My good friend Jesse recently acquired a 1985 BMW 318i from a coworker. We planned on purchasing it as a joint venture but after procrastination it was given to us for free! It has 145,000 miles on it and plenty of fun issues.
The struts are completely blown, the rotors are rusty as hell and the engine does not idle. The body is in decent enough condition but has some stealthy rust and a few dings, dents and scratches. The interior is in pretty good shape but we could not get the seats to bolt down. I suspect they are from a vert. We decided to first attack the idle issue.
The battery was completely dead when we obtained it. Once replaced, it started but did not idle smoothly and would not stay on without depressing the accelerator. We decided to delete the IACV since it seemed to be a popular modification for the M10 engine. This did not fix the issue so we replaced some vacuum lines with new silicon hose. The issue persists but appears to be the least of our worries. Since this is one of the most accessible and friendly engine bays I have ever seen, I suggested to start taking everything apart for inspection. We removed the air box and MAF in order to gain better access to the intake manifold for more hose replacement. After that, we took off the valve cover to reveal a nasty surprise.
Someone was naughty and neglected to change the oil. Furthermore, we spotted coolant in the mix. This does not bode well. We need to go deeper! Here’s hoping the block is not cracked. We drained the oil and dropped the pan in order to clean it. The sludge was present in the bottom of the engine too. It is looking more and more like a rebuild.
So we have ordered every gasket imaginable from the water pump to the rear crankshaft seal to the oil filter housing. The benefactor was kind enough to supply us with a head gasket as well! Also ordered were new oil, air and fuel filters.
There is much to be done but we shall happily do it.
thedailyyeti 