E36 3-Series

[PSPDan]

Anyone got any experience of them? I'm thinking about getting one as my next car just to be a bit different to all my mates who are getting Golfs. I want something fairly cheap and reliable to keep over the next 4 years and modify. I don't want another French car. Not until I can afford to buy and insure 172 anyway.

With my new job I'll be able to afford and insure a 328i by May although the insurance is quite a lot for me only being 18 so I might go for the 323i.

I just think they look really good for an older car:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/Lionel_Koh/e36s.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/mdywglr4x4/Oct%2024th%20Shoot/Oct24th3.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/8/web/2036000-2036999/2036448_141_full.jpg

And they sound pretty nice too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjbPFJdUs0

[Newtz07]

thats wat i want aswel for my next car. you can pick up some nice 323/328 M3 look-a-likes aswel. for cheap money.

and that sound is immense!

once thing i have never understood... why do people put music over there youtube vds? ad why is it always really pants music?

[KamRacing]

I run a E36. Its pretty reliable. Make sure if you buy wishbones you do not buy cheap ones as they are a false economy. Engines are bulletproof if cared for. Parts are not the cheapest but are not too bad.
I use Bilstein B12's and the ride is fantastic. Could do with some lightweight wheels though I think :D

Kev

[furiomike]

I had a 323i SE. I really like the engines. They are more smooth and comfy as stock until you start dicking around with suspension etc. Good thing about the 323 was you can take it from the 170bhp up to 200bhp+ with a less restrictive duel pipe exhaust system and intake manifold i think. They are a 2.5 litre after all.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b383/kyros_uk/DSC00091.jpg

[PSPDan]

Looks good mate.

What are the running costs like on these? I imagine tax is high as well?

[Slammed_Posi_Vtr]

My mate has a 1995 323i with 100k+ , he paid a grand a year ago for it and its never let him down since. lowered 40mm ish and still has a lovely ride quality

[JBVTR]

Id go for the 323i or 325i both good engines they had a few problems with the earlier 328's. Just make sure you go for a fbmwsh and you'll be fine best if you can get one thats had a new radiator aswell if possabel as can tend to got around 80k

[PSPDan]

Id go for the 323i or 325i both good engines they had a few problems with the earlier 328's. Just make sure you go for a fbmwsh and you'll be fine best if you can get one thats had a new radiator aswell if possabel as can tend to got around 80k

Cheers mate.

Reading a few pistonheads adverts a lot of them have radiator problems :homme:

[furiomike]

Looks good mate.

What are the running costs like on these? I imagine tax is high as well?
It got 30mpg, supposed to get 31 combined i think so was fine for a car on 96k miles. Parts weren't expensive as long as you don't go to BMW. Tax was just £190 a year because it's pre-2001.

[JBVTR]

Cheers mate.

Reading a few pistonheads adverts a lot of them have radiator problems :homme:

Ha yeh which is why i hung on till i found one that had already had £400 shelled out on it for a new one.
Tax isnt to bad same as the vectra 1.8ls i had before it but if you want to keep the main dealer service history going its costly iv just had to pay £200 for an oil service.
Im averaging 28mpg could get it higher but its hard not to put your foot down with the noise the v6's make 30-35mpg shouldnt be hard to get in a e36 with it been a fair bit lighter than mine though :y:

[Slammed_Posi_Vtr]

I want a 5 series now, would need a diesel though.

In that dark blue they do it in, with the m sports kit

dribble

EDIT:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-BMW-5-SERIES-530d-Sport-4dr-Auto-Diesel-Saloon_W0QQitemZ110450296858QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAut omobiles_UK?hash=item19b759c81a#ht_556wt_1161 tbh

[JBVTR]

I want a 5 series now, would need a diesel though.

In that dark blue they do it in, with the m sports kit

dribble

EDIT:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-BMW-5-SERIES-530d-Sport-4dr-Auto-Diesel-Saloon_W0QQitemZ110450296858QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAut omobiles_UK?hash=item19b759c81a#ht_556wt_1161 tbh

Do it mate i had a look at a few 3series and you get alot for your money in a 5 that one seems a bit over priced though i paid £3900 for mine on 76,000 with fbmwsh on the same reg

[steven1451]

mums partner has a e36 m3 concours(sp?)show car in dakar yellow its gorgeous nto a stone chip or scratch on it it goes to all the shows and has been picked in the past for the bmw stand at the nec there great cars but parts are expensive found out a few weeks after he bought it the vellos switch had gone they wanted over 600 to fix it and 300 to replace the front door rubbers

[sir_dave]

I've had two 328i Sports, cheapest cars i've ever had the pleasure of running!!

35mpg, cheap tax & plentiful parts from ECP, GSF & ebay.

Get on www.bmwowner.com, research the Nikasil issue & you'll be fine.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y105/Sir_Dave/328i%20Sport/DSC01506.jpg

Mine had 145k on it, after putting 25k on it in 6 months & it ran perfectly, not a single rattle either - build quality is fantastic.

[Bound]

http://images.pistonheads.com/aimg/1276/1276181-8.jpg

:D

I like it.

But those beeemers are mint too ofc, really do like them, you'll be surprised on how cheap insurance can be on them, my sisters boyfriend insured one at 22 or something, £200, would of been £800 on the slightly newer model (can't remember model numbers), because a big part of the risk assessment is done on how many have been crashed, and by whom, e.g. chavs.

=].

[Bickerton]

Slight hijack anyone got much experience on the ol' E30?
Any better on parts/reliability?

[furiomike]

mums partner has a e36 m3 concours(sp?)show car in dakar yellow its gorgeous nto a stone chip or scratch on it it goes to all the shows and has been picked in the past for the bmw stand at the nec there great cars but parts are expensive found out a few weeks after he bought it the vellos switch had gone they wanted over 600 to fix it and 300 to replace the front door rubbers
Yeah the 3.2 M3 has a VANOS which can break and be a bit costly. I think it's like BMW's variable valve timing maybe.

[jinjan]

Awesome cars, I would go for 328 sport pointless going for a 323 tbh. They are all plentyful so parts are relatively cheap.

[MiniGibbo]

323 and 328 are both great cars. The 325 has the older m50 iron block and is costly to insure (its more than a 328).

For the money there hard to beat and can be made to run rings around most cars. The e36 m3 is reowned for being a 911 eater around the ring once you get a decent set up.

Make sure it doesent burn oil and the carll go on for ever within reason

For refrence my car is on 167k, burns a little oil but pulls 200hp on the rollers with a perfect curve and is capable around track. I got mine when i was 18 fully comp and wasnt that bad on insurance.

If you have any other questions or want to see some good examples get your self on bmwowners.com its the renamed e36coupe.com.

[MiniGibbo]

Awesome cars, I would go for 328 sport pointless going for a 323 tbh. They are all plentyful so parts are relatively cheap.

And what makes the "sport" better than a normal 328 then if you planning to mod the car neway?

Ive never beleived the 328 sport is worth the premium just for a body kit.

[jinjan]

Lol I didnt mean the sport is better i meant get a 328 rather than 323.

Suspension and mtech kit are the only things I know different with 328 and sport variant and optional LSD

[MiniGibbo]

All coupes have mtec suspension no matter the engine. What your referring to is the "avus" pack with lower harder springs and bili dampers thats VERY rare and an option same as the lsd as you mentioned.

At 18 a 323 is at least 600 less to insurance than a 328. get the 323 upto 200hp (costs between 5/800) and youve got a 323 thats faster than a oem 328 325 and quite a lot of other cars on the road with gt,gti and vti badges. :y:

Things that go wrong are

-nikisil lined m52's
-plastic water pump (needs to be replaced with a metal one)
-Front lower control arms
-Rear trailing arms.
-Wiring on boot (easy fix it breaks under the rubber seal where the boot comes down on it)

iirc thats the only "known" comman problems. Which isnt that bad.

[Jazz]

At 18 a 323 is at least 600 less to insurance than a 328. get the 323 upto 200hp (costs between 5/800) and youve got a 323 thats faster than a oem 328 325 and quite a lot of other cars on the road with gt,gti and vti badges. :y:

.

Considering the standard 323i engine has 170PS/168bhp as standard, a hike of over 30bhp seems a helluva lot for between £500-£800 on a n/a engine, even if it is a 6 cylinder. What do you do you exactly to get that much grunt for so little?

[jinjan]

Considering the standard 323i engine has 170PS/168bhp as standard, a hike of over 30bhp seems a helluva lot for between £500-£800 on a n/a engine, even if it is a 6 cylinder. What do you do you exactly to get that much grunt for so little?

£800 is a lot of money to spend on a car only worth 1200 in the first place.

And insurance is completely dependant on the area you live imo.

[furiomike]

Considering the standard 323i engine has 170PS/168bhp as standard, a hike of over 30bhp seems a helluva lot for between £500-£800 on a n/a engine, even if it is a 6 cylinder. What do you do you exactly to get that much grunt for so little?
Its because it's essentially the same engine as the 325 and 328, but smaller capacity. It's restricted with intake manifold and a single pipe exhaust. Swap with a manifold off a 328 i think and you have 190bhp+ straight away.

[J222JRA]

e46 ftw

[Shellz]

Love them!! :D

Ex swears by BMW's.x

[Jazz]

Its because it's essentially the same engine as the 325 and 328, but smaller capacity. It's restricted with intake manifold and a single pipe exhaust. Swap with a manifold off a 328 i think and you have 190bhp+ straight away.

I forgot its actually the same displacement CC as a 325i, which has almost 190bhp anyway, so yeah thinking about it 200 ponies shouldn't be all that difficult with an uprated intake and breather mods. iFail.

500-800 on my car wouldn't see 30bhp :( (unless i sourced a second-hand nitrous kit lol)

[AlexR]

The 323 and 328 are restricted as std.
If you get a 328 with the tubular manifold, a 325 inlet conversion and manifold back performance system will see it well into M3 territory. Nice bits of kit and been putting off buying an E36 for ages, but now an E46 M3 seems like a better choice so that it will be...

[MiniGibbo]

The 323 and 328 are restricted as std.
If you get a 328 with the tubular manifold, a 325 inlet conversion and manifold back performance system will see it well into M3 territory. Nice bits of kit and been putting off buying an E36 for ages, but now an E46 M3 seems like a better choice so that it will be...

Sorry but thats not quite true LOL those mods would see 230hp max on a 328.

The 323 and 328 are both restricted with a 2.0 inlet manifold for german tax laws. The 3 and 8 both have the same manifold just the 323 goes single at the cats back.

Fitting a modified 325 m50 inlet onto a 323/328 gives ~20hp without a map (yes there that restricted). Basiully ive partialy built 3 engines for mine now and these are how the prices lay down..

-Modifed m50 inlet and bbtb = 250-400 (20hp)
-Dave F or simota induction kit = 150-200 (~3hp)
-325/8 (328's better) twin centre pipes and back box = ~80 (1-2hp but better flow)
-Us spec m3 cams = 350 +300fitting (8-12hp)
-Light weight pulleys = 100 (1-2hp)
-fan delete mod = 5 (1-2hp)
-aircon delete = free (1-2hp)
-de-cat and race back box = 300+ (3-4hp??)
-e46 330 crank, rods and pistons (makes it a 3.2) = 300~ (20hp)
-Live mapping 600+


With all this mapped properly can see 270hp but as i found out costs an abslute bomb. I then decided id push the boat and try and fit a s54 (e46 m3) engine into mine giving it 343hp out of the box.. scraped that also

Anyone know a good straight e36 m3 3.0 for sale :y:

[Jazz]

The 323 and 328 are restricted as std.
If you get a 328 with the tubular manifold, a 325 inlet conversion and manifold back performance system will see it well into M3 territory

So basically what you're saying is that a 328 with decent breather mods will see it "well into M3 terrirory"? When an E36 M3 has 282+bhp?

It certainly won't lol.

[MiniGibbo]

So basically what you're saying is that a 328 with decent breather mods will see it "well into M3 terrirory"? When an E36 M3 has 282+bhp?

It certainly won't lol.

3.0 = 286hp
3.2 = 321 in the press release, 316 in the owners manual, 30x in real life lol.

You know you want a bmw jazz none of these ricer shit :y:

[Jazz]

3.0 = 286hp
3.2 = 321 in the press release, 316 in the owners manual, 30x in real life lol.

You know you want a bmw jazz none of these ricer shit :y:

I thought the 3.0 was 286PS which equals 282 bhp?

As you can tell I'm not as clued up on Beemers as I am with my Rice-rockets :P