BMW E36 328i

[J4mmin]

Been reading the articles and threads on here for years, but have never put my car up. Made a purchase at the end of last month that I thought was more apt, so here she is;
















1997 BMW E36 328i Sport;

Montreal Blue Metallic

12 Months MOT/3 Months Tax

Two owners previous, the first owning it 13 years and servicing it religiously at BMW

Ex BMW Dealership Demo car

£965 FC Insurance with all the extras. 22 yrs old, 4 NCB, clean licence and record.

Spec;

Alusil 2.8l 24v Single VANOS Straight Six

Lux Pack - Auto Air Con, Dual Zone Climate Control, Centre Armrest, Heated Washer Jets, Heated Drivers Door Lock, Light Grey Leather Interior, Smoking Pack, 18 Function On Board Computer

M-Tech Sport Pack + Extras; Illuminated M Gearknob, Tri Colour Stitching M Steering Wheel, Bodykit, Wing and M3 Chin Spoiler, Rear Lights, 17" BBS Staggered Split Rims (7.5j Front, 8.5j Rear), Clear Front Indicator Lenses

M-Tech AVUS Suspension Pack; Bilstein Shocks, Eccentric Front Bushes, Uprated Wishbones

TCS (ASC)

ABS

Heated Front Seats

Black Alcantara Headlining

Slide/Tilt One Touch Electric Sunroof with Leather Trim

One Touch Electric Windows

BMW Alarm

Electric Heated/Adjustable Mirrors

6k HID's on Dipped Beam and White Sidelights

Full First Aid Kit, Tool Kit and Immaculate Spare Wheel and Tyre

Clutch, Inner Track Rod Ends and All Tyres Replaced 3 months ago along with Service and Diff Oil, as well as Inspection 2

Private Plate valued at £400

Aeroblade Wipers

Functional Indicators


Its not without its problems; the rear wings have rusted on the arches, the offside is pretty bad and has lost its paint for an inch or so. Theres minor bolster wear on drivers seat, the fog lights need bulbs and the airbag light is on.

No really big issues there, the rust will be the expensive one obviously but Im lucky to know a bodywork guru so Ill get it done uber cheap, and theres no structural rust or any in the boot/front arches. It's also got the Alusil lump not the Nikasil which is great as the cars a good few months before the production swapover.

I'd been browsing for these for months, although mostly window shopping, my perfect spec was exactly this so I had to go for it. Plus its got the added bonus of the heated seats, HIDs and the chin spoiler and other little bits. And obviously the bonkers mileage. Its got 3 small scratches and the a wingmirror base needs repainting, but generally its absolutely immaculate.

Plans are to bring it back to its best, its to be fully detailed by a mate of mine soon, his conclusion on its condition will decide whether I get a full respray upon the arches being cut out. Ill be reconning the leathers, replacing the floor mats as theyre a little tired, nothing crazy.

Saying that, the main job Im looking forward too is renewing the entire suspension setup; dampers, springs, bushes, mounts, control arms the lot. I want to do this all in one go to save time and money, hopefully it'll be done over the latter part of the summer. If not it'll likely be next year. Shes still good to drive, but does lack a little precision. The dampers certainly arent below average condition though, it rides beautifully.

After driving a stripped out hatchback as a daily over the past 3 years/40k, this feels like a Bentley in terms of comfort. Behind the wheel, its unbelievably smooth and refined, whilst able to keep you on your toes when you feel the need for a hoon which evokes an immense straight six howl. Couldnt be happier with it, and all for 1,600 dorrah!

So yeah, after spending thousands modifying my last car to the point where nothing was standard, the plans are to make her as perfect to look at and drive as when she came out of Deutschland and just enjoy it. Cheers for reading

Edited by J4mmin on Wednesday 4th May 00:39

Edited by J4mmin on Wednesday 4th May 00:58

Edited by J4mmin on Wednesday 4th May 00:58

[Chunkychucky]

Lovely car chap. Still think these 328 sports looks really good with the M Tec kit and the BBS rims, very nice. Having read the cost of your insurance, may have to start looking...

[LimitedSlipDisk]

Very nice

[J4mmin]

Cheers lads. Yeah well worth a look, Im with Bell, they/Elephant/Admiral seem to be stupidly cheap at the moment, they were miles below specialist insurers.

Should also add that Ive bought a £3 cassette adaptor so I can run the iPod until I find a Headunit that both suits the dash and provides decent sound quality, and Ill be removing the CDV next week. Really ruins the 1st-2nd gearchange, sometimes over-engineering is a bad thing me thinks.

Edited by J4mmin on Wednesday 4th May 01:26

[powwerr]

WOW! Real functioning indicators you say?!

Nice car though.

[mgmrw2003]

Do the suspension, trust me, my 36 tourer was the same... 112k fresh, and drove good but a little "vague" when pushed.

4 new shockers, a box full off bushes for all over, arb links, and 4x 35mm lowering springs (rears to be changed as supplied wrong spring rate) and she drives so much tighter and fresher. Ditching the functional 15s for 17s off a 46 have made it a new car to drive.

Enjoy

[wackojacko]

V.nice indeed. How do you find it when driving enthusiasticly on a twisty B road ? ..... Interested as I'll be purchasing one in the near future to do the obligatory track slag E36

[6potdave]

Very nice! Lovely car, you will enjoy it. Watch the rear end in the wet if it's the first RWD you've had

[DannyVTS]

Great car, looking forward to getting my 328i sport... some day....

[S3_Graham]

if you ditch the radio casette i'd be insterested in the original!!

Its externally identical to mine. Only difference would appear to be my black interior and your staggered wheels. I'm currently looking into ditching the rear spoiler on mine.

Oh and mine has the LSD as it would appear BMW lost trust in its owners and fitted TCS to later cars

[rossi-328i-sport]

Hi Mate, lovely looking untouched example, had mine around 3 years now and has never done me wrong although i have spent a fair bit on it but only to improve it.
Alot of motor for the money now days and with a little bit of breathing on here and there they easily stand up well against modern sports coupes.

[jonnydm]

That is lovely. Far too many of these have been neglected, making the decent ones all the better for it.

[J4mmin]

powwerr said:

WOW! Real functioning indicators you say?!

Nice car though.

Haha yep, I was genuinely shocked! Cheers

mgmrw2003 said:

Do the suspension, trust me, my 36 tourer was the same... 112k fresh, and drove good but a little "vague" when pushed.

4 new shockers, a box full off bushes for all over, arb links, and 4x 35mm lowering springs (rears to be changed as supplied wrong spring rate) and she drives so much tighter and fresher. Ditching the functional 15s for 17s off a 46 have made it a new car to drive.

Enjoy

Great to hear, always been very in to my handling but whilst most E36 part prices are very reasonable, some of the Avus suspension costs seem to be far more expensive than big aftermarket brands. Where did you source all your bits BMW, or did you go pattern/aftermarket?

wackojacko said:

V.nice indeed. How do you find it when driving enthusiasticly on a twisty B road ? ..... Interested as I'll be purchasing one in the near future to do the obligatory track slag E36

Very able and a lot of fun, but with a full interior and 86k/14yr old suspension and tyres that although reasonably high end wouldnt have been my choice, I havent really pushed it too hard yet on the B's. My previous car was set up for B roads, my driving style and as said was stripped out, so until I refresh it Im not going to try and match up on the B's as it wont get close.

Without prepping it though, the E36 is much more of an A road car I think. The torquey 6 pot, wide tyres and the size of it makes it better for longer sweeping roads with the odd tight one thrown in, whereas my usual haunts have been B's with awful road surfaces and barely a few hundred feet without a 90 degree corner.

Not sure if any of that helps! Ill be takin her up Hullavington soon to tame the rear, Ill hopefully have more useful perspective then .

6potdave said:

Very nice! Lovely car, you will enjoy it. Watch the rear end in the wet if it's the first RWD you've had

Cheers Dave, yeah for sure. Grew up with father Harris owning a number of Beemers, but the two that stuck out were his E36 318i and his E39 528i, always lusted after em. This ones a mix and match so its a bit of a childhood dream come true really, would never forgive myself if I stacked it.

Saying that, I will be perfecting the art, albeit cautiously!

DannyVTS said:

Great car, looking forward to getting my 328i sport... some day....

Your thread on here helped me with a lot of my queries when I began looking specifically at the 328 months back mate, so thanks for that! Made the same move up car wise as well.

S3_Graham said:

if you ditch the radio casette i'd be insterested in the original!!

Its externally identical to mine. Only difference would appear to be my black interior and your staggered wheels. I'm currently looking into ditching the rear spoiler on mine.

Oh and mine has the LSD as it would appear BMW lost trust in its owners and fitted TCS to later cars

Ill let you know when I remove it bud, but to be fair Ill most likely keep it, bit of a magpie with parts me!

Yeah very, gorgeous example damn you with your smooth arches lol. I really wanted one with the LSD, but when I found out even the earlier ones only came with them as an option I couldnt be arsed trying to hunt one down as I already had far too many requirements. Ill just fit one in in the future. Youve taken your badges off too I see, most owners seem to do this, wuite like em meself! You fitting a lip spoiler or leaving her bare?

rossi-328i-sport said:

Hi Mate, lovely looking untouched example, had mine around 3 years now and has never done me wrong although i have spent a fair bit on it but only to improve it.
Alot of motor for the money now days and with a little bit of breathing on here and there they easily stand up well against modern sports coupes.

Cheers pal, not to sound stalkerish but Ive read through most of your thread on owners, easily my favourite car on there. Wasnt thinking in the slightest about lowering this one, but your threads knocked me the other way entirely. Still undecided on the indicators too. What MPG are you getting now?

[J4mmin]

jonnydm said:

That is lovely. Far too many of these have been neglected, making the decent ones all the better for it.

Cheers . Hugely agree on these, they loose their character and edge if you stray more than slightly from standard.

[mig25_foxbat2003]

Lovely. You've given me a couple of ideas for things to do to my own Montreal Blue example... <goes to eBay for light-up \\\M Gearknob>

[mgmrw2003]

I went pattern part/aftermarket. Only gave a grand for the car so even the £500 for a full suspension refresh was a "do I? Don't I?" event. Glad I did.

[rossi-328i-sport]

Thanks alot fella!!
I had to lower mine, i like you was going to leave it standard but the bug bites and it bites hard, i went with eibach springs to start with, tightened it up and dropped it nicely but recently i have gone down the coilover route,havent gone silly low atall , still drivable day to day but feels even tighter and coupled with the strut braces and powerflex bushes i havent got a bad word to say, day to day around london i will only get about 19-21mpg , motorways 39+ mpg.

[S3_Graham]

i ditched my light up gearknob.... didnt like it! New leather ///M gearknob from BMW was 30 or 40 i think.

Ref my badges they were off the car when i bought it as it had been chavved up to M3 spec and i've had to put it back to standard. (mirrors etc) Im planning to leave the spoiler off! only problem is the holes drilled in the bootlid!

As for fuel, i do fairly mixed driving and im averaging 33mpg.

Tbh, the car has cost me a small fortune. I've replaced all the front wishbone bushes, the rear TAB's, new thermostat housing and coolant tank and i recently i had an airleak which required loads of new parts. I dont think the car was particularly well looked after in its previous life.

I've finally got the tiniest bit of rust come through on my rear arch but generally its in fantastic nick!


ETA:

While we are all here, do any of you guys know the torque figure for the bolts on the wheels and where i can get bolts/nuts from?? Im in the process of refurbing my wheels and lost a nut! will post up the results.

Edited by S3_Graham on Wednesday 4th May 16:28

[J4mmin]

mig25_foxbat2003 said:

Lovely. You've given me a couple of ideas for things to do to my own Montreal Blue example... <goes to eBay for light-up \\\M Gearknob>

Danke! Yeah its a nice touch I think, theyre over £100 new though . Need to sort something for mine, the leather around the edge is worn back but the top is fine, Im thinking I should visit a leather trimmer of some kind first and see if they can help before I splash out on another one.

mgmrw2003 said:

I went pattern part/aftermarket. Only gave a grand for the car so even the £500 for a full suspension refresh was a "do I? Don't I?" event. Glad I did.

Ah fair play, thats a very good price. How was fitting it, I hear the front wishbones and some of the rear multi link bushes are a bit of a pig?

rossi-328i-sport said:

Thanks alot fella!!
I had to lower mine, i like you was going to leave it standard but the bug bites and it bites hard, i went with eibach springs to start with, tightened it up and dropped it nicely but recently i have gone down the coilover route,havent gone silly low atall , still drivable day to day but feels even tighter and coupled with the strut braces and powerflex bushes i havent got a bad word to say, day to day around london i will only get about 19-21mpg , motorways 39+ mpg.

I expect Ill follow a similar path over the next few years mate, at the moment Im loving the ride quality though, surely its a bit hardcore for the road on yours now? What damping and spring rates are you running? Im getting about 24 around town but only 35ish on the motorways, have you fitted cruise? Been looking into that heavily recently, will definitely be doing that as soon as funds allow after the arches are done.

S3_Graham said:

i ditched my light up gearknob.... didnt like it! New leather ///M gearknob from BMW was 30 or 40 i think.

Ref my badges they were off the car when i bought it as it had been chavved up to M3 spec and i've had to put it back to standard. (mirrors etc) Im planning to leave the spoiler off! only problem is the holes drilled in the bootlid!

As for fuel, i do fairly mixed driving and im averaging 33mpg.

Tbh, the car has cost me a small fortune. I've replaced all the front wishbone bushes, the rear TAB's, new thermostat housing and coolant tank and i recently i had an airleak which required loads of new parts. I dont think the car was particularly well looked after in its previous life.

I've finally got the tiniest bit of rust come through on my rear arch but generally its in fantastic nick!


ETA:

While we are all here, do any of you guys know the torque figure for the bolts on the wheels and where i can get bolts/nuts from?? Im in the process of refurbing my wheels and lost a nut! will post up the results.

Edited by S3_Graham on Wednesday 4th May 16:28

If youve still got it theres a possible sale above :P.

Ah I see, yeah I must admit Ive never liked the M3 mirrors, even if I had an M3 Id fit the ones I have now. Apart from the fact I grew up in the Max Power years and have seen them fitted to every car under the sun, they dont fit the lines of the car atall. Aye, whats the plan then, second hand bootlid?

Thats not too bad, I potter around town too much to get that. Bad times, do you do the work yourself?

88ft-lbs it be! Wheres your thread man, Ill have to have a ganders.

[S3_Graham]

Ha yeah except my light up one sounds exactly the same as yours. The leather has started to peel back and some of the detail has rubbed off the inside. Cant believe they are £100 though?? a standard leather jobbie was £30 from BMW and the M sticker (with the 1-5 gear diagram) for the top was £8 i think.

Only thing ive noticed since going back to original mirrors is that wind noise is ALOT more. Half wish i had kept them now.

Not sure on the bootlid, i bought a second boot but never fitted it as A, it was silver and B, there is a lot of gubbins to swap over. I'm thinking of taking it off, putting super steel in the holes and painting over it.

I do some of the work myself but most i send to a local indy and the expenisve bits i have a mate do.
I have Garlicks disease of liking to have service history even if it means spending more. Most expensive bits i have done were the front wishbone bushes. Was cheaper (due to labour costs) to replace the whole assemblies rather than pay for someone to faff about pressing the old bushes off etc.

Thanks for the torque figure. Will try to get some nuts from work (im an aircraft engineer so they should be up to spec) and fit the last 2 theni can torque it. Im not happy with the colour of the centres tbh, too dark but the job went ok!

Will post results in the thread for my car.