The daily driver... E36 328i Sport

[DanielJames]

Don't your windows auto close when you lock the car with the fob?

 

[sbridgey]

Fob? i have to put the key in the door, no fobs here!? never tried locking it with the windows open either tbh.

 

[DanielJames]

Ohhh pauper spec lol

Remote central locking on mine, I think it must be after market though, fob feels a bit "cheap"

 

[DanielJames]

How do you define progression?

029.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

Quick Pic by DanielJames., on Flickr

 

[LIL B]

36 lines are superior imo, 46 was to appeal to the mondeo masses.

 

[DanielJames]

Went exploring at the weekend

029.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

033.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

030.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

038.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

054.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

057.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

072.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

080.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

081.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr



Oh and, I kept trying to get a good pic of the paint when the sun hits it.... and I think this does a good job

066.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr


Then at Japfest 2, bumped into a (little bit ropey) TV E46 M3!

083.jpg by DanielJames., on Flickr

 

[The Chubby Pirate]

Exceptional!

How come the e46 was rough??

 

[_Tom]

Colour fwiend.

Anyway, i thought they were roads you wanted to use the teg for? Just sell it and spend monies on that fine '36.

 

[Philip.]

I really do love that colour.

 

[DanielJames]

Exceptional!

How come the e46 was rough??

Budget tyres, few marks on the paint etc. Seemed like it was missing some TLC, wouldn't take a lot to get it up to scratch mind

Colour fwiend.

Anyway, i thought they were roads you wanted to use the teg for? Just sell it and spend monies on that fine '36.

Haha, the teg isn't back on the road yet. Mrs hates it and it was our day out, I just used it as an excuse to have a blast

In honesty we drove to Fewston to feed some ducks and eat strawberries. Not really the 'tegs forté :rasp:

I really do love that colour.

Thanks bud... Sat in my living room now and can just see the rear quarter panel in the sun. It's lovely.

 

[philmots]

Cracking roads round there.

 

[DanielJames]

Cracking roads round there.

Indeed, missed out on the PH run so had a go myself...

 

[CHRIS172CUP]

Very nice Daniel! They look class with no spoiler

 

[Rob]

f**k about that looks good in the sun. Really very very nice.

 

[DanielJames]

Cheers lads. Obviously I'm very happy with it!

 

[MarcoB]

The perfect 328i IMO

 

[sbridgey]

The perfect 328i IMO

Almost, just needs electric rear window poppers

 

[DanielJames]

The perfect 328i IMO

Thanks mate, I do agree! Well, I have one plan for it, if a set ever come up I'd love a set of E46 M3 Alcantara seats!

Almost, just needs electric rear window poppers

​Haha don't be daft!!

 

[DanielJames]

update time, mistletoe and wine

Haven't updated this for a while.


Past few months I've had to do a bit of maintenance, firstly I had or perhaps still have a coolant leak, which I changed the radiator bottle seals firstly as its common to fail and cheap to fix. It's got winter wheels and tyres fitted, which aren't that appealing but do the job (worst winter for 30 years my arse). Also yesterday I did the cam cover gasket. Let's have some pics.


These are copied from a BMW forum so apologies if the formatting goes a bit weird.


11/11/2013


Unfortunately the BMW is off the road currently, I pulled up to the gym last week and heard a hissing sound...

Ordered the rad bottle seals from BMW as it looks to be this, so hopefully a nice easy fix!


Currently it's just sat on the drive

Very dirty too thanks to the constantly rainy weekends of recent times

For work, I've been using my Integra. Which makes me realise exactly why I bought the BMW and how much of an epic car it is.

DSC_0795 by DanielJames., on Flickr


25/11/2013
Drove the car to work for the first time in 3 weeks today!

I've just not had time to sort it out unfortunately. Sunday afternoon however I had a spare few hours so got cracking.


Firstly I had to go to Halfords to buy some coolant - which on the shelf they only sold ready mixed. Didn't want to spend £50 on coolant considering I wasn't 100% confident my problem had been resolved so got the guy behind the counter to have a look in the back and he managed to find some concentrate


So on the way home in the Type R which I've been driving daily...

When I got home I cleaned up the rad bottle and re assembled (with a mallet!) the radiator. It's definitely a tight fit!

So back to the car, looking a little bare. Managed to get the radiator out WITHOUT removing the viscous fan though, against popular belief that it would need removing.

Didn't take many pics after that, but I worked into the darkness and got the winter wheels fitted too.

So that brings us back to this morning, and seemingly running sweet! But I will keep my eye on it of course.


It was much, much nicer driving the E36 to work compared to the DC2. I soon remembered why I bought this car.


Sneaky pic from the cafe window, I went out to check the coolant levels at lunch and all were well with no drips underneath!

Just needs a good old clean now. May have to wait until after winter lol.


29/12/2013


The cam cover seal had gone so decided to DIY it.


Got the parts from Harry Fairbank BMW, £36 delivered for the genuine BMW seal was a no brainer. Also got fresh spark plugs fitted, may as well!


The job wasn't exactly difficult, time consuming though. The old gasket was a pain to remove, rock solid in places, and the center o-rings had bonded quit strongly to the cylinder head and broke off in bits. I had to be very careful not to drop anything into the head.


Bright and early(ish) Sunday morning I went out to the car. Decided to do it on the street so if the worse came to worse, I could still get the Integra out!

Started stripping the engine covers to reveal the coil packs

Labled the coilpacks so I know which one went where. Not sure how crucial this was, but a few guides mentioned it and peace of mind is always nice. I just went 1-6 from the front to back, not sure what the exact firing order is but lets keep it simple.


The rear bolts are quite a nightmare to get to, you need a variety of 10mm sockets. I had to use a tiny 1/4" drive on this.

Coilpacks out, and number 5 was a bit, errr

Cover off, not too bad for 150k, a bit of gunk...

Then it was time to remove the old gasket... in pieces

I found it was best to remove the earthing studs in places rather than break the gasket off around it

Stud and gasket, as one...

The center o rings finally off

Coffee break!

I was hoping the outer gasket would come off a bit easier, I thought wrong!

...but after not too long it was off

You can't change the plugs without doing a comparison picture..

Dreaded number 5 coming out...

The new plug certainly threaded in quite smoothly

On a side note, how annoying is this?!

Fresh BMW gasket ready to go!

BMW recommend a dab of this stuff in a couple of places which I forgot to take another picture of, wasn't going to bother until I found this in the garage

Everything going back together

Everything went well from what I can tell, very happy with the DIY. The placebo effect of new plugs was great driving to work!

 

[matt_132]

Good work mate. Cam cover is something I haven't suffered from, yet.

I have a very slow coolant leak which might be the seals you replaced. f**k changing them on my only car though!

 

[DanielJames]

Good work mate. Cam cover is something I haven't suffered from, yet.

I have a very slow coolant leak which might be the seals you replaced. f**k changing them on my only car though!

Brand new Nissens radiator is only £80 on eBay!

 

[DanielJames]

Took a trip to Shrewsbury yesterday to pickup a fresh Techno Violet bonnet.

Mine was badly rusting at the front edge...

Pit stop

Combined with going to Center Parcs at the weekend (saw a storm grey 200?) I achieved my best miles per tank so far...

Followed by the most expensive fillup thanks to a ridiculously overpriced BP service station;

The place I was visiting was CRMTech, who break E36s. Both the guys working there were great and fitted my bonnet free of charge.

As they were doing so, I was having a nosy at this 328 tarmac rally car

It didn't take them long to get it on. Fitment is spot on, and the colour is seamless. Win!!

Also might have come away with a full set of ambers :clown:

Just need a bootlid now!

Dan

 

[JoeyD]

476 WTF! I'm getting 330 at the absolute most. Jealous of the ambers TBH.

Actually I got 365 miles once. Never been able to get anywhere near it since. Regularly 300ish. FML.

 

[f0xy]

476 WTF! I'm getting 330 at the absolute most. Jealous of the ambers TBH.

Actually I got 365 miles once. Never been able to get anywhere near it since. Regularly 300ish. FML.

I wouldn't worry, I just replied to his other thread with the same :clown:

Usually work from full until the light comes on, so 52L. Does me for about 300-320mi, on a 200k engine. Works out approx 30mpg. I'm on the 3.15 diff though, so RPMs are higher.

 

[DanielJames]

476 WTF! I'm getting 330 at the absolute most. Jealous of the ambers TBH.

Actually I got 365 miles once. Never been able to get anywhere near it since. Regularly 300ish. FML.

Mines always over 400, but I do steady miles. Usually at a constant 60mph for 48 of the 50 miles I do everyday

I wouldn't worry, I just replied to his other thread with the same :clown:

Usually work from full until the light comes on, so 52L. Does me for about 300-320mi, on a 200k engine. Works out approx 30mpg. I'm on the 3.15 diff though, so RPMs are higher.

I have a 3.15 3.0 M3 diff too man. I reckon I could crack 500 without it! Try to keep the revs below 3k RPM on the motorway, which is just under 70 if I remember correctly.

You ever been to that CRMTECH? Decent lads and loads of spares, not far from you I think?

 

[JoeyD]

Mines always over 400, but I do steady miles. Usually at a constant 60mph for 48 of the 50 miles I do everyday

Well just FYI, stop-start traffic absolutely kills MPG. Think the lowest I've had was 287 miles. Meh, didn't buy it to worry about fuel I guess...

 

[f0xy]

I have a 3.15 3.0 M3 diff too man. I reckon I could crack 500 without it! Try to keep the revs below 3k RPM on the motorway, which is just under 70 if I remember correctly.

You ever been to that CRMTECH? Decent lads and loads of spares, not far from you I think?

Lol - who knows then. I know my consumption is down slightly due to the nikasil bore wear anyway, but you must have a special one - most people I know with them never break 330-340 mixed driving. I do have the inlet and a different map too mind.

Yeh plenty of times, not that close, about 1hr30min south. Its usually cheaper to buy bits from Jankes in Nottingham or elsewhere, I only really use him as a last resort as his prices are usually higher and its an arse of a drive to get there down all the back roads for me.

 

[DanielJames]

Lol - who knows then. I know my consumption is down slightly due to the nikasil bore wear anyway, but you must have a special one - most people I know with them never break 330-340 mixed driving. I do have the inlet and a different map too mind.

Yeh plenty of times, not that close, about 1hr30min south. Its usually cheaper to buy bits from Jankes in Nottingham or elsewhere, I only really use him as a last resort as his prices are usually higher and its an arse of a drive to get there down all the back roads for me.

Down the A49? I went on an odd route there, went along the M62 west, M60, M6 and A49. Did the job though! Wanted to avoid the M1.

I'm hoping that just shows my engine is in good health then. M50 manifold without mapping and M3 LSD and it still does decent MPG. I often wonder about getting it mapped...

I found him to be really cheap to be honest, £40 for that mint bonnet fitted. Can't really argue

Done 600 miles since last Friday. COULD HAVE DONE WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL BRO :rasp:

 

[DanielJames]

Well just FYI, stop-start traffic absolutely kills MPG. Think the lowest I've had was 287 miles. Meh, didn't buy it to worry about fuel I guess...

Yeah I've noticed, I try to judge the speed perfectly at lights/roundabouts so I don't have to come to a complete stop.

Lucky I never go near any cities!

 

[f0xy]

Down the A49? I went on an odd route there, went along the M62 west, M60, M6 and A49. Did the job though! Wanted to avoid the M1.

I'm hoping that just shows my engine is in good health then. M50 manifold without mapping and M3 LSD and it still does decent MPG. I often wonder about getting it mapped...

I found him to be really cheap to be honest, £40 for that mint bonnet fitted. Can't really argue

Done 600 miles since last Friday. COULD HAVE DONE WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL BRO :rasp:

Yeah its the ///M parts he charges the premium for really. Yup A49 past Oulton Park and all the way down.

Its just a generic map with raised limiter and better fuelling for the M50 tbh, it did make a big difference mid and high range. AFRs were spot on when RR'd too. See what the new engine brings I guess, not chasing MPG figures mind :clown:

The stalk etc is off, just need to figure out what wiring I need to remove when its not raining lol.

 

[DanielJames]

Yeah its the ///M parts he charges the premium for really. Yup A49 past Oulton Park and all the way down.

Its just a generic map with raised limiter and better fuelling for the M50 tbh, it did make a big difference mid and high range. AFRs were spot on when RR'd too. See what the new engine brings I guess, not chasing MPG figures mind :clown:

The stalk etc is off, just need to figure out what wiring I need to remove when its not raining lol.

Ahh I nearly bought one of those for mine but was a bit skeptical about buying one with a generic map. Wasn't from PaulM on E36coupe was it? (previous owner of my car - he was going to fit it to this but never did)

Can't complain though if the AFR is spot on!

13 f**king degrees today. Perfect investment those winter wheels/tyres were.

 

[DanielJames]

476 WTF! I'm getting 330 at the absolute most. Jealous of the ambers TBH.

Actually I got 365 miles once. Never been able to get anywhere near it since. Regularly 300ish. FML.

Thought you'd be interested in my current tank's mileage

 

[JoeyD]

HOW. Going to take a picture of mine later. FUUUUUUUU

 

[_Tom]

475 miles?! I'd struggle to get my 320d to do that..

 

[f0xy]

Thought you'd be interested in my current tank's mileage

Must be running on 3, or that's the quickest speed you get upto?

 

[DanielJames]

Must be running on 3, or that's the quickest speed you get upto?

Hahaha, or maybe that 139.9 petrol was actually something special!

 

[JoeyD]

I hate you.

 

[DanielJames]

HOW. Going to take a picture of mine later. FUUUUUUUU

Go on then... Hit me

 

[DanielJames]

I hate you.

Oh you already did haha thats not good mate! What does the OBC claim your MPG is?

 

[f0xy]

My OBC shows 27-29mpg. When I work it out of actual miles to litres its 30mpg. Technology back then was sh*t lol.