Discussion
I recently took ownership of an E46 M3, which I've always wanted to try. It was superb but I just couldn't use it where i live (Fens) as the roads are so bad. Huge potholes in the middle of roundabouts, too, so you can't even have a bit of a skid without flipping the car. Therefore, I decided to move it on and look for something a little more suited to the roads around me. I messaged a few people about various BMW's (I like to stick with what I know) and was watching a few cars that were in online auctions. One was a superb E39 520i Edition Sport (which I never knew existed) but it didn't exactly light any trouser fires. Anyway, I saw an E31 and put a cheeky bid in and won the car. I've owned 3 of them before and they were all a PITA but this was reasonably cheap (although still more than I've ever paid for one) and had a great history of maintenance (including a big suspension overhaul with a B12 kit and rear trailing arms, a replacement rear window, abs pump and new cats from BMW - all a big expense on these) and only 92k on the clock. I was obviously fretting a lot before I saw the car as there was very little info on exactly what did and didn't work on the car in the listing. Turns out, I needn't have worried so much as the car was in excellent order with all electrics working and no obvious problems present after a brief look over. Spec is fairly decent with Sport steering wheel, HiFi and electric steering wheel adjustment.
Here is what I saw when I turned up to collect:
After sorting the paperwork, I jumped in for the drive home, and it was soon apparent that there was a running issue. Definitely a misfire and very little power. Anyhow, I made it home and it returned a reasonable 24mpg- which wasn't awful, especially as it's not running well. I took it to my friends garage down the road for a code read and AC service. Neither of his machines were very successful in communicating with the car (old OBD1 stuff can be a bit of a pain) but the AC system held pressure and was subsequently drained and refilled with 1.5kg of gas. Which is a huge amount, if you're wondering.
I took it back home and managed to get an old laptop with serial port and a version of INPA to read the codes but I'd shot myself in the foot really as I'd already pulled all the coils whilst it was running so it had a misfire on all cylinders. I cleared the codes and took it for a drive, checked again, and no codes present (despite it still running poorly). Whatever, I ordered new plugs and coils and will start there, then do fuel filters and pump etc.
It needs a few various plastic bits replacing under the bonnet and I've ordered the following:
air duct cowel, right
push rivets for fixing above cowel (x6)
hose for rear of block s shaped to heater matrix
exp. tank
sump gasket
engine cover nut caps (x4)
pcv cover
rad cap
spark plugs
pencil coils x8
Most of these should turn up soon at my local dealer. The water pump and stat, along with top and bottom hoses, have already been replaced. I'm going to do the s shaped hose to heater matrix (I've had 2 split on me before) and the expansion tank and cap. Rad looks decent. There is a crack in the os air duct and some missing clips (see pics). I'm going to sort all that and the missing engine nut caps etc. Just tidy it up. Also doing the pcv valve and will drop the sump and put whatever oil pump bolts are laying in there back where they should be (M60 thing).
The interior is in great condition but a bolster repair and some love for the seats would go a long way, so I'll aim to do that and get some nice custom mats made as the originals are nla. The good and not so good:
The plan is to get all these issues sorted and then re-advertise it when the weather cheers up. It should be an enjoyable little project. Hopefully. Maybe.
Here is what I saw when I turned up to collect:
After sorting the paperwork, I jumped in for the drive home, and it was soon apparent that there was a running issue. Definitely a misfire and very little power. Anyhow, I made it home and it returned a reasonable 24mpg- which wasn't awful, especially as it's not running well. I took it to my friends garage down the road for a code read and AC service. Neither of his machines were very successful in communicating with the car (old OBD1 stuff can be a bit of a pain) but the AC system held pressure and was subsequently drained and refilled with 1.5kg of gas. Which is a huge amount, if you're wondering.
I took it back home and managed to get an old laptop with serial port and a version of INPA to read the codes but I'd shot myself in the foot really as I'd already pulled all the coils whilst it was running so it had a misfire on all cylinders. I cleared the codes and took it for a drive, checked again, and no codes present (despite it still running poorly). Whatever, I ordered new plugs and coils and will start there, then do fuel filters and pump etc.
It needs a few various plastic bits replacing under the bonnet and I've ordered the following:
air duct cowel, right
push rivets for fixing above cowel (x6)
hose for rear of block s shaped to heater matrix
exp. tank
sump gasket
engine cover nut caps (x4)
pcv cover
rad cap
spark plugs
pencil coils x8
Most of these should turn up soon at my local dealer. The water pump and stat, along with top and bottom hoses, have already been replaced. I'm going to do the s shaped hose to heater matrix (I've had 2 split on me before) and the expansion tank and cap. Rad looks decent. There is a crack in the os air duct and some missing clips (see pics). I'm going to sort all that and the missing engine nut caps etc. Just tidy it up. Also doing the pcv valve and will drop the sump and put whatever oil pump bolts are laying in there back where they should be (M60 thing).
The interior is in great condition but a bolster repair and some love for the seats would go a long way, so I'll aim to do that and get some nice custom mats made as the originals are nla. The good and not so good:
The plan is to get all these issues sorted and then re-advertise it when the weather cheers up. It should be an enjoyable little project. Hopefully. Maybe.
Edited by e28525e on Sunday 12th February 21:44
Edited by e28525e on Sunday 12th February 21:46
Edited by e28525e on Sunday 12th February 21:53
Edited by e28525e on Sunday 12th February 22:08
Edited by e28525e on Sunday 12th February 22:14
Funk said:
What's with the massively-deep seat-backs though? They're enormous!
Quite surprising how much they encroach on cabin space to be fair, my father had an 850ci brand new. When I came along, he tried getting a babyseat in the back and just could not do it. All windows lowered, passenger sear folded all the way forward, there was no way it was possible to create an aperture wide enough through which you could fit a babyseat. Sadly the E31 got chopped for a Range Rover replacement, i'd have just given myself up for adoption tbh.georgejoshington said:
Lovely car. As a fellow fen-dweller I can completely empathise about the roads. I've never known anything like it. They're awful, and the sole reason I got rid of an M4!
I'm glad someone understands! It makes it very difficult to enjoy anything remotely sporty..
Lovely cars always wanted one but never quite had the balls/ courage to do it! I think the auto suit their wafty nature.
Living near Ramsey in the fens I can completely understand what you mean.... my A5 on 20" with rubber band tyres is a pretty miserable place driving around here what with all the pot holes, dips, crests and general falling away of the road. And don't even start me on the replacement tyres that I had after running down the sharp edges in the middle of the roads
Living near Ramsey in the fens I can completely understand what you mean.... my A5 on 20" with rubber band tyres is a pretty miserable place driving around here what with all the pot holes, dips, crests and general falling away of the road. And don't even start me on the replacement tyres that I had after running down the sharp edges in the middle of the roads
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