D. Clay

The seats are "Pleather" which is fancy for vinyl. All of the US models from 1988-1991 had airbags and A/C. The 318is models were all very similar. I bought the crosshair pieces from a guy on r3vlimited that was selling them for US$30. DIY - Hella Smoked Ellipsoids Hella ellipsoid crosshair plates for sale They were laser cut and very nice. I painted the upper part of the low beams just leaving the shiny part around the smilie to show. I may change it later, maybe not. A lot of the purists here are down on the wheels because they're 17" and chrome finish. The "proper wheels" are period correct of course and 15's or 16's at the most. My 19 year old daughter insisted I get them. Srangely enough they're from your part of the world (Australia). They are a bit heavy but they have very good clearance for 4 piston calipers (from a 1990 Mazda RX7 Turbo) which is the next thing I'm working on. It's funny how the cars imported to certain countries were so different. I see Australian and NZ models that we have nothing like. E30's are getting rarer in the US mainly due to age. A fellow from England was at my house a while back and he said E30's were common as dirt in the UK.

Some pictures of my 318is. It's pretty much original except for a 1995 318ti M42 engine. It still has the E30 M42 intake and electronics. I just used the long block. It has 210,000 miles on the odometer so basically everything has been redone in the last five years. The engine, trans and differential have about 90,000 miles on them.

Hello from Texas! Found you guys surfing around "on the google". Two of my favorite things are New Zealand And BMW's. I was there for 10 days as a tourist in 2001. Mostly Northern part of North Island. Rangoon, Magic Mountain, Bridal Veil Falls, Ohopi Beach, etc. I've wanted to go back and see the South Island ever since. I live in Austin which is the exception to the stereotype image of Texas. Liberals, artsies, tree huggers, queers, and eccentrics seem to gravitate here historically. For the last 20 years the growth has been tecnology types and it's become a bit more mainstream. The local BMW scene here has a few devotees of the older types such 2002's and E30's. Link to my friend Terry's place. Terry Sayther Auto