My Avus Blue E36 328i
Discussion
So back in the early part of 2003 my best mate called me to tell me that he'd bought a new car. I was playing around with fixing a PC at the time. I asked what it was, he said a BMW 3-series. I asked was it an M3? His answer "Almost!"
Just over a year ago he told me he was going to sell it, and finally after years of reminding him that I should have first refusal on the thing I bought it off him for the princely sum of £750.
The issues? Well, no MOT and no tax would be the obvious ones. The interior is also a bit tatty, but that didn't bother me too much as I'm planning on using it as a toy / track car, but trying to keep the look as stock as possible as I think it's one of the best looking cars of the era.
The MOT looks like it might be quite pricey to put right as the brake lines (both of the rear to front) are spent, plus it needs new pads and discs all round, but I'm not too worried as I was going to replace these anyway. It might be that I'll end up spending the purchase price again on getting it right and using the bits that I want to use. So for £1500 I will have a sorted little car, so not too bad in my eyes.
The engine still idles really nicely and it pulls through the gears well, so I'm quite looking forward to getting it legal and drivable again (the brakes are comical at the moment!). The interior has a few rips, the back seats have two deep cuts and the armrest has the best piece of interior wear ever. Essentially where my mate used to lean as he drove, his elbow wore a hole in the leather on the armrest
Here are a couple of poor snaps in parked up (excuse the state of the driveway!)
I've also been doing a little research on the car and found that the VIN code suggests that these are the options. The one that I would like to find out more about would be S767A Performance Package, does anybody know what that means?
S214A Automatic stability control (ASC + T)
S246A Steering column adjustment mechanically
S285A BMW LA wheel BMW Styling
S410A Power windows front
S465A Through-loading system
S510A Headlight range control
S520A Fog lights
S542A Check Control
S853A English language version
Optional Equipment
S314A Door mirror / driver's lock, heated
P337A M Sports package
S428A Warning triangle and first aid kit
S431A Automatically dimming interior mirror
S441A Smoking package
S473A Front armrest
S481A Sport Seat
S498A Headrests, rear, Mechanically adjustable
S528A Auto-recirculation control
S534A Automatic air conditioning
S554A On-board computer V with remote control
S669A Radio BMW Business RDS
S694A Provisions for BMW 6 CD changer
S704A M sport suspension
S710A M leather steering wheel
S767A Performance Package
S785A White direction indicator lights
S786A Action pack for 17 "wheels
L812A National version England / Ireland
S850A Additional Export tank filling
S863A Retailer Directory Europe
S880A On-board vehicle English literature
S962A Elimination front license plate holder
Just over a year ago he told me he was going to sell it, and finally after years of reminding him that I should have first refusal on the thing I bought it off him for the princely sum of £750.
The issues? Well, no MOT and no tax would be the obvious ones. The interior is also a bit tatty, but that didn't bother me too much as I'm planning on using it as a toy / track car, but trying to keep the look as stock as possible as I think it's one of the best looking cars of the era.
The MOT looks like it might be quite pricey to put right as the brake lines (both of the rear to front) are spent, plus it needs new pads and discs all round, but I'm not too worried as I was going to replace these anyway. It might be that I'll end up spending the purchase price again on getting it right and using the bits that I want to use. So for £1500 I will have a sorted little car, so not too bad in my eyes.
The engine still idles really nicely and it pulls through the gears well, so I'm quite looking forward to getting it legal and drivable again (the brakes are comical at the moment!). The interior has a few rips, the back seats have two deep cuts and the armrest has the best piece of interior wear ever. Essentially where my mate used to lean as he drove, his elbow wore a hole in the leather on the armrest
Here are a couple of poor snaps in parked up (excuse the state of the driveway!)
I've also been doing a little research on the car and found that the VIN code suggests that these are the options. The one that I would like to find out more about would be S767A Performance Package, does anybody know what that means?
S214A Automatic stability control (ASC + T)
S246A Steering column adjustment mechanically
S285A BMW LA wheel BMW Styling
S410A Power windows front
S465A Through-loading system
S510A Headlight range control
S520A Fog lights
S542A Check Control
S853A English language version
Optional Equipment
S314A Door mirror / driver's lock, heated
P337A M Sports package
S428A Warning triangle and first aid kit
S431A Automatically dimming interior mirror
S441A Smoking package
S473A Front armrest
S481A Sport Seat
S498A Headrests, rear, Mechanically adjustable
S528A Auto-recirculation control
S534A Automatic air conditioning
S554A On-board computer V with remote control
S669A Radio BMW Business RDS
S694A Provisions for BMW 6 CD changer
S704A M sport suspension
S710A M leather steering wheel
S767A Performance Package
S785A White direction indicator lights
S786A Action pack for 17 "wheels
L812A National version England / Ireland
S850A Additional Export tank filling
S863A Retailer Directory Europe
S880A On-board vehicle English literature
S962A Elimination front license plate holder
getawayturtle said:
Welcome to the 328 clan. Looks like it will be a good one when it's sorted, body looks to be in good shape. How are the arches?
Great colour, reminds me of rossis one. (I forget his exact PH name)
Now get the M50 manifold conversion in the works
Im Here Great colour, reminds me of rossis one. (I forget his exact PH name)
Now get the M50 manifold conversion in the works
Great to see another sport being rescued. Got to love Avus.
Here mines, Welcome to the Sport club.
Cracking motors in every way.
WeirdNeville said:
An independent specialist did my rear brake lines for £340 all in. I considered that money well spent after looking into the complexity of it as a diyjob.
I'd advise against driving it if you know the rear lines are marginal, you go from brakes working to no brakes at all in a single press of the pedal.
I've got a decent local firm doing it, with the MOT out at the moment it's not going anywhere, so I should be ok. It's lucky the MOT had expired as I'm not sure that sort of thing would have been spotted otherwise.I'd advise against driving it if you know the rear lines are marginal, you go from brakes working to no brakes at all in a single press of the pedal.
So, I thought I should update this thread with a few words and pictures
The last 6 months or so haven't been the smoothest, so work on the car has taken a back seat. However, I've tried to keep it moving forward as it needed an MOT, which didn't start very well as the battery was dead.
Cue it's younger brother coming along to help out. The main issue being that the battery was utterly borked. I had to stop for fuel on the way to the MOT station and even after 20 minutes of running, the car wouldn't restart. The RAC man who turned up timed his arrival perfectly! So the MOT station said that I needed a new battery and wouldn't test the car, as it wouldn't start. New battery acquired, and popped home to fit it. Small issue, the old battery came out a little easy. Turns out that it wasn't being held in by anything, the boot floor was a little. How do you say. Rusty.
This is looking up at the underneath of the car.
So a new plan was needed, I put a call into a mate I knew had bought a welder and was itching to use it. Perfect I thought, just a quick trip to the MOT station next to him for a test and take it from there. Popped the car up on jacks to get on with changing the brakes.
Upon removing the battery (again) and poking at the floor of the car with a stick, things didn't look good.
The floor pretty much feel away, which isn't ideal when trying to support the battery. We think that a previous battery has leaked in the car as the way it's eaten though the metal wasn't suggestive of it being water damage. So a new plate was welded in and we got discussing the plans for the car as the new yellow stuff pads and fancy disks went on (with a little effort!). On seeing that the car now had a patch on metal in the boot, we came up with a plan. Strip it, build a cage and sort it for track use. On a budget of course...
Anyway a few bits and pieces were ordered
We discussed what I thought would be the best route to take with the car, this was pretty much ignored and my mate set about stripping it bare, chucking in loads of bright green metal!
The surgery begins
An engine brace
from underneath
Then a strut for the top of the engine bay
and the inside is a little different then when it first arrived with him;
I'm not sure how full the cage is going to be, or when he's planning on spraying that bright green either!
Other mods that have gone on are the ubiquitous 325i manifold, plus I think he might be sourcing a diff, plus a custom exhaust is being made and it's being remapped. So the plan from a new set of brakes and repairing the hole in the floor have changed a little you could say.
I have no idea how it will drive, when it will be ready or what the project will be like at the end, but I'm in no rush as I can't really use it until the end of July! So it should be good.
I'll try and keep the thread updated when I have some news
The last 6 months or so haven't been the smoothest, so work on the car has taken a back seat. However, I've tried to keep it moving forward as it needed an MOT, which didn't start very well as the battery was dead.
Cue it's younger brother coming along to help out. The main issue being that the battery was utterly borked. I had to stop for fuel on the way to the MOT station and even after 20 minutes of running, the car wouldn't restart. The RAC man who turned up timed his arrival perfectly! So the MOT station said that I needed a new battery and wouldn't test the car, as it wouldn't start. New battery acquired, and popped home to fit it. Small issue, the old battery came out a little easy. Turns out that it wasn't being held in by anything, the boot floor was a little. How do you say. Rusty.
This is looking up at the underneath of the car.
So a new plan was needed, I put a call into a mate I knew had bought a welder and was itching to use it. Perfect I thought, just a quick trip to the MOT station next to him for a test and take it from there. Popped the car up on jacks to get on with changing the brakes.
Upon removing the battery (again) and poking at the floor of the car with a stick, things didn't look good.
The floor pretty much feel away, which isn't ideal when trying to support the battery. We think that a previous battery has leaked in the car as the way it's eaten though the metal wasn't suggestive of it being water damage. So a new plate was welded in and we got discussing the plans for the car as the new yellow stuff pads and fancy disks went on (with a little effort!). On seeing that the car now had a patch on metal in the boot, we came up with a plan. Strip it, build a cage and sort it for track use. On a budget of course...
Anyway a few bits and pieces were ordered
We discussed what I thought would be the best route to take with the car, this was pretty much ignored and my mate set about stripping it bare, chucking in loads of bright green metal!
The surgery begins
An engine brace
from underneath
Then a strut for the top of the engine bay
and the inside is a little different then when it first arrived with him;
I'm not sure how full the cage is going to be, or when he's planning on spraying that bright green either!
Other mods that have gone on are the ubiquitous 325i manifold, plus I think he might be sourcing a diff, plus a custom exhaust is being made and it's being remapped. So the plan from a new set of brakes and repairing the hole in the floor have changed a little you could say.
I have no idea how it will drive, when it will be ready or what the project will be like at the end, but I'm in no rush as I can't really use it until the end of July! So it should be good.
I'll try and keep the thread updated when I have some news
getawayturtle said:
f
k me 
That floor pan!
Starting to look good though, the car will be a hoot to drive with all that powerflex goodness & the new manifold on it, even more so with an LSD
Yeah, it's not the best is it! We think it has to be the acid from the battery. I can't imagine that water would do that. k me That floor pan!Starting to look good though, the car will be a hoot to drive with all that powerflex goodness & the new manifold on it, even more so with an LSD
I'll keep the thread up to date as to how I get on with them, they have been put on and at their highest they have dropped the ride height by 35mm!
The original shocks:
Old vs New
New ones one with the uprated pads and disks, we have left the original callipers on as we never thought we were going to go this far, maybe one day the E46 330i stoppers will appear under here:
The manifold and BTB being fitted:
The front of the cage, I'm leaving the dash in as I wanted some form of comfort left in as we originally thought it was also going to serve as a road trip / fast road car!
The original shocks:
Old vs New
New ones one with the uprated pads and disks, we have left the original callipers on as we never thought we were going to go this far, maybe one day the E46 330i stoppers will appear under here:
The manifold and BTB being fitted:
The front of the cage, I'm leaving the dash in as I wanted some form of comfort left in as we originally thought it was also going to serve as a road trip / fast road car!
Holy threadbump Batman! You could say progress has been slow, I prefer to say it's been careful, although I've been so busy wouldn't have been able to do anything with it! However, the thing is about to be taxed and dragged kicking and screaming around a couple of tracks this summer.
10351336_10153641861289046_7713547158570685116_n (1) by cloud34.com, on Flickr
The cage being resprayed
Snotty nose by cloud34.com, on Flickr
The snotty nose
M50 manifold replacement by cloud34.com, on Flickr
The manifold going on
M50 manifold replacement by cloud34.com, on Flickr
M50 Manifold in place
10351336_10153641861289046_7713547158570685116_n (1) by cloud34.com, on FlickrThe cage being resprayed
Snotty nose by cloud34.com, on FlickrThe snotty nose
M50 manifold replacement by cloud34.com, on FlickrThe manifold going on
M50 manifold replacement by cloud34.com, on FlickrM50 Manifold in place
I've done the power flex bushes and HSDs on my 3.0 m3. The handling is sublime and not too harsh on road. Good choices and nice project. Didn't notice whether you've got an LSD. I'll have a medium case 315 at some point when I finally get round to rebuilding my spare with a 364 in it.
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