E36 318iS - should i buy?

[WernerV]

Congrats with the buy! You wont regret it, the 318is is a lovely reliable car! We bought one a while ago with 140 000km and the engine runs quiter than my E46 320i with 103 000km on the clock. We went on a trip to east london recently and got 15.7km/l driving 110-120km/h. If you ask me which car I will choose to drive around the world with it will be the 318is. Post some pics when u can

 

[Solo Man]

Update on repairs/fixes to this car. Must say that i am extremely satisfied with my buy as some of the fixes cost me next to nothing. A/c for example was only a loose wire leading to the "hedgehog", which i only discovered after buying the new hedgehog. Not sure that the old one is "broken" as it still works but i have nevertheless replaced it with the new one. Replaced the missing fog light cover, spray painted it with paint from a tin, fixed the handbrake light (switch on the handbrake was loose), cleaned the carpets (twice), second time vacuumed with "wet n dry" vacuum cleaner and it came nice and clean, cleaned the seats (twice) and then spray painted (dyed) them same light grey colour as the original (did the door cards the same time), (dye cost less than R330), fixed the intermittant brake light switch, replaced the radiator sensor for the electric radiator fan which was constantly on, cleaned the high level brake light glass (cannot imagine how it got so dirty as you could not see that the plastic is red - looked whitish from the dirt), cleaned the speakers at the same time, replaced some rubbers and ball joints on the front suspension (about R1800) and some small items which really cost next to nothing (clips for door cards, Q20 the central locking on left rear door that was sticking, fixing boot central locking and modifying it so that the boot will unlock even if the central locking is stuck in the closed position, etc. Total cost for repairs, etc. is about R5k

 

[Loom]

What dye did you use?

 

[Solo Man]

It is a Stapol product. They are based in PE. The product is P-RECOAT dye and it is a polyurethane lacquer system which you spray on for best results. I did mine with a cheap spray gun and small compressor. Pic added

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[Loom]

Very nicely done! Thanks for the pics. What did you use to clean the seats prior to dying it? How much did the dye cost?

 

[Solo Man]

I used their mild solvent called 800 :thumbs:Stasolve to give the seats a final clean, (although i had scrubbed and cleaned them with a carpet cleaner that i got from a friend, beforehand), and the cost of the 2 litres of dye and 1 litre of solvent plus delivery to their agents in Cape Town cost just under R330
I used about a litre of the dye to do the front and back seats as well as the four door cards (the light grey inserts in the door cards) and about 200ml of the solvent to just prepare the already cleaned seats.
If you use their solvent to do all the cleaning then the litre of solvent will probably be enough.
If you are interested in doing your seats i suggest you go onto the internet and type Stapol in, you will get their website on the net, or phone Dave Shellard on 041-4843396

 

[Doomsdaya]

My seats currently looks like yours before it was dyed WoW I must say thats an excellent job you did there Solo Man :thumb:

 

[Solo Man]

What you can't see on the pictures are the fine cracks in the drivers seat which will probably be visible very soon as i tried to fill it with dye. When you order your dye, ask them for a filler for the cracks (i think i saw something to that effect on their website but did not think of getting it when i ordered my dye)
I also have a sigarette burn (nice round hole about 3mm across) on the back seat which i filled with a small piece of leather off my wife's leather kit for making belts, etc. The round piece was slightly smaller than the hole but i left it at that. Keep in mind they wanted R1800 to dye the seats at the upholsterers. I do not think it they would have been done any better!!

 

[Mr.k]

howsit guys was reading this and i just wanted to know abt how much it would cost to fix up my front suspension , tie rods, rack ends, ball joints( but i heard to change ball joints u hav to change the hole arm?) and bushings , also got a 318is got 220k on the clock , thought its time to change them...
Thanx