e36 328i touring questions

[cmackay81]

After unsuccessfully trying to find a decent Jeep Cherokee for tha past few months, i'm giving up on that and after a nice big barge to float around in.

looking for a e36 328i touring, question is, what are the auto's like for these? there are alot for sale for quite cheap, and there don't seem to be many manuals around

also if you have one for sale, PM me

Edited by cmackay81 on Friday 16th July 13:03

[cmackay81]

anyone?

[defblade]

E36 touring is not a "big" barge.

But so long as it's big enough for you!

Watch out for lack of service history and Nikasil problems.

Get over to e36coupe.com (they do tourings and 'loons, too )

[Gad-Westy]

I had an auto coupe for a while. It is a good auto box for the time but has no manual override like the later switch-tronic boxes. If it's just for a barge, I think it's a good combination. If you want something to blast along B-roads I think you may find it lacking. Seem to remember there can be issues with reverse on the auto, worth doing a google to check.

[cmackay81]

cheers for that guys.

will go and check out an auto or two, but will hopefully get a manual.

cheap as chips for these type of cars now though, seem to be landing at around the £1k mark quite often

[KingRichard]

If you're willing to travel down to Kent, I know of a cracking E46 325i Touring for sale. 65k miles, 2 owners... think the guy said he wants £3400 for it.

It's also a manual which is not that common. Of interest?

[cmackay81]

KingRichard said:

If you're willing to travel down to Kent, I know of a cracking E46 325i Touring for sale. 65k miles, 2 owners... think the guy said he wants £3400 for it.

It's also a manual which is not that common. Of interest?

cheers mate, does sound good, but i'm limiting myself to £1000 asInow commute to work ona bike so won't be driving it too much.

[MarsellusWallace]

I took a t reg 328i touring manual in px against a car I was selling a few months ago.I was going to strip it out and turn it into a track day car but decided in the end it would rarely get used and sent it to the local car auction instead.It made £1100

[Cotty]

defblade said:

E36 touring is not a "big" barge.

Yep the E30 touring I have is shorter than the current 1 series.

[deadslow]

Gad-Westy said:

Seem to remember there can be issues with reverse on the auto, worth doing a google to check.

Yes, most definitely. Get a manual if at all possible. The 'sealed for life' autobox regularly loses the ability to select reverse once over 100k.

Good cars though.

[cmackay81]

many thanks guys.

going to be much haredr to find a manual, but hopefully worth the wait/ searching

[Devil2575]

A 1k 328 touring may not be the best car in the world.

You could easily end up spending another 1k sorting out problems.

A well sorted 328 is a fine car though.

[JAM35F]

I had one a couple of years ago, loved it. Lots of useable power and handled really well for what is was. Mine was a rare sport model though with the uprated suspension. Also had the m-tec body kit, sports seats, m badged steering wheel and black headlining.

Regret selling it and would have another one if I could find one as good as my old one. I paid a bit more than £1k on it though, and also sold it for considerably more. I think you will be lucky to find a sport for £1k now but you may be lucky.

[cmackay81]

that does look nice. I don't mind getting a bit of a leggy one, and will be able to do most repairs on it that come along myself. there seem quite a few auto's on autotrader for around the 1-1.2 mark, which I'm sure you could haggle down a bit, though i guess i could expect to pay slightly more for a manual.

[cmackay81]

cheers for teh help guys. got one last night for just under a grand.
bit leggy, but engine runs very well so not worried about that.

also arctic white, so i can pretend to be a police car on the motorway :P

[g3org3y]

I noticed the lack of manuals when looking for my 328i also, did find one in the end though.

I'm not sure if the auto is the same (ZF?) box fitted to the earlier 325i but if so I've had some experience and I'd say it suits rather well. The 2.8 is quite a bit more torquey in the lower rev range than the 2.5 so progress can be rapid and discreet. The box itself is good, smooth changes and predictable to the extent you can pretty much change/hold gear as required depending on your treatment of the accelerator.

Sport mode is great fun and really does make a difference. My only annoyance would be the box's tendancy to hold gears when starting up from cold apparently in order to warm up the cats (stick it in winter mode and shift manually for the first 5 mins)!

[cv01jw]

cmackay81 said:

cheers for teh help guys. got one last night for just under a grand.
bit leggy, but engine runs very well so not worried about that.

also arctic white, so i can pretend to be a police car on the motorway :P

Any pics yet?

[Riggers]

cmackay81 said:

cheers for teh help guys. got one last night for just under a grand.
bit leggy, but engine runs very well so not worried about that.

also arctic white, so i can pretend to be a police car on the motorway :P

sounds quite like mine - SOTW Special: BMW 328i Touring - except mine's the auto (which i'm perfectly happy with, btw).

Congratulations and welcome to the world of 328i Tourings! Hopefully yours has a few more straight panels than mine - I count only three that don't have a minor dent or a scratch of some sort (though that includes bonnet and roof...)

Edited by Riggers on Wednesday 21st July 10:33