thing of buying a 328i sport - help please!!!

[coleman]

thinking if buying a 328i sport and have a few questions...

Any advice on what to be looking out for, engine noise, clutch, brakes etc

Is the 'nikasil issue' is still a problem on a late '98 or early 99 car

what sort of price i should be paying?

any advice would be helpful!!

thanks

[XM5ER]

coleman said:

thinking if buying a 328i sport and have a few questions...

Any advice on what to be looking out for, engine noise, clutch, brakes etc

Is the 'nikasil issue' is still a problem on a late '98 or early 99 car

what sort of price i should be paying?

any advice would be helpful!!

thanks

Nikasil not a problem for that vintage (they have an alusil block).

Engine brakes and clutch suffer the same problems as any other car, ie depends on the driver, none are known failure areas.

Price, haven't a clue, try parkers.co.uk and do a nationwide search on autotrader.

If it has milage, listen for clunks in the rear (suspension top mounts). Also ABS sensors can go with age, again shouldn't be a problem with that vintage.

Great cars, good luck!

Edited by XM5ER on Wednesday 4th July 14:01

[coleman]

thanks for your help, i will let you know how i get on!!!

[Dunk76]

www.e36coupe.com/forum

Very active - loads of knowledge. No need to post either - the search function will provide loads of previous posts about Nikasil

The M52 2.8 engine is pretty robust, indeed the late E36s are pretty well built.

Issues/Areas

Nikasil (very rare on late cars now)
Rear top mounts - wear item, cheap to fix
Rear wheel bearings - my 2.8 chewed them up, again pretty cheap
Thermostat jams open - £14 fix. Car takes forever to warm up
Rust around rear arches and bootlid lip

Careful with the oil cap check - the 2.8 gunks it's head with condensation on short drives which leave white cream on the filler cap. Nothing to worry about, they all do it if only used for short drives.

That's about it...

Oh, the BBS lacquer is hopeless.

[GTS Turbo]

Dunk76 said:

www.e36coupe.com/forum
Nikasil (very rare on late cars now)

huh yeah thats what i thought when i bought mine a year and a bit ago! got it sorted after loads of hassle and still ended up forking out for labour

don't do what i did find one you really like and if it's a pre 98 car check the reg with BMW to see if it had a new block and pistons. if it hasn't then avoid it's just not worth the chance IMO.

[buzzer]

Nikasil issue ran into some cars to the middle of 1999. I have seen a June 1999 registered 7 series with a nikasil block! Make sure you only buy a car with the later Alusil (SP?) block. (Unless it REALLY cheap) They are easy to tell apart as the blocks are different. Not easy to explain the difference but if you mail me I had a couple of digital photos I can mail you that details the difference.

[buzzer]

Also beware of cars that have had a new block….Some cars had a nikasil block replaced with….. Another nikasil block!

[Ravell]

Nikasil blocks need not be a problem. They only gave problems if the sulpher content in the fuel was too high, this was the case at the time in a few places in the UK, however now everywhere is low sulpher so if the problem doesn't already exist you'll be fine.

The problem can be spotted by opening the door and looking along it's top edge with the windown down. It should be as good as still, if there seems to be some sort of vibration you're likely looking at a nikasil engined car that's been run on high sulpher fuel.

[Shropshiremike]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I'm with caboose on that one - there are a few that have had the problem just recently - ask Mattb on E36 for one.
There's so many with the later blocks I'd just hang around and get one of those - just removes a possible problem from the list. They really benefit from a good suspension overhaul - the difference between a tired soggy car and a nice tight one is chalk and cheese IMO.
The temp gauge needle should sit pretty well stable in the middle once up to temp - any fluctuations when warm and there's something amiss with the cooling system/engine.
Check the steering feels nice ( not too tight/jerky ) and not squeaking.
Ask if the rear brake pipes ( under the tank ) have been replaced or check out their condition. Can be a biggish bill if you're not handy yourself.
There's a good list on e36coupe of things to check as already mentioned