Yet another rescued E36 328i M Sport project...
Discussion
RickBristol said:
shalmaneser said:
Make sure you clean the powdercoat off the mating faces of those wheels!
OK... Will relay that to the guy sorting the car out. What's this issue exactly?Edited by Huskyman on Thursday 15th June 19:33
Edited by Huskyman on Thursday 15th June 19:34
After almost a month since my last update, there has been more progress on the interior re-fit.
First up is a couple of pics of a 'rare as hen's teeth' option for the E36 coupe. My mate managed to come across this a few weeks back, only paid £150 for it too!
A rear parcel shelf with a built-in blind....
As Sam would say "I can see you nodding quietly in approval..."
The rear passenger door cards are now finished and ready to be fitted.
The rear passenger seats are nearly finished - they are going to be temporary fitted for the purposes of the latest update 'photo shoot'.
And now the rear seats are nearly complete.
And the head rests, with the blind up.
The silver, black and red colour combination works really well, I think!
Think this is gonna end up being one of the best E36 328i sports out there when its finished...
First up is a couple of pics of a 'rare as hen's teeth' option for the E36 coupe. My mate managed to come across this a few weeks back, only paid £150 for it too!
A rear parcel shelf with a built-in blind....
As Sam would say "I can see you nodding quietly in approval..."
The rear passenger door cards are now finished and ready to be fitted.
The rear passenger seats are nearly finished - they are going to be temporary fitted for the purposes of the latest update 'photo shoot'.
And now the rear seats are nearly complete.
And the head rests, with the blind up.
The silver, black and red colour combination works really well, I think!
Think this is gonna end up being one of the best E36 328i sports out there when its finished...
RickBristol said:
shalmaneser said:
Make sure you clean the powdercoat off the mating faces of those wheels!
OK... Will relay that to the guy sorting the car out. What's this issue exactly?
OK. Time for the latest news update, in the world of my car journey.
Well, this week has been a bit of a s
t sandwich, with a light sprinkling of sugar on the top!
Things started off pleasantly enough.
The prop shaft was reconnected.
The replacement stainless exhaust got fitted to the car.
Had a new battery fitted, as the old one wouldn't hold any charge, at a cost of around £129 from Yuasa, with a 4 year guarantee to boot!.
Even better than that! Got a vid of the car being started for the first time, after nearly two years and a total engine rebuild. However, it doesn't seem possible to upload a vid on PH.
Managed to procure another BBS RC041 wheel as a spare for the boot which cost around £100.
About to settle into its new home.
The car now looks good and ready to go and get it MOT'd...
Engine bay.
Sitting pretty, ready for collection...
So, went up to collect the car, a seven hour round-trip, what with heavy rain on the way up the M4 and a huge tail back at stand-still on the M3 on the return leg, we decided to cut across country, with the car on a trailer, AND in heavy rain...
An hour after I left the car at the garage back in Bristol, I had a phone call from the mechanic, to say that I should not spend any more money on the car as he had the car up on the lift and had some very bad news, and asked me to come and see him in the morning......
After a very poor night's sleep, stressing and mulling-over what decision I was prepared to make, I bit the bullet....
Had the underside completely rotted-out? after languishing in the Southampton salty air for the last two years, could it be?.......
Anyway, it turned out to be just the sills. I had already been advised to remove the body kit side skirts and check the sills, while the car was still being worked on.
They were certainly right on that one....
After looking into the most appropriate way to sort the problem out. It was decided to grind off the old ones, clean the surrounding bodywork up, buy new sills, probably from BMW, rust treat them properly, weld them on, wax oil the insides, weld 3mm plates to the outside of the jacking points, treat and stone chip the undersides, and repaint. Gonna fit threaded rivets underneath to reattach the side skirts properly, and better than BMW did in the first place - i.e. no plastic clips... Price all-in, for both sides, around £550. Bargain!
On the upside - sprinkling of sugar on the last st day - just took delivery of my lovely refurbished RC041's from the powder coater today. Polished rims lacquered, rear of the barrels powder coated the same colour as the centres, and centre nuts lacquered as well. Also had the second-hand M3 x-braced sand blasted and powder coated in black.....
It's been quite a couple of days, as I'm sure you can appreciate.
Well, this week has been a bit of a s
t sandwich, with a light sprinkling of sugar on the top! Things started off pleasantly enough.
The prop shaft was reconnected.
The replacement stainless exhaust got fitted to the car.
Had a new battery fitted, as the old one wouldn't hold any charge, at a cost of around £129 from Yuasa, with a 4 year guarantee to boot!.
Even better than that! Got a vid of the car being started for the first time, after nearly two years and a total engine rebuild. However, it doesn't seem possible to upload a vid on PH.
Managed to procure another BBS RC041 wheel as a spare for the boot which cost around £100.
About to settle into its new home.
The car now looks good and ready to go and get it MOT'd...
Engine bay.
Sitting pretty, ready for collection...
So, went up to collect the car, a seven hour round-trip, what with heavy rain on the way up the M4 and a huge tail back at stand-still on the M3 on the return leg, we decided to cut across country, with the car on a trailer, AND in heavy rain...
An hour after I left the car at the garage back in Bristol, I had a phone call from the mechanic, to say that I should not spend any more money on the car as he had the car up on the lift and had some very bad news, and asked me to come and see him in the morning......
After a very poor night's sleep, stressing and mulling-over what decision I was prepared to make, I bit the bullet....
Had the underside completely rotted-out? after languishing in the Southampton salty air for the last two years, could it be?.......
Anyway, it turned out to be just the sills. I had already been advised to remove the body kit side skirts and check the sills, while the car was still being worked on.
They were certainly right on that one....
After looking into the most appropriate way to sort the problem out. It was decided to grind off the old ones, clean the surrounding bodywork up, buy new sills, probably from BMW, rust treat them properly, weld them on, wax oil the insides, weld 3mm plates to the outside of the jacking points, treat and stone chip the undersides, and repaint. Gonna fit threaded rivets underneath to reattach the side skirts properly, and better than BMW did in the first place - i.e. no plastic clips... Price all-in, for both sides, around £550. Bargain!
On the upside - sprinkling of sugar on the last s
t day - just took delivery of my lovely refurbished RC041's from the powder coater today. Polished rims lacquered, rear of the barrels powder coated the same colour as the centres, and centre nuts lacquered as well. Also had the second-hand M3 x-braced sand blasted and powder coated in black.....It's been quite a couple of days, as I'm sure you can appreciate.
Edited by RickBristol on Saturday 19th August 19:08
Must check behind my sill covers at some point...
Great interior and it will be worth the wait to have a sorted sport.
I am envious of a non faded parcel shelf that is not purple/pink let alone one with a rear blind!
Any ideas how to keep the wheels protected once refurbished? They look spot on and are inspiring me to do the same.
Great interior and it will be worth the wait to have a sorted sport.
I am envious of a non faded parcel shelf that is not purple/pink let alone one with a rear blind!
Any ideas how to keep the wheels protected once refurbished? They look spot on and are inspiring me to do the same.
Ack, those sills! 
Any idea what the cause of that was? With mine I've noticed the thick underseal stuff tends to fail and split around the seams and joins, letting water in at which point it becomes a liability. I imagine in a salty area that could lead to some extensive rot particularly with the sill covers trapping even more moisture.
Is that £550 to completely replace both sills? Bargain if so IMO.
Any idea what the cause of that was? With mine I've noticed the thick underseal stuff tends to fail and split around the seams and joins, letting water in at which point it becomes a liability. I imagine in a salty area that could lead to some extensive rot particularly with the sill covers trapping even more moisture.Is that £550 to completely replace both sills? Bargain if so IMO.
skylarking808 said:
Must check behind my sill covers at some point...
Great interior and it will be worth the wait to have a sorted sport.
I am envious of a non faded parcel shelf that is not purple/pink let alone one with a rear blind!
Any ideas how to keep the wheels protected once refurbished? They look spot on and are inspiring me to do the same.
That's why I had the rear of the barrels powder coated and the polished fronts lacquered, to stop them from pitting. Much easier to maintain and will last a long time. Still have to keep them clean though.Great interior and it will be worth the wait to have a sorted sport.
I am envious of a non faded parcel shelf that is not purple/pink let alone one with a rear blind!
Any ideas how to keep the wheels protected once refurbished? They look spot on and are inspiring me to do the same.
MiggyA said:
Ack, those sills! Any idea what the cause of that was? With mine I've noticed the thick underseal stuff tends to fail and split around the seams and joins, letting water in at which point it becomes a liability. I imagine in a salty area that could lead to some extensive rot particularly with the sill covers trapping even more moisture.
Is that £550 to completely replace both sills? Bargain if so IMO.
We think the rot started to penetrate around the plastic jacking point inserts and went un noticed because it was hidden behind the side skirts. Yes, that's for both sides. A bargain IMO too. Any idea what the cause of that was? With mine I've noticed the thick underseal stuff tends to fail and split around the seams and joins, letting water in at which point it becomes a liability. I imagine in a salty area that could lead to some extensive rot particularly with the sill covers trapping even more moisture.Is that £550 to completely replace both sills? Bargain if so IMO.
MitchT said:
How do you get the skirts off? I really must check mine!
Get the car in the air, undo the small black screws along the length of the underside of the skirts, undo the retaining nuts at the end of the skirt in the lower rear wheel arch, and then gently, but firmly, pull the skirt towards you, from the side of the car. The sides are held on by white plastic clips on the bodywork, at the bottom of the door line."Price all-in, for both sides, around £550. Bargain!"....
Well, that was a completely naive and utterly stupid assumption!
Check this bad boy receipt out....
AND, there's still the fitting/finishing work to take into account! Probably gonna be about £650 per side!
BMW are the only company that still manufactures/supplies sills for an e36 328 sport/M3. Googled the st out of searching for after markets. Interestingly, you CAN find them for four door saloons, but they still cost around the same...
Put some serious thought into it, before you remove those side skirts.... If your jacking points are looking ropey, then the decision is yours.....
Well, that was a completely naive and utterly stupid assumption!
Check this bad boy receipt out....
AND, there's still the fitting/finishing work to take into account! Probably gonna be about £650 per side!
BMW are the only company that still manufactures/supplies sills for an e36 328 sport/M3. Googled the s
t out of searching for after markets. Interestingly, you CAN find them for four door saloons, but they still cost around the same...Put some serious thought into it, before you remove those side skirts.... If your jacking points are looking ropey, then the decision is yours.....
Edited by RickBristol on Monday 21st August 23:36
Escy said:
I admire your dedication with this car. Do you ever look back and wish you'd just spent more money on a better example to start with?
Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes!... 
As I've said before, this was never meant to be a car rebuild project. But, in the words of Roots Manuva, One thing leads to the next thing, leads to the next thing, leads to the next thing...At least I have managed to rescue another e36 328i Sport, and before anyone criticises my stupidity for taking this car on, without knowing what to lookout for/avoid. Take a look around you. How many of these do you see anymore?...
The sills are the last big spend on this project, and it is now around 85% complete. My hand was forced on the sills, as I had already put so much into the car. Where was I going to strip the car? How much time/resources did I have to strip it? Where was I going to store the parts? How much of my life was I going to dedicate to eBay to sell the parts? How many tyre-kickers was I going to have to suffer in order to sell the parts?.............
At least the car is back in Bristol and is now in the hands of a good garage that means the car can now be finished relatively soon. I can, at last, actually see myself driving it again in the not too distant.... We have the upgraded brakes to replace. rear trailing arm and diff sub frame bushes to replace, get the rear sub frame sand blasted and powder coated. This guy has prepared M3 track cars in the past and has already decided on completely reinforcing the bodywork where all the rear suspension components are mounted, then treat, stone chip and paint.
Hopefully, my thread should act as a guide for anyone thinking of taking one of these on - even more so - or an M3. I'm sure decent ones are still out there to be had for reasonable money. My advice would be to take a good look at anything you are considering, and if possible, take someone who knows their way around these cars. They can end up being a cavernous money pit.....
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