Calling out all you E36 owners

[SunOfABeach]

Just at the title says, i'm calling out for some help from the E36 owners on the site (I know there's ALOT of you.

I'm in need of some help.

I'm CRAZY interested in buying one of these cars (preferably a vert) come next spring. And I just really need to know. What kind of stuff should i be checking out, testing etc etc.

Financially I won't be able to buy a crown jewl with stupid low km's (yes kilometers cause i'm a canuck) But It's a BMW. I won't mind having one with higher mileage. Somewhere in the 190000 - 250000 range with a really clean and rust free body would be key for me.

I just need to know what the weak links with these car's are. And I've read ALOT of horror stories of the rear shock tower's going for a complete shit, and tearing all to hell. Well, i'm not a huge "fabrication guy" and would **** for that kind of thing to happen. Just curious to know if anybody on the site has had that mishap happen to them.

I've tried to do as much research on these car's as possible, but I wanna hear from people who have dropped these things on their guts, and have them tell me what I should expect.


Any and all help is greatly appreciated guys.

[Spirit]

Rear arch rot
Leaking roof seals on verts
Rear trailing arm bushes
Broken springs on suspension
Water pump needs to be metal propeller and change thermostat.
Droplinks
Topmounts
Handbrake is shocking
Use correct grade quality oil
Service history

Andy

[SunOfABeach]

Rear arch rot
Leaking roof seals on verts
Rear trailing arm bushes
Broken springs on suspension
Water pump needs to be metal propeller and change thermostat.
Droplinks
Topmounts
Handbrake is shocking
Use correct grade quality oil
Service history

Andy

By droplink, are you refering to sway bar links?

what do you mean by "handbrake is shocking"

Also, as for most suspension components. i was planing on replacing a whole shitload of them when I was planning on dropping it.

[joshg51]

cuz of the thread title, i thought you were going to talk shit on e36 owners lol

[Spirit]

By droplink, are you refering to sway bar links?

what do you mean by "handbrake is shocking"

Also, as for most suspension components. i was planing on replacing a whole shitload of them when I was planning on dropping it.

Yes sorry I'm from the UK so we say droplinks.
I always say check rear arches first everything else can be easily replaced.

Handbrake bmws I find have the worse bite on any car I've owned so check it engages hard.
Bare in mind UK mot test are very stringent now

[SunOfABeach]

cuz of the thread title, i thought you were going to talk shit on e36 owners lol

ahahha, i could have been like "there's too fucking many of you!"

Yes sorry I'm from the UK so we say droplinks.
I always say check rear arches first everything else can be easily replaced.

Handbrake bmws I find have the worse bite on any car I've owned so check it engages hard.
Bare in mind UK mot test are very stringent now

and here, if the ebrake holds enough for a guy to not be able to spin it while the car's on a hoist. it passes that test lol.

[01lexpl]

You want a minty E36?! Don't buy one from Ontario...

Go to BC/AB, or down south.

[SunOfABeach]

You want a minty E36?! Don't buy one from Ontario...

Go to BC/AB, or down south.

ahahah I've found a few stupid clean ones here in Ontario. with less than 150km's on them. winter stored, 1 owner cars.

[Nicolaus Pro]

definitely thought this way gonna be about Ollie's car. Came in here to defend, left with a knowledge of what to look for if I ever desire an e36