Metal for days
Ordered this from the UK, took 2 months to get here.
Took it apart kinda to inspect and other than dirty it's good. cleaned it up and I ordered a complete gasket kit, seals, tensioner, oil pick up, tons of o rings, fresh top to bottom. Only snag is I need to order a e36 ac pulley, some e36 specific bolt on stuff, and im waiting on some dealer parts. Painted it copper.
Pulled the bad motor
stripped the good parts I need for the long block and wanted to see what went bad. #3 rod bearing is gone.
some randoms
