1991 E30 BMW 318is in Brilliant Red
£8,495 ONO
MOT until 29 June 2021 – No advisories on last MOT
Located in South Yorkshire
Showing just under 189,000 miles
Full and thoroughly documented service history (details below)
3 previous owners
This isn’t a pristine, original E30 but it is a very tidy one that gets compliments everywhere it goes. It could easily be made into a minter with a bit of paint, or kept as it is, to be enjoyed.
For me it’s a car to be driven. It never fails to put a smile on my face whenever I take it out for a spirited drive and I’ve taken it on the odd track day. It epitomises the analogue driving experience and you can really enjoy driving it on the road without getting into license losing speeds.
I bought the car as a project in September 2015. It had an issue with the throttle position sensor and the engine would stall if allowed to drop below 1500RPM. I did a lot of work to get it mechanically sorted with the aim of taking it on a road trip around Europe, which I did in April 2016. The car was faultless over 1,500 miles, including 3 laps of the Nurburgring!
In 2017 I moved away for work and SORN’d the car, leaving it dry stored in my grandmothers garage and ensuring I kept up the basic maintenance whenever I went back home to visit.
On returning to my hometown in 2019 I got cracking with re-commissioning the E30 (which is all detailed below). As it has been a second car, I only use it whenever the weather is nice and store it in my heated, integral garage.
Service History:
The service history is extensive. There are gaps where the car has been SORN’d. All in all, 32 services – on average every 6,000 miles.
First owner, Mr S. Penny of Milton Keynes:
7,382 miles – 21/06/1991 – Inspection 1 @ Paragon BMW, Hull
14,705 miles – 31/10/1991 – Inspection 2 @ Paragon BMW, Hull
22,360 miles – 04/03/1992 - Inspection 2 @ Wood BMW, Bournemouth
29,840 miles – 30/07/1992 – Inspection 1 @ Bridgegate BMW
36,660 miles – 04/12/1992 – Inspection 2 and Annual Check @ Wollaston Motors Ltd
44,456 miles – 06/09/1993 – Oil Service @ Elms BMW of Bedford
49,515 miles – 23/03/1994 – Inspection 1 @ Elms BMW of Bedford
56,648 miles – 08/11/1994 – Oil Service @ Elms BMW of Bedford
64,201 miles – 16/05/1995 – Inspection 2 @ Altwood BMW of Milton Keynes
? miles – 19/03/1996 – Oil Service @ Elms BMW of Bedford
77,533 miles – 19/07/1996 – Inspection 1 and Brake Fluid Change @ Elms BMW of Bedford
83,699 miles – 08/04/1997 – Oil Service @ Elms BMW of Bedford
92,082 miles – 14/08/1997 – Inspection 2 @ Evans Halshaw BMW
99,610 miles – 07/05/1998 – Oil Service @ Evans Halshaw BMW
106, 128 miles – 17/12/1998 – Inspection 1 and Brake Fluid @ Evans Halshaw BMW
111,132 miles - 01/07/1999 – Oil Service @ Evans Halshaw BMW
120,321 miles – 02/12/1999 – Inspection 2 @ Ashridge BMW
128,403 miles – 28/06/2000 – Oil Service @ Ashridge BMW
134,887 miles – 20/11/2000 – Inspection 1, Brake Fluid and Coolant @ Ashridge BMW
142,421 miles – 23/04/2001 – Oil Service @ Ashridge BMW
149,622 miles – 16/10/2001 – Inspection 2 @ Ashridge BMW
157,421 miles – 23/04/2002 – Oil Service @ Ashridge BMW
163,543 miles – 09/10/2002 – Inspection 1 @ Ashridge BMW
171,060 miles – 22/04/2003 – Oil service @ Altwood BMW
177,485 miles – 20/09/2003 – Formula One Autocentres, Milton Keynes
Ownership transferred to Mr F. Penny 29/08/2004 and car SORN’d
Ownership transferred to Mr J. Jarvis 28/09/2014 and car was re-commissioned
Ownership transferred to me on 14/09/2015. I have completed all servicing myself (time-served aerospace engineer)
183,810 miles – 21/11/2015 - Oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs, gearbox oil, diff oil coolant
184,009 miles - 06/02/2016 – Coolant change and viscous coupling replacement
184,560 miles – 07/05/2016 – Oil, oil filter, brake fluid
185,857 miles - 13/08/2016 – Brake fluid and fan belt tensior
187,295 miles - 03/07/2019 – Oil, oil filter, brake fluid, spark plugs, thermostat, discs and pads
187,991 miles - 06/04/2020 – Brake fluid
188,138 miles – 31/05/2020 – Oil, oil filter, diff oil
Maintenance History:
2015
Fuel pump
New bonnet and wings, re-painted
TPS replaced
New fan belt
Clutch slave cylinder replaced (Pagid)
Dashboard lights replaced
New wing mirror glass
Replacement fog light blanks and brake air ducts
29th December 2015 – Car SORN’d
2016
63L fuel tank installed with correct gauges added to cluster and secondary fuel sender
New fuel pump
4 x New Continental PremiumContact tyres
New tie rods and ends
Powerflex wishbone bushes
Front anti-roll bar bushes (Bilstein)
Front wishbones and ball joints (Bilstein)
Rear subframe bushes (Lemforder)
Top mounts
Trailing arm bushes
Steering column flexi disc (Bilstein)
Eibach Pro springs and Bilstein shock absorbers
4 wheel alignment (Sherburn Rubber)
Replaced some missing details (ash tray, towing eye cover, etc)
Brake pad wear sensors
Touch up paint
Pre-2001 font registration plates
Reproduction tax disc
Replacement exhaust (centre section back)
May 2017 – Car SORN’d
2019
Rocker cover and inlet manifold removed, painted with VHT and all gaskets replaced
All water hoses replaced with genuine BMW items
Discs and pads replaced with OE Pagid items. Calipers painted OE gold
Under bonnet insulation replaced
14” wheels refurbished in OE silver
4 wheel alignment (AP Tyres, Rotherham)
2020
Lower sump gasket
Diff gasket
Over £1,000 spent at CRISP tuning in Wakefield:
o Rear beam refurbished including welding of rear toe/camber alignment bolt tabs
o Wheel bearing
o Inner tie rods
o E46 Gold tag rack fitted
o Manifold modified to for rack clearance
o 4 wheel alignment (Neutral front, ¾ deg rear camber with 2mm toe in)
Exterior:
Refurbished headlights
Re-painted bonnets and wings (2015)
Rough in places, amazing in others. The bonnet and wings were finished to a very high standard, however, there are rusty spots on some stone chips around the windscreen, spidering of the paint on the rear arms, small spots on the bottom of the doors and some rust creeping under the sunroof runners. Under the bonnet is also scabby in common areas e.g. battery tray, under the washer bottle, etc. I had some touch ups done in 2017 as a preventative measure but the paint shop did a poor job. It would need a wet sand to get rid of some of the worst of it.
2 stone chips on the windscreen
Powertrain / Fuel:
M42B18
Replaced rocker cover gasket
Re-torqued and loctited the lower sump gasket bolts
Re-painted in VHT with new oil filler cap
Converted to coil-on-plug (easily reversed)
K&N panel filter
Replacement exhaust with stainless tip
Replaced the leaky original fuel tank with a 63L tank that uses the siphon mechanism (prevents fuel starvation on long right hand bends). Also updated the gauge cluster to include the correct 62L gauge so it reads true.
Replacement fuel pump and sender unit
Suspension and steering:
Refurbished 14” BBS RZ “basketweave” alloys with metal lock-turn centre caps, Continental Premium Contact tyres in 195/65/R14
E46 Gold tag steering rack fitted (3 turns lock to lock, slightly slower than the Purple tag 2.7 turns) with new rods and rod-ends
Rear axle refurbished in May 2020:
• Toe adjustment plates welded in
• Rear beam powder coated
• Polybushed axle and trailing arm bushes
• New wheel bearings
• Diff gasket replaced
Car has been dialled in to a completely neutral set up, it handles very predictably
Bilstein dampers and Eibach Pro springs
M3 poly bush control arms for greater castor angle
Braided brake hoses
Brake calipers re-painted in OEM gold
Interior:
Possibly the best condition Uberkaro interior I have seen, minor wear on drivers right leg bolster foam
Filled and flocked dash by Flocking Fantastic
Alcantara trimmed handbrake and shift boots
Re-dyed parcel shelf and recent mats
Speaker and radio delete and blanks installed to cover holes in parcel shelf (OE radio retained and will be supplied with car).
Additional items by separate negotiation:
Pair of OMP FIA approved fibreglass bucket seats, trimmed with alcantara and genuine BMW Uberkaro fabric. 1 x seat has mounting adapters and sliders. I have 1 x Schroth 3 point ASM harness in black/black with grey stitching - £800
Momo Prototipo steering wheel with red stitching, mounting boss and Auto-Volante horn button - £100
21mm front and 14mm rear E30 ARBs powder coated in OEM silver metallic - £100
15” Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 in Gloss Black with 205/50/R15 Toyo R888 tyres - £500
15” OEM BBS basketweave alloys, refurbished in OEM silver with 195/55/R15 Nankang NS2R tyres (comes with plastic centre caps from E28 wheels but need re-painting) - £400
PMC Motorsport short shift kit - £80
Clarion head unit - £50
Custom made font strut brace powder coated in brilliant red - £50
£8,495 ONO
MOT until 29 June 2021 – No advisories on last MOT
Located in South Yorkshire
Showing just under 189,000 miles
Full and thoroughly documented service history (details below)
3 previous owners
This isn’t a pristine, original E30 but it is a very tidy one that gets compliments everywhere it goes. It could easily be made into a minter with a bit of paint, or kept as it is, to be enjoyed.
For me it’s a car to be driven. It never fails to put a smile on my face whenever I take it out for a spirited drive and I’ve taken it on the odd track day. It epitomises the analogue driving experience and you can really enjoy driving it on the road without getting into license losing speeds.
I bought the car as a project in September 2015. It had an issue with the throttle position sensor and the engine would stall if allowed to drop below 1500RPM. I did a lot of work to get it mechanically sorted with the aim of taking it on a road trip around Europe, which I did in April 2016. The car was faultless over 1,500 miles, including 3 laps of the Nurburgring!
In 2017 I moved away for work and SORN’d the car, leaving it dry stored in my grandmothers garage and ensuring I kept up the basic maintenance whenever I went back home to visit.
On returning to my hometown in 2019 I got cracking with re-commissioning the E30 (which is all detailed below). As it has been a second car, I only use it whenever the weather is nice and store it in my heated, integral garage.
Service History:
The service history is extensive. There are gaps where the car has been SORN’d. All in all, 32 services – on average every 6,000 miles.
First owner, Mr S. Penny of Milton Keynes:
7,382 miles – 21/06/1991 – Inspection 1 @ Paragon BMW, Hull
14,705 miles – 31/10/1991 – Inspection 2 @ Paragon BMW, Hull
22,360 miles – 04/03/1992 - Inspection 2 @ Wood BMW, Bournemouth
29,840 miles – 30/07/1992 – Inspection 1 @ Bridgegate BMW
36,660 miles – 04/12/1992 – Inspection 2 and Annual Check @ Wollaston Motors Ltd
44,456 miles – 06/09/1993 – Oil Service @ Elms BMW of Bedford
49,515 miles – 23/03/1994 – Inspection 1 @ Elms BMW of Bedford
56,648 miles – 08/11/1994 – Oil Service @ Elms BMW of Bedford
64,201 miles – 16/05/1995 – Inspection 2 @ Altwood BMW of Milton Keynes
? miles – 19/03/1996 – Oil Service @ Elms BMW of Bedford
77,533 miles – 19/07/1996 – Inspection 1 and Brake Fluid Change @ Elms BMW of Bedford
83,699 miles – 08/04/1997 – Oil Service @ Elms BMW of Bedford
92,082 miles – 14/08/1997 – Inspection 2 @ Evans Halshaw BMW
99,610 miles – 07/05/1998 – Oil Service @ Evans Halshaw BMW
106, 128 miles – 17/12/1998 – Inspection 1 and Brake Fluid @ Evans Halshaw BMW
111,132 miles - 01/07/1999 – Oil Service @ Evans Halshaw BMW
120,321 miles – 02/12/1999 – Inspection 2 @ Ashridge BMW
128,403 miles – 28/06/2000 – Oil Service @ Ashridge BMW
134,887 miles – 20/11/2000 – Inspection 1, Brake Fluid and Coolant @ Ashridge BMW
142,421 miles – 23/04/2001 – Oil Service @ Ashridge BMW
149,622 miles – 16/10/2001 – Inspection 2 @ Ashridge BMW
157,421 miles – 23/04/2002 – Oil Service @ Ashridge BMW
163,543 miles – 09/10/2002 – Inspection 1 @ Ashridge BMW
171,060 miles – 22/04/2003 – Oil service @ Altwood BMW
177,485 miles – 20/09/2003 – Formula One Autocentres, Milton Keynes
Ownership transferred to Mr F. Penny 29/08/2004 and car SORN’d
Ownership transferred to Mr J. Jarvis 28/09/2014 and car was re-commissioned
Ownership transferred to me on 14/09/2015. I have completed all servicing myself (time-served aerospace engineer)
183,810 miles – 21/11/2015 - Oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs, gearbox oil, diff oil coolant
184,009 miles - 06/02/2016 – Coolant change and viscous coupling replacement
184,560 miles – 07/05/2016 – Oil, oil filter, brake fluid
185,857 miles - 13/08/2016 – Brake fluid and fan belt tensior
187,295 miles - 03/07/2019 – Oil, oil filter, brake fluid, spark plugs, thermostat, discs and pads
187,991 miles - 06/04/2020 – Brake fluid
188,138 miles – 31/05/2020 – Oil, oil filter, diff oil
Maintenance History:
2015
Fuel pump
New bonnet and wings, re-painted
TPS replaced
New fan belt
Clutch slave cylinder replaced (Pagid)
Dashboard lights replaced
New wing mirror glass
Replacement fog light blanks and brake air ducts
29th December 2015 – Car SORN’d
2016
63L fuel tank installed with correct gauges added to cluster and secondary fuel sender
New fuel pump
4 x New Continental PremiumContact tyres
New tie rods and ends
Powerflex wishbone bushes
Front anti-roll bar bushes (Bilstein)
Front wishbones and ball joints (Bilstein)
Rear subframe bushes (Lemforder)
Top mounts
Trailing arm bushes
Steering column flexi disc (Bilstein)
Eibach Pro springs and Bilstein shock absorbers
4 wheel alignment (Sherburn Rubber)
Replaced some missing details (ash tray, towing eye cover, etc)
Brake pad wear sensors
Touch up paint
Pre-2001 font registration plates
Reproduction tax disc
Replacement exhaust (centre section back)
May 2017 – Car SORN’d
2019
Rocker cover and inlet manifold removed, painted with VHT and all gaskets replaced
All water hoses replaced with genuine BMW items
Discs and pads replaced with OE Pagid items. Calipers painted OE gold
Under bonnet insulation replaced
14” wheels refurbished in OE silver
4 wheel alignment (AP Tyres, Rotherham)
2020
Lower sump gasket
Diff gasket
Over £1,000 spent at CRISP tuning in Wakefield:
o Rear beam refurbished including welding of rear toe/camber alignment bolt tabs
o Wheel bearing
o Inner tie rods
o E46 Gold tag rack fitted
o Manifold modified to for rack clearance
o 4 wheel alignment (Neutral front, ¾ deg rear camber with 2mm toe in)
Exterior:
Refurbished headlights
Re-painted bonnets and wings (2015)
Rough in places, amazing in others. The bonnet and wings were finished to a very high standard, however, there are rusty spots on some stone chips around the windscreen, spidering of the paint on the rear arms, small spots on the bottom of the doors and some rust creeping under the sunroof runners. Under the bonnet is also scabby in common areas e.g. battery tray, under the washer bottle, etc. I had some touch ups done in 2017 as a preventative measure but the paint shop did a poor job. It would need a wet sand to get rid of some of the worst of it.
2 stone chips on the windscreen
Powertrain / Fuel:
M42B18
Replaced rocker cover gasket
Re-torqued and loctited the lower sump gasket bolts
Re-painted in VHT with new oil filler cap
Converted to coil-on-plug (easily reversed)
K&N panel filter
Replacement exhaust with stainless tip
Replaced the leaky original fuel tank with a 63L tank that uses the siphon mechanism (prevents fuel starvation on long right hand bends). Also updated the gauge cluster to include the correct 62L gauge so it reads true.
Replacement fuel pump and sender unit
Suspension and steering:
Refurbished 14” BBS RZ “basketweave” alloys with metal lock-turn centre caps, Continental Premium Contact tyres in 195/65/R14
E46 Gold tag steering rack fitted (3 turns lock to lock, slightly slower than the Purple tag 2.7 turns) with new rods and rod-ends
Rear axle refurbished in May 2020:
• Toe adjustment plates welded in
• Rear beam powder coated
• Polybushed axle and trailing arm bushes
• New wheel bearings
• Diff gasket replaced
Car has been dialled in to a completely neutral set up, it handles very predictably
Bilstein dampers and Eibach Pro springs
M3 poly bush control arms for greater castor angle
Braided brake hoses
Brake calipers re-painted in OEM gold
Interior:
Possibly the best condition Uberkaro interior I have seen, minor wear on drivers right leg bolster foam
Filled and flocked dash by Flocking Fantastic
Alcantara trimmed handbrake and shift boots
Re-dyed parcel shelf and recent mats
Speaker and radio delete and blanks installed to cover holes in parcel shelf (OE radio retained and will be supplied with car).
Additional items by separate negotiation:
Pair of OMP FIA approved fibreglass bucket seats, trimmed with alcantara and genuine BMW Uberkaro fabric. 1 x seat has mounting adapters and sliders. I have 1 x Schroth 3 point ASM harness in black/black with grey stitching - £800
Momo Prototipo steering wheel with red stitching, mounting boss and Auto-Volante horn button - £100
21mm front and 14mm rear E30 ARBs powder coated in OEM silver metallic - £100
15” Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 in Gloss Black with 205/50/R15 Toyo R888 tyres - £500
15” OEM BBS basketweave alloys, refurbished in OEM silver with 195/55/R15 Nankang NS2R tyres (comes with plastic centre caps from E28 wheels but need re-painting) - £400
PMC Motorsport short shift kit - £80
Clarion head unit - £50
Custom made font strut brace powder coated in brilliant red - £50
