Jaloty: The 1989 BMW E30 318i 2-door saloon (Long termer review)

Finally, I have a manual car in possession! Well, for now at least.

The BMW E30 3-Series have always been a legend for many driving enthusiasts. To these people, it's the definition of Sheer Driving Pleasure. The E30 is available with a wide range of 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder engines, with a variety of gearbox and body style choices. Naturally, I became interested in E30s because of the Internet, but I've never thought that I'll ever get to touch one.

That was until when my uncle had this particular E30 318i project car - which had been stripped to bare-metal, and had its rusts removed - for sale. My dad then expressed interest in it, and told him to let me use it until I get my drivers' license at the end of this year. Why didn't he just buy it, then? Simple: RM15,000 for an incomplete car is just unreasonable for both Dad and I, even if it runs, like this E30 - not even taking into account of the spending required to restore the E30 back to its former glory, which is EASILY another RM10,000-RM20,000 to spend. But then again, old two-door cars are rarely cheap. After some time behind the wheel, I affectionately name it "Jaloty", which is a combination of the word "jalopy" and "E-Thirty (E30)".

Jaloty is fitted with the BMW M40B18 - fitted to later E30s known as Series II (1987-1993) and early batches of E36 318i (1990-1993) - mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. When new, it is capable of accelerating from standstill to 100 km/h in 10.8 seconds, and eventually would hit a top speed of 188 km/h. The rear suspension design was carried over from it's predecessor, although it's heavily revised to reduce the dreaded "tail-happy" handling. However, there's not much that can be done about that if you use trailing arms.

So what's Jaloty like to drive?

First of all, let me just begin by stating the fact that there's BARELY ANYTHING inside Jaloty. You open the door, and you'll notice a lot of things are missing. Head-lining? Don't bother. Soundproofing? What was that? I can't hear you over the plethora of noises from inside here! Centre console? A carpeted transmission tunnel would do the trick. Even the tachometer doesn't work! At least there's air-conditioning, though, and that's very important in a country of hot climate like here in Malaysia.

Where was I? Oh right, the driving experience of Jaloty. Now, the driving experience is rather interesting. The steering is slow, the gear shift requires a little bit of forcing to get into the next gear, the clutch biting point is really high, but not too bad. The pedal placement is wonderful, though. It's easy to perform heel-and-toe rev match every time I downshift, which - as everybody knows - is the most rewarding aspect of driving.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Jaloty is a rear-wheel drive BMW, and therefore should be able to drift, right? Well, you'd be wrong. Even on loose gravel, no matter how hard I try, I just can't get the tail swinging out by using power. It may be able to over-steer, but it just doesn't have the power to sustain the drift, although it is possible to leave behind long "Number 11" skids on loose gravel if you just make pedal meet metal while you're in first gear. Not something I would recommend doing, but just good for you to know. Maybe a limited-slip differential or a welded diff would do to help Jaloty pull off epic drifts.

Also, one more thing worth noting about Jaloty is that it is really loud. Not just inside, but also outside. There's the exhaust note - which although aggressive, is quite excessive, thanks to the JASMA twin-tip muffler Jaloty has. Then, there's all sorts of mechanical noises coming under the bonnet, louder than the vacuum cleaner your mom use every day. Thankfully, my neighbours doesn't seem to care about Jaloty's "high-volume levels" of noise.

Then, there's the ride. It is harsh. Very, very harsh. Jaloty would bounce you and your friends around, giving them the idea what being tumbled around in a dryer feels like. But, then again, the suspension is modified. Had it been stock, it would've been a whole different story. Moving on....

Practicality

Being a two-door, how practical can Jaloty be? As it turns out, it is rather practical for a car of sporting pretensions. There's room for three at the rear, although the one in the middle might have to suffer a little bit with the transmission tunnel. Access is also good. The front passenger seat tumbles forward enough to allow easy entrance into - and exit from - the rear seats. The driver's tumble seat lever doesn't work, though.

Up front, there's a decent amount of space for you to move around and breathe. Storage is decent, although it would've been better if there's a proper centre console, and the boot is big enough for a few travel suitcases. The ergonomics in here is a bit strange, if I'm honest. While I don't have any issues reaching for the air-conditioning and radio controls - which is angled towards the driver, giving that driver-oriented feel - I find that the door handle and the driver's seatbelt a bit too far behind, which means I often have to stretch my right arm far to the back in order to open the door, or reach for the seat belt. I guess that's the thing about two-door cars based on their four-door counterparts.

Performance

Now, you would expect that Jaloty is a fast car, right? Again, you'd be wrong. You see, the 1.8-litre lump is not what you call under-powered. It's 118 horsepower and 163 N.m of torque is more than enough to get Jaloty going. However, it just doesn't feel as fast or pull as hard as the less powerful but lighter Proton Saga Iswara 1.3 manual I reviewed some time ago. A quick research suggests that the dual-mass flywheel equipped in M40-powered E30s like Jaloty was to be blamed for the sluggish acceleration, although it is fast once it gets up to speed. But, then again, it's a 318i from the 1980s, so I wasn't expecting a lot in the performance department. If you're building an E30 for track driving or you want to go really fast, then I suggest you to swap the M40 engine for a Nissan SR20, RB-series, Toyota 1JZ, 2JZ or a BMW M50 if you have the budget to afford the half-cut. If you plan to daily your M40-powered E30, no problem! There's plenty of low-end grunt to help it get moving, which is ideal for everyday use, and it's reasonably economical if you're not heavy-footed. But make sure you service it at regular intervals. I've heard stories that BMW M40s are unreliable due to the fact that they use timing belt instead of timing chain that its predecessor - the M10 - and its successor - the M43 - as well as the performance-oriented M42 twin-cam engine uses to drive the engine.

Summing it up

To me, it has always been a dream for me to be able to drive an E30, and although the particular E30 I got is a crappy one, it still is a dream come true. Sure, the driver's side power window doesn't work. Yes I'm aware that the car rattles a lot and the ride is so stiff it's almost as if the suspension were made of concrete. But I forgive the shortcomings as I am finally able to scratch the itch called "curiosity" out of my head, now that I have driven one of these. However, it won't be long before I have to say goodbye to Jaloty after being together for five months, because the owner of Jaloty wanted the car back, so he can sell it off to someone who is willing to work on Jaloty.

So to whoever who would buy this particular E30, I don't care if you're going to stuff an SR20DET engine in it. I don't care if you decided to build it as a track car, drift car or as a daily. But please, pretty please, take good care of it, as this particular E30 made a boy's dream come true.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Every time I took Jaloty out for a drive, it attracted attention. It's rather ostentatious, especially with that matte blue paint and chrome BBS-replica wheels and the fact it's a two-door. So, you better get used to getting attention. I've had a lot of strangers inquiring me about it.

1989 BMW E30 318i SPECIFICATIONS
Engine: 1.8 SOHC Inline-4 8-valve BMW M40B18
Horsepower: 118hp at 5,500 RPM
Torque: 163N.m. at 4,250 RPM
Transmission: 5-speed manual Getrag 240
Fuel tank capacity: 55 litres
Suspension: MacPherson strut (front), Semi-trailing arms (rear)
Brakes: Ventilated discs (front), solid discs (rear)
Tires: 205/55 R17 (I think, for this particular car)