RE: Shed of the Week: BMW 328

[mikeyr]

I had one of these (10+ years ago). Bought unseen from eBay (think I travelled couple of hundred miles to collect). It had about £8k of AC Schitzer parts fitted at purchase (springs, wheels, body kit, etc).

I spent several weekends on the driveway respraying some lightly rusting wheel arches which looked pretty good considering the rattle can effort. Sadly it started bubbling back through a few months later and I regret not using some rust killer at the time. Only time I've ever tried amateur bodywork and don't think I'd go through the hassle again!

Had the usual moisture in rear lights which I think made the brake light connection a bit intermittent on cold days. The rust and tattiness was the main reason I got rid, engine was strong.

Interstingly the car would bottom out on any sort of bump in the road (and would almost ground itself with four adults on board) so imagine it was due to age; can't have been like that from new (AC suspension pack)!

I liked the looks (despite the decals!), the interior was a lovely place to be and the engine was soooo smooth compared to anything else I'd had till that point. But I could easily have poured thousands into it bringing it up to scratch and I didn't love it enough.

[s m]

daveco said:

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 with spindly 205s on

That's because the Touring is the best.

6.1 seconds! These things always put out more than the official figures right? I remember CAR magazine comparing one to the E36 M3 and being impressed with its pace.

The saloon recorded 6.4 and the lardy droptop a 6.6

[mikeyr]

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!

[C70R]

aarondbs said:

Great shed and manual 328i feels like it would be a great drive

Honestly, while some people really praise them as track cars, a boggo 328i SE is resolutely NOT "a great drive". It's underpowered (140bhp/tonne), it's understeery as standard, and the chassis is actually pretty underwhelming without work. The engine can be turned into a peach with the right modifications (250bhp is achievable without major surgery), but a 1.4 tonne car doing 0-100mph in 18secs is hardly going to set the world on fire.

[JakeT]

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.

[8IKERDAVE]

I've had a couple of these along with an E36 325i. Couldn't fault any of them, with probably a combined mileage of around 100K the only things to go wrong were an ABS sensor and a split hose. Reliable, smooth, fairly quick and engaging! I was in my early 20's so getting the back end out was a regular occurrence. You could disconnect the butterfly valves in the exhaust so both pipes were active all the time which gave a lovely deep straight 6 rumble. Sadly the E46 320d that followed was a completely different story costing me thousands in repairs.

[paulmaurice99]

Looks like a decent investment. I’d say this is closer to Modern Classic than shed, and as others have said too nice for tracking. Maybe Lewis Kingston will be along shortly to comment the same, unless he’s on his way to buy it already.

I had a 1996 328 coupe back in 2001. The auto made it a different prospect to this but I enjoyed it while it lasted. Felt pretty special at the time and deceptively fast, but soon became apparent it hadn’t been cared for too well. Only car I had that ever needed a breakdown truck, thanks to a split fuel pipe. Gearbox wouldn’t kick down and it was using a lot of oil. When I traded it for 4500 against a Civic VTI I breathed out a sigh of relief, despite paying 9k a year earlier!

Edited by paulmaurice99 on Friday 12th October 12:42

[nosuchuser]

Great cars, just watch the rust.

[AC43]

Beautifully-resolved pre-Bangle styling. Great colour combo. Fabulous-sound I6. What's not to like?

Now there are fewer fewer I6 320's, 325's, 328's and 330's pootling around London streets I really miss hearing them firing up and warbling past.

Apart from a few 335's they mostly either sound like a bag of spanners (the 4 pot D's) or horribly flatulent (M4's etc).

[3795mpower]

C70R said:

Honestly, while some people really praise them as track cars, a boggo 328i SE is resolutely NOT "a great drive". It's underpowered (140bhp/tonne), it's understeery as standard, and the chassis is actually pretty underwhelming without work. The engine can be turned into a peach with the right modifications (250bhp is achievable without major surgery), but a 1.4 tonne car doing 0-100mph in 18secs is hardly going to set the world on fire.

Bit harsh.
I don’t think we’ve quite reached the stage where low 7’s to 60 and mid 140’s for £1500
Can be described as underpowered ?

Do you daily a Veyron ?

[PistonBroker]

I couldn't quite remember the reg of it so wondered for a moment whether this was the blue one round the corner from me. It's been a while since I've walked the dog past there but must do so this evening.

It's not the same car - the one I'm thinking of is a Touring and I'm in Somerset - but it's in similarly good nick. The driveway I'm thinking of has a P100 as well. Cracking good taste the chap has, clearly!

Great shed.

[Digga]

Arsecati said:

Alright, who else bloody well went and Googled 'Armstrong-Siddely Chuffmaster'?? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, so what you mean is that I am the one and only total plonker here who went and did that?

Yep, I feel like a 100% gold-plated @rse right now: what a complete eejit!!!!

Only my anorak-level knowledge of the Deltic engine saved me.

[diathermy]

I bought this car last week. It’s great!
Will work on it a bit for some track days but will keep it fairly basic and original looking. Will be a daily. I will not be stripping it etc.

[greenarrow]

3795mpower said:

C70R said:

Honestly, while some people really praise them as track cars, a boggo 328i SE is resolutely NOT "a great drive". It's underpowered (140bhp/tonne), it's understeery as standard, and the chassis is actually pretty underwhelming without work. The engine can be turned into a peach with the right modifications (250bhp is achievable without major surgery), but a 1.4 tonne car doing 0-100mph in 18secs is hardly going to set the world on fire.

Bit harsh.
I don’t think we’ve quite reached the stage where low 7’s to 60 and mid 140’s for £1500
Can be described as underpowered ?

Do you daily a Veyron ?

Just ignore him, he's always putting the boot into cars which the majority on a feature quite like!

Personally I think this Is an absolute cracking shed, one of the best for a long time. A manual 328i for £1500. A car which when new was as quick as the last gen Fiesta ST, which is considered still pretty brisk in 2018...

What more could you want for that money?

[Jonstar]

Interesting responses, I've driven e46 versions and was underwhelmed. So why are these so great I honestly don't get it? They come across as cars that are "ok" in standard form (like most bmws) but have a good base for mods perhaps?

[anonymous-user]

3795mpower said:

C70R said:

Honestly, while some people really praise them as track cars, a boggo 328i SE is resolutely NOT "a great drive". It's underpowered (140bhp/tonne), it's understeery as standard, and the chassis is actually pretty underwhelming without work. The engine can be turned into a peach with the right modifications (250bhp is achievable without major surgery), but a 1.4 tonne car doing 0-100mph in 18secs is hardly going to set the world on fire.

Bit harsh.
I don’t think we’ve quite reached the stage where low 7’s to 60 and mid 140’s for £1500
Can be described as underpowered ?

Do you daily a Veyron ?

Quite - and it's mid 6s to 60, not low 7s...I guess you could say the engine isn't putting out it's full potential, but as a car it's hardly underpowered.

Mine was dyno'd at 225BHP -with an M50 inlet manifold and a remap. A good, shielded cold air induction system might add another few BHP, iirc the easiest way to get to 250BHP from there would be to add a full M3 exhaust/manifold.

[cooperd5]

Here was mine: 80k with a new engine courtesy of BMW. Bought it after it'd been done (owner a bm mechanic) in this fetching "individual" blue.
Never gelled with it (or other BMWs since) as felt it was vague, even after bushes replaced. Didn't feel quick either and hardly ever broke 30mpg.
All in all a disappointment.

[matthias73]

A friend of mine and a member on here has a blog detailing his rather successful e36 race car. It's still legal so he drives it to race meetings.
Would reccomend searching for "mckeemotorsport", it makes for a cracking read.

[BFleming]

JakeT said:

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.

My E46 had an intermittent issue where the ignition would spin, but not always fire. Was traced to a dodgy ignition barrel - not that I ever replaced it, I just knew that if it didn't fire instantly, you just took the key out, put it back in & it usually fired.

[s m]

3795mpower said:

C70R said:

Honestly, while some people really praise them as track cars, a boggo 328i SE is resolutely NOT "a great drive". It's underpowered (140bhp/tonne), it's understeery as standard, and the chassis is actually pretty underwhelming without work. The engine can be turned into a peach with the right modifications (250bhp is achievable without major surgery), but a 1.4 tonne car doing 0-100mph in 18secs is hardly going to set the world on fire.

Bit harsh.
I don’t think we’ve quite reached the stage where low 7’s to 60 and mid 140’s for £1500
Can be described as underpowered ?

Do you daily a Veyron ?

0-60 0-100 times tested 2-up with half a tank and timing gear by Autocar
Touring 6.1 17.1
Salloon 6.4 17.4

Seems Ok for a 1400kg car - E30 M3 was 200kg less and a smidge slower