ducatiss

There is nothing inherently wrong with the 320i engine that would prevent you doing some mod's to it. Only that there are a number of "better" engines that you can start from ie the 323/325. If you are on a budget then I would start with the old basics of intake and exhaust - a set of headers though expensive would be a good start though make sure you have adequate clearance between the header and the steering joint. Remember that the engine will rock on its mounts so take that into consideration when determining clearance. Couple that with a cold air box/filter and a 325i throttle body (you will have to do some low level mods to the intake manifold here to match them up properly). Make sure that everything else is up to par in terms of good ignition components etc and you will have a nicer 320i to drive. It goes without saying that you should ditch the auto box for a manual if you have one. You can also look at things like diff ratio as well. Remember though, its not all about speed off the line, make your E30 handle well by well matched springs and shocks. Lowering in the range of 30 - 45mm will be a positive move.

Or this perhaps?

I would go back over your work again. By this I mean remove your tappet cover and check that you haven't broken or pinched the gasket. This would cause an oil leak especially if damaged on the exhaust side of the engine. It "may" also cause a vacuum leak sufficient enough to cause your engine to idle low and stumble as you are describing. Also check that you haven't dislodged one of the rubber plugs on the back of the head. I know you said that the oil isn't coming out the cover but its worth double checking by doing as I have suggested. Neither the missing dipstick nor a loose spark plug would cause your problem. Not sure if the M10 has a breather hose such as the one in the image (M20) but I remove this one from the cover. It has a joiner under the inlet manifold that can come apart - another avenue to check I guess. However, the white cloudy nature of your oil usually means coolant is mixing with the oil which means a blown gasket or cracked head.

I would hope so....you should not need to be swapping in and out plugs all the time. Obviously there is something else wrong. Also, just because a plug sparks when checked outside the engine, does not always mean that it will spark reliably under compression or load. If in doubt, replace, and if the problem re-appears look to another cause.

Welcome to Bimmersport - you are right in saying that quite a lot of the people in here will be able and willing to help you out with any questions you have. Nice looking car by the way.

Beautiful man...that is a very tidy and professional looking install - well done! Is an intercooler coming next?

This could be good for someone looking for an E21. Would be worth knowing what's hiding under those seat covers but looks pretty original and very tidy. For 2.5 K I'm almost tempted... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-171820382.htm

I agree - the RB straight 6 is in keeping with the e30. How much heavier is the RB over the std BMW engine? I wouldn't have thought there would have been much difference?

If you have spark then let's assume its not ignition related for the moment. Next step is to see if fuel is getting in. After winding over for a bit are your plugs wet with fuel? Also can you hear the fuel pump presurising the system at the rear of the car when you first turn on the ignition key? If not I would start checking fuses/relay for fuel pump. You could also pull the fuel regulator from the fuel rail to see if the system is pressurized. Note that fuel may spray out everywhere so no smoking and disconnect your battery before you do this! If you have a rag around it as you pop it out then it should be fine. If you have fuel pressure then it may something like a crank angle sensor or similar. The brown wire may well be your oil pressure switch wire though from memory when this is disconnected the oil pressure light would be on all the time. The ECU in the e30 are fairly robust and it is more likely to be something else. Swop a good one in though if all else fails and you have checked the above.

The balance of probability would suggest that you have indeed damaged something due to jump starting the nissan (bloody nissans :-) unless by some coincidence the fault just appeared straight after. If you followed all the precautions in the handbook and didnt mess something up it would be unlikely to damage anything (note I said unlikely - not impossible) If the car is running ok and just not charging, it would appear to be the alternator. Your best bet would be to take the car in to a BMW specialist who can diagnose the fault for you.

Love those old E12's especially the 528 - would be interested in seeing some pics of the beast.

Not at all Glenn - I agree with you to a point - however when comparing bimmersport with some of the overseas forums, most advice offered here is of reasonable quality though there are some exceptions. I think it's important for members, especially newer ones, to realise that unless they are speaking directly to someone with a lot of experience with BMW cars, to canvass a range of opinion before deciding on a course of action. Im not sure what the ultimate answer is - on the one hand as you say, we don't want incorrect information being posted as fact, and on the other, it is still worthwhile encouraging all members to contribute as even some of the newer members have experience with a particular issue which they have successfully resolved.

Because that is the nature of public forums. Take a look at any public forum on cars (especially those in the U.S) and you see a bewildering array of answers. Yes, some of those will be wrong, but most are made by well meaning people trying to help others. Most people who post an "answer" have a reasonable belief that they have the correct answer. We are very lucky to have people such as yourself who do know the answer and are willing to contribute your time to this forum. Looking back I think that the answer I gave was also quite correct given the limited information available.

Sounds like the blower motor rather than the heater itself. First step check fuse and switch.

No its not. You are thinking of the airflow meter whereas B-Buzzin is talking about the idle control valve. Two totally different parts!

No load adjuster. I'm also very suspicious. I feel like marking all the adjusters before the next wod and comparing them afterward.

Have noticed that my local garage keeps adjusting the headlights on my E30 either every WOF or every second check. They charge me for this service. They do they same on my Toyota. between the last two warrants, my E30 had covered less than a thousand km's and the lights were adjusted again. Is this a common thing for WOF checks, and do lights actually go out of adjustment once they have been set?

IMO, Nissan make the most bland souless car's on the planet so welcome to BMW ownership - nice looking car!

While the idle valve definitely wont help your idle, unless it is leaking quite a lot, I dont think it would be giving you the symptoms you are describing. Certainly worth checking though. It sounds more like a fault in your Air Flow Meter (AFM) so take a look in there after you have follwed through with what QuickSilver has said and make sure that the spring flap is moving freely. Other than that it could be a bad connection to the AFM so check that as well. Also worth checking is that you don't have a large air leak somewhere else in the system. The L-Jet has a lot of vacuum hoses that do split with age so check all those carefully. As quicksilver said, don't worry too much about the oil in your manifold just yet. After that I would be checking electrics such as plugs, leads (for moisture buildup in the harness) and distributor rotor and cap for wear.

Happy birthday dude and all the best.

Agreed. Also all frontal crash tests assume that the vehicles colliding have the same bumper height. A bumper to bumper crash is better as both vehicles are able to absorb/deform/and in newer cars, transfer the forces up through the a pillars into the vehicle frame. If a smaller car collides with a larger SUV, this doesn't always happen as the SUV will over-ride the smaller severely compromising this ability.

Agree on the AA being a waste of time - they will often miss or are not aware of points to be wary of on specific makes and models. Take it to a good BMW repairer/dealer and pay for an assessment to be done.

That's like one of those "minties moments" isn't it? So funny though...glad you got it sorted. I wouldnt bother getting another alarm, by the sounds of it the one you have works perfectly!!

Make sure that all of the drivers that control your computers power management have been loaded. Also any mainboard and chipset specific drivers. SP3 by itself should not be the cause of the problem. However, did you check after installing WinXP that you had the Hibernate Tab available before installing SP3?

It always amuses me the lengths some people will go to to trash a perfectly good BMW.