E36 325 TDS touring
Discussion
Bought this for £1600 as a daily run-around and to tow my track car now my Mondeo fuel pump went.
Sorry for the pics are off a crappy camera phone and in the work carpark but I was keen to get something posted. The cars done 132000 miles but has been really well looked after, it's the closest thing I've had to a new car it's in such good condition!
Gave it a service on weds (oil, filter, air filter and fuel filter) nice and easy car to work on, you really can feel the quality all the way through. I fitted the towbar yesterday, and am just waiting for a plug in tunning box to arrive that should take it from 143bhp and 207lb/ft to 170bhp and 251lb/ft. That should help when towing and be a bit more fun when not!
It's not really a large car inside, certainly not as big as a mk1 Mondeo, probably more like mk5-6 Escort estate sized inside. Few little things to sort out like the airbag light's on, and it takes a while to start when hot which is bizarre as when cold it starts really well. Overall I'm really happy with the car, I can see why E36's are held in such high regard.
Sorry for the pics are off a crappy camera phone and in the work carpark but I was keen to get something posted. The cars done 132000 miles but has been really well looked after, it's the closest thing I've had to a new car it's in such good condition!
Gave it a service on weds (oil, filter, air filter and fuel filter) nice and easy car to work on, you really can feel the quality all the way through. I fitted the towbar yesterday, and am just waiting for a plug in tunning box to arrive that should take it from 143bhp and 207lb/ft to 170bhp and 251lb/ft. That should help when towing and be a bit more fun when not!
It's not really a large car inside, certainly not as big as a mk1 Mondeo, probably more like mk5-6 Escort estate sized inside. Few little things to sort out like the airbag light's on, and it takes a while to start when hot which is bizarre as when cold it starts really well. Overall I'm really happy with the car, I can see why E36's are held in such high regard.
"I fitted the towbar yesterday, and am just waiting for a plug in tunning box to arrive that should take it from 143bhp and 207lb/ft to 170bhp and 251lb/ft. That should help when towing and be a bit more fun when not!"
Where did you get both of these items from as I have just got a 325tds as well???
Where did you get both of these items from as I have just got a 325tds as well???
crossie said:
"I fitted the towbar yesterday, and am just waiting for a plug in tunning box to arrive that should take it from 143bhp and 207lb/ft to 170bhp and 251lb/ft. That should help when towing and be a bit more fun when not!"
Where did you get both of these items from as I have just got a 325tds as well???
Towbar was only £73 delivered from A1 towing in Plymouth (they advertise on Ebay) but I wouldn't recommend it as it's not completly central and I had to make another fitting plate for it as the original was over an inch out!Where did you get both of these items from as I have just got a 325tds as well???
Tunning box was one of these:
http://www.tuningbox.com/
£300 new but also got that on Ebay for half that, certainly worth it for the extra low and mid range power. Plus it's adjustable so you can keep it sensible or not. Also got the injectors refurbished prior to fitting and that also made a difference to the smooth running and low down power delivery.
Are these rare or something? I assumed there'd be loads about but very few seem to turn up on the classifieds/autotrader. Seems like a good hack and ideal for cruising to skiing. Out of interest how many mpg can you eek out of it? The specs i've seen quote 38 but I wondered if you can get better with a little restraint?
RDE said:
Are these rare or something? I assumed there'd be loads about but very few seem to turn up on the classifieds/autotrader. Seems like a good hack and ideal for cruising to skiing. Out of interest how many mpg can you eek out of it? The specs i've seen quote 38 but I wondered if you can get better with a little restraint?
If you where to keep the car under 2k revs /under 80mph I think you would get good mpg.Mine is an auto so it seems to drink a bit more that the manual - plus the fact I have a heavy right foot!
few problems to look out for are is rust(normal places) everything works - I looked at this when buying mine and have now found a few things that need fixing - heating in e36 have a common problems of working sometime( ebay has fixes for this £5) other item is my rear wiper works but will not turn off (been told a relay but still need to look at this)
Not sure how many they made but it did take a while to find a nice original one with history. On a long run I get about 40mpg almost regardless of speed. Get about 30-32 knocking around but then I do like to hoon around the glorious Shropshire lanes and have got a tunning box fitted.
crossie said:
Mate did you have any problems wiring up the tow bar electrics?
Any photos of the system you used?
Mine is beening a pain in the arse and will not work!
Single electrics or double? Have you ever wired up towbar electrics before? It wasn't any different to any other car I've done before.Any photos of the system you used?
Mine is beening a pain in the arse and will not work!
Can't help if you're using double but the lights and indicators were easy enough. Just find the earth then work your way through the wires one by one. I wired mine up to the left hand light for some reason (apart from the right side indicator obviously) and didn't/couldn't wire up a feed for a foglight on the trailer for some reason that was going to make it difficult, and I can't imagine myself towing in fog anyway.
After my track car had been getting all the attention for a while I thought I'd update on what has most probably been the best all-round car I've ever had. Only had it just under 2 years but after a series of cheap sheds I wish I'd have gone for a BMW before. When nothing goes wrong you tend to forget how reliable things are. Over the winter it didn't get used much as I was working away so the battery went low a couple of times, never bothered with a new one as they're massive things on these and cost £100 from Halfords. With more regular use it has been fine though so hope to eeke a few more months out of this one until the colder weather.
What this car does best is being so versatile, they handle great, and has great balance of performance and fuel economy. I've seen 1.4 leptons on the clock, and averaging about 34mpg - but then it does tend to be driven quite hard and is used for towing a fair bit. The best I've ever had on a long 70mph cruise it returned 44mpg.
On a hoon in wet North Wales with some other PH'ders:
It's got plenty of grunt for towing, but could probably do with some stiffer rear springs as the back end will float a bit with a heavy trailer:
Took it to Le Mans last year where it performed brilliantly, carrying 2 bikes and loads of camping gear it was still able to keep up with quick stuff on the way down:
As you can see in that last picture the tailgate was in a hell of a state, with the usual rust coming through and a hole from where I'd managed to crash into my own trailer.
I'd managed to find a nice rust free tailgate on Ebay, unfortunately missing the window and wiper but I was going to transfer the ones over from my old tailgate. Unfortunately by the time it turned up it had a few dents in it:
So I never bothered fitting it, and after another year of searching managed to find another rust free Boston green one, and set about fitting it. Took a bit longer fitting it than I thought it would as I was surprised by the number of wires, there must have been about 10 wires to plug in: 3rd brake light, central locking, heated rear window, wash wipe, radio aerial. So it was dark by the time I finished. Ended up breaking the rear washer jet but a new one was less than £2 from the dealer and only took 2 days to get here from Germany.
Really tidied up the back end though so was worth it:
I've got the 2 old tailgates if anyone wants them, one is rust free but with a couple of dents and missing the trim and window, but I have the spare rusty one you could take the bits off though if needed.
I did try it with some 17" BBS rims but it tram-lined with the low profile tyres, and raised the gearing a touch making it a bit less lively on acceleration. Since then I've been using the wheels that were off my track car originally, as they still had half decent Michelin Primacy tyres on them. When the tyres are finished with I'll scrap these wheels and go back to the original rims as I prefer the look of them.
As you can see in the last picture I've fitted a chrome exhaust trim as the original tail pipe was crumbling away, might look a bit chav untill it gets soot-ed up. Just need to change the bumper protector thing off the towbar as it's rusting and letting the back end down now. I quite like the clean look of the tailgate without the "325tds" badge on it so will probably leave like that, keep people guessing as to what overtook them too
What this car does best is being so versatile, they handle great, and has great balance of performance and fuel economy. I've seen 1.4 leptons on the clock, and averaging about 34mpg - but then it does tend to be driven quite hard and is used for towing a fair bit. The best I've ever had on a long 70mph cruise it returned 44mpg.
On a hoon in wet North Wales with some other PH'ders:
It's got plenty of grunt for towing, but could probably do with some stiffer rear springs as the back end will float a bit with a heavy trailer:
Took it to Le Mans last year where it performed brilliantly, carrying 2 bikes and loads of camping gear it was still able to keep up with quick stuff on the way down:
As you can see in that last picture the tailgate was in a hell of a state, with the usual rust coming through and a hole from where I'd managed to crash into my own trailer.
I'd managed to find a nice rust free tailgate on Ebay, unfortunately missing the window and wiper but I was going to transfer the ones over from my old tailgate. Unfortunately by the time it turned up it had a few dents in it:
So I never bothered fitting it, and after another year of searching managed to find another rust free Boston green one, and set about fitting it. Took a bit longer fitting it than I thought it would as I was surprised by the number of wires, there must have been about 10 wires to plug in: 3rd brake light, central locking, heated rear window, wash wipe, radio aerial. So it was dark by the time I finished. Ended up breaking the rear washer jet but a new one was less than £2 from the dealer and only took 2 days to get here from Germany.
Really tidied up the back end though so was worth it:
I've got the 2 old tailgates if anyone wants them, one is rust free but with a couple of dents and missing the trim and window, but I have the spare rusty one you could take the bits off though if needed.
I did try it with some 17" BBS rims but it tram-lined with the low profile tyres, and raised the gearing a touch making it a bit less lively on acceleration. Since then I've been using the wheels that were off my track car originally, as they still had half decent Michelin Primacy tyres on them. When the tyres are finished with I'll scrap these wheels and go back to the original rims as I prefer the look of them.
As you can see in the last picture I've fitted a chrome exhaust trim as the original tail pipe was crumbling away, might look a bit chav untill it gets soot-ed up. Just need to change the bumper protector thing off the towbar as it's rusting and letting the back end down now. I quite like the clean look of the tailgate without the "325tds" badge on it so will probably leave like that, keep people guessing as to what overtook them too
After having not used the car since October when I got the 540i, I finally sold the 325tds yesterday. I was a bit reluctant to let it go, I've been trying to get my GF to swap it for her 325td saloon but she said that the estate is an old persons car.
It's gone to a fellow Pistonheader so it's nice to think that it'll be looked after.
It's gone to a fellow Pistonheader so it's nice to think that it'll be looked after.
matt21 said:
bet your sorry to see it go!
hows the 540 doing?
Been through quite a lot of changes in my life with that car, I've had nearly 50 cars but it's one of the few I've really been attached to for some reason.hows the 540 doing?
540i's still going strong, averaging 17mpg but I do love the shove and sound of the V8. Got the MOT on it next month, I'm hoping there's nothing wrong with it cause certain 540i specific parts can be horrendously expensive.
up to over 156k now though and doing 27mpgsniff diesel said:
matt21 said:
bet your sorry to see it go!
hows the 540 doing?
Been through quite a lot of changes in my life with that car, I've had nearly 50 cars but it's one of the few I've really been attached to for some reason.hows the 540 doing?
540i's still going strong, averaging 17mpg but I do love the shove and sound of the V8. Got the MOT on it next month, I'm hoping there's nothing wrong with it cause certain 540i specific parts can be horrendously expensive.
Shropshiremike said:
Hiya Rich
That airbag light stayed off then?!
I feel a bit bad as I forgot to pop that Autocar round over Xmas. I'll pop it by this weekend for sure. Just had my E36 MoT'd today - no problems.
Be interested to see the 540i!
Yeah Mike the airbag light never came on again, I was always careful when hoovering it out.That airbag light stayed off then?!
I feel a bit bad as I forgot to pop that Autocar round over Xmas. I'll pop it by this weekend for sure. Just had my E36 MoT'd today - no problems.
Be interested to see the 540i!
A mate of mine kept trying to wind me up saying that his Corrado was quicker than my 325i as Autocar had said so, hence I just wanted to see the proof. He's since bought an old copy on Ebay.
M3's back home now too if you want to pop round Sunday to have a nosey.
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