My E36 BMW 328i Coupe

My E36 BMW 328i Coupe

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Discussion

6potdave

Original Poster:

2,404 posts

219 months

Thursday 4th December 2008
quotequote all
Bought this car back in August for the money I couldn't resist. It cost me £1500 with a full ticket and 3 months tax! Car came with M3 repica wheels, an awful gearstick and a bit of a saggy rear spoiler. But overall it was in good condition and the engine is very smooth. It's my 3rd 6 pot E36 now and for the money its a cracking car. It still pulls really well and there is a degree of fun to be had with the RWD layout. I recently added some CCFL angels, new mats (not pictured), M-Tech gearknob and gaitor, Number plate surrounds and I have a set of M Tech pedals to fit. Also cleaned the look of it up by adding OEM chrome tailpipes, Carbon badges and removing the 328 badge. The cars had a full service now with the correct amount of oil in (drained 12 litres from the sump - thanks previous owner!!) A few little niggles sorted out like sensors here and there, ideally I would like to give it a full blow over, remove the spolier, fit an M Tech kit with either a wheel refurb or change altogether. However, I might swap it for an E46 in the summer so undecided at the mo!







Edited by 6potdave on Thursday 4th December 18:23

sniff diesel

13,111 posts

218 months

Thursday 4th December 2008
quotequote all
Please take that badge off the dash and put it back on the bootlid frown

ChrisRS

1,787 posts

223 months

Thursday 4th December 2008
quotequote all
sniff diesel said:
Please take that badge off the dash and put it back on the bootlid frown
Yep, apart from that, smart looking car, makes me regret selling mine.

Ment-Al

17,271 posts

201 months

Thursday 4th December 2008
quotequote all
ChrisRS said:
sniff diesel said:
Please take that badge off the dash and put it back on the bootlid frown
Yep, apart from that, smart looking car, makes me regret selling mine.
Just take it off the dash and bin it...

shalmaneser

6,022 posts

201 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
Ment-Al said:
ChrisRS said:
sniff diesel said:
Please take that badge off the dash and put it back on the bootlid frown
Yep, apart from that, smart looking car, makes me regret selling mine.
Just take it off the dash and bin it...
+1

minimatt1967

17,198 posts

212 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
Tidy looking e36, as has already been said bin the badge, it just looks tacky! Not sure about the angel eyes, but other than that th e36 really seems to be making a comeback like the e30 has done, especially when only mildly modified like yours thumbup

RobCrezz

7,892 posts

214 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
12 litres of oil!?! Did they just fill it up untill it came out of the filler cap?!

Edited by RobCrezz on Friday 5th December 15:10

issey23

173 posts

195 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
Ment-Al said:
ChrisRS said:
sniff diesel said:
Please take that badge off the dash and put it back on the bootlid frown
Yep, apart from that, smart looking car, makes me regret selling mine.
Just take it off the dash and bin it...
clap

Edited by issey23 on Sunday 1st November 19:27

hbwold

290 posts

213 months

Friday 5th December 2008
quotequote all
Lovely looking car, always had a soft spot for these. Looks great in black too. Whats the mileage?

carter711

1,849 posts

204 months

Friday 5th December 2008
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Hold on you drained 12l of oil from the engine?!

Jimbomofo

974 posts

203 months

Saturday 6th December 2008
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An awesome car for the money, well done! The rear looks a little low in comparison with the front. Assuming the shocks and springs are standard i'd say your rear shocks are shot.

Jim

steerfromtherear

15 posts

201 months

Monday 8th December 2008
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Common fault on e36's rear coil springs snapping off the top couple coils, check that as it shouldnt look like that.

Nice car for the money.

sniff diesel

13,111 posts

218 months

Monday 8th December 2008
quotequote all
steerfromtherear said:
Common fault on e36's rear coil springs snapping off the top couple coils, check that as it shouldnt look like that.

Nice car for the money.
Agreed, I've had broken springs on 3 different E36's

6potdave

Original Poster:

2,404 posts

219 months

Monday 8th December 2008
quotequote all
Thanks for the comments guys:

I de-badged the car about a month ago and thought the badge would look nice inside. However, it quickly struck me as a bit of a mess and so I pulled it off. The inside of the car looks quite different to the pics now, but I've not had a chance to take any pictures due to the weather!

Yes I kid you not, 12 litres of oil drained. I checked the oil on the dipstick when I brought the car home and knew initially it was way too high, but until I drained it all I wasn't aware of the severity of this problem! I'm a keen believer of good and regular servicing so this went against all my beliefs and if I had known about the problem beforehand I would have probably not bothered! Luckily, to my knowledge there were no problems caused as a result of this!

The E36 seems to be taking 2 routes. They are more than affordable to the chav market now, so in some cases Lexus lights, big bore exhausts and cheap tints are the modifiers solution. This trend seems to follow the smaller engined models and the bigger ones seem to be bought by genuine enthusiasts who are more likely to spend the money on servicing and tidying up the bodywork.

I had the car up on the ramps last week and all the shocks are fine, if not a little tired. If I decide to keep the car I'll invest in a good coilover kit which should give me the ride height I'm looking for!

6potdave

Original Poster:

2,404 posts

219 months

Monday 8th December 2008
quotequote all
hbwold said:
Lovely looking car, always had a soft spot for these. Looks great in black too. Whats the mileage?
Thanks! :-) it's on 109K now, put 5K on it since purchase. Lowest I could find, some examples had upwards of 200K for a lot more money.

norman156

2,050 posts

202 months

Tuesday 9th December 2008
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Looks fantastic, especially in black. I think it'd be better without the angel eyes, there's so many tarted up E36s about that a rare standard one with Mtech bits only is a good sight

6potdave

Original Poster:

2,404 posts

219 months

Friday 12th December 2008
quotequote all
Thanks Norman, I do like the angels though, they aren't too far off OEM as they are simply inserts in the original headlamps and most of the newer BMW's have them now. An MTEC kit and de-spoilering will finish it off nicely.

Skipppy

1,135 posts

216 months

Friday 12th December 2008
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Get some BBS RC's, fit sport front and rear bumpers and you're on to a goodun! Maybe put an Mtec splitter on the front bumber too...

I have a silver 328i sport, completely standard and i absolutely love it!

Elskeggso

3,100 posts

193 months

Saturday 13th December 2008
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What's the insurance and running costs like on these? Wouldn't mind one in the new year.

J1mmys

16 posts

190 months

Monday 15th December 2008
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Hi im another fellow E36 owner and enthuiast!!! Looks clean and tidy, loose the badge on the dash, heres mine!

There not that expensive to run to be honest. The 6 pot ones do about 25-30 mpg depending how hard you drive it and servicing goes from 100 to 250 at an independent specialist. Insurance i pay 600 fully comp 5y NCB, Low Risk Postcode, 3 points and 1 claim and im 24.

Edited by J1mmys on Monday 15th December 14:34