Pierre

Call Jack at JF Pro BMW in Van Nuys. 818 285 2385. Reasonable and knowledgeable. You have to look past the rough edges of his character.

Cooling systems fail from lack of maintenance or low quality parts. Thermostat, water pump, (60K) radiator (90K) hoses (150K). Make sure your fan works. It's ECU controlled. And use the BMW blue coolant and distilled (or at least filtered) water. A well-maintained cooling system will go through the Arizona heat, in traffic with the AC on with no problem. Heat is harsh on everything. If a car is subjected to extreme conditions more often, then reduce the maintenance intervals. In general, BMWs are reliable if you maintain them. They give you warning signs if you pay attention and tend to its particular needs when they arise. M44s are on the more reliable end of the BMW spectrum.

Put the last 7 digits of the VIN in realoem to confirm the engine. If he bought in September of 95, it may still be a late production 95, since the 96s start being produced in September of 95. (95s are OBDI and have the M42.) The spark plugs are under the small cover between the cams. There are two small clips that come off with a half turn and you'll see the plugs underneath. The fan is electric. There is no mechanical fan. The gap between the radiator and the front cover is significant. The engine is set back to provide optimum weight distribution. These cars were also designed to take in a larger inline six. The fundamentals seem sound. Hood and hatch shocks are known to go away after 17 years. 200,000 miles do not scare me. You can easily extract another 100,000 out of it if it was well maintained. It may need suspension work, shocks, bushings etc but that is not a big deal. Enjoy.

If you have access to a GT1 or equivalent, you can recode the clusters and reset the odometer. Check the DMV smog check page for the smog history. You will need the license plate number or VIN. http://www.bar.ca.gov/pubwebquery/Vehicle/PubTstQry.aspx You will get the dates and the miles throughout. Or you can do a carfax. PS: I have some left over parts from my 96.

Go with the tried and true: H&Rs and Bilstein Sports. My 318is also has the Ireland 25/22 sway bars and a few other suspension goodies. Works very well. Sits right.

Anything 1975 and older is exempt. No smog ever. Do what you want. Drive it daily, drive occasionally, it's completely exempt from smog checks. Anything 76 or newer needs to be smogged every 2 years. But if the car is 35 years old or older (currently, that's for the 76s and 77s) and has classic insurance with limited and restricted use, the bi-annual smog test is limited to the sniff test. The visual inspection is not required. I am sorry if my previous post was confusing.

Realistically, you should not run stock shocks on lowered springs. They don't work. The ride will suck. If it's only a look/stance you're after, then I would go with any stage 1 springs. ST, Eibach, H&R or Ireland. They all lower the car to the right height. I will assume you are trying to avoid spending too much, so here are some "cheap" suggestions. I usually don't recommend cutting springs but if it's only a look you're after, you can cut the fronts. You can't do the rears because of the way they are designed but I have seen it done. Another cheap option is to get spring compressors available at many auto parts stores. Its basically a small clamp that squeezes two coils together, effectively lowering the car. And it's reversible.

I have 2 of them. Obviously, I like them. The wheelbase is the same as an E36. The front is all E36, the rear is E30 except for the 5-lug wheels. The Z3 uses the same setup. You can even install the E30 diff. (which is the same as the E28) The 95 had an M42 1.8 liter dual cam. 96 to 99 is an M44 OBDII 1.9 motor. Power is more than adequate for a commuter. Gas mileage is excellent. They do fine with 89 octane. They are very reliable with no known issues as long as they don't overheat or are driven with no oil. My 96 had 180K when the automatic transmission failed. The sold the whole drive train and it is still running in another car. Headliners sag like most E36s. The ti has a simpler dash, manually controlled ventilation, no MPG gauge. OBC is optional. The Club sport is highly sought after. The tis were available with the California roof but those are rare. Solid disks all around. Cloth interior on most with optional vinyl and rare leather. Optional sunroof. (Both of mine don't have it.) Go to www.318ti.org for more information that you ever wanted to know.

Here is a helpful tidbit. In California, a 35 year old car with limited use classic insurance does not have to pass visual inspections, just the tailpipe emissions. Therefore, you can remove a lot of the old junk, install a cat and be good to go. Or do a Megasquirt or whatever pleases you. (Well, maybe not a 316 cam, 11:1 pistons and dual sidedrafts.) If it's a daily driver, then all the smog rules apply. But you can do an M20, or M42, get an inspection from a referee and be good to go. Of course, doing the same on a 75 or older is a lot simpler, but the 76s are not "worthless" in California. From a build perspective(safety, durability, comfort, quietness) the 76s are the best 2002s.

I did a night events at the streets of Willow once. (I have driven the Streets dozens of times before in all its configurations.) They promised that it will be professionally lit. But they didn't tell me that I needed 2000 watts of lighting power to see where I was going. And when you go fast and drive at the limit, you need to see a lot further down the road. I did not enjoy the experience.

I got 2 pairs from Sherman. Ask him. He may have more.

If you can get to lock one rear wheel and be thrown in a skid, you have bigger problems with your front brakes than just a maladjusted rear setup.

Now that was cryptic. ??????????????

Clogged idle jet circuits. Take out, blow to clear and reinstall.

Did you take the drum off? Maybe a broken spring?

Keep the 2002 pedal box and clutch master. Use the E30 transmission and E30 slave You will need to bang the transmission tunnel out to make room. You could ideally use the transmission out of an E21 Euro 323i in order to get your speedo to work but good luck finding one of those, let alone in good condition. Nose cutting? I did. As much as necessary to make it fit. I took off most of the horizontal panel between the headlights.

So Pierre, in your heart of hearts you truly don't believe that these cars will be worth enough one day that reverting to a stock restored M10 will make the car worth more. In this vision of mine I see guys/gals restoring some of these M20 cars back to original because they are restoring the car, because the value is on par with an equivalent Alfa or Porsche.... I say this as we are gearing up to do two M20 swaps, one in a '76 '02 that will end up having to go to the CA BAR Referee for a sticker thus have to pass smog and another in a '72 Tii. Sean and I are conspiring to do these without cutting the nose of either car, especially the original owner Tii (no not my Dad's but another customer). I know it can and has been done before, mainly with early M20s that had the distributor in the block and a shorter water pump... These are 35+ year old somewhat historic cars who's values are on the rise... I think it's time to stop doing irreversible (unnecessary) hacking of them. Hack up the bolt in/on parts all you want, but leave the body alone. OK, purist idealist rant over. :b... You touched on several topics Tom. The future of 2002 prices is hard to predict. Yes, the turbos and the tiis are getting more valuable but I personally don't see 2002s becoming outrageously valuable. I may be wrong. Value is also relative. The amount of time, effort and expense spent in saving a nose panel and a subframe from being cut may not justify the value saved in protecting the car. Nose panels and subframes are replaceable anyway. But you have to cut the harness. Solder and shrink tube is an option when reverting back but it's now hacked. Doing an M20 conversion is not for the purist. But I would venture to say that now and in the future, a 2002 in stock form with an M10 is worth less than a car in same physical condition with a stock M20 and a 5-speed. I am not a purist. Some people are. That is the beauty of these cars. They can so versatile and can be so many things to so many people. The focus is to enjoy these cars the way we like them individually, not the way the future market might potentially decide. But if some people enjoy driving a "valuable" car because it's all original, or one that could be brought back to original condition, then by all means, enjoy.

I don't buy the argument that reverting to an M10 may be the reason not to cut, or that the car should be kept original. If that is an important consideration, then an M20 conversion is not recommended. An M20 is not original and going back to an M10 will not happen. Why would anyone go back from an M20 to an M10?

I had a long conversation with a AAA employee who works on DMV transactions. He used to work for the DMV and this is what he said. In the old days, when a car was inactive for 5 years, it would be dropped from the system. Then it became 7 years, then 10 years. Since 2001, they don't fall off the system anymore. They all stay. Furthermore, even in the old days, if an activity is pending, as in an incomplete registration, or someone sends in a release of liability and the car is not transferred, the car would hang and remain in the system indefinitely. The good news is that back fees go back 4 years and not more. That is still a good chunk of change when you add the late fees and the penalties but they are not going back all 14 years. It is not a grey market vs US car. It's all cars. If fees are maxed out, they do not get worse over time since they only go back for 4 years. But if a car fell off the system before 2001, it is still easy to get registered and back on the road pretty cheaply in California.

Early and late hoods are the same.

I am going up. I have not decided if I will leave at 4:00 PM and spend the night in Brisbane or do the traditional all nighter and leave at 2:00 AM to get there just in time to help set up for the show.

When there is a will, there is a way.

If you were to measure with a stopwatch, a g meter etc two cars, one with polys and the other with rubber, same driver, you may not notice a big difference with the numbers on the street. But the feel behind the wheel is significantly different. With polys, inputs are immediate, the communication between the road surface and the steering wheel is enhanced, there is a heightened sense of precision. That sense makes for a more more enjoyable ride when you're pushing the limits, control is far greater which allows the driver to push the limits further. The car just feels like an extension of you.

Another tidbit. Left and right struts are also the same. Calipers are not.