E36 328 Saloon - An eBay bargain bucket special...

[geeks]

Ok so decided in my own infinite wisdom that I would like to get rid of comfortable if a little thirsty reliable daily drive and replace it with a project....... that i would use as a daily!

So a perusal of the bay of E and without much thought a bid was placed and then forgotten about.... a few days later and the notification came through. She was won at the princely sum of £380!

So we set off to do the 5 hour round trip to Crewe and collected her on the trailer..

A quick snap at the stop for Costa on the return trip


Then we were home.. Closer inspection of the car below:





And the areas of concern that will need attention




So there it is...

So list of issues:
Rear Arches
Front wings
Rear tailgate
Interior is FILTHY and stained
Snapped front O/S coil spring
Wooden trim panels
Its been lowered on one side of the car, it had two new springs on the passenger side in Feb but these were standard items, the springs on the drivers side are some cheap lowering springs

Turns out the seller had been very economical with the truth, but I bought unseen at a low price so little point getting all keyboard warrior on him...

Good bits
Engine/Trans all in tip top nick
Brakes are all virtually new
There is a good car under there it just needs a good bout of TLC.

So far I have given it a thorough service (plugs, oil, filters, fuel filter and aux belt) and it purrs like a kitten.
Took the interior out at the weekend and steam cleaned it and it hasn't come up as well as i had hoped and the rear bench is stained beyond cleaning and the fronts are too far gone for a clean and condition.
This has been ordered for the interior revival http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/How_To_Restore_A_... following reading some reviews online seems like it is just the ticket!
New wings and bonnet and an Msport front bumper have been sourced arriving this week
New coil springs sourced for the drivers side, they will be going standard with new shocks all round (Bilsteins are on order)
Wood effect bits have been removed ready for a respray.
Swapped out those wheels for a set on 18" AC Schnitzers i had laying around but i dont like the look so these will be swapped out soon for a set of star M3 wheels.
Also the coolant needs a good flush as i am getting a warn on the obc for it but the levels are fine and it is circulating so suspect that the sensor is naffed from being sat for so long or it has failed, will flush and clean first to see if this solves the issue.

More pics and updates to follow but thats where I am until the weekend..

[geeks]

Oh and gave the exterior a good clean and once over, the good news is other than the few bits of body work already listed we are in good shape!

[Trustmeimadoctor]

brave man! id love to do something like this but id end up with a moneypit i know it

[geeks]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

brave man! id love to do something like this but id end up with a moneypit i know it

To be honest it was my own fault for bidding unseen and I genuinely didn't think I would win the auction but I did, if i had got it home and it was completely shagged it would have been broken up and flogged but it is worth saving.
Has a fair bit of history with it and I think these are going to become quite rare soon and get themselves a good classic status in a few years or so...
On top of that it was first registered on 08/11/1996 on my birthday (not birth date though) so she shares her birthday with my wife and I
I have the space, the time and skills to get her back to her former glory so why not save one from the crusher or the braking up on ebay, only downside is the Inn is now full so it has to be my daily sooner rather than later so its off for a cursory MOT at the weekend to see what lies beneath, after a quick glance I am guessing front wishbones and possibly N/S brakeline as this has MOT pen markings on it from the last one it had last year...

[Trustmeimadoctor]

im going to watch with interest as i do love e36's and id love another just not sure i can convince the wife to let me sell yet another car to buy yet another moneypit old car i do miss my hellrot sport coupe

[Fat Albert]

Good shedding!
Was trying to get a reasonable E36 328 myself a couple of months ago, but couldn't find one where the seller didn't lie about the extent of work needed or even mentioned the front-end damage on the phone(2 cars on the trot!)
so scuttled back to my SAAB comfort zone

[carpetsoiler]

geeks said:

On top of that it was first registered on 08/11/1996 on my birthday (not birth date though) so she shares her birthday with my wife and I

My E36 328i also shares my birthday, according to the BMW build sheet!

Enjoy it- they're really, really nice cars to own. A perfect balance of everything- speed, economy, comfort, accessibility, fun and reliability. Real world, I personally think it's one of the best petrol cars you can own.

If you need any help, I've pretty much rebuilt mine from the ground up- and have had my filthy paws in various other peoples' E36s. they're very simple to work on, and rewarding as a result.

[geeks]

Off to collect the donor for some parts tomorrow. Day off work to boot so might even get to turn a spanner or two!

Donor car is an E36 Compact from my Brother In Law, going to use bumper and wings etc from that and keep the other bits from it for my other E36 Compact Trackday Car very much a win, win!

[g3org3y]

Good shedding OP!

Don't forget to change the chav 'crystal' rear lights (and side repeaters).

Coolant (low) sensor error is very common but should be a straight forward fix.

[geeks]

Well there hasn't been much movent of late, collected a few parts over the last few weeks or so but not really had the time for the new girl on the drive... Have purchased a set of these that I am collecting from a friend next week.



Been looking into getting the arches repaired. Had a friend have a look reckons one is salvageable and the other will need cutting out and a new one dropping in which is a PITA to be honest as it knocks the price up to a bit more than I was hoping to spend...

Still plenty to do but still really looking forward to the first good run out in her!

[geeks]

Progress...

So I dropped her off a month or so ago (possibly longer now) to get a dreaded MOT run to see where we were, I knew of a couple of issues that she was running but wanted to see what else we needed to get done..

An hour or so after I dropped her off I got a call, thinking it was a bit quick I knew it wouldn’t be good, basically they moved her into the workshop and boom the brake lines let go on the front drivers side and they had to abandon the MOT... ASS!!

So collected her on the trailer again and dropped her home to sulk and work out what to do next, anyway fast forward to last weekend and I have finally replaced both front brake lines, they were in pretty bad condition (pics to follow) and I was lucky they didn’t let go on the drive down to be honest..

So with some momentum built I got on the internets and ordered...

Front lower arms and bushes
Drop Links
Front ARB Bushes
Front Shocks
Rear Shocks
Rear Trailing Arm Bushes
Rear ARB Bushes
Rear Drop Links
Diff Bushes
Bleed nipples for all four callipers
Stone Chip Paint
Tetraseal
Weld in Jacking Plates

So quite the shopping list, plan is to rebuild the suspension all round with all new bushes and shocks and while I am at it take off the ARB's, brace and read axles components give them all a good clean and rub down and a couple of coats of stone chip paint. There is a bit of tin worm underneath in the usual places that will be addressed and then the whole thing will be steam cleaned underneath and tetrasealed for peace of mind, idea being to eat your dinner off the underneath as it were and make it all look clean and fresh from there get it through an MOT and then work on the body!

I must be crackers

[El Guapo]

geeks said:

I must be crackers

Not at all. Good E36s are worth saving. Keep up the good work.

[Lugy]

El Guapo said:

Not at all. Good E36s are worth saving. Keep up the good work.

Definitely this!

OP, your car must of been one of the few 'bargain' cars left, I've been watching these for a while and it looks like the ship has set sail, the values are definitely on the rise!
I'm looking forward to see you get on, if a little jealous!

[geeks]

Cheers guys, it's going to be a labour of love without a doubt! Some parts arrived yesterday was like having a birthday opening them all up, still more to arrive yet as well.

Need to get some pics up of the changes and work that has been done so far, might combine these with some part pics too later on.

Did some research on the M50 manifold conversion last night and decided that along with some M3 cams and an exhuast system that is yet to be determined its definately on the cards, yup definately crackers

[subsea99]

My mate just bought a 328i m sport and I had some of the furniture clinic leather restorer spare and did his worn seats with it and its great for bringing them back to life.

I have used it on the last 3 cars and it always works wonders

[BGarside]

Nice project! I've had low-level '328 envy' since buying my 325 coupe a year ago.

Having previously owned newer cars - invariably front wheel drive hatches - it's been a pleasure driving an E36 and surprisingly few concessions are required to the age of the design.

[geeks]

So all the parts are in the workshop, every time I pop out there, they look at me begging to be fitted! Trouble is the race car parts are all here as well and the urge to get on track is greater than the urge to get the 328 running on the road! Still, slowly, slowly, catchy monkey! I have found a good Coachworks to get the body work up to scratch and the underneath worked on too, so I may well send it off for that