Synchromesh's £350 BMW 328i saloon
Discussion
With today's announcement of yet another new iPod-phone, I thought I'd take the time to share what I've just picked up. Not only has it cost me less than Apple's latest shiny thing, it's also better at going sideways…
The romantic notion was of a car that could whisk four passengers in style and comfort across continent, do a few fast laps of Nurburgring, then schlep home again to the backdrop of a 6-pot as silky as the Channel Islands' thickest double cream.
In reality, the replacement for my MR2 needed to be able to plod up and down the M4 all winter and carry a few mates from time to time, without losing the fun-factor and trackability of a naturally aspirated RWD sports car. The E36 328i saloon seemed like the right tool for the job.
The first one we looked at had a fresh MOT and was up for £850. Looking straight and rust-free I thought I'd struck lucky until, after going to test drive it, the alternator caught fire! A quick call back a few days later with a silly low-ball offer of £300, and a deal was struck at £350.
With the car safely recovered to my driveway, and an alternator sourced from (the delight that is) a west London scrapyard, the car was bought back to life.
Total spend so far:
So by my reckoning, that's less than mobile phone…
All that remains now is to get it taxed and insured!
IMG_0906 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
Loading up and..
IMG_0918 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
...off we go.
IMG_0921 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
The offending part now replaced
IMG_0919 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
The mini-fleet
The romantic notion was of a car that could whisk four passengers in style and comfort across continent, do a few fast laps of Nurburgring, then schlep home again to the backdrop of a 6-pot as silky as the Channel Islands' thickest double cream.
In reality, the replacement for my MR2 needed to be able to plod up and down the M4 all winter and carry a few mates from time to time, without losing the fun-factor and trackability of a naturally aspirated RWD sports car. The E36 328i saloon seemed like the right tool for the job.
The first one we looked at had a fresh MOT and was up for £850. Looking straight and rust-free I thought I'd struck lucky until, after going to test drive it, the alternator caught fire! A quick call back a few days later with a silly low-ball offer of £300, and a deal was struck at £350.
With the car safely recovered to my driveway, and an alternator sourced from (the delight that is) a west London scrapyard, the car was bought back to life.
Total spend so far:
| Item | Cost (£) |
|---|---|
| 1997 BMW 328i saloon | 350 |
| Recovery | 69 |
| Second-hand alternator | 40 |
| New battery | 71 |
| Total | 530 |
So by my reckoning, that's less than mobile phone…
All that remains now is to get it taxed and insured!
IMG_0906 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
Loading up and..
IMG_0918 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
...off we go.
IMG_0921 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
The offending part now replaced
IMG_0919 by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
The mini-fleet
Synchromesh said:
93Jay said:
Looks good, absolute steal at that price. Now get it to a track to prove it's more fun than an iPhone 
Just need to sell the MR2 (which is for sale on AutoTrader ) first. Once that's done I'll book a day at Oulton Park, and hope for some rain 
TrackTalentUK said:
Really like it Synchromesh, look forward to more photos and details 
.
Thanks fella. .Unfortunately the only paperwork that came with the car was the MOT certificate and the V5. The vendor's story was that the car used to belong to his son's girlfriend's father, who had it as his car before becoming a driving instructor. He then had a learner car, so with no need for the BMW, left it sitting in the garden for a few years. The vendor took it off his hands (I expect either for free or scrap value), put it straight in for an MOT and stuck it up for sale on AutoTrader. I suspect he didn't make as much as he was hoping; he must have spent £100 for the MOT and AT ad alone.
Once I get it taxed, insured and on the road I'll get some proper photos.
First thing to do:
Change waterpump, belt and themostat.
Doesn't take long, it is easy to do.. and saves loads of hassle. (Also get a genuine thermostat from bmw)
Then oil filter and oil.
All easy to do in one afternoon, if not less.
Does it have lsd?
Change waterpump, belt and themostat.
Doesn't take long, it is easy to do.. and saves loads of hassle. (Also get a genuine thermostat from bmw)
Then oil filter and oil.
All easy to do in one afternoon, if not less.
Does it have lsd?
Edited by joe_90 on Wednesday 11th September 19:30
Layacable said:
Dalto123 said:
Synchromesh said:
Unfortunately the only paperwork that came with the car was the MOT certificate and the V5.
No service history then? 
Joe: AFAIK this one doesn't have the LSD as there's a TC button. Might fit one at a later date though.
Dalto123 said:
Layacable said:
£350 car?
Was £850 Have to admit I would be slightly concerned not buying a car with any service history, but as James has said it does sound like it's been well looked after, maybe not such a worry on a very cheap car
Old BMW's are meant to be solid as well.
Phil, when you think about it a service is just an oil and filer change, which is necessary to stop accelerated wear of the engine's internals. How often, these days, do you here of cars being written off for this symptom? In my experience, most cars get beyond economic repair due to rust (becoming less of a factor) or electric issues (becoming more of a factor). I'm not saying service history isn't important, but it only mitigates one sort of failure.
Synchromesh said:
Phil, when you think about it a service is just an oil and filer change, which is necessary to stop accelerated wear of the engine's internals. How often, these days, do you here of cars being written off for this symptom? In my experience, most cars get beyond economic repair due to rust (becoming less of a factor) or electric issues (becoming more of a factor). I'm not saying service history isn't important, but it only mitigates one sort of failure.
Very true - Never thought of it that way james_gt3rs said:
How does it compare to the MR2?
Having had more of a chance to put some miles on it, the answer, in a word, is that it feels like a bus! That's not meant to be as much of criticism as it sounds though - this is a four-door family saloon on SE spec suspension and 50-profile tyres. Coming straight out of a proper little sports car of course it feels soft, while the steering is significantly slower and less direct. In general though, the car is well balanced and, given time to settle, hangs on harder than it has any right to. The upside of the soft suspension is that, well, it's soft and squishy and comfortable on poor surfaces. I'm considering putting some new M-tech items on it in due course, and maybe the Z3 rack to quicken up the steering.Moving on from dynamics, I've now done about 400 miles, and without hitch. A few niggles have come out of woodwork though; on a few occasions I've heard a clonk when going over the most vicious sleeping policemen, the fuel gauge always reads empty, and the OBC keeps telling me the brake lights are out, when they're not. The car is, however, booked in with Redish Motorsport in Bristol so hopefully we can get these bits sorted.
I'll also need some new discs and pads in the not-too-distant future. I'll probably stick to OEM discs but I do plan to do a few track days before the year's out so am considering uprated pads. What would you guys go for?
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