RE: Shed of the Week: BMW 328

[LukeDM]

They do make a decent drift car even if everyone moans about it

[rallycross]

LukeDM said:

They do make a decent drift car even if everyone moans about it

that thing looks like its less than one lap away from the crusher (extra drift buddy marks for trashing a car).

Edited by rallycross on Saturday 13th October 23:01

[s m]

SidewaysSi said:

vsonix said:

diathermy said:

No issues yet. Just front bushings need doing. It’s lowered and a bit too low for daily driving so may adjust that slightly once shocks changed. Looking forward to shorter shift - z3 shifter from what I hear and then new rubber and onto the track.

Z3M is the best shifter if you want a short shifter for E36. It's the shortest but is also weighted better for shift feel. Regular Z3 one isn't that much different when it comes to the point. A little shorter but hardly worth going to the expense & effort.

Yep this or I was thinking the UUC item with DSSR.

As for tuning upgrades, there seem to be lots of rubbish on eBay. I will sort something soon as I fancy spending a few grand on my car next year.

I think the E46 us a lot less fun than the '36 but that is personal preference. The newer car seems a lot more grown up and to be honest I have heard of too many cracked subframes on them to take the risk.

Yeah, I preferred my E36 328i to my 330 ......but I think my E46 Compact has the edge on them both for fun out the box. My favourite of all was still my old E21 323i - not fast compared to the aforementioned 3 ... but certainly fun!

[blade7]

SidewaysSi said:

As for tuning upgrades, there seem to be lots of rubbish on eBay. I will sort something soon as I fancy spending a few grand on my car next year.

I think the E46 us a lot less fun than the '36 but that is personal preference. The newer car seems a lot more grown up and to be honest I have heard of too many cracked subframes on them to take the risk

.

It didn't make sense to me to chuck money I'd never see again at a 328, when an M3 Evo or E46 M3 was the logical next step. I think it's the boot floor that cracks, not the subframe. And there's solutions for that issue.

[SidewaysSi]

blade7 said:

SidewaysSi said:

As for tuning upgrades, there seem to be lots of rubbish on eBay. I will sort something soon as I fancy spending a few grand on my car next year.

I think the E46 us a lot less fun than the '36 but that is personal preference. The newer car seems a lot more grown up and to be honest I have heard of too many cracked subframes on them to take the risk

.

It didn't make sense to me to chuck money I'd never see again at a 328, when an M3 Evo or E46 M3 was the logical next step. I think it's the boot floor that cracks, not the subframe. And there's solutions for that issue.

Yep I can see that. But in today's market I would need to spend £20-25k on an E46 M3 (car plus equivalent modifications) when I have my 328 at around the £8-10k mark. And there is a cable throttle and less complication.

And with the change, I would prefer to have a 996 in addition .

[blade7]

SidewaysSi said:

Yep I can see that. But in today's market I would need to spend £20-25k on an E46 M3 (car plus equivalent modifications) when I have my 328 at around the £8-10k mark. And there is a cable throttle and less complication.

And with the change, I would prefer to have a 996 in addition .

A quick look in the classifieds on here looks like they start from £8k. You wouldn't have to spend anything on modifying the engine. As for a cheap 996, I wouldn't.

[s m]

g3org3y said:

s m said:

daveco said:

These are still relatively quick by today's standards;

0-60: 6.8
0-100: 17
1/4: 14.7 seconds

AutoCar even managed 6.1 in the Touring

That's because the Touring is the best.

[deltashad]

Track car. 3 series. How cliche.
Maybe time to get a good one and look after it.
Soon they will all be basterdised lumps of scrap.

[markbmw]

blade7 said:

Not everyone knew the 525 one was the same when I found one in a scrappy, was a long time ago though. A guy called Alpina 527 used to sell everything needed to fit the manifold. I wouldn't take much notice of stories about a 328 staying with a fit M3 though.

Edited by blade7 on Friday 12th October 21:29

Wow that's a blast from the past. I bought the kit from him for the better halfs 323 coupe. After fitting, I thought it sounded throatier but no quicker. At the time my daily was an extremely fit m3 so possibly not the most objective opinion.

[Daniel1]

markbmw said:

blade7 said:

Not everyone knew the 525 one was the same when I found one in a scrappy, was a long time ago though. A guy called Alpina 527 used to sell everything needed to fit the manifold. I wouldn't take much notice of stories about a 328 staying with a fit M3 though.

Edited by blade7 on Friday 12th October 21:29

Wow that's a blast from the past. I bought the kit from him for the better halfs 323 coupe. After fitting, I thought it sounded throatier but no quicker. At the time my daily was an extremely fit m3 so possibly not the most objective opinion.

Me and a few mates went to a scrap yard was a 323i with an alpine 527 modified m50 manifold which I managed to get for £20 quid. They were £400 at the time! Made sure I got all the modified little brackets and made a huge difference to my 328i. Zinged all the way to the limiter where as before it ran out of puff at about 5.5-6k.

Transformed the car imo

[SidewaysSi]

blade7 said:

SidewaysSi said:

Yep I can see that. But in today's market I would need to spend £20-25k on an E46 M3 (car plus equivalent modifications) when I have my 328 at around the £8-10k mark. And there is a cable throttle and less complication.

And with the change, I would prefer to have a 996 in addition .

quick look in the classifieds on here looks like they start from £8k. You wouldn't have to spend anything on modifying the engine. As for a cheap 996, I wouldn't.

Not sure an M3 is really much more engaging than a sorted 328 on road and arguably the E46 M3 is less fun in my experience.

An £8k M3 will probably be a thrashed, trashed mega miler - I think you realistically are going to need £12k for the base.

Add boot floor strengthening (not subframe, apologies), a decent gearchange, full suspension refresh, brake upgrade, a decent steering rack, maybe a LSD upgrade/rebuild and you are probably into the £20k mark. And it will have higher running costs etc.

Whilst the change won't exactly get a 996, it will be a decent chunk (£10k plus).

[g3org3y]

markbmw said:

blade7 said:

Not everyone knew the 525 one was the same when I found one in a scrappy, was a long time ago though. A guy called Alpina 527 used to sell everything needed to fit the manifold. I wouldn't take much notice of stories about a 328 staying with a fit M3 though.

Edited by blade7 on Friday 12th October 21:29

Wow that's a blast from the past. I bought the kit from him for the better halfs 323 coupe. After fitting, I thought it sounded throatier but no quicker. At the time my daily was an extremely fit m3 so possibly not the most objective opinion.

I remember, very prominent on E36Coupe forum.

At the time, Dave.F induction kits were also popular (though I went for the GruppeM rep).

[J.R.Slider]

With Avus spec suspension, eccentric bushes and the thicker arbs, will a 328i be adequate for light track use?

[SidewaysSi]

J.R.Slider said:

With Avus spec suspension, eccentric bushes and the thicker arbs, will a 328i be adequate for light track use?

I can't see why not but some new springs and dampers are probably a good idea if it is on the original stuff as it will be worn by now.

Maybe a ATE super blue fluid and some better pads would be good too.

Worth having a read of this - another PHer's reader's car:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[blade7]

SidewaysSi said:

Not sure an M3 is really much more engaging than a sorted 328 on road and arguably the E46 M3 is less fun in my experience.

An £8k M3 will probably be a thrashed, trashed mega miler - I think you realistically are going to need £12k for the base.

Add boot floor strengthening (not subframe, apologies), a decent gearchange, full suspension refresh, brake upgrade, a decent steering rack, maybe a LSD upgrade/rebuild and you are probably into the £20k mark. And it will have higher running costs etc.

Whilst the change won't exactly get a 996, it will be a decent chunk (£10k plus).

Well I did say they started at £8k, even at £12k they make more sense to me. I drove an E36 Evo it and definitely turned in, stopped, and pulled better at the top end than my 328. Ultimately I decided I wanted something with more torque though.

[SidewaysSi]

blade7 said:

SidewaysSi said:

Not sure an M3 is really much more engaging than a sorted 328 on road and arguably the E46 M3 is less fun in my experience.

An £8k M3 will probably be a thrashed, trashed mega miler - I think you realistically are going to need £12k for the base.

Add boot floor strengthening (not subframe, apologies), a decent gearchange, full suspension refresh, brake upgrade, a decent steering rack, maybe a LSD upgrade/rebuild and you are probably into the £20k mark. And it will have higher running costs etc.

Whilst the change won't exactly get a 996, it will be a decent chunk (£10k plus).

Well I did say they started at £8k, even at £12k they make more sense to me. I drove an E36 Evo it and definitely turned in, stopped, and pulled better at the top end than my 328. Ultimately I decided I wanted something with more torque though.

Fair enough, we all.like different things. Personally I found the standard M3 too weak in too many areas for me to contemplate having one. Just seemed an expensive way of having a fair joyless experience.

[blade7]

JakeT said:

mikeyr said:

PS: Don't know if it was a known fault but the guy that bought it off me had problems with the key spinning in the ignition but not catching, never had that myself but imagine it would be frustrating!

It's a known issue. Sometimes the ignition barrel seizes in place too, so there are cars around with a proper feel of one key to do the doors, and one to start it.

I took my ignition key to a BMW dealer and they ordered me a new ignition barrel from Germany to match it.

[J.R.Slider]

SidewaysSi said:

J.R.Slider said:

With Avus spec suspension, eccentric bushes and the thicker arbs, will a 328i be adequate for light track use?

I can't see why not but some new springs and dampers are probably a good idea if it is on the original stuff as it will be worn by now.

Maybe a ATE super blue fluid and some better pads would be good too.

Worth having a read of this - another PHer's reader's car:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Thanks. I'll have a good look at the thread for tips also.

[blade7]

SidewaysSi said:

Fair enough, we all.like different things. Personally I found the standard M3 too weak in too many areas for me to contemplate having one. Just seemed an expensive way of having a fair joyless experience.

If I was determined to go the modified E36 route I'd look for a 3.0 M3, you'd get the throttle bodies, extra capacity, and stronger block. The 5 sp gearbox may be stronger too. I may be wrong but the 3.0 may have the single vanos like a 328. Then fit a turbo .

[s m]