Jimbomofo E36 BMW 323
Discussion
Well where do I begin... I brought her in November 06 after selling my modified civic VTI; I really enjoyed the high revving civic… But it was very one-dimensional and I was getting sick of the amount of attention it received.
I felt it was time to grow some hair on my balls and buy my first RWD car. I was about to become a MAN!
There were a few cars that I was looking at, MR2 turbo and 200 SX to name a couple.
I must admit that I wasn’t looking for a BMW in particular… it was one of a few cars I was considering, but after dropping my friend off to have his car serviced I was offered a drive by my mechanic in an e36 323 coupe.
The torque of the engine immediately impressed me…something a variable valve time Honda civic does not have in large quantities.
It was smooth, comfortable, fast and discrete… well certainly when compared to my very loud and antisocial VTI.
After a blast down the A12 I was certain this car was for me, it felt very quick indeed, the mechanic was pretty sure that it had been chipped at some point earlier in its life. I’m unsure about this… however I have driven it back to back against my friends standard 1999 323 and mine did certainly feel quicker. I suspect that it could have been tuned above the standard 170 bhp by BMW in the factory, which does happen from time to time. Only once I have put it on the rolling road will I know.
So £2400 was exchanged and I was the proud owner of my first BMW;
The spec is as follows:
1995 323 coupe
Montreal Blue
105000 miles
Full black leather
Manual transmission
Auto dim mirror
Standard 15” wheel
Full service history (Half BMW and Half independent specialist)
Included in the price of the car was an inspection 1 service.
Here some picture shortly after I bought her:
The first mod I done was to fit my stereo, which I had removed from my previous car.
I Also fitted:
Infinity front speakers
Rockford Fostgate 12" sub
Rockford Fostgate 2 channel amp
I was very please with the acoustic of the 323, my stereo wasn’t as loud in this car but the quality was improved drastically… as I’m more about quality rather than quantity I was very happy with the trade off.
As it was my first RWD car and I must confess I was very apprehensive about my first arse out moment, I understood the physics behind it… but I didn’t want my first moment to be unexpected on a greasy roundabout with other drivers around.
I wanted to know what my car felt like when it let go, but in a controlled environment.
It was a week after buying my car that I found myself early one morning in a deserted damp Tesco car park on the way to college… cues my first arse out moment.
After playing around in the wet over the next few month… pulling out of junctions, deserted roundabouts I began to fell like I had really missed out all these years by not having a RWD car.
I wasn’t in any rush to modify her, as I was a RWD novice, so I just enjoyed the learning experience of getting to grips with my new car.
Life with my new car was trouble free, until late one night whilst driving down the A12 my temp gauge hit the red, It wasn’t the best part of the A12 to pull over… so I keep driving to a petrol station which I knew wasn’t more than a couple of miles away. It was a bit of a risk I know, but I was willing to take the take my chances, as it wasn’t the best place to pull over.
I pulled in to the petrol station and lifted my bonnet to find that I had a sizable hole in my radiator, and steam bellowing from my engine bay.
I decided I would deal with it in the morning and got the GF to come pick me up.
So the next morning she was stretchered of by the AA to my local garage which, luckily was only a couple of mile from where I had broken down.
On a closer inspection at the garage it was found that the propeller blade had broken and pieced the radiator. A new radiator and propeller were fitted at a cost of £200, which I felt was a reasonable price.
It was suspected that something from the road had somehow got into the front part of the engine bay and smashed the blade and ricocheted of into the radiator.
Not long after this incident she was given an oil change as all the green service lights were out, around the same time new tires were fitted to the rear as they were beginning to let go far too easily in the wet.
A few months passed and I decided it was time to replace the tired suspension and brake as both were on their last legs.
After talking to Ben at chrome design I decided to replace my suspension and brakes.
I opted for a (Bilstein damper / Ebaich spring) suspension set up which offered a 30mm rear / 15mm front drop.
New damper
New damper and springs assembled
New and old rear springs
New rear springs fitted
rear damper fitted
Black diamond grooved and drilled front brakes
Disk fitted on the car
This is how she looked shortly after lowering her.
Thank you Ben for your help and patient, to be fair I was pain in the arse at times, chasing deliver dates, asking loads of questions etc… So many thanks!
While I was at it I gave the suspension a thorough going over, the front track rod ball joint were changed as they had some play in them, as well as the Rear Trailing Arm Bushes (RTAB).
I couldn’t be bothered to do the RTAB my self as I heard through the e36coupe.com grape vine they were a pain in the arse to do. So of to the garage she went at a cost of £50.
Only after replace the suspension did I realize how fooked it was... It feels like a completed different car. Even on the modest 15 alloys it still handled superbly. I had begun to feel like the tuning bug had bitten me.
Next on the list was a Dave F induction kit; it wasn’t a planned purchased, it was an impulsive buy one bored lunchtime. The wait… as always was agonizing; it took just under a week to arrive.
It was very easy to fit thanks to the instruction provided and wow…. what a difference it made to the feel of the engine. I forgot how nice it was to be able to hear what the engine was doing, something I hadn’t experienced since owner the Civic VTI.
It now revs a lot more freely make a lovely noise in the process, a fantastic bit of kit and a highly recommended first engine modification.
It has got to be the best value for money mod I have done so far…. However this is off set against my increased fuel bill due to the induction roar egging me on at every available opportunity.
I thought that the induction kit would quench my thirst for modding my car for a while, but all it did was wet my appetite.
The next mod was some clear indictors, why is it that with every mod I do, I say to my self…”why the hell didn’t I do this before?” and this instant was no exception. It freshened up the front of the car a treat, white and blue was a far more eye pleasing contrast than the orange and blue.
No longer than 1 week later I find myself ordering a set of 18” CSL replicas, they came wrapped In a set of Kumho tires fitted priced @ £600. Which I felt was a very competitive price.
I was impressed with the sharper handling provided by the new wheels and tires, its so much more planted than before. Taking the limits of the car truly out of my reach. The braking, accelerating and general stability of the car has massively improved.
I’m still very much getting use to the new handling characteristics, I just love that feeling of discovering your car all over again.
When provoked the rear is a little quicker to step out in the wet on small 2nd gear roundabouts, but its far more controlled than before and get back in line with minimal drama. Before it was tricky to get back in line smoothly. All the above driving antics were all performed on a closed private road of course.
Some picture whoring
And a quick picture of my mates Avus blue 328 sports
I am very please with my car so far, it is far from finished… but I am really enjoying the experience of watch her grow, and adjusting to every new mod.
An inspection 2 service is due at some point in the present future, so once I have got that out of the way I will begin looking at the next set of mods.
As well as the service an MOT is due in October, I know the rear brakes are in need of changing. I’m thinking that Black Diamond grooved will do the trick nicely but I wont be purchasing their brake pads as they are $hite.
The other day I had a couple of high speed blasts down a disused ex WW2 runway which happens to be a public road… and they were as much use as a chocolate teapot.
I was far from impressed, don’t get me wrong I wasn’t expecting fadeless braking for hours and hours but I expect more than two runs before they gave out. I expect more from the standard brakes. Just imagine how disheartened I would have been if had taken it on a track to only discovers that they were made of cardboard dust.
After talking to Ben @ chrome design I decided that I would replace all my current pads with mintex extreme. For just over £100 delivered I was pretty happy with the cost. Some standard rear disk where also sourced at a cost of £55.
My old rear disks had seen better days
New rears fitted
First thoughts are they seem to have a noticeable improvement to the braking power, more noticeable is the improvement in the initial bite of the pads when first touching the brakes, which has improved vastly. I am yet to give them any real stick so I can’t comment on the fade resistance of the pads as of yet.
A couple of weeks later she went for an MOT, which she passed with flying colors, which is always a nice.
Around the same time I decided that a new stereo was needed, as mine would intermittently stop working, as always it was an impulsive buy (I got to stop having these).
I ended up going with a Kenwood CD player; it has a digital input for my ipod and as well as having hands free Bluetooth kit.
I also had my alpine V12 amp wired up, which has been collecting dusk for the last 6 month.
A month or so passed and nothing was done other the usual detailing of the car. Then for my birthday I was luck enough to receive the follow goodie from my GF and a couple of friends.
Storm V1 shifter with engraved gears
Storm handbrake sifter
Storm lighter plug
Leather gear gaiter (with alpine colored stitching)
Leather hand brake gaiter (with alpine colored stitching)
M3 rear light
New front ashtray
The new leather gaiters and storm stainless goodies has brightened up a tired 12 year interior console.
I not going to go on and on about the storm gear knob as its been done many times before, but rest assured I’m am very impressed with the new shift action.
Everything but the M3 rear lights have been fitted, this will be at the weekend before the blue water meet.
I all most forgot I have booked her in for a service on Friday for an inspection 1, as my last green light has been on a while so I thought it was best to get her in.
I’m still very unsure which direction I want to take my car from here, I don’t know whether to concentrate on mods which enhance the driver experience or mods which are pleasing to the eye… or a blend of the two.
I don’t want to pile too much money into a car that doesn’t warrant it… as everyone non-car enthusiast will tell you, cars are the worst investments you will ever make. I have no problem with spending the money; I just want to spend it wisely.
I plan to keep my car certainly for the foreseeable future, with the intention of removing as many of the mods as possible when I do finally sell up. Hopefully transferring all the good bits over to my next BMW.
Any way that’s about me done for now, I will try and keep it up to date… so watch this space.
Any feedback or comments regarding the layout or anything else for that matter is more than welcome.
Thank you for reading.
I felt it was time to grow some hair on my balls and buy my first RWD car. I was about to become a MAN!
There were a few cars that I was looking at, MR2 turbo and 200 SX to name a couple.
I must admit that I wasn’t looking for a BMW in particular… it was one of a few cars I was considering, but after dropping my friend off to have his car serviced I was offered a drive by my mechanic in an e36 323 coupe.
The torque of the engine immediately impressed me…something a variable valve time Honda civic does not have in large quantities.
It was smooth, comfortable, fast and discrete… well certainly when compared to my very loud and antisocial VTI.
After a blast down the A12 I was certain this car was for me, it felt very quick indeed, the mechanic was pretty sure that it had been chipped at some point earlier in its life. I’m unsure about this… however I have driven it back to back against my friends standard 1999 323 and mine did certainly feel quicker. I suspect that it could have been tuned above the standard 170 bhp by BMW in the factory, which does happen from time to time. Only once I have put it on the rolling road will I know.
So £2400 was exchanged and I was the proud owner of my first BMW;
The spec is as follows:
1995 323 coupe
Montreal Blue
105000 miles
Full black leather
Manual transmission
Auto dim mirror
Standard 15” wheel
Full service history (Half BMW and Half independent specialist)
Included in the price of the car was an inspection 1 service.
Here some picture shortly after I bought her:
The first mod I done was to fit my stereo, which I had removed from my previous car.
I Also fitted:
Infinity front speakers
Rockford Fostgate 12" sub
Rockford Fostgate 2 channel amp
I was very please with the acoustic of the 323, my stereo wasn’t as loud in this car but the quality was improved drastically… as I’m more about quality rather than quantity I was very happy with the trade off.
As it was my first RWD car and I must confess I was very apprehensive about my first arse out moment, I understood the physics behind it… but I didn’t want my first moment to be unexpected on a greasy roundabout with other drivers around.
I wanted to know what my car felt like when it let go, but in a controlled environment.
It was a week after buying my car that I found myself early one morning in a deserted damp Tesco car park on the way to college… cues my first arse out moment.
After playing around in the wet over the next few month… pulling out of junctions, deserted roundabouts I began to fell like I had really missed out all these years by not having a RWD car.
I wasn’t in any rush to modify her, as I was a RWD novice, so I just enjoyed the learning experience of getting to grips with my new car.
Life with my new car was trouble free, until late one night whilst driving down the A12 my temp gauge hit the red, It wasn’t the best part of the A12 to pull over… so I keep driving to a petrol station which I knew wasn’t more than a couple of miles away. It was a bit of a risk I know, but I was willing to take the take my chances, as it wasn’t the best place to pull over.
I pulled in to the petrol station and lifted my bonnet to find that I had a sizable hole in my radiator, and steam bellowing from my engine bay.
I decided I would deal with it in the morning and got the GF to come pick me up.
So the next morning she was stretchered of by the AA to my local garage which, luckily was only a couple of mile from where I had broken down.
On a closer inspection at the garage it was found that the propeller blade had broken and pieced the radiator. A new radiator and propeller were fitted at a cost of £200, which I felt was a reasonable price.
It was suspected that something from the road had somehow got into the front part of the engine bay and smashed the blade and ricocheted of into the radiator.
Not long after this incident she was given an oil change as all the green service lights were out, around the same time new tires were fitted to the rear as they were beginning to let go far too easily in the wet.
A few months passed and I decided it was time to replace the tired suspension and brake as both were on their last legs.
After talking to Ben at chrome design I decided to replace my suspension and brakes.
I opted for a (Bilstein damper / Ebaich spring) suspension set up which offered a 30mm rear / 15mm front drop.
New damper
New damper and springs assembled
New and old rear springs
New rear springs fitted
rear damper fitted
Black diamond grooved and drilled front brakes
Disk fitted on the car
This is how she looked shortly after lowering her.
Thank you Ben for your help and patient, to be fair I was pain in the arse at times, chasing deliver dates, asking loads of questions etc… So many thanks!
While I was at it I gave the suspension a thorough going over, the front track rod ball joint were changed as they had some play in them, as well as the Rear Trailing Arm Bushes (RTAB).
I couldn’t be bothered to do the RTAB my self as I heard through the e36coupe.com grape vine they were a pain in the arse to do. So of to the garage she went at a cost of £50.
Only after replace the suspension did I realize how fooked it was... It feels like a completed different car. Even on the modest 15 alloys it still handled superbly. I had begun to feel like the tuning bug had bitten me.
Next on the list was a Dave F induction kit; it wasn’t a planned purchased, it was an impulsive buy one bored lunchtime. The wait… as always was agonizing; it took just under a week to arrive.
It was very easy to fit thanks to the instruction provided and wow…. what a difference it made to the feel of the engine. I forgot how nice it was to be able to hear what the engine was doing, something I hadn’t experienced since owner the Civic VTI.
It now revs a lot more freely make a lovely noise in the process, a fantastic bit of kit and a highly recommended first engine modification.
It has got to be the best value for money mod I have done so far…. However this is off set against my increased fuel bill due to the induction roar egging me on at every available opportunity.
I thought that the induction kit would quench my thirst for modding my car for a while, but all it did was wet my appetite.
The next mod was some clear indictors, why is it that with every mod I do, I say to my self…”why the hell didn’t I do this before?” and this instant was no exception. It freshened up the front of the car a treat, white and blue was a far more eye pleasing contrast than the orange and blue.
No longer than 1 week later I find myself ordering a set of 18” CSL replicas, they came wrapped In a set of Kumho tires fitted priced @ £600. Which I felt was a very competitive price.
I was impressed with the sharper handling provided by the new wheels and tires, its so much more planted than before. Taking the limits of the car truly out of my reach. The braking, accelerating and general stability of the car has massively improved.
I’m still very much getting use to the new handling characteristics, I just love that feeling of discovering your car all over again.
When provoked the rear is a little quicker to step out in the wet on small 2nd gear roundabouts, but its far more controlled than before and get back in line with minimal drama. Before it was tricky to get back in line smoothly. All the above driving antics were all performed on a closed private road of course.
Some picture whoring
And a quick picture of my mates Avus blue 328 sports
I am very please with my car so far, it is far from finished… but I am really enjoying the experience of watch her grow, and adjusting to every new mod.
An inspection 2 service is due at some point in the present future, so once I have got that out of the way I will begin looking at the next set of mods.
As well as the service an MOT is due in October, I know the rear brakes are in need of changing. I’m thinking that Black Diamond grooved will do the trick nicely but I wont be purchasing their brake pads as they are $hite.
The other day I had a couple of high speed blasts down a disused ex WW2 runway which happens to be a public road… and they were as much use as a chocolate teapot.
I was far from impressed, don’t get me wrong I wasn’t expecting fadeless braking for hours and hours but I expect more than two runs before they gave out. I expect more from the standard brakes. Just imagine how disheartened I would have been if had taken it on a track to only discovers that they were made of cardboard dust.
After talking to Ben @ chrome design I decided that I would replace all my current pads with mintex extreme. For just over £100 delivered I was pretty happy with the cost. Some standard rear disk where also sourced at a cost of £55.
My old rear disks had seen better days
New rears fitted
First thoughts are they seem to have a noticeable improvement to the braking power, more noticeable is the improvement in the initial bite of the pads when first touching the brakes, which has improved vastly. I am yet to give them any real stick so I can’t comment on the fade resistance of the pads as of yet.
A couple of weeks later she went for an MOT, which she passed with flying colors, which is always a nice.
Around the same time I decided that a new stereo was needed, as mine would intermittently stop working, as always it was an impulsive buy (I got to stop having these).
I ended up going with a Kenwood CD player; it has a digital input for my ipod and as well as having hands free Bluetooth kit.
I also had my alpine V12 amp wired up, which has been collecting dusk for the last 6 month.
A month or so passed and nothing was done other the usual detailing of the car. Then for my birthday I was luck enough to receive the follow goodie from my GF and a couple of friends.
Storm V1 shifter with engraved gears
Storm handbrake sifter
Storm lighter plug
Leather gear gaiter (with alpine colored stitching)
Leather hand brake gaiter (with alpine colored stitching)
M3 rear light
New front ashtray
The new leather gaiters and storm stainless goodies has brightened up a tired 12 year interior console.
I not going to go on and on about the storm gear knob as its been done many times before, but rest assured I’m am very impressed with the new shift action.
Everything but the M3 rear lights have been fitted, this will be at the weekend before the blue water meet.
I all most forgot I have booked her in for a service on Friday for an inspection 1, as my last green light has been on a while so I thought it was best to get her in.
I’m still very unsure which direction I want to take my car from here, I don’t know whether to concentrate on mods which enhance the driver experience or mods which are pleasing to the eye… or a blend of the two.
I don’t want to pile too much money into a car that doesn’t warrant it… as everyone non-car enthusiast will tell you, cars are the worst investments you will ever make. I have no problem with spending the money; I just want to spend it wisely.
I plan to keep my car certainly for the foreseeable future, with the intention of removing as many of the mods as possible when I do finally sell up. Hopefully transferring all the good bits over to my next BMW.
Any way that’s about me done for now, I will try and keep it up to date… so watch this space.
Any feedback or comments regarding the layout or anything else for that matter is more than welcome.
Thank you for reading.
Edited by Jimbomofo on Friday 11th January 13:17
I pick her up today from my local garage after having a new clutch fittted and a service, the clucth is now nice and smooth and considerably lighter than before.
Also I finally got round to getting some pictures up of my new mods... there only little ones but mod never the less.
My new storm goodies and leather gaiters fitted
Also i've got a picture of my CD player... even though i've had it for sometime now!
And last but not least my m3 rear light fitted
next on my list of mods is a new steering wheel, some angel eyes and a spoilerless bootlid.
Thanks for reading
Also I finally got round to getting some pictures up of my new mods... there only little ones but mod never the less.
My new storm goodies and leather gaiters fitted
Also i've got a picture of my CD player... even though i've had it for sometime now!
And last but not least my m3 rear light fitted
next on my list of mods is a new steering wheel, some angel eyes and a spoilerless bootlid.
Thanks for reading
Cheers...you right the dampers were complete fook. It’s a modest drop on the suspension 30mm at from and 20mm at the front. I could have gone lower but then there would be ride and rubbing issues. I do a shed load of mile every year and I wanted to tighten the handling without losing ride quality, which thankfully I have achieved.
I do sometime wish I had gone lower but I only what to do that with coilovers, so that I had adjustment in case it rubbed. Unfortunately I could afford a decent set at the time. i may shell out for some coilover at a later date, if the mood takes me.
jim
I do sometime wish I had gone lower but I only what to do that with coilovers, so that I had adjustment in case it rubbed. Unfortunately I could afford a decent set at the time. i may shell out for some coilover at a later date, if the mood takes me.
jim
Edited by Jimbomofo on Friday 11th January 14:50
mattiselvis said:
I was worried about this one, when the talk of modifications began, but thankfully you've done a lovely job and it's a really good looking motor!
There does seem to be a lot of back end out action being mentioned, just because its RWD doesnt mean you have to do it all the time! 
I think the 'mods' so far are okay but dont go any further or it will become a chav-mobile.
Nice and shiny car though, well done!
Cheers
Tom
tommundy said:
mattiselvis said:
I was worried about this one, when the talk of modifications began, but thankfully you've done a lovely job and it's a really good looking motor!
There does seem to be a lot of back end out action being mentioned, just because its RWD doesnt mean you have to do it all the time! I think the 'mods' so far are okay but dont go any further or it will become a chav-mobile.
Nice and shiny car though, well done!
Cheers
Tom
There’s nothing wrong with tweaking the back out in the wet when space and the location permit. i consider my self an enthusiast... not a holigan.
Other than the wheels I want it to look OEM. Any future styling mods will be genuine BMW parts… Like the colour coded side skirt I won on ebay last night. Once the out side is sorted I will concentrate on the replacing all the tired and worn parts of the interior / exterior to get it looking like brand new.
Jim
Edited by Jimbomofo on Friday 11th January 15:04
swansea v6 said:
Very nice car, tasteful mods, got me thinking about my old 325i coupe.....would still have it, if it was a convertible.
cheers fella. i cant see my self buy anything else for a while, there is nothing else that meets my needs for such little money. I have always fancied ago in a MX5... i have read such glowing review.
i would love a drive in a early model mx5, before they ruined it with electronic and added weight.
Jim
@ swansea v6: I live in colchester mate. If im ever in the area i give you shout. sounds like a well set up MX5.
@ rossi-328i-sport: i reconise you user name and car as well. lovely 328 sport you have mate. i think we were both in the convoy up to santa pod last year. That was a awesome drive.
@ rossi-328i-sport: i reconise you user name and car as well. lovely 328 sport you have mate. i think we were both in the convoy up to santa pod last year. That was a awesome drive.
Only a small update
New carbon badges fitted front and rear
i finally got my steering wheel fitted.
its only 20mm smaller, but wow! what a difference it makes. it's much easier to throw around now.:wink:
also here a picture of the short shifter fitted
before
after
as the pictures show its quiet a bit lower than standard, its hows it should be standard IMO
these have yet to be fitted
however i need to get my m3 front bumper sprayed and fitted aswell as finding a colou coded rear bumper to match.
I've a few more things in the pipe for the near future, so watch this space.
thanks for reading
Jim
New carbon badges fitted front and rear
i finally got my steering wheel fitted.
its only 20mm smaller, but wow! what a difference it makes. it's much easier to throw around now.:wink:
also here a picture of the short shifter fitted
before
after
as the pictures show its quiet a bit lower than standard, its hows it should be standard IMO
these have yet to be fitted
however i need to get my m3 front bumper sprayed and fitted aswell as finding a colou coded rear bumper to match.
I've a few more things in the pipe for the near future, so watch this space.
thanks for reading
Jim
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