'Upping my Green Credentials' - Meergrün E36 328i Trio

[vsonix]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Aaah but with a properly remapped ECU and some breathing mods you get all the torque back and more. Redline upped to 7300K, shift points changed. Although when I am driving A roads and so on I tend to be in 'S' mode and keep the thing locked to 3 or 4.

[vsonix]

So I have now fixed all the faults with The Pelican (continuing the bird theme, and with a nod to the 'Halo' drop-ships) she is running beautifully! Fixed the overfuelling with new lambda sensors. I was a little bit gutted when replacing the faulty Throttle Position Sensor did not fix the shifting problem, but was pleased to see another couple of MPG creeping back. The were no longer any fault codes showing anywhere, so I was a little stumped. I scoured the Internet some more, and found a very interesting thread. Identical symptoms to mine, but with a very simple, almost free solution. Switch Cleaner! A liberal dousing of switch cleaner into the gear selector, and hey presto, the car is 100% as it should be! Joy of joys!

While I was down at the scrappy looking for sensors and assorted goodies, I found a silver grey leather interior in good condition overall save for a slightly manky driver's bolster. Obviously I couldn't leave it there, so now the car has been upgraded, and is an even better match to the others! Picture will have to wait as the car is currently full of the old cloth seats. Which are up for grabs if anyone wants.

[vsonix]

Been a busy old week (and expensive) with a load of insurance, MOT and tyre bills! But, making progress on refurbing the BBS splits I picked up a while ago, and I also managed to pick up a set of E39 Style 32s for the tourer. Next purchases, some -40mm lowering springs for the front (probably 10mm at the rear as well) and a new nose panel... and pluck up the courage to break out the arch roller I ordered!

test fit:

[vsonix]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

[vsonix]

I'm halfway through refurbing a set as we speak, I bought them the same week as I got the Tourer! And a set of RC040 at the same time. I have a whole ton of bolts sitting soaking in a bucket of coca cola on the kitchen table.

Edited by vsonix on Monday 1st September 00:38

[vsonix]

JordanTurbo said:

Style 32's look great.

What size tyres are you running on them front/rear?

215/45 and 225/45. Amazingly there's no rubbing at the rear although obviously I would expect it with passengers but as the shocks are relatively fresh, even the four old wheels with tyres in the boot and three-quarters of a tank of petrol not even a scrub on WOT up a steep hill. I will however be giving them a light roll soon as I will be carrying heavy stuff about, and if I am lowering the front I will need to do the back a little bit just to make sure the damping rates are all matched. Somehow I don't think aftermarket lowering springs at the front and OEM at the back will do wonders for handling... I'm going for the same as the coupe, around 40/10mm I think.

[vsonix]

Nice one! it's been a bit quiet on the meet front lately; the chap who runs the group lost his E36 and nearly lost his E21 in a garage fire... but we usually have a stand at Sout West Auto Sport. Keep an eye open for my green beasts!

[vsonix]

carpetsoiler said:

JordanTurbo said:

They look good without too much stretch in that picture. Have you got any closer ones?

I'm looking to fit the same wheels to my 328 convertible.

Drop me an email if you want some 32s, or other wheels. Got plenty of wheels laying around at the moment...

Hmmmz I am toying with the idea of 9j fronts...

[vsonix]

JordanTurbo said:

vsonix said:

215/45 and 225/45......

They look good without too much stretch in that picture. Have you got any closer ones?

I'm looking to fit the same wheels to my 328 convertible.

Excuse the grime, I was in such a hurry to get them fitted I only gave them a very superficial clean.

Front:

Rear:


just a tiny amount of stretch and plenty of meat still for comfort purposes. They definitely handle better than the 7jx16 style 30s I was running for a few weeks (the 15" were awful to drive on and were shod with 'Admiral' budgets so I got rid, didn't even want them as a spare set).

I was considering 215/40 and 225/40 but they are quite difficult to source quality midrange (I am a big Kumho fan) - the only options are ditchfinders or £100+ per corner. I have to say I am really surprised they fit as well as they do, I was expecting lots of scrubbing on bumps and bends but so far, so good.

Also I think you do need a bit of stretch with these offsets as otherwise the edge of the tread comes very close to protruding from the arch, which is an MOT no-no I believe.

I'm still wondering about springs though. 40mm should be ideal for the front, aesthetically speaking I don't think the back needs to be lower but how will I know which brand lowering springs have the closest to OEM spring rates so I can do just the front w/o upsetting the handling..? Or is that not possible? Anyone have any insight?

Edited by vsonix on Monday 1st September 18:22

[vsonix]

yeah that does seem like a good idea, and to the best of my knowledge there's no reason why they shouldn't as the springs are quite similar in dimensions... I'll look into it

[vsonix]

Another Fluffer said:

vsonix said:

I'm halfway through refurbing a set as we speak, I bought them the same week as I got the Tourer! And a set of RC040 at the same time. I have a whole ton of bolts sitting soaking in a bucket of coca cola on the kitchen table.

Edited by vsonix on Monday 1st September 00:38

Just thought I would offer

Saying that, I've had a couple of people offer to buy mine off me, but I'm not ready to sell so if you want I could send them your way

[vsonix]

So, I fancied a change one day and decided to sell up a couple of the cars. The cabrio is going to an old school friend of mine who is mega-excited about it. I am also considering selling the coupe and sinking the profits into the Touring. If anyone's interested they could drop me a PM.