E36 328, soft top, £575, What's the worst that could happen?
Discussion
Just read this thread start - finish, excellent work OP. 
I turned my nose up at a silver E36 cab the other week, to be fair it was worse than this was when the OP bought it!
Ended up with a low miles E36 saloon to run around in, still after a coupe/cab project though
I turned my nose up at a silver E36 cab the other week, to be fair it was worse than this was when the OP bought it!
Ended up with a low miles E36 saloon to run around in, still after a coupe/cab project though
Edited by wjb on Sunday 9th October 19:11
wjb said:
Just read this thread start - finish, excellent work OP.
I turned my nose up at a silver E36 cab the other week, to be fair it was worse than this was when the OP bought it!
Ended up with a low miles E36 saloon to run around in, still after a coupe/cab project though
I may have just the thing soon if you're interested....I turned my nose up at a silver E36 cab the other week, to be fair it was worse than this was when the OP bought it!
Ended up with a low miles E36 saloon to run around in, still after a coupe/cab project though
Edited by wjb on Sunday 9th October 19:11
Hi I wonder if I could be cheeky and ask for some advice,
I've now had my E36 for a few months and like yourself I bought a cheap one with a non working roof.
I've now got the roof working but it's hitting on the rear cover the same as yours was but I'm going to get a new soft top fitted in the spring as mines seen better days and has shrunk a touch and the stitching has started to come away around the rear window.
I've taken off the headliner and given it a good wash and its come up as good as new but one of the dog ears is snapped and the string is broken so I've got to figure out a way of repairing that but does fitting a new roof mean I've still got to do the elastic tension trick to get it working properly or does a new soft eliminate that problem,
Also does the headliner have to be removed to instal a new softop as I will leave it out to the spring when the new roof goes on if it does.
Cheers
I've now had my E36 for a few months and like yourself I bought a cheap one with a non working roof.
I've now got the roof working but it's hitting on the rear cover the same as yours was but I'm going to get a new soft top fitted in the spring as mines seen better days and has shrunk a touch and the stitching has started to come away around the rear window.
I've taken off the headliner and given it a good wash and its come up as good as new but one of the dog ears is snapped and the string is broken so I've got to figure out a way of repairing that but does fitting a new roof mean I've still got to do the elastic tension trick to get it working properly or does a new soft eliminate that problem,
Also does the headliner have to be removed to instal a new softop as I will leave it out to the spring when the new roof goes on if it does.
Cheers
Edited by Vince70 on Thursday 3rd November 21:07
Thankyou for the comments guys. I'm still really happy with it. 
Got another couple of updates to put up soon when I get a chance. So watch this space.
(2) The new soft top will normally be just that - The fabric top. You would keep the old "skeleton" including the worn elastic straps, so you'd still have the tonneau cover contact issue.
(3) Yes you are correct, the headliner is best left off to do the roof. It speeds the job up a lot.
I hope those answers help you.
Got another couple of updates to put up soon when I get a chance. So watch this space.
Vince70 said:
Hi I wonder if I could be cheeky and ask for some advice...........
(1) If you need it, there is a repair kit available from BMW that includes new dog ears and string. Not sure how much it is though as mine were repairable.(2) The new soft top will normally be just that - The fabric top. You would keep the old "skeleton" including the worn elastic straps, so you'd still have the tonneau cover contact issue.
(3) Yes you are correct, the headliner is best left off to do the roof. It speeds the job up a lot.
I hope those answers help you.
Thanks for the advice,
It was your thread on here that inspired me to buy a E36 cabriolet, I've only had mine for a few months and the only use it's had is couple of days while I've owned it.
When I took the headlining off I found that one dogear had already been renewed and the other was snapped and stuck in the roof motor ( I Got it cheap due to the problem)so I managed to solder the plastic together then strengthen it with some epoxy resin and the roof lining is now hanging up in the house waiting to be reinstalled.
The old dog ear needed the same repair as yours as the string had snapped also I made some plastic hoops like yourself.
When installing the elastic did you tension it with the roof half down.
Here's mine but I would of preferred silver and a six pot but beggars can't be choosers but it is low mileage and completely rust free.
It was your thread on here that inspired me to buy a E36 cabriolet, I've only had mine for a few months and the only use it's had is couple of days while I've owned it.
When I took the headlining off I found that one dogear had already been renewed and the other was snapped and stuck in the roof motor ( I Got it cheap due to the problem)so I managed to solder the plastic together then strengthen it with some epoxy resin and the roof lining is now hanging up in the house waiting to be reinstalled.
The old dog ear needed the same repair as yours as the string had snapped also I made some plastic hoops like yourself.
When installing the elastic did you tension it with the roof half down.
Here's mine but I would of preferred silver and a six pot but beggars can't be choosers but it is low mileage and completely rust free.
Edited by Vince70 on Monday 14th November 22:51
Edited by Vince70 on Monday 14th November 22:53
Happy Easter everyone, tume for another update on the BMW.
Well the trouble free motoring couldn't last for ever, and one afternoon on the way back from work I got a flat on the rear.
Out with the space saver, and home. Then decided that instead of buying a new tyre, now would be an ideal time to change wheels.
I got the staggered M3 wheels as they were a great deal at the time and better than the 15s that she originally came with. But I never really liked them on the 328, as I always thought they made it look like an M3 replica and consequently like a tarted up 4 cylinder, when infact it has nothing to hide.
So I had the flat tyre removed from the Style 32s, along with the other rear tyre which was close to the legal limit, and sold the 5 wheels.
And used the money to buy a set of the wheels I'd wanted for a while - some genuine 328i Sport BBS RC041 splits.
They had been fitted to a "stanced" golf. And as you can see, they had been painted purple and had some bling gold bolts fitted.
Obviously not to my taste, but the colour meant I got them for a good price vs a set in a more desirable shade, and they had decent rubber on them too. So I fitted them to the BMW and ran them for the rest of the winter.
Once the summer came round, it was then time to sort the wheels into a more respectable set, and I made a start splitting them for a refub.
The bolts are a special BBS type and are splined into the rim instead of having a hex on the outside, so they need to be hammered out. To do that the nuts were wound up flush with the top of the threads to protect them, then a coper drift was used to avoid any damage as they can require some force.
All nuts and bolts removed. These gold ones wouldn't be kept, but I wanted them out cleanly so that they could be sold to somone with the required taste.
With all 20 bolts out per wheel, the centre could be knocked out. Again preventing any damage using some rag and a block of wood.
All 4 wheels split. Note the car in the background on axle stands at the front, as my 15" spare wheels wont fit over the larger brakes at the front.
Hub caps split as well.
And all purple items cleaned up ready to be dropped of with the painter.
Thanks for following.
More to come once I've sorted the photos.
Well the trouble free motoring couldn't last for ever, and one afternoon on the way back from work I got a flat on the rear.
Out with the space saver, and home. Then decided that instead of buying a new tyre, now would be an ideal time to change wheels.
I got the staggered M3 wheels as they were a great deal at the time and better than the 15s that she originally came with. But I never really liked them on the 328, as I always thought they made it look like an M3 replica and consequently like a tarted up 4 cylinder, when infact it has nothing to hide.
So I had the flat tyre removed from the Style 32s, along with the other rear tyre which was close to the legal limit, and sold the 5 wheels.
And used the money to buy a set of the wheels I'd wanted for a while - some genuine 328i Sport BBS RC041 splits.
They had been fitted to a "stanced" golf. And as you can see, they had been painted purple and had some bling gold bolts fitted.
Obviously not to my taste, but the colour meant I got them for a good price vs a set in a more desirable shade, and they had decent rubber on them too. So I fitted them to the BMW and ran them for the rest of the winter.
Once the summer came round, it was then time to sort the wheels into a more respectable set, and I made a start splitting them for a refub.
The bolts are a special BBS type and are splined into the rim instead of having a hex on the outside, so they need to be hammered out. To do that the nuts were wound up flush with the top of the threads to protect them, then a coper drift was used to avoid any damage as they can require some force.
All nuts and bolts removed. These gold ones wouldn't be kept, but I wanted them out cleanly so that they could be sold to somone with the required taste.
With all 20 bolts out per wheel, the centre could be knocked out. Again preventing any damage using some rag and a block of wood.
All 4 wheels split. Note the car in the background on axle stands at the front, as my 15" spare wheels wont fit over the larger brakes at the front.
Hub caps split as well.
And all purple items cleaned up ready to be dropped of with the painter.
Thanks for following.
More to come once I've sorted the photos.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Sunday 16th April 20:52
Thanks guys.
So with the centers dropped off to the painters for a colour change, I turned my attention to the shiny bits.
First up was to order some replacement chrome bolts to replace the gold ones.
Not cheap for the genuine BBS bolts (around £1 each and there's 20 per wheel
) but they are a special type and need to be right - splined as I mentioned in the other post, with an 8mm shank that steps down to an M7 threaded portion, and with a 10.9 high tensile rating - not exactly an "off the shelf" fastner. 
Eith them ready to go, I made a start polishing. First with the centre "nuts"
Which came up nicely.
And then onto the lips. They had been polished before so didn't take too much work to bring back up to scratch.
Came up really nicely.
One of the wheels had an issue though. While cleaning them up, I spotted that some previously welded damage had cracked through.
With the tyre removed, it was clear that it had been a bodge job - just a bead of weld layed over the crack with no cleaning up or work on the inside of the rim. No wonder it cracked through.
I have a mig welder, but not tig, so took it to a local specialist to be done properly.
The crack was cut right back and Veed out to remove any stress points, then welded all the way back to the lip.
It was done inside and out, with the rim reprofiled where required. Proper job like the crack was never there.
So with that done, a trip to the painter was made to collect my centres. Now freshly painted in a nice grey.
When I dropped them off, we spent a while flicking through colour cards to find a shade I was happy with.
We settled on VW Platinum Grey metalic as I wanted somthing that was dark enough to give a contrast with the chrome, but not too dark that the detail of the BBS centres was lost, and they came out looking better than I had planned.
Now the rebuild, centre caps first.
Then onto the lips, and when rebuilding BBS splits one does not simply resist the urge to try the centres backwards in the barrels for a laugh
Just look that dish!
Playing over, I rebuilt them properly with the new chrome bolts.
All 4 done, and fitted, with a quick jet wash of the car so I could take some pictures.
I'm so happy with how they have tuned out. Much much better than the M3 wheels that were fitted before, and IMO they've turned it from looking like an old 90's chavvy M3 wannabe, to a looking like a smart modern classic as it should.
Thanks for reading, and I'll get some better pictures up once I've given it a real wash.
So with the centers dropped off to the painters for a colour change, I turned my attention to the shiny bits.
First up was to order some replacement chrome bolts to replace the gold ones.
Not cheap for the genuine BBS bolts (around £1 each and there's 20 per wheel
) but they are a special type and need to be right - splined as I mentioned in the other post, with an 8mm shank that steps down to an M7 threaded portion, and with a 10.9 high tensile rating - not exactly an "off the shelf" fastner. Eith them ready to go, I made a start polishing. First with the centre "nuts"
Which came up nicely.
And then onto the lips. They had been polished before so didn't take too much work to bring back up to scratch.
Came up really nicely.
One of the wheels had an issue though. While cleaning them up, I spotted that some previously welded damage had cracked through.
With the tyre removed, it was clear that it had been a bodge job - just a bead of weld layed over the crack with no cleaning up or work on the inside of the rim. No wonder it cracked through.
I have a mig welder, but not tig, so took it to a local specialist to be done properly.
The crack was cut right back and Veed out to remove any stress points, then welded all the way back to the lip.
It was done inside and out, with the rim reprofiled where required. Proper job like the crack was never there.
So with that done, a trip to the painter was made to collect my centres. Now freshly painted in a nice grey.
When I dropped them off, we spent a while flicking through colour cards to find a shade I was happy with.
We settled on VW Platinum Grey metalic as I wanted somthing that was dark enough to give a contrast with the chrome, but not too dark that the detail of the BBS centres was lost, and they came out looking better than I had planned.
Now the rebuild, centre caps first.
Then onto the lips, and when rebuilding BBS splits one does not simply resist the urge to try the centres backwards in the barrels for a laugh
Just look that dish!
Playing over, I rebuilt them properly with the new chrome bolts.
All 4 done, and fitted, with a quick jet wash of the car so I could take some pictures.
I'm so happy with how they have tuned out. Much much better than the M3 wheels that were fitted before, and IMO they've turned it from looking like an old 90's chavvy M3 wannabe, to a looking like a smart modern classic as it should.
Thanks for reading, and I'll get some better pictures up once I've given it a real wash.
I love the RC041/42s (42s are the 8.5" wide rear ones) when they are properly done.
I refurbished mine and they looked incredible (IMO) using a darker grey for the centres. I agree with the bolts being expensive though, they were the most expensive part of my refurb.
You'll be able to sell the old ones on eBay though. I got a decent price for the ones I removed and they were rusty and horrible.
I refurbished mine and they looked incredible (IMO) using a darker grey for the centres. I agree with the bolts being expensive though, they were the most expensive part of my refurb.
You'll be able to sell the old ones on eBay though. I got a decent price for the ones I removed and they were rusty and horrible.
Cheers.
I'm really happy with them, and probably doubled what they are worth compared to what I payed for them originally.
Not that I'm planning to get rid at all.
At some point I'll put them in the chuck of my drill and clean them up a bit with some sand paper. Then sell them on.
I'm really happy with them, and probably doubled what they are worth compared to what I payed for them originally.
Not that I'm planning to get rid at all.
Dannbodge said:
You'll be able to sell the old ones on eBay though. I got a decent price for the ones I removed and they were rusty and horrible.
Yeah, that's why I wanted to remove the gold ones without any damage.At some point I'll put them in the chuck of my drill and clean them up a bit with some sand paper. Then sell them on.
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