After buying, prepping, developing, and racing our 1991 BMW 318is for the past 2 seasons its time to let this car to move to a new racer's home. Vorshlag purchased this 318is in the summer of 2007 to use developing new AST shocks for this chassis, and we've run several iterations of shocks on the car along with our camber plates, Mason strut/shock tower braces, lots of wheel and tire packages, three exhaust iterations, different swaybars, several seats, and more.
The front can achieve -4.3° of negative camber - and it uses every bit of that to make 1.3 g of lateral grip!
This car is set-up and sorted for autocross and track events. Its easy to drive, very reliable, and pretty quick. The last dyno test we did showed 122 whp, but we've since added a new cat/muffler/exhaust, new cold air intake, and new chip - which should all add another 15 or so hp. We will try to dyno it again this week. Car revs to 7000 and never skips a beat. It even gets good gas mielage on the street. Car shows 173K miles (it is broken remember) but so much has been replaced in the past 2 seasons.
Current set of parts (most less than 12 months old):
- AST 4100 monotube front struts, rebound adjustable
- Vorshlag built, 1" Shortened front strut housings, upper OEM spring perch removed. Entire housing and spindle zinc-chromate plated (gold zinc).
- AST 4300 monotube rear shocks, with remote reservoirs. Custom built to allow for added droop travel. Rebound adjustable on top of shock, hi/lo speed compression adjusters on canisters.
- Vorshlag camber-caster plates + race bearing upper perches. Front is adjustable to -4.2° camber and +9° caster.
- H&R tubular adjustable 22 mm front swaybar
- AKG polyurethane offset rear control arm bushings
- AKG polyurethane differential bushings
- AKG polyurethane rear subframe bushings
- Custom built Vorshlag Competition Motor Mounts, 70A durometer polyurethane
- Vorshlag Competition Transmission Mounts, 80A durometer polyurethane
- New shifter, bushings, etc - shifts very nicely
- New stock replacement clutch and pressure plate (July 2008 )
- M42 1.8L DOHC 4 cylinder BMW engine and BMW Getrag 5-spd (August 2007)
- Factory 14x6" alloy "basket weave" wheels and 185/60/14 Mileage Master Mud & Snow specials, with lots of tread. Fun for street use - nice, cushy ride and they make loud, howling noises when pushed hard. Scare the neighbors!
- Vorshlag M12-1.5 x 75mm long Competition Wheel Studs, lug nuts, and 5mm wheel spacers
- New front brake rotors, Hawk HP+ pads, and new front wheel bearings
- Re-plated disc brake dust shields (zinc chromate electroplating)
- New BMW '95 M3 front lower control arm bushings + housings
- New MagnaFlow CARB legal stock replacement high flow catalytic converter
- Vorshlag built after-header custom exhaust. Made with .049" (20gauge) mild steel SPD mandrel bends and 2.25" diameter pipe. 3 pound resonator, turn down after axle. Entire exhaust weighs 16 pounds, yet isn't deafeningly loud.
- UltraShield RallyPro aluminum seats. Driver's side is 15" wide, passenger side is 17" width, both 10° layback. Driver's side has Sparco dual locking sliders and custom floor brackets. Pass side has fix brackets with the seat biased as far down and back as it can go. Very light seats.
- Sony in-dash CD/MP3/Stereo (DIN)
- Deka AGM style lightweight battery located in trunk (stock locaiotn). 18 pound replacement works great for daily driving use, plenty of CCA for cold starting. Custom Vorshlag battery mount.
- Cheap eBay cold-air kit and washable filter and mass air adapter
- Turner Motorsports chip. Higher 7000 rpm rev limit and claimed "+14 hp gain". Have not tested that claim but it does pull harder.
Additional parts included:
- 1 set of 16x7" OZ Ultraleggera wheels. Weight ___
- 1 set of 15x7" Kazara KZ/M wheels. Weight
- 4 x 205/45/16 Bridgestone RE01Rs, shaved ot 5/32", fresh and fast (made 1.3g lateral at a track event in October)
- 4 x 225/50/16 Bridgestone RE01Rs, shaved ot 5/32", fresh and fast. Used at 2 autocrosses only - very fresh
- 2 x 195/50/15 Bridgestone RE01Rs, shaved ot 5/32", used at about 10 autocross events.
- New OEM LF Fender, we never got around to replacing it.
122 whp was before the new cold air inlet, exhaust and chip
Noted issues:
- Odometer doesn't work (common E30 problem - its a cheap fix but we never got around to it)
- BMW On Board Computer display is "flaky" (clock, temp, date, etc)
- A/C is fully intact but not functional (needs compressor)
- Leaks a little oil. We replaced the oil pan gasket when we did the clutch and it didn't fix it - probably needs a new rear main seal? The car "marks its spot" when parking...
- Its not as light as a 1989 Honda Civic, but it has a better weight bias, better brakes, and more power.
- Paint looks great! (cough, with stickers covering it up)
UltraShield Rally Pro seats, custom fabbed tubular floor brackets, Sparco dual locking slider on driver's side - fits all sizes!
Click for in-car track video from this E30!
This car has SOLD!
Note: This car has shocks worth about what we're asking for the whole car! We've been through this thing front to back and spent hundreds of hours prepping this car. Lots of local racers have driven this car and every one of them has been impressed by the car's ride and handling - driving in this car has made many doubters into believers, and has helped sell a lot of ASTs! It handles like a dream and runs reliably on the street, autocross course, or track, and comes with lots of spare wheels/tires. Hop in it and go SCCA autocrossing (STS) or make it into your dedicated Track Rat. You won't be disappointed.
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