1997 E36 328i Sport
Discussion
Purchased around 18 months ago - my second 328i. The car is bog standard, apart from a de-baffled airbox and golf tee'd exhaust.
Bodywork is in excellent condition; rear arches were tidied up last year:
Also had the BBS wheels refurbished last year so they are spotless (apart from the hexagonal centre nuts which have a bit of scuffing):
Bank holiday Monday job - refurbish dodgy wing mirrors:
Mileage is 110k. It has had quite a lot of fairly recent work, including the dreaded brake lines for its current MOT, as well as a recent new clutch and I believe a new DMF. Generally the engine is pretty sound, and has had a recent thermostat, camshaft position sensor & CCV, but I do suspect there is a minor vacuum leak, having recently noticed a missing clip on the airbox, as the idle can be a bit bouncy, and previously I had issues with the idle dropping as the car slowed, resulting in cutting out, but it has not done that for a long time.
Unfortunately the nearside window has died, and the clutch pedal has become a bit creaky occasionally so I suspect the bushes could do with renewing. I also sometimes get the "Brake Light Circuit" error message which I know is simply a switch behind the brake pedal but it is so infrequent that I usually just forget about it! Also I am keen to try and reduce wind noise from the pillarless doors if anyone has any ideas.
Other than that it is in excellent condition and I have no plans to change it from standard.
Bodywork is in excellent condition; rear arches were tidied up last year:
Also had the BBS wheels refurbished last year so they are spotless (apart from the hexagonal centre nuts which have a bit of scuffing):
Bank holiday Monday job - refurbish dodgy wing mirrors:
Mileage is 110k. It has had quite a lot of fairly recent work, including the dreaded brake lines for its current MOT, as well as a recent new clutch and I believe a new DMF. Generally the engine is pretty sound, and has had a recent thermostat, camshaft position sensor & CCV, but I do suspect there is a minor vacuum leak, having recently noticed a missing clip on the airbox, as the idle can be a bit bouncy, and previously I had issues with the idle dropping as the car slowed, resulting in cutting out, but it has not done that for a long time.
Unfortunately the nearside window has died, and the clutch pedal has become a bit creaky occasionally so I suspect the bushes could do with renewing. I also sometimes get the "Brake Light Circuit" error message which I know is simply a switch behind the brake pedal but it is so infrequent that I usually just forget about it! Also I am keen to try and reduce wind noise from the pillarless doors if anyone has any ideas.
Other than that it is in excellent condition and I have no plans to change it from standard.
Edited by Smanks on Friday 23 May 21:06
ManaghGB said:
Why do people keep posting threads on these?!
Makes the wait to find a good one even harder.
Yup! I suddenly felt an attraction to these after parking next to a lovely black one the other day. An afternoon on various classifieds and the majority are track slags or scraping the floor. Makes the wait to find a good one even harder.
Lovely car op, jel
Smanks said:
Not entirely sure how it is done, but apparently you can use a golf tee to keep the exhaust flap open, which would usually be closed until 2.5k RPM. It sounds nice and burbly on idle
If you take a look up the tailpipes, in the right-hand pipe you can see a butterfly valve (which is usually open with the engine off anyway). That's what normally closes when you key on, and opens past 2500rpm. Right behind the back box there's a little round control unit for it, which is vacuum controlled by a small line that plugs into the top of it.You just have to disconnect the vacuum line, plug it with a small screw or, because they fit perfectly, a golf tee! Now the valve stays open at all times and you get a richer note in the low range
Anyhow - lovely example, I really really like it. Not usually keen on silver on an E36 so it must be good to overcome that! Looks much fresher than mine and it's nice that the arches have been taken care of. Should be good for years!
Cheers
I too think it should be good for a while as it's not a daily driver - I only use it for approximately 2k miles p/a. I don't particularly like silver either but I think it works well with this shape.
I was looking forward to sorting the mirrors out today but I hurt my hand quite badly yesterday
I too think it should be good for a while as it's not a daily driver - I only use it for approximately 2k miles p/a. I don't particularly like silver either but I think it works well with this shape.
I was looking forward to sorting the mirrors out today but I hurt my hand quite badly yesterday
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