Saved from the Scrapper - E36 Calypso Sedan
Discussion
Hello all and welcome to my first thread here! After owning many many BMWs, both old and new, it was only a matter of time before another joined the stable. Me and E36s have a history, with my first being a Meergrun 318is I bought at 19 after saving up £20 notes I got for detailing people's cars. I then moved onto an Avus Blue sport sedan which I adored but sadly got written off by a driver on their phone. Finally I moved onto a very special Meergrun over Meergrun (yes, green paint over green leather) 318is coupe which was my pride and joy but an absolute money pit.
In between these, I've always kept my eyes and ears open for E36s, and have saved 4/5 now from becoming coke cans. Having owned E36, E46, E90 and plenty of seat time in E21, E30 and the new stuff, there is something about an E36 which always gets me. They all smell the same, have the same inherent driving qualities and are just always a pleasure to drive.
Anyways, I won't get into all that, onto the latest addition, a 1996 Calypso Red 318i Sedan. Equipped with an automatic transmission, this is about as dull as it gets. Yet I absolutely love it.
We'll start from the beginning. I woke up on Wednesday with absolutely no intention of buying an E36. After lunch, I opened FBMP and saw this glaring at me as the first listing there. I realised it was only 20 minutes down the road and saw the seller had left their number and jumped straight on the phone. At 6pm I arrive and by 6:15 I was on my way home.
The seller was an elderly man in his 90s, his wife part exchanged her Mazda MX-3 in 2004 for this from a Mazda main dealer for the grand total of £6,295. The car lived the rest of its life in the town I purchased it from and serviced by the same garage all the way from 2004 till 2024. After his wife passed away, he took ownership of the car and now has decided he's too old to drive and considered scrapping the car but instead put it on FB.
The service history for the car is unreal. From an original pre delivery inspection sheet from 1996 to every single invoice for every single bit of work done to the car, it's the best I've seen of any car I've owned. The service book is stamped to the brim, it has never ever missed a service, either every 10,000 miles maximum or once a year. Currently sitting at 122k miles, the car came WITH an entire service kit in the boot ready for the next one. The seller told me he would always buy the parts for the next service after getting it serviced and keep them in the boot.
Completely unmodified bar an old Sony head unit, this is peak E36. Minimal rust, rare early half plastic front bumper, pre face nosecone and grills, I was very tempted to turn it into a little show car for the weekends but it's just too original and clean to do that. This is my first auto E36. I went in with an open mind and I'm glad I did. It really does suit the car, and is very different to a manual E36, turning it into a cosseting cruiser. Couple that with the SE floaty suspension, its an absolute wafter and cruises around better than my old E39s did.
The plan is to 'restore' it. It doesn't need it but just giving the paint a 3 stage and some wax, ceramic coating all the exterior plastics, replacing all the badges, some new retro plates, wet vac for the interior and just get it looking like as much of a time warp as possible. I may enjoy it over summer depending on how much parking space I have outside as I'm awaiting delivery of something else and my other cars are currently under the knife for the time being. It's an awesome daily but with ULEZ being quite near to me, I'm forced to use something 26 years newer. My father who works outside of the ULEZ zone has instead been using it as a daily and loves it.
Excited for this journey! Enjoy some poor iPhone images for now, I will get this out for a proper shoot soon.
In between these, I've always kept my eyes and ears open for E36s, and have saved 4/5 now from becoming coke cans. Having owned E36, E46, E90 and plenty of seat time in E21, E30 and the new stuff, there is something about an E36 which always gets me. They all smell the same, have the same inherent driving qualities and are just always a pleasure to drive.
Anyways, I won't get into all that, onto the latest addition, a 1996 Calypso Red 318i Sedan. Equipped with an automatic transmission, this is about as dull as it gets. Yet I absolutely love it.
We'll start from the beginning. I woke up on Wednesday with absolutely no intention of buying an E36. After lunch, I opened FBMP and saw this glaring at me as the first listing there. I realised it was only 20 minutes down the road and saw the seller had left their number and jumped straight on the phone. At 6pm I arrive and by 6:15 I was on my way home.
The seller was an elderly man in his 90s, his wife part exchanged her Mazda MX-3 in 2004 for this from a Mazda main dealer for the grand total of £6,295. The car lived the rest of its life in the town I purchased it from and serviced by the same garage all the way from 2004 till 2024. After his wife passed away, he took ownership of the car and now has decided he's too old to drive and considered scrapping the car but instead put it on FB.
The service history for the car is unreal. From an original pre delivery inspection sheet from 1996 to every single invoice for every single bit of work done to the car, it's the best I've seen of any car I've owned. The service book is stamped to the brim, it has never ever missed a service, either every 10,000 miles maximum or once a year. Currently sitting at 122k miles, the car came WITH an entire service kit in the boot ready for the next one. The seller told me he would always buy the parts for the next service after getting it serviced and keep them in the boot.
Completely unmodified bar an old Sony head unit, this is peak E36. Minimal rust, rare early half plastic front bumper, pre face nosecone and grills, I was very tempted to turn it into a little show car for the weekends but it's just too original and clean to do that. This is my first auto E36. I went in with an open mind and I'm glad I did. It really does suit the car, and is very different to a manual E36, turning it into a cosseting cruiser. Couple that with the SE floaty suspension, its an absolute wafter and cruises around better than my old E39s did.
The plan is to 'restore' it. It doesn't need it but just giving the paint a 3 stage and some wax, ceramic coating all the exterior plastics, replacing all the badges, some new retro plates, wet vac for the interior and just get it looking like as much of a time warp as possible. I may enjoy it over summer depending on how much parking space I have outside as I'm awaiting delivery of something else and my other cars are currently under the knife for the time being. It's an awesome daily but with ULEZ being quite near to me, I'm forced to use something 26 years newer. My father who works outside of the ULEZ zone has instead been using it as a daily and loves it.
Excited for this journey! Enjoy some poor iPhone images for now, I will get this out for a proper shoot soon.
Edited by 77 on Friday 3rd May 12:02
Fermit said:
Nice to see one surviving. One comment though, will you be upgrading the headlight bulbs. Yes, they're period, but they are rather yellow!
Haha yes, they are VERY yellow. I'm against putting LEDs or HIDs in cars of this era so I'll just be switching to some more modern, but warm halogens. Great purchase, looks nice and original. I worked in the motor trade for many years when the E46 was current and have driven many of them. I really like the way they drive and i would rate the 1991 325i manual saloon in light blue metallic that i used for a few weeks as a particular favourite.
croyde said:
Nice 
I owned my 1998 e36 saloon 323i SE for 23 years. Used as my daily, loved it.
Sadly it had to go due to the expansion of the ULEZ zone here in London (Low emissions)
I had a 1998 E36 323i (2.5 I6) for 19 years. Rust got to it. I would have bought the same again. Loved it.I owned my 1998 e36 saloon 323i SE for 23 years. Used as my daily, loved it.
Sadly it had to go due to the expansion of the ULEZ zone here in London (Low emissions)
Love this! There was a time when our family was running 5-6 E36's around the early 2000's as they just kept popping up for good money. I often keep my eyes peeled for a wee bargain but most of them now are sheds or have been used and abused as budget drift cars. Well done on such a find, the previous owner sounds like the last of a dying breed in the way he maintained that vehicle. Look forward to better photos and seeing how it unfolds.
My second car at the age of about 19 was a 1992 325i coupe auto. I bought it from a guy in Kettering. Pre vanos M50 and it was in granite silver. I absolutely loved it and have many happy memories including taking it to Le mans in convoy with my Dad.
I subsequently owned loads of E36's including a 3.0 M3 in Avus blue. Enjoyed every single one of them!
I still have a 1998 328i convertible manual which i must get back on the road. It is an ex BMW management car and a lovely thing.
Good luck with this one. Looks in amazing condition for its age and a lovely story with it. Your post has certainly triggered e36 reminiscent for me.
I subsequently owned loads of E36's including a 3.0 M3 in Avus blue. Enjoyed every single one of them!
I still have a 1998 328i convertible manual which i must get back on the road. It is an ex BMW management car and a lovely thing.
Good luck with this one. Looks in amazing condition for its age and a lovely story with it. Your post has certainly triggered e36 reminiscent for me.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff