E36 328i buying advice

[theboyfold]

A good friend of mine is seeing his S plate E36 328i 2 door, M Tech kit (I believe).

What should I look out for? My plans are to run it as a toy and eventually have it in a shape for trackdays, but not fully stripped etc

[BorkFactor]

Rust, cooling systems, and nikasil related issues on the pre 98 cars. Besides that, mostly wear and tear - suspension will probably be a bit tired now, and a decent service history is always nice.

Good cars, but hard to find a good one these days.

[theboyfold]

BorkFactor said:

Rust, cooling systems, and nikasil related issues on the pre 98 cars. Besides that, mostly wear and tear - suspension will probably be a bit tired now, and a decent service history is always nice.

Good cars, but hard to find a good one these days.

Thanks. Is there a way of telling if it's a nikasil engine or not? I think it's an S plate.

I'm doubtful it will have the tightest history in the world, but he's a good mate so I trust him to be honest with the state of the car, he's had it for some time now.

Where are the weak points for rust? What would the rough cost be for overhauling the suspension and other bits that will be tired on a car of this age?

[Frances The Mute]

An S plate won't be affected by a Nikasil engine.

Rear wheel arches are the worst for rust but check the boot floor and tops of the suspension turrets for signs of damage and abuse, too.

They're a very solid car out of the box so you shouldn't really have any issues - unless someone has buggered about with it.
Suspension is pretty cheap to replace. It's mostly control arm bushes and rear trailing arm bushes that fail. You can get a full set of Powerflex items for about £250.

[B17NNS]

BorkFactor said:

Rust, cooling systems, and nikasil related issues on the pre 98 cars.

This. Plus brake lines (fuel tank out job), soggy rear suspension.

[BorkFactor]

theboyfold said:

Thanks. Is there a way of telling if it's a nikasil engine or not? I think it's an S plate.

I'm doubtful it will have the tightest history in the world, but he's a good mate so I trust him to be honest with the state of the car, he's had it for some time now.

Where are the weak points for rust? What would the rough cost be for overhauling the suspension and other bits that will be tired on a car of this age?

This seems to be a good way of checking:

http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f17/1998-e36-3...

It was early 1998 they changed them over, so I would have thought an S reg would be fine.

Rear arches are the main places to check, although if it is anything like the E46 then the front ones will go at some point too if you aren't careful.

From what I read on here they are DIY friendly cars so if you are confident with a spanner you could probably do most of a suspension refresh yourself and parts are generally quite cheap.

Might be worth checking to see what it has already had done, and also if it is a genuine Sport model or not.

They do run to silly mileages if looked after properly, plenty 200k + mentions on here

[theboyfold]

Thanks again.

I've just been having a flick through the classifieds and they seem to be quite high for the age of the car IMHO:

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds/use...

His has the same kit and wheels as that one, but it's in blue, still a good looking car.

[BorkFactor]

A good Sport model will set you back a fair bit, they have increased in price in recent times. When I was buying my car back in March I couldn't find a decent E36 328i Sport for less than £2k. I then went on to buy an E46 328i instead for £1800 (one of the most expensive ones, most are less than that) so it must just be market demand.

Love these alloys, and the E36 coupe is a lovely looking car.

[B17NNS]

Lovely looking things.

Also, check climate control system works as it should. Have a habit of just turning themselves off randomly.

[rossi1]

Also on a test drive make sure it all feels tight.
If they are on the there original bushes then they probably will need replacing I.E lollipop bushes on the front arms, RTAB, Rear top mounts.
I ripped mine out and fitted full pollybush on mine some years ago and still going strong today!

[4rephill]

From a previous thread on the same subject that seemed to upset a lot of owners, here's what can go wrong with them:

4rephill said:

All models of E36's are known for:

Radiators splitting; expansion tanks splitting; viscous fans seizing; water pumps disintegrating; rear shock mounts cracking; rear wheel arches rusting; boot lids rusting along their bottom edges; Digital aircon controllers failing (easy fix); heating systems final stage resistor failing (easy fix); electric windows playing up; ignition barrels failing (just spinning round and round and round when the key is turned); propshaft guibo's disintegrating; suspension bushes perishing; rear brake pipe corrosion (expensive to replace as the fuel tank and propshaft need removing for access); headgasket failures, warped cylinderheads after an engine overheat (just one overheat will do it!); gearbox wear on the gear lever centering springs; brake switch failures; VANOS seal failure (sounds like ball bearings rattling in a tin can); fuel sender wiring issues (wires become broken on the fuel sender and require soldering back on [be aware, a lot of garages will claim a new sender unit is required] ); if the clutch fails, chances are it will take the dual mass flywheel with it (not cheap!); engine mounts perish and fail (and when they do, the engine can move around so much that it will smash the blades off the radiator fan!); wheel bearing failures (can get expensive if the failed bearing has seized in the hub due to the time required to get the old bearing out).

To name but a few of their issues!

On the bright side, the exhausts seem to last well!

Add to that list: The wiring for the rear lights is strapped to the passenger side hinge on the boot-lid, inside a shroud. These wires can rub together over the years and eventually wear through their insulation, causing a short (or even, in the worst [and very rare!], case scenario - an electrical fire).

B17NNS said:

.....Also, check climate control system works as it should. Have a habit of just turning themselves off randomly.

Easy to fix (and cheap!), following these instructions: http://www.macadamizer.com/bmwfix.html

Don't believe anyone telling you: "Do not attempt to repair it yourself as you may cause permanent damage!", it's just scaremongering to try to get you to pay silly money for a simple repair!

I repaired Mine a couple of years ago using these instructions and it's never played up since.

[theboyfold]

So pretty much everything

Thanks for that list, I'll have a chat with him to find out what issues he's had. I know the passenger window doesn't work anymore which is common.

[theboyfold]

Finally, my mate has offered me his car. He's said that the brakes need some work and I can have it for £800. I'd be silly not to wouldn't I?

[sparks_E39]

theboyfold said:

Finally, my mate has offered me his car. He's said that the brakes need some work and I can have it for £800. I'd be silly not to wouldn't I?

Get it bought. Sounds a bargain if a genuine Sport.

[theboyfold]

It is a genuine sport. He's had it for years.

What's the damage likely to be if it's the rear brake lines are gone? Is it a big job?

[sparks_E39]

theboyfold said:

It is a genuine sport. He's had it for years.

What's the damage likely to be if it's the rear brake lines are gone? Is it a big job?

Not too sure. I doubt it.

[g3org3y]

Bargain if in decent nick for £800.

Iirc, brake lines are a bit of a bugger on the E36. I think one would be looking at around £200 to get them replaced.

[muppets_mate]

If the rear brake pipes need to be replaced the fuel tank does not have to be removed to replace them. You/the garage can reroute them around the tank. I had it done on my E36.

[Bogracer]

Probably been covered, but replace the plastic water pump straight away, it will fail.

[sparks_E39]

Bogracer said:

Probably been covered, but replace the plastic water pump straight away, it will fail.

Pretty much good advice for any BMW of the era.