My '98 E36 Coupe

[jmflare]

This is my Maderia Violet E36 318is M-technic bought June last year as the first car I owned myself, was the first car I went to see and was more of a research trip than anything else but it was totally standard, this was a big factor for me and 2 days later it was sat on my drive I've always wanted one and now I have, I do not see myself ever selling it, I absolutely love it

picture of when I got it, around 120k miles IIRC



around a month later with my friends '71 Hillman Imp

|http://thumbsnap.com/vn78E9Gy[/url]



Now six months down the line it has had a few important parts underneath replaced, a set of different wheels and a basically straight through exhaust including Decat, hehe.

My plans for now are, interior, two Cobra Imola fixed front seats, harnesses and stripped out but nicely carpeted rear, with a rollbar. And exterior very clean OEM looking, slightly lowered preferably with LTW spec front lip and rear wing.

Things at the top of the list include spraying the contour alloys OEM silver, fitting rear and side amber indicators and get round to fitting the coilovers that have been sat in the garage for a month due to me being a pansie when it gets cold.

[url]

|http://thumbsnap.com/PNhOypPo[/url][url]

Other than that once I start University in September this will be tucked up in my sister's garage, I will get some form of estate as a daily (E36,A4 B5,E34), then this car will receive, once funds are avalible, a full body respray (just to start with a clean slate, there aren't any major problems just a few blemishes) and a mechanical overhaul, focusing mainly on the suspension. I would quite like to embark on building my own turbo set up for it but every time I go to Oulton and hear the tracked 32x's and there 6 cylinder soundtrack an M50 swap gets ever so more appealing.

p.s The square plate is made up for the fact I think is one of the only E36's in the country which still retains the original radio , oh and any compliments of the hillman are welcome as I hope to own it at some point

[jmflare]

thanks for the comments guys yes it is Oulton I only live about 2 miles away, I'm normally at most of the track days as a spectator.

@ getaway turtle - nice car!, i do love the revvy-ness of the M44 and am still not sure that if I get another E36 as my daily whether it should be another 318is or a sixer.

[jmflare]

theshrew said:

Nice motor and a brilliant photo with the Imp. Where is the car park pic taken ? Im in Northwich BTW sure ive seen your car around and about

Always wanted a E36 pref a M3 and a Imp i just love them for some reason

Those picture's are taken on top of the massive Warrington multi-storey, open all night and seemed unmonitored so great for a good blast of the exhaust

What car have you got might have seen you.

[jmflare]

Bit of an update, fed up with the standard E36 "sports" seats (don't know who designed them but I assume he was fired soon after) and unable to afford the cobra Imola's I want, I gave in a bought a cheap Cobra Monaco and TRS harness, so I don't spend every drive flopping around holding onto the steering wheel for dear life and actually start controlling the car with it. Also stripped out the rear but carpeting this and making it look presentable is high on list of things to do.

Also fitted the new rear lowering springs and set them to a reasonable height along with the first proper clean of 2013 and some boring maintenance, coolant flush, new rear disc's and handbrake shoes's (I hate one of the springs involved in this assembly many swear words aimed at it when fitting).

Fitting front coilovers tomorrow if its above 5 degree's! Just got to get a tyre fitted, take it for a 4 wheel alignment and to flush the brake fluid, it should be ready for a blast around Wales



^^^^ Me going out for a drive pretending its summer, car thermometer, and the fact I was wearing 3 layers said otherwise :/

[jmflare]

Bit of an update, now on Coilovers all around and 15mm spacers on the front. Really want to fit some spacers to the rear now 15-20mm, I think it looks a bit silly with the wheels so inset at the rear. Rear seats have been put back in just felt a bit weird without them, and harness also removed.

Got lots and lots of plans still but all on hold till next summer.

Few pictures with my mates very nice E30.

[jmflare]

bababa said:

Hiya, I was just wondering which coilovers you opted for?

I went for JOM's, the fronts are nice and stiff with a non too harsh ride at my fairly low setting that i re-adjusted yesterday with ease, no locked up adjustment threads that some people complain about.

The rears aren't so great to be honest, they feel way to spongey for my liking although still an improvement on OEM.

Gingernuts said:

very cool car. Will look much better when you paint the alloys silver. do hanker after an e36. got to say plate looks wk though.

Thanks.

I hate the standard numberplate as it ruins the front end IMO. I've grown to like the square plate tbh, each to there own I guess, although I would like a BMW front cover plate the get rid of the standard number plate holes.

[jmflare]

RobCrezz said:

Jesus they are some mega cheap coilovers, I guess you cant be too picky for that price.

We bought XYZ Super sport coilovers for our e36 325i Coupe track day motor, and they were about £600 but they are height adjustable without changing the spring rate and also 30 clicks of soft/hard damper adjustment - recommended

I know £180 of ebay finest I do want some fully-adjustable's, everyone praises Hsd's on Bimmerforums so was considering those for next summer. But I can't really fault the JOM's for their price, they have not put me in hedge...yet

[jmflare]

Just thought i'd update this, the coupe has been in storage since i started uni in September. Have been acquiring lots of parts though, ready to fit in the spring. Last photos of it before being tucked up in the garage.




In the meantime i bought an Mr2 to use as a runaround while at uni...



Reliable, quick, lovely handling and seemed to attract a lot of attention for a £600 car. Brilliant car overall but not really my style and never really connected with it, also only having 2 seats is really annoying. Sold last week to a man who's going to take it racing in the Mr2 Challenge, pleased that its going to get some proper use and that'll be able to watch a car i owned go racing

To replace that I've bought something i knew i would like, a '97 318i E36 saloon. Picked up on Sunday for only £550, looked great. Drove back 140 miles from Milton Keynes without a hitch, thought i had an absolute bargain as it was pretty much rust free aswell for an E36. But on the way back from nipping to my sisters that night, i heard a fairly loud rattle coming from the top of the engine near the exhaust manifold. It has been parked up since while i source some bits for a well needed full service, i'm hoping it is just a sticky hydralic lifter and that some new oil and a bottle of lifter treatment will quieten it down. Anyway here are some pics of "Millie", ebay photos as i've not had chance to take any yet.

Edited by jmflare on Thursday 26th December 04:44

[jmflare]

Out of hibernation she comes Tried to attempt the final month of uni without a car but only lasted a week until I broke and came back to get her on the road. Started her up after nearly 6 months of sitting and there's no problems to report. Yesterday i fitted an old set of E46 wheels for the next 3 weeks while i finish up at uni and immediately noticed all of the previous tracking problems had disappeared its now absolutely lovely to drive. Pile of parts for summer is still increasing and the silver saloon is now in the garage till September.





Will be fitting a new thermostat and flushing the coolant tomorrow. Already fitted some fog light deletes and a new steering wheel this weekend. The latter making a huge difference to the driving experience, I really recommend one, or at least a smaller diameter wheel as mine is not great if you plan on crashing as I now have no airbag, also no horn until I get around to wiring it back up.

Got some tyres fitted to my new wheels, there is a very small amount of stretch but the garage seemed to think i was going to die immediately by just having ownership of them, strange. Can't wait to get them on the car in April.



One bad point is that the radio is being a tt so i need a new one, don't want anything tacky though , so not sure what to do. Every aftermarket stereo seems to be either covered in chrome or 1 million pounds

[jmflare]

New wheels are on. Just need to raise her up a bit to stop the tyre scraping the arch




Lots of other little jobs done recently too, new thermostat, gearknob, radio and wing mirror bases.

Edited by jmflare on Tuesday 8th April 15:10

[jmflare]

ManOpener said:

What wheels are they? I rather like them.

XXR 522, had to import them from the usa as they don't do the right pcd over here.

carpetsoiler said:

Those wheels are 'mazing! What've you done with the Contours..? Love Contours... a lot...

Keep up the good work. What's the economy like on a 318i? My dad's after an E36 Touring, he likes mine a lot but he's seen the OBC after I've been driving it...

The contours were only reps and also slightly tired so they went on ebay.

My 318is gets about 36 on the OBC, even though i drive everywhere chasing the limiter Think my 318i loon gets around the same too.

[jmflare]

DanielJames said:

Be careful with that steering wheel. I bent a cheap china dished one on my mate's E36.

Not a big fan of the wheels if I'm honest, and they don't seem to fit right?

Seems a lot of hassle for a 318, do you plan on sticking an M52 in it at some point?

This steering wheels fine, the one i bought for my trackcar wasn't though, i could easily bend it in my hands

How do you mean don't fit right? I have spacers at the front and a bigger offset wheel at the back to give them a little bit of poke, guess it's all subjective.

And no, i plan on a GKD supercharger kit, same horsepower as an M52 with an M50 manifold but lighter

After a wash...

[jmflare]

Black boot fitted, so less rust and a working lock Got my square plates on front and rear too.

[jmflare]

Another update, i'm really just procrastinating from revision though Got round to getting my M front lip with GT corner splitters on the car. I've also fitted a sunstrip, a mod straight from 1999 max power scene. I'm a big fan though, it gives a great hunkered down feeling when driving the car, especially with the race seat

Fitted a larger bored out throttle body a few weeks ago, it seems much more free revving now. Mid range torque has also noticeably increased. Should be even more effective when i finally get round to supercharging

LTW wing came in the post today so that should be on in a few days, and i'm winning another race seat on ebay so i'm going back to the stripped out with harnesses thing it had going on last summer.

Some recent pictures,

[jmflare]

Finally got my ABS Motorsports High-rise wing fitted. Its a bit rough as i've just rattled canned it for now, hopefully should be able to get both the wing and boot done professionally over summer. I'm happy with it for now , can't feel any downforce though

Really need to pull my finger out and get the Rtab polybushes fitted next. And save up for my supercharger, really wanting more power now Anyways some moody pics...

Edited by jmflare on Tuesday 20th May 21:51

[jmflare]

Just been round to see my friends recently purchased coupe, he's wanted one since i got mine and is now finally old enough to insure one. It's a 318is in Steel blue with dove leather interior, 90k and full service history. Really nice base to start from as there are little to no bodywork issues. We took some pics comparing both the cars on his drive... It won't be standard for long




My cars lost a fog light delete somewhere on the M6, keep a look out, instead of buying a new one i've bought some stuff to make a 2nd cold air feed from the fog hole, will put a few pictures up if it turns out well also recently added some little fins to the sides of the rear bumper, fk all point in them i just like how they look, well until i can afford a Mazda FD rear diffuser to retro-fit somehow.

[jmflare]

Plasti-dip'd the wheels orange, cool stuff, durable rubber paint that you can peel off if/when you get bored, expensive over this side of the pond though. Also tinted the rear lights completely red to reduce the amount of colours clashing at the rear of the car. I expect a few 'comments' about the wheels

Edited by jmflare on Thursday 5th June 18:16

Edited by jmflare on Thursday 5th June 18:17

[jmflare]

Well since my last post i've managed to get myself a full time placement for a year so funds have become available for me to throw at the car...

First i went and bought some proper coilovers, HSD Monopro's. They're absolutley amazing, handles so much better than it did on the Jom's, they were 5 times the price to be fair. So much more planted and responsive

Then ordered a Bride Halo racing seat and some Rota Rt-5's 10J rears and 9.5J fronts, haven't got them on yet as i need to get some nice overfenders first. I did trial fit them to see what they looked like though...

|http://thumbsnap.com/j0Hpl0XB[/url]

Currently have the whole rear subframe off, i've Black Polybushed everything in sight, subframe bushes, Rtabs and diff bushes. Also got some driftworks rear camber arms and braided brake lines fitted. Then ground the rust off everything and given everything a good coating of oxide primer. Oh and thrown in a welded diff for some fun




Just need to get her through her Mot next week

[jmflare]

jonah35 said:

I liked the bit where you said you liked it was standard and original. Then you changed the plate, then the car has been modified.

Couldn't you have bought a ready stripped one?

I liked the fact i was starting from scratch, not the fact it was actually standard and original...

[jmflare]

M3John said:

jmflare, how easy was it did you find to replace these as I've a full set of polybushes to go on the M3 and am thinking of doing it myself like you have in the picture - ie : on the floor.

Pretty easy mate and its the biggest job i've ever tackled on the car, all my bolts were rusty too. All the bushes that need to be removed to fit the powerflex kit can be removed with a drill and a hammer. I did it in my garage over a few weeks as its not my daily car so im in no hurry to get it finished. I reckon you could do it over a weekend if you wanted to.

The only problem i've got is that i've snapped one of the trailing arm bolts and i can't be arsed to fix it so i'm going to get the garage to remove it when they're doing the mot