E36 328, soft top, £575, What's the worst that could happen?
Discussion
JordanTurbo said:
And the results after polish and wax 
Just wonderful. Really impressive results, I don't usually like 'verts - to me the weakest of the E36 lineup - but yours is now looking fantastic. Enough to turn me 
Nearly enough to inspire me to go and give my track car a polish, keep going with the photos and it might happen
Thanks again guys. That blue one looks nice, it was one of my preferred colours (along with techno violet 
) before this one came up.
Now that I have got this to a good standard, I'll be mainly concentrating on getting the Audi sold so progress will be slow for a bit.
) before this one came up.Now that I have got this to a good standard, I'll be mainly concentrating on getting the Audi sold so progress will be slow for a bit.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Thursday 16th October 14:54
JordanTurbo said:
Thanks again guys. That blue one looks nice, it was one of my preferred colours (along with techno violet ) before this one came up.
Now that I have got this to a good standard, I'll be mainly concentrating on getting the Audi sold so progress will be slow for a bit.
You know where to find me ) before this one came up.Now that I have got this to a good standard, I'll be mainly concentrating on getting the Audi sold so progress will be slow for a bit.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Thursday 16th October 14:54
While I concentrate on the Audi it might be a while until I get shocks to go with the H&R's, so decided to fit them to the standard struts for now.
The springs are 40/10mm (front/rear) and after a few miles to settle, the result is as I'd hoped. The rear has stayed where it was pretty much, but the front arch gap has been reduced considerably without being too low.
Did a quick driveway alignment to prevent any scrubbing for now. Once I've done the shocks and front top mounts I'll put it on a hunter machine and get all 4 wheels aligned properly.
The springs are 40/10mm (front/rear) and after a few miles to settle, the result is as I'd hoped. The rear has stayed where it was pretty much, but the front arch gap has been reduced considerably without being too low.
Did a quick driveway alignment to prevent any scrubbing for now. Once I've done the shocks and front top mounts I'll put it on a hunter machine and get all 4 wheels aligned properly.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 20:14
I'd be interested to hear what that shift in posture does to the handling, I noticed that mine too sat quite high at the front. It now has HSD coilovers on it and the front/rear gap is even larger because my wheels are currently spaced out a bit too far and I need to avoid the arch under heavy load but I'm keen to see whether your approach produces a sharper turn-in.
My measurements are currently 649mm front, 610mm rear - taken from ground to centre of wheelarch. Figures I read from a really nicely set up 328i track car were 620/605, which is encouraging me to get the slightly silly front end of mine down!
but I'm keen to see whether your approach produces a sharper turn-in.My measurements are currently 649mm front, 610mm rear - taken from ground to centre of wheelarch. Figures I read from a really nicely set up 328i track car were 620/605, which is encouraging me to get the slightly silly front end of mine down!
Not updated this in a while, just been enjoying the car lately TBH.
Only problem I've had has been a limp coolant needle recently. Engine had been taking ages to warm up, and in anything other than heavy traffic the gauge would sit just on the cold side.
Doesn't look like much but the gauge isn't linear; straight up covers a wide operating range, so a small movement (up or down) equals a larger temp change. Easily diagnosed as the thermostat stuck open and once removed it was confirmed.
New one sourced and decided to fit a metal stat housing at the same time.
Refitted with genuine BMW seal and fresh coolant.
Decided to leave the viscous fan off for the winter. The AC fan is more than man enough during the cold weather.
After a bleed up and a long test drive, the engine gets up to temp quickly and needle is rock solid in the center. Happy days
.
Only problem I've had has been a limp coolant needle recently. Engine had been taking ages to warm up, and in anything other than heavy traffic the gauge would sit just on the cold side.
Doesn't look like much but the gauge isn't linear; straight up covers a wide operating range, so a small movement (up or down) equals a larger temp change. Easily diagnosed as the thermostat stuck open and once removed it was confirmed.
New one sourced and decided to fit a metal stat housing at the same time.
Refitted with genuine BMW seal and fresh coolant.
Decided to leave the viscous fan off for the winter. The AC fan is more than man enough during the cold weather.
After a bleed up and a long test drive, the engine gets up to temp quickly and needle is rock solid in the center. Happy days
.Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 20:15
Of interest did you get the Circoli thermostat from ECP or the BMW OE?
I had exactly the same problem. I recently did a thermostat change on my E36 with ECP parts, the thermostat rubber meant the stat wouldn't sit properly and the new (metal) housing cracked when being tightened in place! I replaced the rubber with that on the original BMW stat and refitted the old housing - now perfect.
I had exactly the same problem. I recently did a thermostat change on my E36 with ECP parts, the thermostat rubber meant the stat wouldn't sit properly and the new (metal) housing cracked when being tightened in place! I replaced the rubber with that on the original BMW stat and refitted the old housing - now perfect.
carinaman said:
I got here from the C5 Avant thread. Very impressive fettling skills.
Cheers g3org3y said:
Of interest did you get the Circoli thermostat from ECP or the BMW OE?
I had exactly the same problem. I recently did a thermostat change on my E36 with ECP parts, the thermostat rubber meant the stat wouldn't sit properly and the new (metal) housing cracked when being tightened in place! I replaced the rubber with that on the original BMW stat and refitted the old housing - now perfect.
Both stat and housing were Circoli from ECP. Only thing I did was fit an OE BMW housing seal (the orange one), stat seal was the one that came with it.I had exactly the same problem. I recently did a thermostat change on my E36 with ECP parts, the thermostat rubber meant the stat wouldn't sit properly and the new (metal) housing cracked when being tightened in place! I replaced the rubber with that on the original BMW stat and refitted the old housing - now perfect.
Went together no problem, with no leaks.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 12th December 00:03
JordanTurbo said:
I also have some 3.0 M3 offset top mounts and eccentric lower bushes on the way to go with them
I was under the impression 3.0 M3s came with regular top mounts, and eccentric lower bushes... whereas 3.2 M3s came with offset top mounts, and regular bushes. You tend to have one or the other, as both increase your castor.carpetsoiler said:
I was under the impression 3.0 M3s came with regular top mounts, and eccentric lower bushes... whereas 3.2 M3s came with offset top mounts, and regular bushes. You tend to have one or the other, as both increase your castor.
Not quite.Non-M has normal lower bushes and normal top mounts.
3.0 M3s got offset top mounts which add caster. The side effect of tilting the strut back is that the wheel moves rearward in the arch. They got the eccentric lower bushes to shift the lower arm round and correct this.
3.2 Evos got top mounts that were tilted back the same amount in caster but also tilted out (less camber) because they have extra camber built into the hubs. They went bachback to the standard lower bush because the Evo specific lower arms have the forward shift built in.
The only vehicles that don't fit into the above are factory sports with the avus pack (Bilstein B12 kit). They are the same as other non-Ms but with eccentric lower bushes to add a bit of caster, but not as much as the M3.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Monday 26th January 19:42
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