E36 328, soft top, £575, What's the worst that could happen?
Discussion
I also run an E36 Convertible, a V reg 318i in my case with over 200'000 miles. It's the very dark blue (Orient) with cloth, 16 inch double spoke wheels and power hood. I paid a smidge over 300 quid for it with an MOT last year. It was filthy dirty with completely bald rear tyres but new discs and pads all round and four new Boge shocks 8 months before. Total spend has been about 100 quid - another pair of wheels with excellent Goodyears, oil and filter change, a set of pads, alternator belt and stuff like that. I fitted an Eibach Coupe spring kit I had that I never used and it sits just right. It has the inevitable knife wound (2-3 inches) to the rear screen fixed with some sellotape as a support whilst I filled it with clear sealer. The leak from the front hood seal was cured by rubbing some vaseline into it. I shall probably do your trick with the knicker elastic on the hood straps tho!
It's a very tidy car (wings and arches are good) but I've resisted temptation to spend any real money on it because I'd never get it back.
It's a very tidy car (wings and arches are good) but I've resisted temptation to spend any real money on it because I'd never get it back.
Edited by iSore on Monday 23 March 22:08
Cheers guys.
I have some ideas in the pipe line for the front suspension in future
shalmaneser said:
Camber on the front is a bit off isn't it?
Standard E36 suspension has no adjustment for front camber, you can get a little bit with the slack on the top hub bolt and 3 top mount bolts but not much.I have some ideas in the pipe line for the front suspension in future
JordanTurbo said:
carreauchompeur said:
Great work, still.
Cheers.carreauchompeur said:
Scare me, how much were the seals?
The two seals together came to about £280 inc VAT. 
Can't remember the individual prices but the front was the more expencive of the two by quite a margin. It's a complex shape and includes the fury window seal parts too but still daft money.
Still, at least I don't have to sit on a wet drivers seat any more.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Monday 23 March 20:11
Update time, had a couple of parcels delivered this week. A Toad AI606 alarm system (had the same on C20LET Astra and was very happy) and a set of LED angel eyes from CPD.
I know Angel eyes aren't to everyone's taste but I like them, and rest assured these are NOT cheap Ebay tat. CPD are well known on the BMW forums and make a very good kit, 120 high power SMDs in each ring, no nasty 12v inverters to burn out and come with a full wrapped loom from fuse box to lights.
One side fitted (you can just about see the weak old amber side light on the pass side)
Also with a HID kit I've had waiting in the garage for a while.
Very happy. Rings are very bright, fit well and have a nice OEM DRL look which was what I wanted.
They have no problem being visible even in the bright weather we've had this week, this is often where cheap angels fail miserably
Finished with a wash
Alarm to fit next
I know Angel eyes aren't to everyone's taste but I like them, and rest assured these are NOT cheap Ebay tat. CPD are well known on the BMW forums and make a very good kit, 120 high power SMDs in each ring, no nasty 12v inverters to burn out and come with a full wrapped loom from fuse box to lights.
One side fitted (you can just about see the weak old amber side light on the pass side)
Also with a HID kit I've had waiting in the garage for a while.
Very happy. Rings are very bright, fit well and have a nice OEM DRL look which was what I wanted.
They have no problem being visible even in the bright weather we've had this week, this is often where cheap angels fail miserably
Finished with a wash
Alarm to fit next
Just a tip with the alarm- I have the same one.
Even with the microwave sensors it gets set off quite easily due to the oscillation of the soft top, the sensitivity on mine is therefore turned right down.
From what I gather you may need to mount the internal sensors behind something which reduces false alarms.
See how you get on, I'd be interested to know as I pretty much have to turn off my internal sensors.
Even with the microwave sensors it gets set off quite easily due to the oscillation of the soft top, the sensitivity on mine is therefore turned right down.
From what I gather you may need to mount the internal sensors behind something which reduces false alarms.
See how you get on, I'd be interested to know as I pretty much have to turn off my internal sensors.
Thanks for the tip.
Where are your ultrasonic sensors? The ones on my factory 3G alarm are at the base of the A-pillar (instead of the normal top corner) and I've never had any false alarms with that. The toad ones are probably more sensitive but hopefully using the same location should minimise false alarms.
Where are your ultrasonic sensors? The ones on my factory 3G alarm are at the base of the A-pillar (instead of the normal top corner) and I've never had any false alarms with that. The toad ones are probably more sensitive but hopefully using the same location should minimise false alarms.
That's a good shout.
To be honest I wasn't impressed with the company that put mine in. Mine are installed at the top of the A pillars, and initially I had the ultrasonic ones which went off all the time. They replaced them for the microwave sensors in the same place and tried to charge me more, which I refused. Microwave sensors still seem to go off quite a lot unless I have them pretty much turned off.
Post a pic of where you put yours and I might try it
To be honest I wasn't impressed with the company that put mine in. Mine are installed at the top of the A pillars, and initially I had the ultrasonic ones which went off all the time. They replaced them for the microwave sensors in the same place and tried to charge me more, which I refused. Microwave sensors still seem to go off quite a lot unless I have them pretty much turned off.
Post a pic of where you put yours and I might try it
Does anyone ever look at a job half way through and wish you'd never started? 
OEM BMW alarm unit. Dealer fit option complete with typical 90's style fob and special key
Was a proper spaghetti mess behind the glove box but all removed now. Replaced with the Toad AI606 above.
For obvious reasons I'm not going to put instalation pics up here, but this is where I decided to mount the status LED
And the ultrasonic sensors have been placed here, at the bottom of the A-pillar same as the BMW alarm. Not had any false alarms yet but I'll see how it goes, particularly when we get some rain.
Glad I chose to fit it myself, takes a while but means I know it's done properly. The control box is properly secured, wires are well hidden and loom connections (inc twin immobilisation circuits) made away from obvious locations.
All working fine, I'm yet to wire up the the extra functions though. Going to have total close for the windows, leaving/coming home lights, and the soft top all on the remote
OEM BMW alarm unit. Dealer fit option complete with typical 90's style fob and special key
Was a proper spaghetti mess behind the glove box but all removed now. Replaced with the Toad AI606 above.
For obvious reasons I'm not going to put instalation pics up here, but this is where I decided to mount the status LED
And the ultrasonic sensors have been placed here, at the bottom of the A-pillar same as the BMW alarm. Not had any false alarms yet but I'll see how it goes, particularly when we get some rain.
Glad I chose to fit it myself, takes a while but means I know it's done properly. The control box is properly secured, wires are well hidden and loom connections (inc twin immobilisation circuits) made away from obvious locations.
All working fine, I'm yet to wire up the the extra functions though. Going to have total close for the windows, leaving/coming home lights, and the soft top all on the remote
Edited by JordanTurbo on Wednesday 22 April 22:20
Usget said:
I'd never trust an alarm I'd fitted myself... 
See, I've seen a few alarm systems fitted by "professionals" and wasn't impressed. ECUs loose behind dashboards, immobiliser connections made at the ignition barrel ready for a thief to find etc....Even the OEM one on this was pretty bad, and that was fitted by a BMW dealer!
I'm confident my car is as safe as it can be.
shalmaneser said:
Does your new one work the central locking? How easy was the install? And how much was the unit?
Yes it works with the central locking, including auto re-lock if I don't open a door within 30 seconds.The install took a while but that's because I was taking time making sure everything was well hidden and ensuring the wiring didn't effect any other vehicle systems, not because it was necessarily difficult. Being methodical helps a lot, as well as knowing how to use wiring diagrams and a multimeter.
One problem was that it wouldn't dead lock at first, so the interior handles could still open the door. Some research revealed that it needed a signal on the lock and unlock wires at the same time, a diode fixed that fine.
The alarm was supplied by southern car security in Surrey For just over £100. They were very good to deal with and happy to e-mail me the installer manual and e36 specific data sheet, although I did most of the wiring from the official BMW wiring diagrams in the end.
Just remember to get a CAT1 insurance discount you need it certified but that doesn't bother me.
carreauchompeur said:
Also update about the total closure, crap car radio place led me to believe you needed extra bits to do it...
Can't see why, if you hold the key in the lock position on the door the car already has total closure. The alarm just needs to make the same connection (either +12v or earth).The only down side is it will take a while to initiate. Button needs to be held for 3 seconds before the alarm starts the pulse, then another few seconds before the car recognises the request. Not too bad though, and can be programmed to action on arming automatically if I decide to.
The roof will be slightly more difficult as the ECU shuts down when the ignition is off. Shouldn't be to hard though.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Thursday 23 April 08:56
Next modification done.
The new angel eyes are nice and bright and easily seen during the day. Exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately it also means they are very bright at night. This is JUST the rings!
Modern cars get round the problem by dimming the DRLs at night, so I ordered a few bits from maplins and made some changes
CLICK ME
As you can see they come on with the ignition at full brightness. Then dim to around half when sidelights or dipped beams are selected. They also dim left and right individually to ensure the indicator isn't masked, just like most OEM DRLs
The new angel eyes are nice and bright and easily seen during the day. Exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately it also means they are very bright at night. This is JUST the rings!
Modern cars get round the problem by dimming the DRLs at night, so I ordered a few bits from maplins and made some changes
CLICK ME
As you can see they come on with the ignition at full brightness. Then dim to around half when sidelights or dipped beams are selected. They also dim left and right individually to ensure the indicator isn't masked, just like most OEM DRLs
Edited by JordanTurbo on Saturday 2nd May 11:13
Read your whole thread over a couple of days, I love seeing cars brought back to such a high standard after being let go over the years. Good job on the angel eye's too, that level of finish with the dimming light is really impressive. I'm only down the road in bulford and am in andover regularly so I'll keep an eye out for this 
Thanks guys. I know angel eyes always divide opinion.
Personaly, I'm of the opinion that BMWs should either have individual round headlights or angel eyes. Otherwise they don't look right IMO (exepting the 8 series with it's pop-ups of course
). I would always upgrade early e39s or e46s for example.
I'm also not normally a fan of adding aftermarket DRLs or lights as they hardly ever suit the vehicle.
With the above in mind cheap and nasty ebay kits were definitely out. I wanted these to look and function as OEM-like as possible which I think I've achieved.
Very happy and have some more "OEM+" style mods lined up.
Personaly, I'm of the opinion that BMWs should either have individual round headlights or angel eyes. Otherwise they don't look right IMO (exepting the 8 series with it's pop-ups of course
). I would always upgrade early e39s or e46s for example.I'm also not normally a fan of adding aftermarket DRLs or lights as they hardly ever suit the vehicle.
With the above in mind cheap and nasty ebay kits were definitely out. I wanted these to look and function as OEM-like as possible which I think I've achieved.
Very happy and have some more "OEM+" style mods lined up.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff