E36 328, soft top, £575, What's the worst that could happen?
Discussion
So what would possess me to do this? A bit of a story is needed....
For the last couple of years I've been driving a V8 Audi S6 Avant (Thread HERE). It was bought as a family car for our boy and 2 dogs, that could still put a smile on my face while the wife pottered around in a little 3 door Vauxhall Corsa. Since then (now with two children) my wife wanted something bigger and ended up in a Discovery 2. We don't need 2 big cars so I've decided to take the chance to move on into something smaller (although still with 4 seats), more fun, and to scratch a soft top itch while I'm at it.
"But the Audi will sell for a few grand, why not buy a nice condition sport or even an M3?" I hear you ask...
I did originally set out with a budget of £2,000-£2,500 to buy something nice, But M3s are out of that budget and trying to find an E36 328 convertible sport with a manual gearbox that is still in respectable nick is next to impossible. After a few months of watching the market and going to see a couple of disappointing cars I decided I'd have to widen my net.
Then a few weeks ago I spotted a car on ebay (other auction sites are available) only half an hour from home. It wasn't a sport, had no MOT, very little tax and it looked bad in the pictures. But it had the right engine and gearbox, good spec with reasonable miles on it, and was still sat at it's £500 start with a day to go so it gave me an idea. If I can't find a good one, Why not make a good one myself? If I could get it cheep enough to make it worth my while and the mechanicals were good, I'd have the rest of the budget to bring it up to standard and I'd have done it myself so i'd know it's done right.
I organised to view it around the same time the auction finished. It looked like it did in the pictures, rough, but I took it for a drive an it felt lovely and tight and pulled well. I checked everything else over including the roof which although in very bad condition went up and down fine. I decided I'd have it as long as the price was right and actually ended up finishing the auction in the sellers kitchen while we had a brew. I won the auction at £575.09 and after a quick trip to the cash point I was on my way home with one of the worst used cars I've bought since the little rotten 1.25ltr Fiesta when I was 17, and a massive grin
So here she is.
bad roof:
Good strong 328 motor. MAF to throttle body intake pipe needs replacing
Manual with climate/aircon and full working 18 button OBC, but mucky interior and worn drivers bolster/gear knob.
102k on the clock which is good but front pads and discs need doing for MOT.
Nearly full tool kit (missing one spanner) but locking latch is broken
BMW torch present
More keys than I think I've ever got with a used car. All locks/ignition match, fobs didn't work when viewing but with new batteries they are fine
And lastly parked with the family Discovery and the soon to depart Audi
For the last couple of years I've been driving a V8 Audi S6 Avant (Thread HERE). It was bought as a family car for our boy and 2 dogs, that could still put a smile on my face while the wife pottered around in a little 3 door Vauxhall Corsa. Since then (now with two children) my wife wanted something bigger and ended up in a Discovery 2. We don't need 2 big cars so I've decided to take the chance to move on into something smaller (although still with 4 seats), more fun, and to scratch a soft top itch while I'm at it.
"But the Audi will sell for a few grand, why not buy a nice condition sport or even an M3?" I hear you ask...
I did originally set out with a budget of £2,000-£2,500 to buy something nice, But M3s are out of that budget and trying to find an E36 328 convertible sport with a manual gearbox that is still in respectable nick is next to impossible. After a few months of watching the market and going to see a couple of disappointing cars I decided I'd have to widen my net.
Then a few weeks ago I spotted a car on ebay (other auction sites are available) only half an hour from home. It wasn't a sport, had no MOT, very little tax and it looked bad in the pictures. But it had the right engine and gearbox, good spec with reasonable miles on it, and was still sat at it's £500 start with a day to go so it gave me an idea. If I can't find a good one, Why not make a good one myself? If I could get it cheep enough to make it worth my while and the mechanicals were good, I'd have the rest of the budget to bring it up to standard and I'd have done it myself so i'd know it's done right.
I organised to view it around the same time the auction finished. It looked like it did in the pictures, rough, but I took it for a drive an it felt lovely and tight and pulled well. I checked everything else over including the roof which although in very bad condition went up and down fine. I decided I'd have it as long as the price was right and actually ended up finishing the auction in the sellers kitchen while we had a brew. I won the auction at £575.09 and after a quick trip to the cash point I was on my way home with one of the worst used cars I've bought since the little rotten 1.25ltr Fiesta when I was 17, and a massive grin
So here she is.
bad roof:
Good strong 328 motor. MAF to throttle body intake pipe needs replacing
Manual with climate/aircon and full working 18 button OBC, but mucky interior and worn drivers bolster/gear knob.
102k on the clock which is good but front pads and discs need doing for MOT.
Nearly full tool kit (missing one spanner) but locking latch is broken
BMW torch present
More keys than I think I've ever got with a used car. All locks/ignition match, fobs didn't work when viewing but with new batteries they are fine
And lastly parked with the family Discovery and the soon to depart Audi
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 19:33
sprouting said:
Nice couple of threads there, makes a good read. Look forward to reading your progress with this.
Here's a site that might help if you haven't already found it, http://www.e36coupe.com/forum/
And was the Disco a bogof offer. Needs a journal of its own.
Thanks, The Disco has had plenty of work done since we bought it (modifications not repairs) so I may put a thread up for it later. The second Disco in the background was a scrapper bought for parts and then weighed in.Here's a site that might help if you haven't already found it, http://www.e36coupe.com/forum/
And was the Disco a bogof offer. Needs a journal of its own.
n3il123 said:
Nice
If thats the worst used car you've brought you've been lucky!
I Thought it was when I drove it back but to be honest when I think harder about my car history It isn't alone.If thats the worst used car you've brought you've been lucky!
The Disco mentioned above was bought with a hole in the side of the Auto Box.
My old Astra, although it was mint with a 370bhp rebuilt 2ltr Cavalier turbo engine when finished, was bought as a 1.6 GS with velour interior.
My wifes old Corsa was bought cheap with a blown head gasket deliberately to fix.
I'm actually making a habit of buying cars no one wants! No wonder my wife gets the hump
Edited by JordanTurbo on Thursday 31st July 13:09
First modification made today. Swapped the horrible bright silver and blue Sony headunit for a spare Pioneer unit I had in the garage. Looks much better and has adjustable colour buttons/display so matches the dash illumination perfectly
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 19:34
Cheers guys.
Yes that is lumbar support. I didn't realise it was that rare though, bonus.
Was in town today so picked up a few bits.
When I got back I jacked her up to see what is needed for the MOT. Front pads need doing as per dash light and discs are looking past it so will be replaced too. The rear brakes are fine. Apart from that the only thing I've found is the outer ball joint on the near side front wishbone has play in it.
So I've ordered some bits for it as follows.
Yes that is lumbar support. I didn't realise it was that rare though, bonus.
Was in town today so picked up a few bits.
- Genuine BMW intake pipe
- Bosch oil, fuel and air filters
- pollen filter (not fussed about make as it's only filtering air for me)
- 6 NGK spark plugs
- 8 litres of 5w40 fully synthetic oil
- fresh coolent to do a drain and refill
When I got back I jacked her up to see what is needed for the MOT. Front pads need doing as per dash light and discs are looking past it so will be replaced too. The rear brakes are fine. Apart from that the only thing I've found is the outer ball joint on the near side front wishbone has play in it.
So I've ordered some bits for it as follows.
- Lemforder E30 front wish bones both sides.
- Meyle HD Front ARB drop links (worth doing whilst the wishbones are off)
- Brembo OEM spec front discs.
- EBC yellow stuff front pads.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 19:36
carpetsoiler said:
Other things worth keeping an eye on: radiator, water pump, viscous fan and thermostat. They fitted the M52 with a fairly crappy rad which is prone to bowing/bulging/cracking, and worth replacing. The water pump came with a plastic impeller, and around the 100k mark they're known to just disintegrate into the engine, leaving you with a very dead and irreparable M52 engine (they really don't like being overheated). You can replace it with a metal impeller version, which is fairly cheap and straightforward to do. Thermostats are an 'easy come, easy go' kind of thing, but relatively easy to change. Viscous fan clutches can lock up, leading to a fan that does 0-60 when you do... and then disintegrates, sending large chunks of plastic into all sorts of places- through the bonnet (yes, you read that right), into the rad, through cooling pipes...
I have read about the temperamental cooling system on these. I'm probably going to upgrade to a metal impeller water pump while the coolant is out. I'm undecided whether to replace the plastic thermostat housing with a metal one at the same time, I think I'll leave it as is for now as its not leaking and do it when I Invariably replace the radiator at a later date.As for the viscous fan, I'll replace it for a thermostatically controlled electric one at some point.
carpetsoiler said:
What are your plans, to take it back to as OEM as possible, or lightly breathe on it?
The plan right now is to get her MOT'd, back on the road and running reliably. Then have the roof fabric/window replaced.More long term will be to take a lightly modified route while looking as OEM as possible. Main mods will be:
- Sport/M3 bumpers
- Find a Hard top for winter
- Replace worn front seats
- Replace all grey plastics, dashboard and carpet with black items
- OEM 17" alloys (currently liking staggered style 32s or some e34 throwing stars)
- LSD with a shorter gear ratio
- New suspension but not a massive drop, probably Bilstein B12 kit with M3 top mounts and offset lollipop bushes
- M50 manifold with Dave-f style filter and remap
Edited by JordanTurbo on Sunday 3rd August 19:04
Few bits done today.
Fitted new intake pipe, air filter and removed the restrictor from the air box.
Also fitted the new pollen filter. The filter I removed was the original 16 year/100,000 mile one. I know as the replacement has to be "snapped" in two places to fit in situ and this one wasn't until I did it to remove it. I couldnt believe the amount of crap/leaves/bugs that came out with it.
Fitted new intake pipe, air filter and removed the restrictor from the air box.
Also fitted the new pollen filter. The filter I removed was the original 16 year/100,000 mile one. I know as the replacement has to be "snapped" in two places to fit in situ and this one wasn't until I did it to remove it. I couldnt believe the amount of crap/leaves/bugs that came out with it.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 19:38
Update from the last few days.
Started fitting the new bits on Wednesday. The weather was miserable but I wasn't going to let that stop play, so out with the tent.
Here is my make-shift press for fitting the new rear bushes onto the wishbones, big heavy work bench plus a socket and bottle jack.
Wishbones, lollipops and drop links fitted.
Discs and pads fitted.
Then off for MOT today which it obviously passed. Only one advisory for a faded rear number plate but I'll be putting my private plate across once I get the full V5 back anyway. A quick trip to the direct-gov website to sort road tax and she's back on the road!
Decided to treat her to some Liquid leather to celebrate.
Did a quick 50/50 on the drivers seat to test. Obviously it can't remove the cracks but Imm well pleased with the colour difference! Will update again once I've done the rest of the interior
Started fitting the new bits on Wednesday. The weather was miserable but I wasn't going to let that stop play, so out with the tent
.Here is my make-shift press for fitting the new rear bushes onto the wishbones, big heavy work bench plus a socket and bottle jack.
Wishbones, lollipops and drop links fitted.
Discs and pads fitted.
Then off for MOT today which it obviously passed. Only one advisory for a faded rear number plate but I'll be putting my private plate across once I get the full V5 back anyway. A quick trip to the direct-gov website to sort road tax and she's back on the road!
Decided to treat her to some Liquid leather to celebrate.
Did a quick 50/50 on the drivers seat to test. Obviously it can't remove the cracks but Imm well pleased with the colour difference! Will update again once I've done the rest of the interior
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 19:39
Update from yesterday.
Did the remaining parts of the full engine service including replacement of the water pump.
Had a helper to speed things up. Proper petrol head in training.
Old plugs looked good.
Was surprised to find I already had a metal impeller water pump even though it was stamped BMW. I fitted the new one anyway along with new drive belts and coolant.
Lastly I reset the service light using the paperclip method so I'm back to 5 green lights
Did the remaining parts of the full engine service including replacement of the water pump.
Had a helper to speed things up. Proper petrol head in training
.Old plugs looked good.
Was surprised to find I already had a metal impeller water pump even though it was stamped BMW. I fitted the new one anyway along with new drive belts and coolant.
Lastly I reset the service light using the paperclip method so I'm back to 5 green lights
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 19:42
Bit of an update, been playing with the exhaust
As you may know, the standard exhaust on the 328 is valved. The valve stays closed until 3.5k revs and opens above that giving a nicer sound.
A popular modification is the "golf tee" which involves removing and plugging the vacume line to the valve and thereby keeping it open all the time.
I have done the above mod which is great but wanted some more. Searching has revealed people, mainly in the US, that have opened the back box up and removed the pipework to make it a straight through system like below. (Not a 328 box but you get the idea)
I decided to take it a step further and be a bit smarter about what I remove.
Removed my rear box and opened it up like so.
Looking at the pipework, it works like this:
I decided to remove the section of pipe between the dashed white lines in the picture below so that when the valve is open gasses can exit straight out of the back of the box.
The idea being that the exhaust sound should be improved, while leaving the "valve closed" sound relatively unaffected as it still has to go through all the other pipework.
Got the box welded up by a mate.
Refitted with the vacuum pipe connected as standard.
I then located the butterfly control solenoid under the boot carpet and interrupted the power feed to it.
The two wires were then fed through to the center console and connected to an on/off switch which means the exhaust can be switched between quiet and loud when ever I choose.
The above switch is only a cheap temporary one to test how well the exhaust works. I plan to change it for a BMW Harmon kardon switch like this (with the "hifi" wording blacked out)
The end result is quite good I think. The standard sound hasn't been effected at all but the "valve open" sound has been made quite a bit louder. Lot's better than just the "golf tee" mod on it's own. A little on the raspy side for my liking but maybe that's just me being used to a 4.2 V8. I may pop it open again and adjust it to make it a bit deeper but for now I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Well worth it
As you may know, the standard exhaust on the 328 is valved. The valve stays closed until 3.5k revs and opens above that giving a nicer sound.
A popular modification is the "golf tee" which involves removing and plugging the vacume line to the valve and thereby keeping it open all the time.
I have done the above mod which is great but wanted some more. Searching has revealed people, mainly in the US, that have opened the back box up and removed the pipework to make it a straight through system like below. (Not a 328 box but you get the idea)
I decided to take it a step further and be a bit smarter about what I remove.
Removed my rear box and opened it up like so.
Looking at the pipework, it works like this:
- Valve closed - air takes a long trip round the box.
- Valve opened - air can take a more direct route.
I decided to remove the section of pipe between the dashed white lines in the picture below so that when the valve is open gasses can exit straight out of the back of the box.
The idea being that the exhaust sound should be improved, while leaving the "valve closed" sound relatively unaffected as it still has to go through all the other pipework.
Got the box welded up by a mate.
Refitted with the vacuum pipe connected as standard.
I then located the butterfly control solenoid under the boot carpet and interrupted the power feed to it.
The two wires were then fed through to the center console and connected to an on/off switch which means the exhaust can be switched between quiet and loud when ever I choose.
The above switch is only a cheap temporary one to test how well the exhaust works. I plan to change it for a BMW Harmon kardon switch like this (with the "hifi" wording blacked out)
The end result is quite good I think. The standard sound hasn't been effected at all but the "valve open" sound has been made quite a bit louder. Lot's better than just the "golf tee" mod on it's own. A little on the raspy side for my liking but maybe that's just me being used to a 4.2 V8. I may pop it open again and adjust it to make it a bit deeper but for now I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Well worth it
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 19:44
Big bill today, more than I payed for the car in the first place infact, but it's worth it
Had the soft top and duct tape rear "window" replaced by car hood warehouse in Chessington.
Before:
During (rubbish picture unfortunately):
After:
Decided to go for a black hood to match the bits I have planned in future. The new roof and particularly the new window lifts the whole car and makes it look so much nicer. It's nice being able to see where I've been too
I'm very happy with the quality of the work carried out. Dropped her off at 8am and went to get some breakfast down the road. The roof was done by 11 when I came back.
Had the soft top and duct tape rear "window" replaced by car hood warehouse in Chessington.
Before:
During (rubbish picture unfortunately):
After:
Decided to go for a black hood to match the bits I have planned in future. The new roof and particularly the new window lifts the whole car and makes it look so much nicer. It's nice being able to see where I've been too
I'm very happy with the quality of the work carried out. Dropped her off at 8am and went to get some breakfast down the road. The roof was done by 11 when I came back.
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 19:46
Max M4X WW said:
Looks loads better! I replaced a vinyl hood with mohair on an MX-5 I had a while back - transformed the car!
On another note, did I read somewhere that you were in the forces? Even more un-related, but just wondering where the pre-fab houses in your photos are as they are not very common and I'm lucky enough to live in one!
Cheers, it is a huge transformation. On another note, did I read somewhere that you were in the forces? Even more un-related, but just wondering where the pre-fab houses in your photos are as they are not very common and I'm lucky enough to live in one!
Yes I work in the army as an Aircraft engineer.
The pre-fabs are at the in-laws near Dorking in Surrey. I see from your profile you're in Haslemere
Edited by JordanTurbo on Sunday 24th August 07:37
Joe Sp said:
Was the headlining replaced with the hood? At some point I will need to get my hood replaced, the backing of my headlining is also disintegrating.
The headlining wasn't replaced. Mine isn't in that bad condition apart from the plastic "bat wing" and string on one side that need sorting but I'll do that myself.The sort of plastic backing on my headliner is also falling apart (understatement
) but when speaking to the guy that did the hood, he just suggested pulling it all off and getting rid for the good it does. He said the main problem it causes is bits of it falling off and blocking the drainage holes in the storage compartment.little update from this evening.
Since I bought the car the hood has suffered from the common tension strap problem. The elastic straps in the top stretch over time and can no longer pull the rear bow high enough to clear the tonneau cover when it raises.
Heres mine:
The offending strap (this should be in tension and tight in this position):
While out shopping at ASDA I spotted some cheap black elastic and thought I'd try it out for the job.
Old elastic cut out and new strip added. You'll see from the second picture that it's been wrapped round between bows 3 and 5 a few times. After some trial and error I found that 4 times (giving 8 strips) was the sweet spot between enough tension and not over stressing the front motor when it brings the front down.
Bow 5 is now pulled forward correctly allowing the rear of the top to be lifted fully vertical as it should.
Plenty of clearance now
And using flat elastic means no visible bumps in the top from the outside.
Headlining can go back in now
Since I bought the car the hood has suffered from the common tension strap problem. The elastic straps in the top stretch over time and can no longer pull the rear bow high enough to clear the tonneau cover when it raises.
Heres mine:
The offending strap (this should be in tension and tight in this position):
While out shopping at ASDA I spotted some cheap black elastic and thought I'd try it out for the job.
Old elastic cut out and new strip added. You'll see from the second picture that it's been wrapped round between bows 3 and 5 a few times. After some trial and error I found that 4 times (giving 8 strips) was the sweet spot between enough tension and not over stressing the front motor when it brings the front down.
Bow 5 is now pulled forward correctly allowing the rear of the top to be lifted fully vertical as it should.
Plenty of clearance now
And using flat elastic means no visible bumps in the top from the outside.
Headlining can go back in now
Edited by JordanTurbo on Friday 17th April 19:49
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