Morgan - the E36 from Latvia

[K-4]

Hey everybody, the names Martin,

and as you already see in the thread title, it will be about a E36 from Europe - Latvia.

Bought nearly 2 years ago, born in 04/1995, pretty little extras, nearly none at all, has a two-liter M52 under the bonnet and looked pretty stock when I bought it. In these two years I have slowly tried to make something, that would catch the eyes of the poeple in the city - something low, cool and catchy and this is what I have done in these years.

So let's begin with the pics:

This is how she looked, when I bought her, like literally, this pic is taken about 20 hours after the deal:



As I didn't have the funds and the knowledge, I didn't do nearly anything to the car until the summer begun.
Only a few little cheap'o trick to make the car prettier.
First - making the bump strips look newer than they really are:

the one on the upper side was cleaned and sprayed with matte black paint, the lower one is stock - with some damage, because the PO was a woman

As the summer begun and I got a few jobs, I started to do the job. The first was to make the car lower - a budget way - I bought two pairs of 195/50 for my stock E34 R15 rims:


which were followed by these babies:



which lead to this:



Will be continued tomorrow...

[Masonbarnard]

proper wheels, and some small cosmetic mods and will be nice

[K-4]

Tomorrow, I will post all the progress I have done since the last summer, which includes cosmetic mods, 16x8.5'' et10 wheels, more lowering and some interior goodies

[3EyedGoat]

Can't go wrong with a E36, Can't wait to see the updated progress. Welcome to S/W

[K-4]

Here will be another pic with her dropped a little lower than stock, before I continue


So, the the summer had ended and I had to pack my bags to go to Denmark for half a year, so I left the E36 to my dad and he did a lot of good stuff to the car.

There was plenty of some really creepy rust on the rear fender:


So everything got stripped down and taken to the repairshop my dad was working at.


Now the before pic:


and then...


and voila!


The car stayed in the repairshop for two weeks, while everything was done.
She had never been this dirty, while in my hands


Filling, sanding...




While getting bored to death in Denmark, I started buying some random cheapo goodies for my car, to put them on, when I get to see her


By the time, my dad was updating me with the progress via photos every day:
He had found this:


and did everything to make it look like this:


The car was getting ready to be sprayed, when I got back form Denmark for two weeks. I actually had tons of things to do, but I just spent a whole week in the repairshop with my car
Testing my camera while my dad was doing the last sanding job before leaving the car for a ground-coat:



The carbon-badge put on...


Picked up this little nice looking stuff...


And waiting for this:


Converting into this:



Putting stuff together:


And she's out! Some parts still missing, but looking good with no rust




Decided to do some pictures...








A lot has been done, but, unfortunately, the car had to be put on the baloon type tyres for winter. I decided to take the car with me to Denmark, to give it a good ride on the German Autobahn - the place this car has came from, and to travel a bit around the country.

So here are a few Denmark pics:

High as a tank


And while at Denmark, I bought a set of 16x8,5" rims. Actually, I didn't buy them in Denmark. I sent the money to a friend, who went and bought them back in Latvia, so I didn't even know, how do the rims look in real life and how will they look and fit on the car.
I got a set of ACT 16x8,5" ET10 rims for 200$. They were so cheap I couldn't resist buying them.




So I had to wait until I get back to Latvia to try them on
And then I did. I hoped for the best, when letting the car down from the jack...
It did satisfy me. The only thing which didn't was the fact, that it was still winter and I had to wait till the summer to put on the ACT's.





Some winter fun, while I was staying in Latvia for the New Year...


And then the moment came. I got back from Denmark. The snow was gone and the ACT's were fitted on the car. I did a little stretching - 205/45 tyres on the 8.5" rim. Works for me.





And a little cosmetic update. I know many people **** this, but I like the style and it's pretty eye-catching, which is one of my main targets.


As I had problems with the coilovers, I didn't drop the car lower.





Then I decided, it was too mainstream to have stock coloured rims. Neon green ALL the rims! Okay, Only one at first, for testing. Note. The rim is not painted, I wrapped it in 3M car wrapping film.







A picture, which makes me lower the car even more...



Too bad it's now so low, just a bump on the road. I can't drop on the ground, because the roads in Latvia are not so good. I am scraping over every speed bump already.
After that, I decided, if I can't make the car go low (not only because of the roads - the ET10 wheels don't allow me to go lower without rolling the fenders), but I can make the car look lower

So a Passat (B3) front lip was found and put on the bumper...



Hanging around 1-1,5cm above the ground, it lasted for a few weeks until my clutch broke. Then I took it off and sold, as I had to do something so the car is driveable and all the repair shop guys were ripping their hair out to get the car on the jack stands.

A set of front fogs was purchased. I got the really cheap and already set with the yellow film. paid 20$ for both.



Then some white rears were bought...



And some carpets got all wet, taken out and then thrown away because of no more usable. Yes, after some big rain in Riga, the car got flooded in a giant pond on the road. yes, I meant a pond, not a puddle, because it can't be called a puddle, if the water gets to the door sills when you go through.
So yes, the carpet got changed, and while that was done, I did a full floor packing to keep most of the noises out of the car. Works pretty good and cost me around 40$.



And here is the last picture I've taken so far. As you can see, there are clear blinkers installed, the rims are all green, the fogs are clear, not yellow. Also the front is lowered a bit more.



I love my car and I hope you like it too, guys!

[projektzwo]

you've just ruined your e36, trying to be trendy...

[K-4]

Thank you for Your opinion, but this is the style I have chosen to be the one for me. I have not ruined the car technically, It's only the cosmetic mods, which can be reversed if needed, and that is the actual plan for the next year. Many panels of the car have to be changed because of damage caused by the age of the car, so before replacing the old panels with new ones, I better try out something which can make the defect into an effect without ruining any good car parts. believe me, My heart just wouldn't let me ruin a good part just for style.

I believe I got it right, that your are talking about the rusty front wing.

[o9w211]

1) Should have re-sprayed the whole car, it looks off with the rear QP re-sprayed and every other panel weathered and covered in swirls.
2) What projektzwo said

[B3MW]

Coilovers

What is that wrapped around the spring coils???

[K-4]

What is that wrapped around the spring coils???

That tube thing was wrapped around the coil when I bought them. I never got to know why, but as it looked pretty useless I removed it. Some say its for stiffening the coil when it is.pushed together, some other say its for limiting the amount of movement of the coil.



To 09w211:

A whole respray was planned, but due to financial problems I decided to do the respray later.
I am sorry, that you guys have to deal with a no shiny and right-out-of-factory car, but some people can not afford to make the car as new again, so i have did my best to make it catchy without spending loads of money on it. I know stuff's different in the States, but here in Latvia its not so popular for students to have fantastic looking cars, unless you are from a rich family. Everything on the car is purchased from my own salary of my shitty job As mentioned above, this is a budget build.

[supedup95]

I like the green wheels! A project will always be improved upon so I'm sure it will get better.

[K-4]

I like the green wheels! A project will always be improved upon so I'm sure it will get better.

Thanks for the comment As the winter is coming on, I am thinking about some different wheels for the next summer, will post as soon as I get them

Some interior mods have been made - I installed a 18 button OBC, w/o check control for now, but that is also a plan. Coupe's OEM front Sport seats were installed.
Pics later.

[MommysLittleMonster]

I liked the car a lot... until you went hipster, and sanded your fender and painted your wheels that annoying lime green.

I hope you get the chance to completely repaint the car and get a decent set of wheels on the car- that would make it stick out more than a bunch of stickers and bright colors.

[Spirit]

You built a car for yourself not others and i admire that like i do.

Too many willy waving look at my checkbook car projects on here now and half of them are just lowered not stanced too.

Mexicans will always be my fav e36 on here

[K-4]

I liked the car a lot... until you went hipster, and sanded your fender and painted your wheels that annoying lime green.

I hope you get the chance to completely repaint the car and get a decent set of wheels on the car- that would make it stick out more than a bunch of stickers and bright colors.

As I already said a few posts ago, the fender was sanded to give it a "second chance of living"- it had some rusted dots, so I decided to give it another life before throwing it out, it will be only kept till winter.

As I also said, the wheels are not painted - they were wrapped with wrap film, so I can change the color any time I want. But I don't want. This style is the only one that sticks out in a city full of new and shiny BMW's and stock ones