e36 328i idiots guide please

[appy]

well i must be having a mid life crisis as i fancy one of these. whilst im a decent mechanic i have no experience with these so looking for some pointers.

its going to be my fun car as i have a 09 plate astra sport hatch sri for boring stuff and my vectra b gsi with a 3.0 omega engine ive fitted as my fun car. the vectra will be going to fund it so ill have 2k to spend

cheers peeps

[R6dug]

The nikasil issue was up to 1998 but you can check the block.

[4rephill]

jz325i said:
"Rear subframe is a weak point - if there's any clunking or rattles in the back, have a decent look underneath, and inspect the bushes, subframe and chassis. A hard driven powerful 3 series, with neglected bushes will possibly start to tear the chassis."

Whilst this is true, the first thing to check with any clunks or rattles on the rear end are the rear shock mounts as this is much more likely. These tend to weaken every 40K to 60K miles (not an expensive fix),so don't immediately assume the worst.

[Magsy]

I had one for five years. Check if it is nikasil and the head gasket is ok (killed mine @ 100K)

It won't pull like a train becuase BMW neutered it, so don't use that as a judge of it being faulty of not. It is pretty dull and slow above 5-5.5k revs.

Anything else is cheap as GSF or Euro Car Parts have just about everything to rebuild the entire car for small money.

[circo]

Hi, I've had a 328 for 4 years with only a few minor issue but I've not heard about this nikasil. What is it and how do I fix it if it is an issue?
Cheers

[appy]

cheers for the input folks, been looking on e36coupe.com for some more advice

[ian_touring]

Re: nikasil, i'm sure i read somewhere that an 'official' bmw test for a failed nikasil engine was to open the drivers door to its maximum opening with the engine ticking over, and if the top corner of the door can be seen to vibrate, then its a sure sign...

[4rephill]

ian_touring said:

Re: nikasil, i'm sure i read somewhere that an 'official' bmw test for a failed nikasil engine was to open the drivers door to its maximum opening with the engine ticking over, and if the top corner of the door can be seen to vibrate, then its a sure sign...

The only "official" BMW check that I've ever known is the compression/leakdown test as jz325i has said.
The doors rocking at idle can be a sign of the nikasil problem but could also be caused by a number of other things such as a miss fire due to a faulty coil.
Cars built after week 10 in 1998 should be ok as they were fitted with steek liners in the bore.

[Gallen]

E36 328i - Most people know this but if you get one, you can remove the restricting collar within the air box/air inlet pipe, and at the same time, replace the inlet manifold its self with one from a 91 > 95 E36 325i which is less restrictive...

A few more BHP for practically nothing!

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=252...

Edited by Gallen on Thursday 1st October 14:53

[4rephill]

Gallen said:

E36 328i - Most people know this but if you get one, you can remove the restricting collar within the air box/air inlet pipe, and at the same time, replace the inlet manifold its self with one from a 91 > 95 E36 325i which is less restrictive...

A few more BHP for practically nothing!

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=252...

Edited by Gallen on Thursday 1st October 14:53

As noted in the linked post, be aware that the 325i M50 manifold will not fit straight on to the M52 engine,it has to be modified to fit (Alpina527 on E36coupe.com is the man You need )