'Upping my Green Credentials' - Meergrün E36 328i Trio
Discussion
4star said:
stunning E36, I think greens and any sort of dark purple/blue suit them down to the ground and more different than the usual silvers and reds.
Must admit to enjoying your posts, think posts like this showing the love for more humble machinery than say, a Ferrari, more interesting.
Thanks, I do sometimes worry if waffle vs interesting content ratio is correct! Don't get me wrong, if I could afford this level of obsession with Ferarri or something along those lines, I probably would be just as geeky... but I think even if money was no object I would still have an E36 in my collection, a minty garage queen with no expense spared no doubt, but there will always be room for one in my garage no matter what.Must admit to enjoying your posts, think posts like this showing the love for more humble machinery than say, a Ferrari, more interesting.
I can still remember the day back in '95 that I fell in love with them, I was walking down the road in Willesden and there was an reddish/orange metallic (Sienarot or Byzanz I think) 328i coupé parked up round some other really nice cars and the first thing that struck me was how businesslike and purposeful it looked, like a 'normal' car but at the same time you could tell from the staggered whide-wheeled stance that it wasn't messing around. I thought to myself 'out of all the cars on this street it might not be the flashiest or most expensive but if I had to choose out of all of them I'd have this one'.
And after the E36 coupé came out the range of similar cars seemed to tail off a bit - JDM hadn't really registered on my radar properly at that point - so from that day on the E36 became the epitome of 90s cool for me. Furthermore it's old enough to be interesting yet still mechanically reliable and running costs aren't that bad considering - although is it me or are nearly all garages charging nearly 2x as much for labour now as they were two years ago?
sc4589 said:
So yeah, when you get bored of those wheels... I'll be waiting!!
Keep perving on them. They look so right.
Yeah although on my trawlings of the web I have seen these in a 17" ET13 fitment. I am now obsessed with the idea of getting hold of a set... looks like a four-figure obsession though so I might have to not-pursue it in the spirit of remaining sane and solvent - already this is my first foray into obsessive wheel ownership and I'm worried what might happen! Keep perving on them. They look so right.
It even pains me to post this pic lol as now I will be thinking about a set all day
they would need a bit of stretch and possibly an arch tweak to fit the E36 properly which hitherto I've been resisting the idea of but I guess for these it'd be worth it!
I have a feeling it's either all four or not at all tbh. Oh well it's just one of those things I guess, the way I see it I am lucky to have found the ones that I did anyway; they're certainly nothing to sneeze at. I'll just have to keep my eye open and hope that if a set pop up I'll have enough liquidity to make a move.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I definitely agree, some spoke patterns suit a one-piece wheel much better. Whilst I appreciate the look of a nice set of split-rims I'm not actually feeling the need to own any just yet, I daresay if the right things come along at the right time then I'll snap them up but not sure if they're right for this car. My black 'vert on the other hand I'm sure would suit splits better. Picked up some twisted side skirts from a chap locally for beer money and a pack of coffee (I work in the gourmet coffee biz). They were quite scratched up hence the low price but fortunately the scratching's not that deep, I've sanded them back already... just waiting on my rattlecan of Meergrun paint and we're away. Once that's arrived I'll attempt to repair the rust on the bootlid corner just to tidy her rear end a bit more pending her proper body shop visit later this year. They're either Samoa Blue or Morea Green, can quite tell which but it's actually quite a pleasant colour, I'd have liked to have seen the car they came from....
Oh, and I fitted an adjustable clutch stop like this, cost about £4 on ebay:
Possibly I either need to tweak it a bit or my clutch is so old the biting point has risen stupidly high - it does feel higher than my last car which had a newish clutch when I acquired it - as so far I haven't really noticed the difference as much as I was expecting, and I didn't even screw it in halfway.
Oh, and I fitted an adjustable clutch stop like this, cost about £4 on ebay:
Possibly I either need to tweak it a bit or my clutch is so old the biting point has risen stupidly high - it does feel higher than my last car which had a newish clutch when I acquired it - as so far I haven't really noticed the difference as much as I was expecting, and I didn't even screw it in halfway.
Edited by vsonix on Wednesday 27th March 12:24
Clutch stop has now been adjusted a bit and yes, it is now much more comfortable and precise. Combined with my newly refurbished handbrake, hill starts are now as easy as pie!
Also - I wasn't really thinking about exhaust upgrades as being next on the list but I picked up this eBay cat back for a pretty decent price at auction. I got it fitted at a local shop and all in set me back no more than a second-hand Scorpion would have done. So far it's surpassed my expectations. I tried two different ones on my 318ti. The second of which was good, but both caused a lot of unwanted vibration and cabin resonance. One droned, the other boomed. Perhaps it's just better exhaust hangers or more insulation on the coup vs the Compact - or the 6-pot being that much more refined than the M44 but on my test run today I didn't experience any real negatives. Once it beds in it should be perfect. The mechanic had no problems getting it to fit, which was nice as some exhausts can be an arse to fit...
One downside is I underestimated the tailpipe size, they're a bit beefier than I expected. I think I will have to fit that M-style diffuser now as they will look odd otherwise! Although to be fair from this angle it looks worse than when the car is on the ground...
Also - I wasn't really thinking about exhaust upgrades as being next on the list but I picked up this eBay cat back for a pretty decent price at auction. I got it fitted at a local shop and all in set me back no more than a second-hand Scorpion would have done. So far it's surpassed my expectations. I tried two different ones on my 318ti. The second of which was good, but both caused a lot of unwanted vibration and cabin resonance. One droned, the other boomed. Perhaps it's just better exhaust hangers or more insulation on the coup vs the Compact - or the 6-pot being that much more refined than the M44 but on my test run today I didn't experience any real negatives. Once it beds in it should be perfect. The mechanic had no problems getting it to fit, which was nice as some exhausts can be an arse to fit...
One downside is I underestimated the tailpipe size, they're a bit beefier than I expected. I think I will have to fit that M-style diffuser now as they will look odd otherwise! Although to be fair from this angle it looks worse than when the car is on the ground...
Edited by vsonix on Monday 25th March 20:48
Edited by vsonix on Monday 25th March 20:49
OK so I am really liking this exhaust. It is TOTALLY drone free. I still haven't got round to doing a sound recording, been too busy and there's been nobody available to volunteer to freeze their arses off by the side of the road holding the phone/cam while I drive past but I'm hoping I'll manage to sort something out over the long weekend. In the mean while, here's a before/after exhaust picture. I'm still thinking the tailpipes are a smidge too fat and bulky but actually the're growing on me really quickly. However any aesthetic gripes are lessened by the fact that including delivery and fitting, I paid around the going rate for a used Scorpion or similar equivalent cat-back and I think this, from a technical point of view, far superior. No booming, no vibrations, and idling is possibly even quieter than with the stock system. I have to say, it surpassed my expectations considerably. In fact at some point I might even get some other tips welded on and then it'll be absolutely perfect.
here's a side-by-side comparison:
the tips almost look too fat but I think this is mostly because I'm still rocking an SE rather than M bumper.
I'm also starting to like the idea of adding spacers... maybe 12mm all round?
Also still strongly considering painting the actual mufflers black. Thoughts?
Oh... to compliment the exhaust....
Eurocarparts is doing 30% off a lot of stuff over the weekend so I thought I'd take advantage, as it brings the price of this into a more realistic range. I actually prefer the closed-airbox-with-feed design of kits like the Pipercross Viper but they seem to have got more expensive by about £30-40 since last time I was considering buying one, and furthermore they all seem to have foam filters, and I'm not sure if I trust a foam filter to protect the engine properly. Sure, they're probably better at dirt retention on paper - but you never know what kind of contaminants and particles you're sucking in and the foam is more likely to react badly to chemicals, oxides from metallic debris etc. Plus I've heard tales of people finding that the foam starting to disintegrate after a year or two, which can't be good!
here's a side-by-side comparison:
the tips almost look too fat but I think this is mostly because I'm still rocking an SE rather than M bumper.
I'm also starting to like the idea of adding spacers... maybe 12mm all round?
Also still strongly considering painting the actual mufflers black. Thoughts?
Oh... to compliment the exhaust....
Eurocarparts is doing 30% off a lot of stuff over the weekend so I thought I'd take advantage, as it brings the price of this into a more realistic range. I actually prefer the closed-airbox-with-feed design of kits like the Pipercross Viper but they seem to have got more expensive by about £30-40 since last time I was considering buying one, and furthermore they all seem to have foam filters, and I'm not sure if I trust a foam filter to protect the engine properly. Sure, they're probably better at dirt retention on paper - but you never know what kind of contaminants and particles you're sucking in and the foam is more likely to react badly to chemicals, oxides from metallic debris etc. Plus I've heard tales of people finding that the foam starting to disintegrate after a year or two, which can't be good!
TameRacingDriver said:
I've always wondered what one of these would sound like with a good SS exhaust and an open air filter.
well, it's not a supersprint but I'll have an approximation soon! Edited by vsonix on Friday 29th March 02:26
Edited by vsonix on Friday 29th March 02:47
Yes. Yes. Yes.
That induction kit is 'wot i ave' and it sounds savage, especially when you wring it out. It's a very angry sound. At half throttle and lower revs, it just sounds purposeful.
The exhaust looks fat! Highly approved. I'm struggling to work it out from your installation post; was it new/secondhand/eBay special? And was it good value? I would like to make mine shout a little bit more!
That induction kit is 'wot i ave' and it sounds savage, especially when you wring it out. It's a very angry sound. At half throttle and lower revs, it just sounds purposeful.
The exhaust looks fat! Highly approved. I'm struggling to work it out from your installation post; was it new/secondhand/eBay special? And was it good value? I would like to make mine shout a little bit more!
sc4589 said:
Yes. Yes. Yes.
That induction kit is 'wot i ave' and it sounds savage, especially when you wring it out. It's a very angry sound. At half throttle and lower revs, it just sounds purposeful.
The exhaust looks fat! Highly approved. I'm struggling to work it out from your installation post; was it new/secondhand/eBay special? And was it good value? I would like to make mine shout a little bit more!
eBay special. There's obviously a company out in china creating 'homages' to popular e36 exhausts. This one appears to be based on the Rogue Engineering DMS/UUC Corsa system. They also do a Supersprint rep, which looks to have a thinner, tighter single dual-tip back box and an Active Autowerke rep (which has a bigger, squarer muffler) so I based my decision on which original one I liked the sound of best on Youtube, and hoped this eBay special would be close enough. Having said that the SuperSprint style one sounded nice too but more screamy and less bass, but I like the idea of the dual muffler system better anyway. That induction kit is 'wot i ave' and it sounds savage, especially when you wring it out. It's a very angry sound. At half throttle and lower revs, it just sounds purposeful.
The exhaust looks fat! Highly approved. I'm struggling to work it out from your installation post; was it new/secondhand/eBay special? And was it good value? I would like to make mine shout a little bit more!
Anyway the company selling them is charging £200 'buy it now' which tbh I don't think is at all unreasonable anyway but also putting them up for auction - I managed to snag a ~40% discount, not to be sneezed at! By the time I'd added an hour of mechanic time for fitting, the total cost was about what I would expect to pay for a used Powerflow/Scorpion etc system off eBay - without having it fitted. Bargain!
Edited by vsonix on Saturday 30th March 19:08
So, today was a most enjoyable car day... My local BMW group/club ( South West BMW Owners Group) had a meet at the legendary Fritz Bitz on the Devon/Somerset border. Unfortunately the weather was freezing cold and my proper camera's still in France so I didn't spend a lot of time photographing the many lovely cars at the meet. But I did of course get a couple of shots of mine. For some reason most of them were crap, the only decent one is this little 'traffic light party' we had going on...
But aside from the usual tyrekicking and catching up with other group members I was lucky enough to have the car photographed 'properly' - it might even end up in a BMW magazine (fingers x'd!). If it does I will feel like I have made the grade as a true BMW fanboi, haha!
I also decided to take advantage of the Dyno as there was a little time left to put her on after the 'big boys'. Top of the board was an E36 coupe packing a Corvette V8 under the hood, which despite clutch and exhaust issues managed 444hp. I was one of two E36 328is. The first was quite a bit more modded than mine, it pulled 204hp. So imagine my surprise when I pulled 203, 205 and 208 on my three runs! Considering my engine is totally standard apart from a debaffled airbox, and my eBay cat back, that's really not bad at all!
The chap running the dyno was very complimentary and said my engine was in tip-top form. Then the top hose developed a fissure, and coolant started dropping out underneath the car. The poor thing had wet herself with all the excitement!
I had actually noticed there was a bit of a bulge in the hose a while ago, meant to order a new one and forgot, so this was pretty much my fault. Still, at least I noticed the dripping before I set out for home or I expect I'd still be by the side of the M5 waiting to be recovered now! I'll be interested to see what (if any, lol) gains the next mods will bring!
...and here's a vid clip with sound. Rollers make more noise than the car! Still working on some proper exhaust sound clips but already I have noticed it's starting to 'mature' so I should probably wait a bit longer just so it sounds like it should.
All in all though, it was a great day, and reminded my why I am as into this 'old BMW' lark as I am!
But aside from the usual tyrekicking and catching up with other group members I was lucky enough to have the car photographed 'properly' - it might even end up in a BMW magazine (fingers x'd!). If it does I will feel like I have made the grade as a true BMW fanboi, haha!
I also decided to take advantage of the Dyno as there was a little time left to put her on after the 'big boys'. Top of the board was an E36 coupe packing a Corvette V8 under the hood, which despite clutch and exhaust issues managed 444hp. I was one of two E36 328is. The first was quite a bit more modded than mine, it pulled 204hp. So imagine my surprise when I pulled 203, 205 and 208 on my three runs! Considering my engine is totally standard apart from a debaffled airbox, and my eBay cat back, that's really not bad at all!
The chap running the dyno was very complimentary and said my engine was in tip-top form. Then the top hose developed a fissure, and coolant started dropping out underneath the car. The poor thing had wet herself with all the excitement!
I had actually noticed there was a bit of a bulge in the hose a while ago, meant to order a new one and forgot, so this was pretty much my fault. Still, at least I noticed the dripping before I set out for home or I expect I'd still be by the side of the M5 waiting to be recovered now! I'll be interested to see what (if any, lol) gains the next mods will bring!
...and here's a vid clip with sound. Rollers make more noise than the car! Still working on some proper exhaust sound clips but already I have noticed it's starting to 'mature' so I should probably wait a bit longer just so it sounds like it should.
All in all though, it was a great day, and reminded my why I am as into this 'old BMW' lark as I am!
Edited by vsonix on Sunday 31st March 00:12
So, the induction kit arrived and was fitted. I've been told that cone filter might lose me torque but I did Exeter to Nether Stowey and back this weekend and if there is any torque missing, I can't feel it. There's definitely more pull at high RPMs - she likes to run much closer to redline now... Can't wait for M50 mani & remap... s'gonna be EPIC. Must admit was expecting the K&N to make the car sound a bit more 'breathy' at lower rps but really the noise is fairly subtle until the car comes on cam at 3.5-4k revs, then it just snarls The Osprey sounds like a total BEAST now 
PS yeah I know the Jubilee clip's crooked - I straightened it already!
I'm still getting used to the new exhaust though - sometimes it doesn't seem all that loud, other times it does at around 1.5-2.5k rpm. The main thing though that despite all this added noise, there's no negative racket when cruising...
PS yeah I know the Jubilee clip's crooked - I straightened it already!
I'm still getting used to the new exhaust though - sometimes it doesn't seem all that loud, other times it does at around 1.5-2.5k rpm. The main thing though that despite all this added noise, there's no negative racket when cruising...
I do quite like that kit, it's giggly-good-fun at high rpms- gets a fair few looks if you're giving it the beans! 
Good to know about the exhaust, too... when the time is right...
Keep it up. The M50 is well worth it, makes a great difference up top. I'll let you know about the remap when I get mine finally sorted!
Good to know about the exhaust, too... when the time is right...
Keep it up. The M50 is well worth it, makes a great difference up top. I'll let you know about the remap when I get mine finally sorted!
sc4589 said:
I do quite like that kit, it's giggly-good-fun at high rpms- gets a fair few looks if you're giving it the beans!
Good to know about the exhaust, too... when the time is right...
Keep it up. The M50 is well worth it, makes a great difference up top. I'll let you know about the remap when I get mine finally sorted!
It does give the engine a great noise. I reckon the only reason they silenced it as much as they did was to make the M3 seem more impressive. Good to know about the exhaust, too... when the time is right...
Keep it up. The M50 is well worth it, makes a great difference up top. I'll let you know about the remap when I get mine finally sorted!
I just love the idea of a well-modded 328i so much more than an off-the-peg M3.
vsonix said:
It does give the engine a great noise. I reckon the only reason they silenced it as much as they did was to make the M3 seem more impressive.
I just love the idea of a well-modded 328i so much more than an off-the-peg M3.
You could well be right... if the 328i was mostly as quick as the M3, who would've bothered buying the M3? My thoughts exactly- building it yourself is a lot more fun! Are you contemplating USDM M3 cams? Cheaper than Shrick ones and good for circa 270bhp with the right mods... which you're on the way to anyway!I just love the idea of a well-modded 328i so much more than an off-the-peg M3.
Possibly... I think that's when the whole thing starts getting expensive, I think the cams themselves are like £800-1k and doing the work myself is probably a bit beyond my budget... One of the guys in one of my fellow BMW-geek forums is considering doing it... so I'm gonna see how he gets on. Although what does tempt me is the idea of changing to a 318is diff and trading off a little top speed (which I never use) in favour of quicker acceleration...
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