E36 328i Scuttleshake
Discussion
Following on from some much-appreciated advice from this very forum I went ahead and purchased my mate's E36 328i convertible.
It's 'stahlblau' (literally 'steel blue') and came with a decent spec. It needed a couple of things doing to it including re-gassing the air con and replacing the front pusher fan prior to that as the old one had corroded solid. Oil change, oil filter and air filter have been done along with new aero wipers which arrived from wiperblades.co.uk this morning. Air con was regassed and is now icy cold again (hit 2degC on the test probe!). I wanted it done for demisting purposes in the winter.
So, the basics; it's done 143,000 miles and has the usual creaks, squeaks and rattles one would expect with a car of this vintage, especially a cabrio. Mechanically it's strong and feels lovely to drive but encourages a more 'wafty' approach than balls-out hoonery that I was used to with my previous hot-hatches. It grips and steers well although it can get a little wallowy on the standard SE suspension. Already it really has me wondering what the E36 M3 convertible would be like... The car was bought almost on a whim - a mate of mine has been headhunted by Apple to go and work in the US and he offered me the car for £1,500. Looking around at others for sale I couldn't find one in this condition for less than £2k so it's pretty good value for money. It has a few dings and scrapes on it including a couple of spots of rust bubbling. However, the rust hasn't gotten worse in the two years he owned it and structurally it's sound.
I keep thinking about things I'd like to change; the exhaust sounds lovely and woofly as it is but I can't help thinking there's more 'bark' in there to be liberated. I'd like the M3 front bumper. I'd like to put the Sport suspension on it. I'd like to sort the rust and minor dings. However, it doesn't seem worth spending loads of money on it as it's not going to increase the value of the car by much.
One of the mods my mate made was to change the original wheels for M-Contours which he had sprayed anthracite. I wasn't sure about these when I first saw pics but 'in the metal' they really suit the car and they'll be staying. Tyres are Falken 452s and my local Kwik Fit have agreed to price match my online price so they should be nice and cheap to replace. It's currently on 245/40/17 rear and 225/45/17 front.
A lack of much sunshine meant it took a while to get some pictures with the roof down and it looking reasonably clean. A window of opportunity presented itself yesterday:
I've made a few preparations for winter. Replacement grommets for the tonneau cover to ensure it's watertight and a lot of effort cleaning and sealing the roof. Pleased with the results of the waterproofing!
On my commute she's currently returning a somewhat thirsty 23mpg average but the overall mileage isn't that high so I can live with it. The days where the sun has shone it's been great to be able to drop the roof and enjoy the sunshine. I've noticed I drive differently with the roof down; you feel a lot more exposed to those around you. People seem to be more courteous with the roof down as well, I get let of out junctions and into gaps far more readily.
Overall I'm really pleased with the car. There are a couple more things on the 'to-do' list including replacing the coolant float sensor and the water pump. Since both of these require the coolant to be removed I'll do them together and as soon as is prudently possible.
It's 'stahlblau' (literally 'steel blue') and came with a decent spec. It needed a couple of things doing to it including re-gassing the air con and replacing the front pusher fan prior to that as the old one had corroded solid. Oil change, oil filter and air filter have been done along with new aero wipers which arrived from wiperblades.co.uk this morning. Air con was regassed and is now icy cold again (hit 2degC on the test probe!). I wanted it done for demisting purposes in the winter.
So, the basics; it's done 143,000 miles and has the usual creaks, squeaks and rattles one would expect with a car of this vintage, especially a cabrio. Mechanically it's strong and feels lovely to drive but encourages a more 'wafty' approach than balls-out hoonery that I was used to with my previous hot-hatches. It grips and steers well although it can get a little wallowy on the standard SE suspension. Already it really has me wondering what the E36 M3 convertible would be like... The car was bought almost on a whim - a mate of mine has been headhunted by Apple to go and work in the US and he offered me the car for £1,500. Looking around at others for sale I couldn't find one in this condition for less than £2k so it's pretty good value for money. It has a few dings and scrapes on it including a couple of spots of rust bubbling. However, the rust hasn't gotten worse in the two years he owned it and structurally it's sound.
I keep thinking about things I'd like to change; the exhaust sounds lovely and woofly as it is but I can't help thinking there's more 'bark' in there to be liberated. I'd like the M3 front bumper. I'd like to put the Sport suspension on it. I'd like to sort the rust and minor dings. However, it doesn't seem worth spending loads of money on it as it's not going to increase the value of the car by much.
One of the mods my mate made was to change the original wheels for M-Contours which he had sprayed anthracite. I wasn't sure about these when I first saw pics but 'in the metal' they really suit the car and they'll be staying. Tyres are Falken 452s and my local Kwik Fit have agreed to price match my online price so they should be nice and cheap to replace. It's currently on 245/40/17 rear and 225/45/17 front.
A lack of much sunshine meant it took a while to get some pictures with the roof down and it looking reasonably clean. A window of opportunity presented itself yesterday:
I've made a few preparations for winter. Replacement grommets for the tonneau cover to ensure it's watertight and a lot of effort cleaning and sealing the roof. Pleased with the results of the waterproofing!
On my commute she's currently returning a somewhat thirsty 23mpg average but the overall mileage isn't that high so I can live with it. The days where the sun has shone it's been great to be able to drop the roof and enjoy the sunshine. I've noticed I drive differently with the roof down; you feel a lot more exposed to those around you. People seem to be more courteous with the roof down as well, I get let of out junctions and into gaps far more readily.
Overall I'm really pleased with the car. There are a couple more things on the 'to-do' list including replacing the coolant float sensor and the water pump. Since both of these require the coolant to be removed I'll do them together and as soon as is prudently possible.
Be interested to know where you've seen a good one for a grand... There are several on PH, none of them less than £1,300 for a '98/'99 convertible and they're all 318is!
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Car...
There are a couple on Autotrader for £1,300+, mostly a year or two older. Factoring in that I know the provenance of this car and everything that's been done/carried out maintenance-wise and I think it's a bit of a barge-tastic bargain.
No doubt if I'd paid £1,000 for it someone would have come along to tell me they could have bought it for £750. Ho hum.
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Car...
There are a couple on Autotrader for £1,300+, mostly a year or two older. Factoring in that I know the provenance of this car and everything that's been done/carried out maintenance-wise and I think it's a bit of a barge-tastic bargain.
No doubt if I'd paid £1,000 for it someone would have come along to tell me they could have bought it for £750. Ho hum.
Funk said:
I'm also lead to believe that the wheels are getting rare now; apparently they were an option on the E36 M3. I wasn't sure about them at first but I've really grown to like them.
They're E36 M3 Evo Saloon wheels I think- called the M Contour. Much nicer than the sunflowers or the double-spokes.So, been living with the car for about a month now. Some things I've noticed:
- It tramlines a lot
- It drinks. A lot.
- I'd forgotten what real throttle response was
- Christ the straight 6 is smooth
- The opportunities for getting the roof down are pretty much over now
- I think BMW were lying about it having 190bhp, it feels like more
Funk said:
So, been living with the car for about a month now. Some things I've noticed:
The 2 issues with the fuel consumption and tram-lining can be down to these 2 things- It tramlines a lot
- It drinks. A lot.
- I'd forgotten what real throttle response was
- Christ the straight 6 is smooth
- The opportunities for getting the roof down are pretty much over now
- I think BMW were lying about it having 190bhp, it feels like more
High fuel consumption with the sluggish feel of the engine below certain revs could be a faulty cam position sensor.
As for the tram-lining, get the RTA bushes checked, as these are well known for failing, friend of mine had a 323i touring that did exactly the same.. we checked the RTA bushes. This was what we found:
We had the option of new stock oem bushes but went with the Powerflex items, since these are easier to fit, no real increase in road noise and don't wear out anything like as quickly (Reports of someone getting 250k on a single set apparently)
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