'84 318i Upgrades?

[Nygdup]

Decided to relive my teenage years and bought myself an 84 318i like I had in high school. Problem is, it's been over ten years since I've had that car and I can't remember anything I learned about upgrading it back then.

Any suggestions on easy/inexpensive upgrades to a 318i? I'd like to be able to squeeze a bit more power out of the motor while not breaking the bank.

 

[Big Daddy]

Welcome to bmwboard!

Get a jc chip, CAI, and exhaust upgrades.

 

[Nygdup]

I didn't think the 84's had a chip upgrade.

 

[Big Daddy]

They are available although no JC's (sorry for the misleading info, I am just use to typing JC as they are one of the best). I know of several sites advertising them, just search "84 bmw 318i performance chip".

 

[nadroj]

if you got the time/tech know how you could put a turbo on it .j

 

[E38]

Why waste time and money on a small engine when you can just sell the car. Buy a six cylinder (325i) which will have more useable power in standard form than a modified 318i.

 

[Nygdup]

Like I said.. reliving my teenage years!

Still can't find anyone selling a chip upgrade for an 84 318i.

 

[Big Daddy]

Did you google search it like I said, I just dd and got 49000 hits!

 

[ldzpstnr]

There is no chip for the 84-85 318i's. At one time you could send in the ECU and have it re-programmed but that is not done anymore. THese cars have an old L-Jetronic fuel injection that does not control the idle or ignition timing, just the fuel mixture. You still have to manually check and adjust the timing on these cars.

As for performance, you are kinda limited by the fuel injection. You could get a K&N cone air filter, bigger injectors, header, exhaust.

Not meaning to sound rude or anything but any company that offers a chip upgrade is trying to steal your money. I have torn apart an ECU for one these older 318's and there is no removable Eprom in them. Its a real basic fuel injection in these cars, its not the same as the 325's or later model 318is.

Dont waste your time with the M10 block. To get power out of it you gotta spend lots of money. Swap a 6 cylinder into it, I say either an M30 or M50/52 and variants. Cheaper, newer design, and lots more power. Later.

 

[Big Daddy]

Aaron is correct I called a few of the places I googled and they said that they have stopped upgrading the M10 engine electronics. You still have exhaust, CAI and some other options.

 

[sinisterE36]

boost or nitrous or why not both ? [headbang]
a basic nitrous kit is about $500 max or you could put together a basic turbo kit pretty cheap

 

[bahnstormer]

you could install your own engine managment
there is a reallly low cost one called megasquirt.
i'll be doing that install on my own car to handle
the larger injectors and turbo i'll be putting in =]

 

[echothreezero]

or another called link - not sure of cost stateside, but in ol' NZ we pay around twice the cost of a secondhand m20b25.

 

[e12Euro]

There used to be a bolt on turbokit by Miller & Norburn (actually engineered by Reeves Callaway) for the e21 320i, it cut the 1/4 mile time by 2 seconds. Callaway did great work and this kit for the M10 was a forerunner of the kits he did in the 80s, like the one fitted to this e3.

blown e3

The turbokit for the e320i was designed for the 2 liter M10 with the log style intake manifold, which is slightly different to the intake manifold on the e30 318i, but they are still M10 engines. You might be able to find the Turbo kit at a BMW parts dismantler for little money, use the earlier 320i intake manifold and that would be a modification well worth trying.