new here...many problems with 318is

[ZLR]

Hi guys....I'm new here.just made an account, but b4 i prezent my car or anythin else ( well it's stock in a way...nuthin special...but i'll put sum details n pics later)

I have sum urgent problems gathered up that i can't fix for a long time now...mayb one of u guys can gimme sum help or advise...
I'm a good driver...i drift a lot with the car...but unfortunately i suck as a mechanic...i dunno how to fix problems or anythin....plus i dunno "car language" in english so if u guys can explain detailed, i'll b grateful.

I have a E36 318is m42 93'. I'm a Turk, living in Romania....n we dun have so many places we can tune cars properly or fix them.

1.one of my biggest problems is with the dash...when the car feels like it, all the dials die,speed,rpm,fuel,temp, and after sumtime, can b 5 secs can b 30 mins they come back....but everytime the fuel level is different.and sumtimes the km on the screen resets....when the dials are off, also the wipers are slower.the second speed level works like the first one.i took the car to my mechanic or to other places nobody knows how to fix it. a whole day i cleaned every plug, every wire, every ground, every fuse...and still the same.

2. big problem is with the ABS..sumtimes while goin or stopped the abs light comes on, n i dun have abs until whenever the car feels like puttin the system back...if i'm in movement right when the light comes on the car feels like brakin for like a second....sumtimes i need to ignite the engine on n off many times until the problem goes away.but after an hour or sumthin it's back again.i realised that on rainy weathers it does it less...on hot weathers it's more often.

3.sumtime ago i changed my exhaust system.took off the stock one completely...and made a brand new one...i mean not me, but a guy who really works nice n neat.i went from 50mm pipe to 60mm ...took off the catalizer and the mid-box....and decent size final box with twin pipes at the end...the car was A LOT LOUDER than a motorbike, the sound was soooo ugly, and it was like tinier sound....not deep..not bassy....after sumtime of breakin windows in the neighbourhood( n i'm not exagerrating......ppl were throwin food or other shits on the car) i've put a brand new and larger than stock mid-box....i wanna say that the company is STELCO i dunno if u guys kno it..so it's nuthin fancy or sumthin the pipe or the final box. the sound came down a bit....it's just a little bit deeper, but in a way the same, still so ugly....if i go with half acceleration all the way it's ok...but if i floor it, it sounds so loud n ugly again....wot can i do, to change the sound....i dun like the original exhaust.. so i dun wanna switch it back.
Sum friends of mine whom they modify their cars themselves n they are also a bit mechanics themselves said during that period until i put the midbox back, i might have burnt sum valves...can it b true? how can it affect the car?

4.the car sumtimes runs really nice n smooth , sumtimes i floor it, n even a 60hp car goes faster....i kno i finished my clutch drifting every day for a year, n didn't change it..but is it the clutch or can it b sumthin else???? sumtimes it consumes like 3 times more too, i dunno why....it was running sooo nice when i bought it from germany.....everythin original...everythin clean...worked PERFECT.... now it's time to fix it up, n tune it later.....

5.over here i can't find a lot of pieces for this engine.....i wanna eventually pass to a V8 under the hood after like a year or year 1/2 .... until then, any advice on wot should i do.... turbo or super charge this engine, or swap it for a 2.5 24v non-vanos???? i'm using the car for cruising and drifting every night...so mayb u guys can give sum specific advice....is there a cheaper things i can do to boost the hp/ performance....the engine is original, goes perfect, 173.000 km, which 23.000 made by me....sideways...so i dunno if i should throw away a good engine like this....i'm happy with it, except the hp, and drifting performance...i kno it's a good engine to start practising, n spend sum time practising, but i want more.....otherwise...i dun mind keepin it....

ok sry guys i went on and on....but i posted in lots of forums n no1 can come up with proper answers...i hope one of u can b of help....thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for the help....
Good luck to all of u....

[ZLR]

anybody???

[ZLR]

nobody that can help????

[318i]

answer to 3.
you wont of burnt any valves out, they are talking turd. what cars are they running, probably civic type 'r' from the 80's that have been raced since day 1 and have 150k on the clock.
thats when valves burn out.

4.
the lambda sensor in the exhaust is not a service item but should be changed every 60k on the E36. get it to a bmw dealer also to have any fault codes read that have been stored in the ECU. this will let you know of any problems (including your ABS problem) and ask them to do a 'live' reading as the engine is running as you'll probably find your camshaft or crackshaft sensor is playing up, this giving the intermittent running problems.

[ZLR]

ok thanks for the advice...i'll do that....

any1 for the other problems????

[96_323]

Im gonna be brutally honest here, if your gonna run your car like that every night of the week especially an oldish car with 170k on the clock, you are GOING to kill the car.
Id suggest you either study to become a mechanic or drive more sensibly, otherwise your gonna find yourself buying a new car every year.

And answer to number 5, a very cheap and very quick mod would be a new air filter.

[DaleKP]

I have to agree with 96_323... call me a purist, but a finely built German car like a BMW shouldn't really be treated like a throwaway item. You said it yourself, the car ran beautifully when you got it - as standard. BMW have spent an awful lot of time and money researching what makes their cars run the best. The "mods" you have made to your exhaust system for example will probably do more to damage your car than assist it.

With regards the specific problems you have with the instrument cluster, It isn't likely to be fuses - when a fuse blows, everything on that circuit dies and that is that. I have heard that the battery that powers teh servicing light can leak and cause problems in teh instrument cluster - apparently genrally means a new instrument cluster Would suggest you at least get someone with some electrical knowledge to start looking at the electrics. Not likely to be the whole system as it is the instrument cluster that is playing up - cluster is held on by 3 screws, could do worse than to remove that (or have someone do it for you) and see if everything is OK behind there. Any sign of corrosion or leaking battery acid will mean an expensive repair.

I am guessing here though - electrical faults can be notoriously difficult to diagnose... anyone else?

[96_323]

When it comes to your cars electrics just pay someone to have a look, it could be the smallest kink in a wire in a loom of 100s of feet long or simply a bad solder.

[ZLR]

ok i'll look into that..thanks guys...

[DaleKP]

No worries - please let us know how you go. I for one will be very interested to hear what was causing your faults