A BMW for just £70...

This is my first ever entry in Drivers Diaries and I’m afraid it’s going to be a BMW fest, but there are worse things to own. We will talk about my 1989 730i more next time, but despite having 316,000 miles on the clock it’s a show queen I’ve owned for 20 years. I don’t use it as much as I ought to, but it is a very rare five-speed manual.

However, this time we’re going to discuss my 1994 318Ti Compact. Built in September of that year it’s one of the very first and a very low RHD chassis number, blessed at the Munich factory with ‘special launch preparation’ whatever that is. All I know is that in 2017 it was on death row with rusty front wings, rusty rear sills, rusty rear arches, knackered front seats, rusty suspension and brakes... it had been run into the ground and left to die.

Still, seventy of your English pounds changed hands and my mate Glenn strapped it onto his recovery truck, bound for my workshop. Would it run? Well, the red cable from the battery to the starter had got hot enough to melt some of the insulation. Taking this into consideration, I just fitted a charged battery and attempted to start it. It cranked away, the oil light went out, it coughed a few times and then it started and ran very well. Well, for a bit until failing plug leads caused a misfire.

The initial plan was to tidy it up and turn it into a budget track car, and that is exactly what I did. I rattle-canned a pair of decent wings, filled and sprayed the rear arches, patched the rear sills up and fitted some good used coil-over suspension. To that we can add some sticky tyres, new vented discs and EBC yellow pads plus a Momo steering wheel and we were away! Of course I changed the plugs, leads, oil and filter, water pump, coolant and so on. M860 TRF was thus transformed into a very handy track car that did hundreds of laps around Cadwell Park, Blyton and Croft. Because it was road legal, I even used it as a car too and it did many trips to breakers yards to stock up for my ebay business.

Gradually, I improved it. A perfect pair of genuine BMW wings were painted and fitted. I re-did the rear arches and became very proficient with the aerosol can. I had a set of the lovely style 42 BBS wheels powder coated and I started to actually take pride in this poor old thing.

In February 2022, a very good friend and fellow BMW deviant Lee Jones left the building. In his honour, I drove to his wake in Norfolk in the 318Ti, stopping en route in Lincolnshire to collect a black leather interior with the muchprized sports seats. Thus I

arrived with a car rammed to the gilles with an interior, and I know Lee was looking down and laughing because that’s just what we do.

For the last two or three years the Compact wasn’t in the garage, but on my drive in all weathers, waiting to be used. I always had a project car from Car Mechanics magazine to use, but even so I found the Compact nicer than many a modern heap. But then the project cars stopped coming and suddenly it was my sole means of transport.

In 2022, some hero in a company Insignia tried to barge into a queue and paint was swapped. No real damage and no big deal, but in February ’23 the Compact went into a mate’s bodyshop where the entire nearside was repainted on insurance. For a few extra shekels, I rubbed down the bonnet, removed and prepared the bumpers and they were painted as well. But I knew those rear sills would soon need attention.

So, in September 2023 a winter hack in the form of a 2006 118d was bought and the 318Ti could rest in the workshop. One day, I steeled myself and took a grinder and cutting disc to both rear sills. 'Oh dear,' (or similar) I said when good metal and about 16in of rotten sill lay on the ground. The Great British Tradesman is in short supply since Brexit, all his work-hungry opposition went home and not one welder worth a carrot could be found. I asked for quotes, agreed and they all either vanished up their own nether regions or just failed to turn up. Undeterred, I bought some 18 gauge sheet steel, some Gilbow snips and made the new sections myself before a mate came and put a few strips of weld in. Then it was grinding down, painting, seam sealing, undersealing and what felt like half of my life had gone. The end result isn’t factory, or even that pretty, but it’s a lot better that the flaky brown crud that it replaced.

M860 TRF looks nice, but it’s really not as good as it looks. However, it owes me much less than I could sell it for and I still like driving it. There is of course more to tell and more tales of derring do including my planned trip to Munich for its 30th birthday. I may even drag Phil White of this parish along. Well, he came with me when I took the 730i back to its birthplace on its 20th Geburtstag in 2009.

ABOVE: After some fettling and preparation, Andrew's early Compact 318Ti became a pretty useful track car between 2017 and 2020.

ABOVE: Initial body repairs were often done alfresco in the summer. This rear arch is about to be painted with a custom mixed aerosol can.

ABOVE: Andrew drove the Compact all through the summer and took it to a few car shows; it seems they have now reached classic status.

ABOVE: A black leather Compact Sport interior replaced the worn out cloth rubbish for just £150 – the driver's seat needed an £80 restitching repair.

ABOVE: In February 2023, the bonnet, bumpers and the whole nearside were professionally repainted at last, improving it no end.

ABOVE: Cutting out the 'MOT standard’ bodges revealed sills that were less than optimal; it was a lot of work to repair them.