Hi! My name is Adrian and I wanted to show you my project car which I bought about 4 years ago. Previously I was driving 1997 e38 and switching to e36 was kind of "challenging jump". I didn't just want 'any touring', I wanted a nice color, decent horsepower, HIFI system, AC and leather interior.
After many months I finally found a car matching my expectations in 100% and it was 1996 323i in individual color Romantic Rot Metallic.
It wasn't perfect, had a few dents, rust spots and one door in different color but in general it was in good condition, and 170 HP (with no traction control) was transferred to asphalt by 25% limited slip differential in a very decent way (mostly sideways ). At that time it still was supposed to be a daily driven, family car
Then, during mechanical maitnance it turned out that there is more rust than I was aware of, so the decision was made to cut, weld and paint.
And I was in love again when I collected her from the paint shop.
My next experience was installing rear electric windows and foot lights.
Because I am a fan of so called german style, I decided to look for some decent wheels and make the car lower.
First wheels that appeared on this car were Styling 59 from BMW Z8. I liked them also because they are quite rare.
Also first set of coilovers was installed - I'm not sure if you now this brand - MTS.
And there it was! Lower and with new wheels.
Then it was time to make some improvements under the hood so some cleaning was made.
And I changed regular steering wheel to 3 spoke M wheel.
Because I used to drive a 7er, I missed advanced computer that would show consumption, range etc. So i replaced 11 button version with 18 button OBC. It's obviously working properly because all eletrical connections are in place.
And there was my first photo shoot with my car squad friends.
You know that for sure that’s possible to install multifunction buttons on e36 driving wheel and make in work properly. So my next move (again, to meet e38 level) installing this upgrade.
For more e38 look I added e39 modified ambiet lightning that goes in the top light. This changes interior look and feel.
Next there was a challange. My friend said: so you are good in these mods, why don’t you make an illuminated shift knob? So i did and changed my wooden knob into enlighted one 😉
Next: PDC. That was quite a hard one because I had to fight with rusty bolts, but finally I made it work properly! No cut wires! Everything was made like from factory!
Then I finally replaced Sony radio with original CD43 BMW. I also added digital CD changer and USB port (I think it was later).
After some time of searching for rarities, I found a nice guy who was selling lots of stuf from his diesel touring. It had a lot of goodies, and one of them were darkened windows made by Sundym. He cut them out and I put them onto my car. The result just after replacing and glueing them looked like this:
I bought also some Motorsport shock absorber covers and replaced normal mirror with self darkening one. Everything works fine 😊
Next upgrade was installing phone. It should be placed under the armrest but I wanted it to be visible so I have as many lights as possible in my sight. Phone is a mix of e36 and e39 parts so it works with multifunction on steering wheel and with CD43 radio showing the phone book.
Suddenly a USA version appear near from my place and it had what was only available for US market – a center console with a central locking button. One hour drive and it was mine. On the photo you can also see the digital changer and ‘shelf’ with USB port.
Visiting scrapyard ended with new gadet – map net. I also brought my old e38 BMW branded umbrella.
At that stage the interior looked like this:
As a anniversary gift, I received original dials from 323ti compact which have black rings around speedo and other gauges.
Sport air filter from Pipercross also came into action.
Then i bought Harman Kardon set for coupe/sedan and started to think how to build this in my touring. HK set was never available in tourings. That was a challenge!
The same guy who sold me HK speakers, had Wiechers strut bar with him, so I took it with me home and sanded it and powder coated in red.
Strut bar is a bit higher so it was hard to mount shock covers. I ordered higher nuts so they would hold nicely. CUSTOM MADE!
And that’s the end result (for that moment)
Time came to take care of exhaust. I started looking for ‘double barrel’ for 323i. And after some time I found dedicated Bastuck end muffler which fitted awesome and sounds very good.
I also had a brief episode with ‘eckens’ which are ‘stage 2’ upgrade of M-pack front bumper. Unfortunatelly they broke after driving through first hole in road.
After one season I decided to sell S59 wheels and change them to S37 in e38 specs. They were in poor contition when bought but that wasn’t a problem to me because I wanted to refurbish them totally. They were remade in chrome-satin finish and they were changing from silver to black depending on lightning.
Then it came time to make some brakes swap. I decided to go almost plug-and-play with e46 330i set. It was almost a complete rebuild. I’m still planing to replace brake lines to have it all in perfect condition.
My sport seats were in quite good condition but there were some small holes etc. All bad panels were replaced with original leather from other seats, everything was washed and cleared.
After next season the decision was made. 3 years driven MTS was replaced by AP coilovers which as you know are KW brand. And I bought another daily, so this car changed it’s status to PROJECT CAR 100% 😉 at the same time wheel arches were cleaned. Did you know they are in body colour? 😉
As you can see I removed roof relings because I decided that my car look much better without them.
Then I said goodbye to Styling37 wheels and bought oldschool classics – Brock B1 8,5j + 10j. Yes. It was February and the photo sucks.
Later wheels were polished, this took me about 3,5 week.
I also found some Bosch lenses in almost mint condition. They replaced ZKW normal lights.
In spring I visited my friends detailing studio and he made some paint corretion and waxing.
And we were ready for 2020 season.
After almost two years since buying it, I installed original rear wing which made it a complete M-package look for touring.
And finally 2020 season came to an end. Once again I swapped wheels. My friend bought ACS 3 piece wheels and decided to sell his OZ Futura 9j + 10j. And they are mine now 😊
And this is it, we’re up-to-date. Of course this is not the end of my story. New stuff is waiting and I have more plans to do like raising power, replacing middle exhaust, buying vader seats, making some changes to interior and etc. So stay tuned! 😊 Thanks!
After many months I finally found a car matching my expectations in 100% and it was 1996 323i in individual color Romantic Rot Metallic.
It wasn't perfect, had a few dents, rust spots and one door in different color but in general it was in good condition, and 170 HP (with no traction control) was transferred to asphalt by 25% limited slip differential in a very decent way (mostly sideways ). At that time it still was supposed to be a daily driven, family car
Then, during mechanical maitnance it turned out that there is more rust than I was aware of, so the decision was made to cut, weld and paint.
And I was in love again when I collected her from the paint shop.
My next experience was installing rear electric windows and foot lights.
Because I am a fan of so called german style, I decided to look for some decent wheels and make the car lower.
First wheels that appeared on this car were Styling 59 from BMW Z8. I liked them also because they are quite rare.
Also first set of coilovers was installed - I'm not sure if you now this brand - MTS.
And there it was! Lower and with new wheels.
Then it was time to make some improvements under the hood so some cleaning was made.
And I changed regular steering wheel to 3 spoke M wheel.
Because I used to drive a 7er, I missed advanced computer that would show consumption, range etc. So i replaced 11 button version with 18 button OBC. It's obviously working properly because all eletrical connections are in place.
And there was my first photo shoot with my car squad friends.
You know that for sure that’s possible to install multifunction buttons on e36 driving wheel and make in work properly. So my next move (again, to meet e38 level) installing this upgrade.
For more e38 look I added e39 modified ambiet lightning that goes in the top light. This changes interior look and feel.
Next there was a challange. My friend said: so you are good in these mods, why don’t you make an illuminated shift knob? So i did and changed my wooden knob into enlighted one 😉
Next: PDC. That was quite a hard one because I had to fight with rusty bolts, but finally I made it work properly! No cut wires! Everything was made like from factory!
Then I finally replaced Sony radio with original CD43 BMW. I also added digital CD changer and USB port (I think it was later).
After some time of searching for rarities, I found a nice guy who was selling lots of stuf from his diesel touring. It had a lot of goodies, and one of them were darkened windows made by Sundym. He cut them out and I put them onto my car. The result just after replacing and glueing them looked like this:
I bought also some Motorsport shock absorber covers and replaced normal mirror with self darkening one. Everything works fine 😊
Next upgrade was installing phone. It should be placed under the armrest but I wanted it to be visible so I have as many lights as possible in my sight. Phone is a mix of e36 and e39 parts so it works with multifunction on steering wheel and with CD43 radio showing the phone book.
Suddenly a USA version appear near from my place and it had what was only available for US market – a center console with a central locking button. One hour drive and it was mine. On the photo you can also see the digital changer and ‘shelf’ with USB port.
Visiting scrapyard ended with new gadet – map net. I also brought my old e38 BMW branded umbrella.
At that stage the interior looked like this:
As a anniversary gift, I received original dials from 323ti compact which have black rings around speedo and other gauges.
Sport air filter from Pipercross also came into action.
Then i bought Harman Kardon set for coupe/sedan and started to think how to build this in my touring. HK set was never available in tourings. That was a challenge!
The same guy who sold me HK speakers, had Wiechers strut bar with him, so I took it with me home and sanded it and powder coated in red.
Strut bar is a bit higher so it was hard to mount shock covers. I ordered higher nuts so they would hold nicely. CUSTOM MADE!
And that’s the end result (for that moment)
Time came to take care of exhaust. I started looking for ‘double barrel’ for 323i. And after some time I found dedicated Bastuck end muffler which fitted awesome and sounds very good.
I also had a brief episode with ‘eckens’ which are ‘stage 2’ upgrade of M-pack front bumper. Unfortunatelly they broke after driving through first hole in road.
After one season I decided to sell S59 wheels and change them to S37 in e38 specs. They were in poor contition when bought but that wasn’t a problem to me because I wanted to refurbish them totally. They were remade in chrome-satin finish and they were changing from silver to black depending on lightning.
Then it came time to make some brakes swap. I decided to go almost plug-and-play with e46 330i set. It was almost a complete rebuild. I’m still planing to replace brake lines to have it all in perfect condition.
My sport seats were in quite good condition but there were some small holes etc. All bad panels were replaced with original leather from other seats, everything was washed and cleared.
After next season the decision was made. 3 years driven MTS was replaced by AP coilovers which as you know are KW brand. And I bought another daily, so this car changed it’s status to PROJECT CAR 100% 😉 at the same time wheel arches were cleaned. Did you know they are in body colour? 😉
As you can see I removed roof relings because I decided that my car look much better without them.
Then I said goodbye to Styling37 wheels and bought oldschool classics – Brock B1 8,5j + 10j. Yes. It was February and the photo sucks.
Later wheels were polished, this took me about 3,5 week.
I also found some Bosch lenses in almost mint condition. They replaced ZKW normal lights.
In spring I visited my friends detailing studio and he made some paint corretion and waxing.
And we were ready for 2020 season.
After almost two years since buying it, I installed original rear wing which made it a complete M-package look for touring.
And finally 2020 season came to an end. Once again I swapped wheels. My friend bought ACS 3 piece wheels and decided to sell his OZ Futura 9j + 10j. And they are mine now 😊
And this is it, we’re up-to-date. Of course this is not the end of my story. New stuff is waiting and I have more plans to do like raising power, replacing middle exhaust, buying vader seats, making some changes to interior and etc. So stay tuned! 😊 Thanks!
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