Not an E28

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Ju@n
Posts: 702
Joined: Apr 27, 2013 1:11 PM
Location: Uruguay

Not an E28

Post by Ju@n »

Hi!
It's been a while. So a couple weeks ago I bought an E21 316 Ascot Grau :) , my girlfriend really likes when we do regularity rallies with the E28, but I really didn't want to use the E28 when the weather wasn't as nice, or the road wasn't pavement, so I started looking into Fiats and Fords (128/147, mk1 or mk2). But a friend that has an E21 320 convinced me to spend a bit more and get a "real car" :laugh: . So even though it's slow, it's 100 times more comfortable for these competitions. So without more preamble, here are some pictures :)

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In two weeks of ownership I've already had to buy the whole of the cooling system brand new... oh well... it has 42 years :laugh:
Galahad
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Joined: Sep 06, 2016 9:08 PM
Location: Beverly/Worcester, MA
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Re: Not an E28

Post by Galahad »

The paint looks way nicer than I would have expected, good buy!
muleskinner
Posts: 1339
Joined: Sep 08, 2007 11:17 AM
Location: John Graham ATL

Re: Not an E28

Post by muleskinner »

Beautiful e21. Keep us posted on any upgrades, mods, etc., but already looks de puta madre.
Ju@n
Posts: 702
Joined: Apr 27, 2013 1:11 PM
Location: Uruguay

Re: Not an E28

Post by Ju@n »

Thanks guys!
No mods to this one (yet) :laugh:
I might change the diff ratio, it has a 4.10, and it's a 4 speed. It goes all the way up to 4000 rpm @ 60-65 mph :shock:
Galahad
Posts: 496
Joined: Sep 06, 2016 9:08 PM
Location: Beverly/Worcester, MA
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Re: Not an E28

Post by Galahad »

Ju@n wrote: Aug 08, 2022 12:36 AM ...It goes all the way up to 4000 rpm @ 60-65 mph :shock:
Oh man, my civic is at 4000 @ 80mph and I thought that was bad
Karl Grau
Posts: 9708
Joined: Mar 10, 2006 7:34 PM
Location: Sandy Eggo

Re: Not an E28

Post by Karl Grau »

Love it! :clap:
Ju@n
Posts: 702
Joined: Apr 27, 2013 1:11 PM
Location: Uruguay

Re: Not an E28

Post by Ju@n »

Thanks! :)
irl-mn
Posts: 133
Joined: Mar 05, 2012 8:08 AM
Location: Twin Cities, MN

Re: Not an E28

Post by irl-mn »

Beautiful! I can't remember the last time I saw an E21. My dad bought an almost identical 316 new in Lapisblau shortly after I was born. Aside from having some old photos someplace, I don't remember it unfortunately.
Ju@n
Posts: 702
Joined: Apr 27, 2013 1:11 PM
Location: Uruguay

Re: Not an E28

Post by Ju@n »

Thanks!
E21s are pretty common here in Uruguay, even though 316 are built in Germany, there were a ton of E10, E12, E21, E28, E30, E34 and E36 BMWs built in Uruguay. So you can usually see 320 E21s in the street :)
My dad also had a 316 E21, although his was a 79 (so a pre-facelift) and in Chamonix.
e12euro
Posts: 220
Joined: Jan 11, 2007 4:28 AM
Location: EA

Re: Not an E28

Post by e12euro »

Great car! I had a yellow e21, many years ago. I liked it very much, wish I still had it. The e21s in Europe had a different life to the North American cars, although a few 323is did get imported in the gray market days.

The e21 was the first BMW to sell over 1 million units. A fact that is often forgotten. In terms of refinement, comfort I think it brought significant gains over the '02 family.

In Europe BMW wanted to get away from turbos for refinement and reliability, so in spite of the 2002 Turbo the e21 323i went with a larger non turbo straight. BMW also wanted to bring the refinement of its larger cars to the smaller ones, hence the 3 series getting six cylinders. They also thought with downsizing in the '70s to smaller, plusher cars that former 1800 4 door owners would trade in on a new e21 3 series. However, that didn't quite work out, so the e12 518 was introduced. It seemed that having 4 doors mattered.
Ju@n
Posts: 702
Joined: Apr 27, 2013 1:11 PM
Location: Uruguay

Re: Not an E28

Post by Ju@n »

I agree e12euro, it's considerably more refined to drive than a 02.
I think an update is in order :D
First of all: we should make it mechanically sound
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- Good clean
- New radiator, hoses, thermostat, etc. for the cooling system.
- Change points for electronic ignition
- Disassemble and clean carb
- Repaint some stuff

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Also other mechanical stuff needed sorting, brakes for example
New bearings and rotors, caliper refresh
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- Clean/Change diff oil (look at this!)
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After that come some other improvements
- Cluster
clock spec
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tacho spec
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- Headlights
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before
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after
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-Rims (stage 1... oops)
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paint stripper
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-Rims (stage 2)
Found this short after re-painting the stock steelies
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before
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after
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-Right mirror (it didn't come with one lol)
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-And finally some other interior stuff, bulbs were out, HVAC didn't work at all (knobs did nothing at all)
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Now everything working and lights working as well :)
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And the actually important stuff:
The reason behind buying this car was to actually use it to race in a historic rally club.
So on the first race we finished 6th!
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Second race we ended up winning!
And the third race was actually 4 races in one, the mille miglia! or the 1000 millas as it's called here (spanish he)
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Which... we also won!
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Completely stoked on winning historic rallies, now we have changed to a new non-amateur category. Undoubtedly it'll be harder now haha.
Mike W.
Posts: 26872
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: California Whine Country

Re: Not an E28

Post by Mike W. »

Wow, nice looking E21. Having had a couple, 3 actually, I'm not the biggest fan of the platform. Apparently we got an odd mix of things here in the US which at least partly accounts for my opinion of them. But yours is sweet, looks great! Any plans to bump up power and put in a 2.0 or at least an injected 1.8? Or is it so light it's nice just as it is now?
Ju@n
Posts: 702
Joined: Apr 27, 2013 1:11 PM
Location: Uruguay

Re: Not an E28

Post by Ju@n »

Mike W. wrote: Jan 18, 2023 7:49 PM Wow, nice looking E21. Having had a couple, 3 actually, I'm not the biggest fan of the platform. Apparently we got an odd mix of things here in the US which at least partly accounts for my opinion of them. But yours is sweet, looks great! Any plans to bump up power and put in a 2.0 or at least an injected 1.8? Or is it so light it's nice just as it is now?
I'd really like a 2.0 M10! Specially since I can leave the 316 badge in the rear and nobody would be any the wiser hahaha
It's not a model I had looked at before to be honest, but 2002s are skyrocketing in price. Once I started driving it I noticed it's a really comfortable car to drive :)
muleskinner
Posts: 1339
Joined: Sep 08, 2007 11:17 AM
Location: John Graham ATL

Re: Not an E28

Post by muleskinner »

Enhorabuena, Juanito!
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