E36 BMW M3 Imola Individual
Discussion
Morning All,
My name is Stuart, and this is my M3. Long time lurker here but I will be on the scrounge for some advice in other areas soon so thought it would be polite to say hello!
A bit about the car:
I have owned this for about six years. I always wanted an E36 M3 since they came out. It was my daily driver until about three years ago, but it is more of an ornament these days. Daily duties are taken care of in a run of the mill E46 320d. Simple car but does me well.
Since owning the M3 I have done the usual servicing, common E36 problems sorted, brake light switch, climate panel, rear lamp seals, rear quarter seals. VANOS started playing up one day, this was traced to a broken solenoid wire, fairly easy fix.
Anyway, updates will be infrequent as the car is not used much.
Here is a recent photo. Again, photos are thin on the ground as it never often leaves the garage. There are hundreds of photos kicking about from when it was the daily.
Cheers
My name is Stuart, and this is my M3. Long time lurker here but I will be on the scrounge for some advice in other areas soon so thought it would be polite to say hello!
A bit about the car:
I have owned this for about six years. I always wanted an E36 M3 since they came out. It was my daily driver until about three years ago, but it is more of an ornament these days. Daily duties are taken care of in a run of the mill E46 320d. Simple car but does me well.
Since owning the M3 I have done the usual servicing, common E36 problems sorted, brake light switch, climate panel, rear lamp seals, rear quarter seals. VANOS started playing up one day, this was traced to a broken solenoid wire, fairly easy fix.
Anyway, updates will be infrequent as the car is not used much.
Here is a recent photo. Again, photos are thin on the ground as it never often leaves the garage. There are hundreds of photos kicking about from when it was the daily.
Cheers
aka_kerrly said:
fraser-1ugin said:
NOW THERES A M3, SHAME ABOUT THE BARRY BOY WHEELS
? Those wheels are AC Schnitzer, quite desirable and inkeeping with the E36 in my opinionThe red/alcantara interior is very nice!
OP. Great looking car
Thanks for the comments everyone!
The car is indeed an Evo/Imola individual, similar in a way to the original 3.0 GT Individual. More info on both versions can be found here:
http://www.m3gtregister.com/m3evoindividual.html
The credibility of the Evo version or as some people refer to them as the GT2, often divides opinion. Some see them as a rare, special version of an already pretty car with one of the best colour/interior combos available on the E36 with many optional extras. Some feel that because they do not have any performance upgrades over a standard M3 they are not a true GT, merely a cynical marketing ploy dreamed up by the BMW bean counters to create a "run out special", i.e a standard M3 painted a silly colour with a stupid wing on the back! You can probably guess which camp I'm in!
Re the wheels, part of the GT2 spec was to include Forged Motorsport wheels, so yes, to be completely original I would have to hunt down a set of those. However, it had Schnitzers on it when I bought it, which I like! I think I prefer the idea of a square set up anyway. I spoke to a guy at Rossiters to query the tyre size who seemed to think that the square set up suits the E36. That's good enough for me so they are here to stay!
The brakes: When I bought the car, it had yellow calipers, which I was not keen on. I would have preferred a standard, un-painted finish, so that presented me with a choice. Painting them a different coulour was probably a more sensible idea that attempting to strip them, so I decided to paint them red. Seemed a good idea at the time, maybe black may have been better. Anyway, annoyingly it needed a N/S/F caliper for this year's MOT, so this corner has a standard, un-painted caliper! Not sure whether to paint it or not yet! I may paint them all black or something if I can be arsed.
The exhaust: The car came with a Scorpion rear silencer, which I initially planned to change. However, this really grew on me so it stayed. Although now, I don't know if it has got louder over the years or I have just become old before my time but it seems really boomy now so I think I may change it sometime. Will look out for a reasonably priced good second hand exhaust.
Other than that, to "barry it up" a bit more I may go limo tints all round and a flamer kit ;-)
Cheers
The car is indeed an Evo/Imola individual, similar in a way to the original 3.0 GT Individual. More info on both versions can be found here:
http://www.m3gtregister.com/m3evoindividual.html
The credibility of the Evo version or as some people refer to them as the GT2, often divides opinion. Some see them as a rare, special version of an already pretty car with one of the best colour/interior combos available on the E36 with many optional extras. Some feel that because they do not have any performance upgrades over a standard M3 they are not a true GT, merely a cynical marketing ploy dreamed up by the BMW bean counters to create a "run out special", i.e a standard M3 painted a silly colour with a stupid wing on the back! You can probably guess which camp I'm in!
Re the wheels, part of the GT2 spec was to include Forged Motorsport wheels, so yes, to be completely original I would have to hunt down a set of those. However, it had Schnitzers on it when I bought it, which I like! I think I prefer the idea of a square set up anyway. I spoke to a guy at Rossiters to query the tyre size who seemed to think that the square set up suits the E36. That's good enough for me so they are here to stay!
The brakes: When I bought the car, it had yellow calipers, which I was not keen on. I would have preferred a standard, un-painted finish, so that presented me with a choice. Painting them a different coulour was probably a more sensible idea that attempting to strip them, so I decided to paint them red. Seemed a good idea at the time, maybe black may have been better. Anyway, annoyingly it needed a N/S/F caliper for this year's MOT, so this corner has a standard, un-painted caliper! Not sure whether to paint it or not yet! I may paint them all black or something if I can be arsed.
The exhaust: The car came with a Scorpion rear silencer, which I initially planned to change. However, this really grew on me so it stayed. Although now, I don't know if it has got louder over the years or I have just become old before my time but it seems really boomy now so I think I may change it sometime. Will look out for a reasonably priced good second hand exhaust.
Other than that, to "barry it up" a bit more I may go limo tints all round and a flamer kit ;-)
Cheers
e21Mark said:
Your car, your choice and that's what counts. 
What Mr. Mark said. TBH I wasn't massively keen on the wheels at first glance but they grew on me very quickly, with it clicking that they were AC Scnitzer items.It is looking lovely and it is looking like you bought the car at the right time as well.
Evening all,
Minor update, nothing too exciting.
Since the car was recommissioned in June this year it developed an annoying click from the clutch pedal. Then the last couple of times I drove the car I experienced the ever decreasing clutch pedal. It also started to drag quite badly when hot, so much so that it would crunch when trying to select reverse. The previous owner had already fitted a braided clutch line to prevent the usual spongy pedal when hot, so further investigation was required. Bit of googling suggested the click could be the pedal bushes, not so clear cut with the spongy pedal though. Seems 'they're all like that'.
I dropped the car to my mate who did the MOT and stuff on the car. He changed the pedal pivot bushes and guides, that cured the click a OK. No obvious fluid leaks anywhere and the system seemed to bleed up OK. Left over night, the spongy-ness came back. We wondered if the master cylinder was slowly starting to expire, so I took a punt and ordered one up. Fitted that and all seems as it should be. My mate kept saying he could have remapped it when it was with him, but I politely declined. A loud exhaust and LED side light bulbs is modified enough for me!
Anyway, so with the weather on the turn, It's looking unlikely I will get to drive it before the tax runs out at the end of the month. So it looks like it will be back in to hibernation until the Spring.
Cheers
Minor update, nothing too exciting.
Since the car was recommissioned in June this year it developed an annoying click from the clutch pedal. Then the last couple of times I drove the car I experienced the ever decreasing clutch pedal. It also started to drag quite badly when hot, so much so that it would crunch when trying to select reverse. The previous owner had already fitted a braided clutch line to prevent the usual spongy pedal when hot, so further investigation was required. Bit of googling suggested the click could be the pedal bushes, not so clear cut with the spongy pedal though. Seems 'they're all like that'.
I dropped the car to my mate who did the MOT and stuff on the car. He changed the pedal pivot bushes and guides, that cured the click a OK. No obvious fluid leaks anywhere and the system seemed to bleed up OK. Left over night, the spongy-ness came back. We wondered if the master cylinder was slowly starting to expire, so I took a punt and ordered one up. Fitted that and all seems as it should be. My mate kept saying he could have remapped it when it was with him, but I politely declined. A loud exhaust and LED side light bulbs is modified enough for me!
Anyway, so with the weather on the turn, It's looking unlikely I will get to drive it before the tax runs out at the end of the month. So it looks like it will be back in to hibernation until the Spring.
Cheers
LanceRS said:
Lovely car, what size tyres are you using?
Thanks for the nice comments, all.I'm using 225/40R18 square set up.
I spoke to Rossiters, who fitted the wheels and tyres for the previous owner. I seem to remember they also suggested 255 for the rear if you fancied staggered.
I decided to keep it square.
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