Friend just bought 1991 318i

[cmsrsmth]

I'm new to the E30 world. (I own an E36) My friend just bought an E30 for next to nothing, wants to use it as a daily driver, and figured I'd be able to answer a lot of his questions. So I thought I'd go here to see how smart I could sound later! Any help for these problems would be greatly appreciated:

1) The engine is idling loudly up front. Any thoughts?
2) None of the windows go up (or down). It needs a new battery, so maybe that's the problem?
3) The odometer isn't working. It registers just over 123k miles, and has been hit from behind. Could that have just loosened something up there?

We haven't taken this car to a mechanic or anything yet, so is there any other common problems that we need to look for/replace?

[wludavid]

The window problem is likely in the switches. He could buy new ones or remove the old ones and clean the connections.

There have been some recent threads about odometer problems. If it has completely stopped working, there is probably a broken gear. Check out this thread.

He's fortunate to have a 91 318 in that he doesn't have to worry about timing belts like the rest of us schmucks (his has a chain).

[cmsrsmth]

Good to know about the chain! I fixed the windows this morning... turned out to be as simple as a fuse. I sure with they were all that easy!

[carolinus]

That not having to worry about a timing belt thingy doen't work all the time w/ the 318i M42. It has a timing chain....and this chain does wear out. It's usually around 100-130k miles, and what does it do when it wears out?

It makes a lot of noise on the front of the engine, just like you are describing.

However, that problem could be about 6 different things ranging in cost from $10 to $1000. What type of noise does it make? Metallic banging, growling, screeching, ticking? ? ?

[cmsrsmth]

No metallic sounds... it just sounds too loud, if that makes sense. It sounds rough. The exhaust smells and looks perfectly clean too. There's also just a slight hesitation when you press the accelerator, but I know that could be anything from a fuel filter, to old plugs. I'm going to convince him to replace both of those things before going much further.

[pyguinard]

As far as the odometer is concerned, I know it is connected to the differential. Since the car has been hit from behind, this is where I would look first