BMW 730i & 318Ti Compact
It’s been over a year since I last did an update on my BMW E32 730i with manual ’box. In April 2019 it turned 30 years old with the mileage just above 315,000.
Thinking back, in 2005 the speedo decided it wanted to be a potato so
I fitted another used cluster with a lower mileage tally. Because I always kept a mileage log in the service book, I was able to get the mileage reset by a clocker – sorry, ahem, a ‘mileage correction service’ – to the correct total mileage in 2016.
I took it for its MOT test in June, and while it passed okay there were a couple of advisories – one for a tired yet serviceable front suspension arm bush, and another for very slight play in an outer track rod end. I hate advisories as they mean it’s not 100% so I set to and ordered a complete nearside track rod assembly from Euro Car Parts, a proper Lemförder brand that came to £35 with ECP’S discount scheme.
That was fitted easily enough and by adjusting the total length of the new one to match the old one perfectly, I was able to get away without resetting the tracking. A quick drive up the road revealed that the steering wheel position hadn’t altered, so we were good to go on that front.
The upper control arm’s inner bush actually looked fine to me, but once removed and on the bench, you could just see some cracking in the rubber.
‘I know,’ I thought, ‘I’ll fit the almostnew E34 5-Series arm I have in stock. No I won’t – it’s a tad shorter. Damn!’
What I did do is remove the bush from that newish E34 arm and press it into my E32 arm. The outer balljoint was still perfect, but I spent ten minutes with a wire cup brush in the grinder, then painted the arm satin black and fitted a new rubber dust boot. Getting the steel retaining spring ring back on is fun. The E34 lower arm is the same as the E32 and as I had two new Lemförder ones in bags, they went on as well. The driver’s upper arm was new a while ago. I also took out both front struts, removed the springs and fitted new bump stops and gaiters to replace the old ones. The dampers themselves were new Boge units a few years back.
I’d known for ages that the metal front brake disc shields were rusty and noticed while doing this work that they were now really bad, with one falling apart. I ordered a new pair from Autodoc (www.autodoc.co.uk) and they arrived a few days later from their German warehouse – 55 quid with VAT and carriage, which is less than half BMW’S price. They’re only shaped and spot-welded pressed tin with some black paint after all. To preserve them, I rubbed them down and gave them an extra two coats of gloss black – the MOT tester will be impressed at the next test!
These shields were easily replaced once the calipers, discs and front hubs
were removed and I had the whole job done in about 90 minutes.
Looking through the service book, I noticed it had been eight years since I last took the cam cover off and checked the valve clearances. These were still the correct 12 thou cold (I never do them hot), yet both oil spray bar banjo bolts were starting to loosen. These are the all-singing, all-dancing latest BMW ones with dried-on thread lock, so for the sake of £8, I fitted two new ones along with a new cam cover gasket.
I also dropped the oil and fitted a new BMW filter so we’re almost up-to-date. I did notice, though, that the rear spark plug heat shield had fallen off. These protect the rubber plug leads from manifold heat, but unlike older M30 engines, they aren’t bolt-on alloy shields, but asbestos-type things that are part of the manifold gasket. I ordered one and got to work, noticing that the rear two manifold studs had already sheared off. This would be fun… However, the rear manifold (there are two) came off OK and the two sheared studs came out with the old ‘two locknuts’ trick. Getting the manifold back on without undoing the engine mount and lifting the engine slightly was a bit of a fight. Profanities won the day and in it went.
After all this work, the 730i doesn’t look or drive any better, but it’s been only a few hours work and less than a hundred quid on bits to achieve some good maintenance work. Only another decade before it’s eligible for free road tax too…
Daily track car
The 1994 BMW 318Ti Compact is now my daily driver. Until recently I’ve only ever used it for track days, and now it’s time for it to earn its keep as opposed to being sat in my workshop and getting in the way. I’ve done a few bits to it – getting the central locking working was a case of locating a broken wire. I also fitted much better tyres and had the tracking done at Hawley Tyres (www.protyre.co.uk) who did it for £25 – that’s better than the laughable £90 we’ve been paying in the past, so it’s my new go-to place for tyres and wheel alignment. And even though I have the CM project Honda Civic to run around in, I find myself driving the Compact BMW more than I did last year.