316 1978 London UK

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alexandros075
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316 1978 London UK

Post by alexandros075 »

Hello all, yesterday I bought my first classic car and my first BMW E21. Its a 1978 316 and I am over the moon.

Here is some of the specs (Pictures at the end of post):
-Imported from Ireland
-Chamomix White (I think need to double check)
-Green interior? Is this normal I've never seen it before, I was not sure at the beginning but now I think it looks good. (For some reason looks yellow
on the pictures but it is green)
-4 Speed Manual (Unfortunately)


The owner did some work prior to the sell which includes:
-New clutch
-Brand new twin exit exhaust, similar to 323i
- New springs and shocks all around ( I believe they are blistein units by the pictures)
- New discs and pads
- New brake shoes on rear
- New track control arms
- Twin headlights conversion


The car is sitting on what I believe are replicas BBS wheels, they look quite good, I wouldn't thought they are original (any way to know?)
Apart from that is just a very nice restored E21, I had to cross london from East to west yesterday on it (1 hour drive in traffic, motorway etc. ) and the car behaved very well.

Some things I noted and That I have to address:
- The car is running rich, it was mentioned by the seller, and I am not sure what to do he recommended changing the solex carb for a weber. But I
might try to get this current carb tuned so it runs better. (Any recommendations) I would probably outsource this as I am not very experienced with
carbs
- When I stop in traffic with the windows opens there seems to exhaust gases coming in to the cabin. Not sure if it is because is running rich, or
maybe the exhaust has a leak or is loose?
- Seller mentioned tyres loose pressure after some time, he recommended checking every two weeks so will need to investigate a bit more on that.
- Unfortunately this didn't showed up on the test drive but it did driving back. There is a thump noise coming from the RL strut tower. Either
something is loose or a rubber bushing, seems a bit strange as the suspension is all new.


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I will keep posting my progress with the car, it is my new weekend toy and I am very happy with it. Looking forward to meet more members of the E21 club and if you have any recommendations please let me know !

Cheers
Alex


Cheers
Alex
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Manitoba
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by Manitoba »

Welcome here! Your Chamonix 316 looks like a real charm! I am truly not your technician here, so can’t really help you with your questions and issues. But I am sure help is on its way!

Have lots of fun with this sweet and early e21!

Greetz,
Walter.
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Jeroen
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by Jeroen »

Congrats, looks like it is in well above average shape! Having bought a pre facelift Chamonix E21 myself recently I can only agree it is a great package!

Re your Q's
- have a carb specialist check the carb out before replacing it entirely, it may just need some peoper attention
- check the exhaust system indeed, shouldn't be the case, perhaps a leak indeed
- tyre pressures: monitor, if they are loosing pressure have a tire specialist remove the tyres, clean the inside of the wheels and refit
- in what situation(s) do you hear this thump noise?
Regards/groeten, Jeroen
alexandros075
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by alexandros075 »

Manitoba wrote: Sun Oct 10, 2021 7:07 pm Welcome here! Your Chamonix 316 looks like a real charm! I am truly not your technician here, so can’t really help you with your questions and issues. But I am sure help is on its way!

Have lots of fun with this sweet and early e21!

Greetz,
Walter.
Thanks Walter ! It is a looker for sure, I was so happy driving it back and many people shouted "nice car" and lots of thumbs up ! It's not a 100% but I will try to get it as close to a 100% as I can !

Cheers Alex
Cheers
Alex
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alexandros075
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by alexandros075 »

Jeroen wrote: Sun Oct 10, 2021 11:15 pm Congrats, looks like it is in well above average shape! Having bought a pre facelift Chamonix E21 myself recently I can only agree it is a great package!

Re your Q's
- have a carb specialist check the carb out before replacing it entirely, it may just need some peoper attention
- check the exhaust system indeed, shouldn't be the case, perhaps a leak indeed
- tyre pressures: monitor, if they are loosing pressure have a tire specialist remove the tyres, clean the inside of the wheels and refit
- in what situation(s) do you hear this thump noise?
Thanks Jeroen, yes I will have the car checked by a carb specialist and hopefully it stops running rich as there is quite a strong petrol smell when I ran the car and I want to make sure I don't damage anything by running rich, there is no smoke coming out of the exhaust so I would imagine its not that bad.

The exhaust is new so hopefully something is not tight or maybe is a small leak, I ran the car today with the windows closed and no fumes come into the cabin so I guess that is good. And with the wheels yes the previous owner mentioned something about re-sealing the tyres against the rims.

So regarding the thump noise is when after I go through a speedbump, I would imagine the suspension compresses (no noise at this point), and when the suspension is dropping just after I go through the speedbump I hear that thump. Should I worry ?

The car does looks great, and it has some small details but hopefully I can improve it over time.

Many thanks
Alex
Cheers
Alex
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nic65
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by nic65 »

great buy, the engine compartment is black?
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uwbuurman
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by uwbuurman »

Cool car. Thumpnoise, my guess is that inox exhaust. Where the original 323i pipe runs over the rear swingarms, this goes under it, hence it is sitting quite low. The mounting bracket, that U shaped clamp, is pointing upwards under the spare wheelcompartiment. That is recipe for disaster. When you hit a speedbump or something else like that, that bracket will pierce though the floor. If have seen those piercing a fuel tank, that wasn't pretty.

All in all, I am pretty sure that the exhaust causes the thumpnoise.
It's the man next door!

1978 BMW 323i
1980 BMW 528i maior restitutio
1987 BMW 325iA cabriolet
2006 BMW 320d touring High Executive
2015 BMW 320dA touring xDrive High Executive ///Msport
alexandros075
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by alexandros075 »

nic65 wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 9:39 am great buy, the engine compartment is black?
HA! Good question, I would imagine the car was repainted at some point, and they put some sort of liner/rust protection. Not really sure to be honest.
Cheers
Alex
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alexandros075
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by alexandros075 »

uwbuurman wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 12:57 pm Cool car. Thumpnoise, my guess is that inox exhaust. Where the original 323i pipe runs over the rear swingarms, this goes under it, hence it is sitting quite low. The mounting bracket, that U shaped clamp, is pointing upwards under the spare wheelcompartiment. That is recipe for disaster. When you hit a speedbump or something else like that, that bracket will pierce though the floor. If have seen those piercing a fuel tank, that wasn't pretty.

All in all, I am pretty sure that the exhaust causes the thumpnoise.
Thanks Jeroen, yes that is true that U shape clamp is pointing into the wheel compartment. I would go underneath and move the exhaust, see what is actually going on. The car will be looked at by an specialist eventually but it would be nice to know beforehand what is actually wrong with it.

Again many thanks for your help.
Cheers
Alex
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by uwbuurman »

We're not all called Jeroen :bag, my name is uwbuurman aka Koos.
It's the man next door!

1978 BMW 323i
1980 BMW 528i maior restitutio
1987 BMW 325iA cabriolet
2006 BMW 320d touring High Executive
2015 BMW 320dA touring xDrive High Executive ///Msport
alexandros075
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by alexandros075 »

uwbuurman wrote: Mon Oct 11, 2021 6:33 pm We're not all called Jeroen :bag, my name is uwbuurman aka Koos.
Hahaha sorry Koos! Not sure why I read jeroen on my last post, and thought it was jeroen who replied! I had a look at the exhaust, no evidence that its hitting the spare wheel, I will keep investigating
Cheers
Alex
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Jeroen
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by Jeroen »

Let me call you all Jeroen then :mrgreen: some more suggestions when you have these sounds while hitting a speed bump or perhaps also while parking, some small suspension or steering freeplay could be the case, worn bushes there, or a front strut top bearing. These are infamous as well
Regards/groeten, Jeroen
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Re: 316 1978 London UK

Post by sinkman »

Congratulations that is a very sharp looking car!
The issues all sound minor (caveat I am no expert).
Incredibly clean for a UK car! (I mean no rust underneath! That is amazing).
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