Unloved e36 328 sport revival

[bombercountynick]

BricktopST205 said:

Not so long ago these were ten a penny for sub £2k. Problem is 99% of them have been turned into track slags so decent ones are few and far between.
They also double up as a nice useable classic so prices were only going to go one way!

Tell me about it mate! I've been driving since 2007 when you could of probably picked a MINT one of these up for the price you now pay for a tired one!

And as you mentioned even 4/5 years ago nice examples were still rock bottom and cars like mine would of just been sent straight to the scrap yard 'cause even the parts weren't worth anything! Culmination of less of them on the road, facebook/scene tax, greedy online breakers has meant prices have soared for everything. It's all irreversible now though.

E36Ross said:

Nearly every E36 boot lid with a spoiler will have the cracks, Very common problem.

Amazing how the 328i have went from budget track cars to collector cars in the space of a few years.

Following with interest.

I thought this would be the case. The bootlid is Montreal blue so needs a full paint anyway so probably just easier to remove the lock and repair the cracks

NiallSlimDrew said:

Fair play mate.

I'm going to keep a close eye on this as I'm gonna be looking for a 328 Sport resto project soon!

Tread very carefully when buying one of these mate. It totally depends what you want.

I'll admit I was a bit of a sucker, I really wanted a genuine 328 sport, but in hindsight it would of been much easier + wiser to just find a clean car ( be it 316/320/323/325/328 ) and just build from there.

Same as with buying any old car, there are dis honest sellers everywhere, but at the same time only you can pull the trigger and hand over the cash!

The sill covers hide lots of rust, yes you can get underneath the car and have a good look but it would be well worth having any car you are interested in buying up on a ramp to check out all the areas you simply won't see from crawling underneath.

Edited by bombercountynick on Saturday 4th July 10:54

[bombercountynick]

Won't be much to report on this until It's moved to car hospital for some grinding surgery!

However, Just thought i'd share a few of these. Note the condition of the front/outer sill, compared to the inner/floor. Just to show those who are looking at buying/restoring one of these, how well they hide rust.

O/S outer vs Inner/floor pan ( I have seen these extremely rusty on the outside )
The inner doesn't look that bad here but I can assure you it is very crusty.







N/S





Would of been rude not to poke a hole in the O/S wheel well wouldn't it?



Going to be a long time before I get to sit in this. No matter how tidy the car ends up I will use this trusty old Corbeau!
It's like a worn old slipper, been in so many cars, roll on this day!



Attemped to squeeze the phone in to try take a peak at the Jacking points internally - the O/S Rear has actually suffered, this is going to need to be chopped, repaired or replaced If i can find a solid one. It's looking increasingly like genuine BMW sills both sides as they come with both Front & Rear jacking points.





The money shot.... If you think your e36 sills are bad, please feel free to take comfort in this! (I know i've pulled it about and gone to town but still !!)




Only plus note - These popped up so had a drive to Wales yesterday, collected then climbed a mountain!

The contour's will be refurbished & sold to get some pennies back into the fund!


Hopefully get the car moved next week and start grinding.

Edited by bombercountynick on Monday 6th July 18:36

[Matter88]

I know of a pair of brand new unused OEM sill sections for a coupe if you fancy a saving VS new.

[bombercountynick]

Matter88 said:

I know of a pair of brand new unused OEM sill sections for a coupe if you fancy a saving VS new.

Seriously? 100% mate please message me on

[e-mail]

I shall pass details on through email! Thankyou

[Vince70]

My old minty low mileage example is off tomorrow to its new owner as I’ve just sold it for £1200.
I’m going miss it as I really believe the E36 was the last good 3 series and I was going to say rust free car BMW made till I saw yours.
But yours is going to make a great track car.

Edited by Vince70 on Monday 6th July 20:13

[bombercountynick]

Vince70 said:

My old minty low mileage example is off tomorrow to its new owner as I’ve just sold it for £1200.
I’m going miss it as I really believe the E36 was the last good and I was going to say rust free car BMW made till I saw yours.
But yours is going to make a great track car.

Bloody hell Vince that is a steal bud if she's clean ! I hope it's not going to a breakers

Looks lovely. This is my first e36. I've not had chance to enjoy it, slide it around a b road or do anything other than hunt for rust! I have Only ever been in my friends old m3 evo once, years ago! & forgot how small and compact they feel inside. Proper old feel, i am looking forward to the day it's roadworthy.

I don't think it will ever get tracked, i've always just had fast road cars, I'm too tight and lucky enough to live near some cracking roads lol. However I'm old enough now to know there is a time and a place for a spirited drive so fingers crossed it won't get damaged!

Aim is to make it a totally usable, rust free modern classic - with the option to put sports interior back in if i can find one at the right price.

Refuse to pay £600+ for non m3 interior call me stubborn but hey ho! Don't really want to give any greeder breakers any of my money if i don't have too!

Edited by bombercountynick on Monday 6th July 20:23

[LukeDM]

Fair play for taking that on! I had to do an outer sill repair on my £200 328i non-sport that I picked up last year. I used an eBay saloon sill and cut out the part I needed, not a perfect repair obviously but good enough for me. The holes for the jack don’t line up from coupe to saloon if you didn’t already know.

[205pat]

My biggest motoring cock up. I bought a rubbish 172 cup that came in px at a garage I used to work at, then next week a 45k 1 owner 328 sport comes in - for £250! I wasn’t allowed it as I’d just bought the Clio, gutted.

I’ve just had major welding surgery done on my Integra, it always costs more than you want, but the first day after it’s all back together and you go for a drive in the sun will make it totally worth it!

[bombercountynick]

205pat said:

My biggest motoring cock up. I bought a rubbish 172 cup that came in px at a garage I used to work at, then next week a 45k 1 owner 328 sport comes in - for £250! I wasn’t allowed it as I’d just bought the Clio, gutted.

I’ve just had major welding surgery done on my Integra, it always costs more than you want, but the first day after it’s all back together and you go for a drive in the sun will make it totally worth it!

Madness what they used to go for!

Makes me cringe to think what i have got rid of cars for in the past. My last dc2 had a tiny hole in the floorpan, spat my dummy out sold it cheap. I had an s2k with a tiny bit of rust the n/s rear sill, same again, sold it for peanuts!

I wish this bmw had as much rust as all my previous honda/Subaru put together it would be a god send, lol. You live and learn huh!

Edited by bombercountynick on Tuesday 7th July 09:22

[MrGeoff]

bombercountynick said:

Madness what they used to go for!

Makes me cringe to think what i have got rid of cars for in the past. My last dc2 had a tiny hole in the floorpan, spat my dummy out sold it cheap. I had an s2k with a tiny bit of rusr on the n/s rear sill, same again, sold it for peanuts!

I wish this bmw had as much rust as all my previous honda/Subaru put together it would be a god send, lol. You live and learn huh!

I feel your pain, I'm currently balls deep on an E46 replacing both inner arches and outer quarters after finding some rust. I better put it in my will now because I'm never selling it after chasing that rot out!