My '98 E36 Coupe

Author
Discussion

jmflare

Original Poster:

413 posts

140 months

Tuesday 25th June 2013
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RobCrezz said:
Jesus they are some mega cheap coilovers, I guess you cant be too picky for that price.

We bought XYZ Super sport coilovers for our e36 325i Coupe track day motor, and they were about £600 but they are height adjustable without changing the spring rate and also 30 clicks of soft/hard damper adjustment - recommended
I know £180 of ebay finest biggrin I do want some fully-adjustable's, everyone praises Hsd's on Bimmerforums so was considering those for next summer. But I can't really fault the JOM's for their price, they have not put me in hedge...yet smile

RobCrezz

7,892 posts

207 months

Wednesday 26th June 2013
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jmflare said:
RobCrezz said:
Jesus they are some mega cheap coilovers, I guess you cant be too picky for that price.

We bought XYZ Super sport coilovers for our e36 325i Coupe track day motor, and they were about £600 but they are height adjustable without changing the spring rate and also 30 clicks of soft/hard damper adjustment - recommended
I know £180 of ebay finest biggrin I do want some fully-adjustable's, everyone praises Hsd's on Bimmerforums so was considering those for next summer. But I can't really fault the JOM's for their price, they have not put me in hedge...yet smile
I rate the XYZ over the HSD after experiencing both, but they are both decent. XYZ's just seemed to ride better and cope with bumps better.

jmflare

Original Poster:

413 posts

140 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
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Just thought i'd update this, the coupe has been in storage since i started uni in September. Have been acquiring lots of parts though, ready to fit in the spring. Last photos of it before being tucked up in the garage.




In the meantime i bought an Mr2 to use as a runaround while at uni...



Reliable, quick, lovely handling and seemed to attract a lot of attention for a £600 car. Brilliant car overall but not really my style and never really connected with it, also only having 2 seats is really annoying. Sold last week to a man who's going to take it racing in the Mr2 Challenge, pleased that its going to get some proper use and that'll be able to watch a car i owned go racing smile

To replace that I've bought something i knew i would like, a '97 318i E36 saloon. Picked up on Sunday for only £550, looked great. Drove back 140 miles from Milton Keynes without a hitch, thought i had an absolute bargain as it was pretty much rust free aswell for an E36. But on the way back from nipping to my sisters that night, i heard a fairly loud rattle coming from the top of the engine near the exhaust manifold. It has been parked up since while i source some bits for a well needed full service, i'm hoping it is just a sticky hydralic lifter and that some new oil and a bottle of lifter treatment will quieten it down. Anyway here are some pics of "Millie", ebay photos as i've not had chance to take any yet.





Edited by jmflare on Thursday 26th December 04:44

ST150HB

446 posts

148 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
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Great stuff.

Bought one when I was 19, great fun and quite forgiving.

Look forward to the updates, might tempt me into having one as a 2nd car.

Synchromesh

2,428 posts

165 months

Thursday 26th December 2013
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Looks like you've got similar tastes in cars to me! I'm a similar sort of age (guessing from the fact you said you were at uni) and swapped my mk2 MR2 for an E36 328i saloon in September.

jmflare

Original Poster:

413 posts

140 months

Saturday 8th March 2014
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Out of hibernation she comes smile Tried to attempt the final month of uni without a car but only lasted a week until I broke and came back to get her on the road. Started her up after nearly 6 months of sitting and there's no problems to report. Yesterday i fitted an old set of E46 wheels for the next 3 weeks while i finish up at uni and immediately noticed all of the previous tracking problems had disappeared its now absolutely lovely to drive. Pile of parts for summer is still increasing and the silver saloon is now in the garage till September.





Will be fitting a new thermostat and flushing the coolant tomorrow. Already fitted some fog light deletes and a new steering wheel this weekend. The latter making a huge difference to the driving experience, I really recommend one, or at least a smaller diameter wheel as mine is not great if you plan on crashing as I now have no airbag, also no horn until I get around to wiring it back up.

Got some tyres fitted to my new wheels, there is a very small amount of stretch but the garage seemed to think i was going to die immediately by just having ownership of them, strange. Can't wait to get them on the car in April. smile



One bad point is that the radio is being a tt so i need a new one, don't want anything tacky though , so not sure what to do. Every aftermarket stereo seems to be either covered in chrome or 1 million pounds scratchchin

jmflare

Original Poster:

413 posts

140 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
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New wheels are on. Just need to raise her up a bit to stop the tyre scraping the arch smile




Lots of other little jobs done recently too, new thermostat, gearknob, radio and wing mirror bases.





Edited by jmflare on Tuesday 8th April 15:10

ManOpener

12,467 posts

168 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
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What wheels are they? I rather like them.

carpetsoiler

1,958 posts

164 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
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Those wheels are 'mazing! What've you done with the Contours..? Love Contours... a lot...

Keep up the good work. What's the economy like on a 318i? My dad's after an E36 Touring, he likes mine a lot but he's seen the OBC after I've been driving it...

jmflare

Original Poster:

413 posts

140 months

Tuesday 8th April 2014
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ManOpener said:
What wheels are they? I rather like them.
XXR 522, had to import them from the usa as they don't do the right pcd over here.

carpetsoiler said:
Those wheels are 'mazing! What've you done with the Contours..? Love Contours... a lot...

Keep up the good work. What's the economy like on a 318i? My dad's after an E36 Touring, he likes mine a lot but he's seen the OBC after I've been driving it...
The contours were only reps and also slightly tired so they went on ebay.

My 318is gets about 36 on the OBC, even though i drive everywhere chasing the limiter smile Think my 318i loon gets around the same too.

DanielJames

7,543 posts

167 months

Wednesday 9th April 2014
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Be careful with that steering wheel. I bent a cheap china dished one on my mate's E36.

Not a big fan of the wheels if I'm honest, and they don't seem to fit right?

Seems a lot of hassle for a 318, do you plan on sticking an M52 in it at some point?

jmflare

Original Poster:

413 posts

140 months

Wednesday 9th April 2014
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DanielJames said:
Be careful with that steering wheel. I bent a cheap china dished one on my mate's E36.

Not a big fan of the wheels if I'm honest, and they don't seem to fit right?

Seems a lot of hassle for a 318, do you plan on sticking an M52 in it at some point?
This steering wheels fine, the one i bought for my trackcar wasn't though, i could easily bend it in my hands eek

How do you mean don't fit right? I have spacers at the front and a bigger offset wheel at the back to give them a little bit of poke, guess it's all subjective.

And no, i plan on a GKD supercharger kit, same horsepower as an M52 with an M50 manifold but lighter smile

After a wash...

jmflare

Original Poster:

413 posts

140 months

Wednesday 9th April 2014
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Black boot fitted, so less rust and a working lock smile Got my square plates on front and rear too.





jmflare

Original Poster:

413 posts

140 months

Thursday 24th April 2014
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Another update, i'm really just procrastinating from revision though frown Got round to getting my M front lip with GT corner splitters on the car. I've also fitted a sunstrip, a mod straight from 1999 max power scene. I'm a big fan though, it gives a great hunkered down feeling when driving the car, especially with the race seat smile

Fitted a larger bored out throttle body a few weeks ago, it seems much more free revving now. Mid range torque has also noticeably increased. Should be even more effective when i finally get round to supercharging smile

LTW wing came in the post today so that should be on in a few days, and i'm winning another race seat on ebay so i'm going back to the stripped out with harnesses thing it had going on last summer.

Some recent pictures,









getawayturtle

3,560 posts

173 months

Friday 25th April 2014
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Looking very larrrvly. Love the 328s, and those wheels are excellent.

jmflare

Original Poster:

413 posts

140 months

Tuesday 20th May 2014
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Finally got my ABS Motorsports High-rise wing fitted. Its a bit rough as i've just rattled canned it for now, hopefully should be able to get both the wing and boot done professionally over summer. I'm happy with it for now , can't feel any downforce though biggrin

Really need to pull my finger out and get the Rtab polybushes fitted next. And save up for my supercharger, really wanting more power now driving Anyways some moody pics...





Edited by jmflare on Tuesday 20th May 21:51

carpetsoiler

1,958 posts

164 months

Wednesday 21st May 2014
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Definitely needs a supercharger to back up the looks now! That wing is a beast!

GTIAlex

1,935 posts

165 months

Wednesday 21st May 2014
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Nice car.

Much nicer without the wing.

DanielJames

7,543 posts

167 months

Wednesday 21st May 2014
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Really not a fan of the square plates and the wheels, but the wing is good!

jmflare

Original Poster:

413 posts

140 months

Sunday 25th May 2014
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Just been round to see my friends recently purchased coupe, he's wanted one since i got mine and is now finally old enough to insure one. It's a 318is in Steel blue with dove leather interior, 90k and full service history. Really nice base to start from as there are little to no bodywork issues. We took some pics comparing both the cars on his drive... It won't be standard for long smile




My cars lost a fog light delete somewhere on the M6, keep a look out, instead of buying a new one i've bought some stuff to make a 2nd cold air feed from the fog hole, will put a few pictures up if it turns out well smile also recently added some little fins to the sides of the rear bumper, fk all point in them i just like how they look, well until i can afford a Mazda FD rear diffuser to retro-fit somehow.