1998 BMW E36 328i
Discussion
Picked up the 328 today after patiently waiting a week for Saturday to come round so I could collect her!
Shes a completely standard 1998 E36 with 157k miles and FSH.
Had a 170 mile trip home which was awesome, it's my first non 4 cylinedr car and love the purr-come growl of the straight six even if it isn't BMWs most potent version!
After 3 years in a company golf it feels amazing to be back in something RWD, but I'm yet to have a play going sideways, think I'll have a airfield day to learn it's on-limit handling.
Anyhow, some pictures:
The body is immaculate apart from 2 very small patches of bubbling on the boot lid, I think I'll get these looked at:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
But all in all a very happy chappy :-D
Shes a completely standard 1998 E36 with 157k miles and FSH.
Had a 170 mile trip home which was awesome, it's my first non 4 cylinedr car and love the purr-come growl of the straight six even if it isn't BMWs most potent version!
After 3 years in a company golf it feels amazing to be back in something RWD, but I'm yet to have a play going sideways, think I'll have a airfield day to learn it's on-limit handling.
Anyhow, some pictures:
The body is immaculate apart from 2 very small patches of bubbling on the boot lid, I think I'll get these looked at:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
But all in all a very happy chappy :-D
Edited by Jakestar on Saturday 16th February 22:51
Welcome to the club. 
Any plans for it? They go on forever if looked after- change the oil every 6-8k, coolant flush around once a year, and enjoy it. They're brilliant cars, very friendly to push into oversteer. I'd highly recommend popping an M50 intake manifold on- check out the difference in port sizes and you'll see why:
M50 325i intake on the left, M52 328i intake on the right. That's why the 328i only has 1bhp more than the 325i.
really opens the engine up above 4k, sounds absolutely brilliant (especially coupled with a heatshielded open-cone system), and it's made my car more fuel-efficient.
Any plans for it? They go on forever if looked after- change the oil every 6-8k, coolant flush around once a year, and enjoy it. They're brilliant cars, very friendly to push into oversteer. I'd highly recommend popping an M50 intake manifold on- check out the difference in port sizes and you'll see why:
M50 325i intake on the left, M52 328i intake on the right. That's why the 328i only has 1bhp more than the 325i.
really opens the engine up above 4k, sounds absolutely brilliant (especially coupled with a heatshielded open-cone system), and it's made my car more fuel-efficient.
Thanks for all the replies.
To answer a few questions, I'll be keeping her standard for a while and just enjoying her but in the future I do intend to fit a M50 manifold with bigger bore throttle bodies (hopefully get the kit from Alpina527 as I'm keen to keep it OEM looking outside and in).
The current alloys are 15"! I am thinking of fitting a set of 16" OEM style 32s as I think it'll set the car off nicely.
Aside from that, the headlamp lenses have some condensation so that needs looking at and sort the small patches of paint bubbling on the boot lid and that's about it!
I;m moving up to MK next week so lots of roundabouts to practice on!! Shes booked into M-Tek for a once over to make sure nothing urgent needs doing, I don't think the coolant has been changed for more than a year so I'll get that refreshed, and I need to do some research to find out if it's got a plastic water pump empellar. Apart from hopefully nothing major will be needed.
To answer a few questions, I'll be keeping her standard for a while and just enjoying her but in the future I do intend to fit a M50 manifold with bigger bore throttle bodies (hopefully get the kit from Alpina527 as I'm keen to keep it OEM looking outside and in).
The current alloys are 15"! I am thinking of fitting a set of 16" OEM style 32s as I think it'll set the car off nicely.
Aside from that, the headlamp lenses have some condensation so that needs looking at and sort the small patches of paint bubbling on the boot lid and that's about it!
I;m moving up to MK next week so lots of roundabouts to practice on!! Shes booked into M-Tek for a once over to make sure nothing urgent needs doing, I don't think the coolant has been changed for more than a year so I'll get that refreshed, and I need to do some research to find out if it's got a plastic water pump empellar. Apart from hopefully nothing major will be needed.
Jakestar said:
Thanks for all the replies.
To answer a few questions, I'll be keeping her standard for a while and just enjoying her but in the future I do intend to fit a M50 manifold with bigger bore throttle bodies (hopefully get the kit from Alpina527 as I'm keen to keep it OEM looking outside and in).
The current alloys are 15"! I am thinking of fitting a set of 16" OEM style 32s as I think it'll set the car off nicely.
Aside from that, the headlamp lenses have some condensation so that needs looking at and sort the small patches of paint bubbling on the boot lid and that's about it!
I;m moving up to MK next week so lots of roundabouts to practice on!! Shes booked into M-Tek for a once over to make sure nothing urgent needs doing, I don't think the coolant has been changed for more than a year so I'll get that refreshed, and I need to do some research to find out if it's got a plastic water pump empellar. Apart from hopefully nothing major will be needed.
When I owned a BMW, I looked at the Roadfly websites for advice on home repairs. It was an absolutely fantastic technical resource, I rarely had an issue that couldn't be fixed using the pretty well written/photographed advice on that site. I admire those that carry out high quality diy repair on fairly complex vehicles, then go to the bother of showing others how it's done!To answer a few questions, I'll be keeping her standard for a while and just enjoying her but in the future I do intend to fit a M50 manifold with bigger bore throttle bodies (hopefully get the kit from Alpina527 as I'm keen to keep it OEM looking outside and in).
The current alloys are 15"! I am thinking of fitting a set of 16" OEM style 32s as I think it'll set the car off nicely.
Aside from that, the headlamp lenses have some condensation so that needs looking at and sort the small patches of paint bubbling on the boot lid and that's about it!
I;m moving up to MK next week so lots of roundabouts to practice on!! Shes booked into M-Tek for a once over to make sure nothing urgent needs doing, I don't think the coolant has been changed for more than a year so I'll get that refreshed, and I need to do some research to find out if it's got a plastic water pump empellar. Apart from hopefully nothing major will be needed.
Took a pic as she hit a milestone:
Running like a dream it has to be said.
1 point I'm interested to know, whats the clutch's expected life span? There is no history of a new clutch being fitted so I have to assume she's on her original, however there is no sign of it wearing out! The clutch seems perfect but it surprises me having being used for 160k!!
Running like a dream it has to be said.
1 point I'm interested to know, whats the clutch's expected life span? There is no history of a new clutch being fitted so I have to assume she's on her original, however there is no sign of it wearing out! The clutch seems perfect but it surprises me having being used for 160k!!
Nice OP, mine was on 220k when I sold it, it ran like a sewing machine, the reason I am posting though is your temperature gauge is high, it should be smack on the middle, there are a couple of thing you need to do on this car, that is waterpump and thermostat plus housing, if you overheat it ,it will kill the engine, I have to say it is a lovely looking original example, enjoy
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