E36 328 sport - few issues

[S3_Graham]

Evening all,

As some may or may not have seen in the ///M thread, On monday i picked up a 96 328 sport with FSH, Steel block and 140k. I got a good deal taking into account a few minor issues, was wondering if anyone can shed any light on the ones I'm having trouble with.

Firstly, it has an oil leak. Seems to be from the front, drivers side corner of the block. I don't think its as high up as the oil filter, although someone has been sloppy on the last service (2k ago) and there is oil spilt but thats the pax side. I've done 150 miles and the car has used no oil on the dip stick (its not power steering fluid).

Other problem is that the alarm seems to be non functioning, Seller said battery went flat on the remote a few days earlier (likely story - fking liar) I put 2 new batteries in and no joy. I have 2 key fobs, both say BMW on them 1 is long and thin and a yellow light flashes a few times, with no action from the car. The other is same width but wider and rounded at one end, this has 2 lights. One tiny red which flashes (but nothing happens) and another larger light which doesnt even light up?

Also the seller lost the advisory part of the MOT (once again - yeah right) but ive got it from online and only thing on it are both rear brake lines are 'slightly' corroded and the rear RH bush of some sort is 'worn but has no play' Are these big jobs? or fairly common on an E36 of this vintage/mileage?


Only other question regarding the car is....
Some chump has refurbed the wheels at some point and although they have been good and kept the polished rim polished, they have lacquered over the old bolts, which are rusty (nice eh!?) so now i have shiney brown bolts which kinda ruin the look a bit. Any idea and how much of a job it is to replace the bolts?

[Shropshiremike]

S3_Graham said:

Evening all,

As some may or may not have seen in the ///M thread, On monday i picked up a 96 328 sport with FSH, Steel block and 140k. I got a good deal taking into account a few minor issues, was wondering if anyone can shed any light on the ones I'm having trouble with.

Firstly, it has an oil leak. Seems to be from the front, drivers side corner of the block. I don't think its as high up as the oil filter, although someone has been sloppy on the last service (2k ago) and there is oil spilt but thats the pax side. I've done 150 miles and the car has used no oil on the dip stick (its not power steering fluid).

Other problem is that the alarm seems to be non functioning, Seller said battery went flat on the remote a few days earlier (likely story - fking liar) I put 2 new batteries in and no joy. I have 2 key fobs, both say BMW on them 1 is long and thin and a yellow light flashes a few times, with no action from the car. The other is same width but wider and rounded at one end, this has 2 lights. One tiny red which flashes (but nothing happens) and another larger light which doesnt even light up?

Also the seller lost the advisory part of the MOT (once again - yeah right) but ive got it from online and only thing on it are both rear brake lines are 'slightly' corroded and the rear RH bush of some sort is 'worn but has no play' Are these big jobs? or fairly common on an E36 of this vintage/mileage?


Only other question regarding the car is....
Some chump has refurbed the wheels at some point and although they have been good and kept the polished rim polished, they have lacquered over the old bolts, which are rusty (nice eh!?) so now i have shiney brown bolts which kinda ruin the look a bit. Any idea and how much of a job it is to replace the bolts?

Is it leaking oil from the rocker cover gasket/one of the rocker cover gasket bolts perhaps? On the osf of the block? Hard to say without seeing it really but the aforementioned is a common place.
Rear Brake lines are a common failure. To put new ones in and route them in the original position can be an expensive job necessitating the fuel tank being dropped ( there is a cheat to doing it but you need small hands to get at them from under the rear seat ) Most indy places will just chop the old ones and route the new ones alongside the tank to save disturbing it - will save a fair few quid doing it that way.
Rear bush could well be a trailing arm bush - very common for going and worth replacing both rears as it will make the car drive better after as you lose the unwanted rear-steer from sloppy bushes ( get it re-aligned after ).
None of the jobs are uncommon on an E36.

[ADM06]

I cheated and coated my brake pipes with Hydrate 80.

[S3_Graham]

to be fair, if i can get it jacked up soon, i probably will just rub down the pipes and whack some Hammerite on them! I had a look and they arent that bad, just some surface rust.


As for the oil, it doesnt seem to be from the rockerbox i've been sticking my fingers everywhere to try and find the fresh'est (not a word i know) oil. So far its from the sump. However the block also seems 'wet' so i dont think its that low down! i also am pretty sure its not the crank as directly underneath the crank on the front of the sump is dry!

Im pretty sure it is a rear trailing arm that was mentioned, i just dont have it infront of me. Are they expensive or hard to change, as i doubt ill do it myself! I take it you mean it needs 4wheel alignment after fitting?

Edited by S3_Graham on Wednesday 5th May 22:59

[Shropshiremike]

S3_Graham said:

Im pretty sure it is a rear trailing arm that was mentioned, i just dont have it infront of me. Are they expensive or hard to change, as i doubt ill do it myself! I take it you mean it needs 4wheel alignment after fitting?

Edited by S3_Graham on Wednesday 5th May 22:59

If you can get hold of the AST tool it's not hard to do

http://www.rogueengineering.com/Merchant2/merchant...

[S3_Graham]

jz325i said:

S3_Graham said:

Only other question regarding the car is....
Some chump has refurbed the wheels at some point and although they have been good and kept the polished rim polished, they have lacquered over the old bolts, which are rusty (nice eh!?) so now i have shiney brown bolts which kinda ruin the look a bit. Any idea and how much of a job it is to replace the bolts?

IIRC each bolt is a couple of quid a pop. And they'll need tightening up to the correct torque.

really? that much!? argh...

Torquing isnt an issue as i have about a million torque wrenches at work. May look into refurbing the old ones then!!

[Matt_N]

Couple of places to try for split rim bolts:

http://www.german-wheels.com/produkte/fittings/ver...

http://www.splitrims.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=...

http://www.justmatz.co.uk/bbs-information.php

[S3_Graham]

thanks matt, Got a quote from the uk split rim people. they wanted £180 just for new bolts!!! thats ridiculous! i think ill just whip the bolts out of the spare and refurb those myself and do 1 wheel at a time.

Any idea what the torque figure is?

[dan101smith]

The alarm fobs will need re-coding to the car IIRC.

I believe you have to take out some of the glovebox to get to the control unit to do it - I'm a bit hazy on the detail, but I'm sure someone can fill in the detail.

[S3_Graham]

Err guys the car just did something weird....

The dash lights just went off and the ODO and the centre console backlightss were pulsing. Seemed like it might be related to bumps/movement but cant be for sure!

Any ideas?

ETA: it wasnt permanent, it would pulse for like 5secs then go back to normal, then completely randomly pulse again for a random time and then go back to normal!?

Edited by S3_Graham on Thursday 6th May 21:04

[ADM06]

S3_Graham said:

thanks matt, Got a quote from the uk split rim people. they wanted £180 just for new bolts!!! thats ridiculous! i think ill just whip the bolts out of the spare and refurb those myself and do 1 wheel at a time.

Any idea what the torque figure is?

I've heard it about the figure for new bolts is 40lb/ft and old ones 20lb/ft. I have A2 grade stainless steel button head bolts in mine and used 30lb/ft because they have slightly lower shear strength.
If you're interested in s/s bolts the ones to go for are M8 x 30mm IIRC, if you measure the BBS bolts you can get away with about 5mm shorter than what they are. They're lighter, will never rust, and cost about £15 for 100 with nuts.


I've never heard of this problem you're having with the dash. I'd say first port of call is the battery, failing that check all the connections behind the cluster etc

Edited by ADM06 on Thursday 6th May 22:26

[dan101smith]

Sounds like it could be a dodgy earth.

[S3_Graham]

dan101smith said:

Sounds like it could be a dodgy earth.

i thought that also, how hard is it to get behind the dash??

However it has fixed itself this morning!??! fking cars...

[dan101smith]

Not too hard. IIRC, a lot of the earths are behind the dash on the far left of the passenger side.

[S3_Graham]

thats a result then, i need to get behind there to have a look for the alarm control box!

[S3_Graham]

FYI anyone interested....

The dash lights turned out to be a break in a wire for the illuminated gear knob. Now fixed. Phew.