Michael.

Well the alternative is to part it out completely. I think that could yield the same sort of return if I was to sell the car whole. Just not happy with the E36 chassis as of late. I'll no doubt change my mind though!

Hey guys Im considering a new project as of late, this has got me thinking of what I could expect to achieve if I was to put my car up for sale. A quick run down of key features: M3 front suspension and brakes Rebuild 328i rear suspension LSD diff 3.64 5 speed tiptronic auto, with smg steering wheel controls. Black leather interior, very tidy with new roof liner V8 has had major service of main parts, timing belt, water pump and related bearings, nee alternator, running 150rwkw Runs a vacuum controlled Aston martin rear exhaust box etc. Thoughts?

Jooles?

How quirky!

Very nice, that is one fun car you have got there

Took the E36 off the road for commuter trips and replaced it with a new daily driver, my 5th Toyota Soarer, good to be back in one after 5 years, such lovely cars.

Wow that is so awesome.

Theres a big thread discussing loosing torque down low with changing the intake runners on the M52 to M50... Not such a good idea unless you want to thrash the motor right out to 6000rpm to get the car moving.

Well your car and wife both look lovely!

DO IT

Made a sound generating device inside the cabin from a feed tapped into the intake resonator box. Needs refining but I could see it been a cool feature to switch on and off for a sportier experience.

I had mine like that originally... too little play IMO, though really stiffened it up nicely. It must have put additional stress on the RTAB mounting points as there were tiny cracks on both sides so I did the pocket rienforcement and weld when repairing the subframe. Ive however since gone for M3 OEM bushes and these limiters which I feel is better for a balance.

Hence why you should pop a Toyota engine in hehe

The horror... it has come to my attention there arent any Bentley or Haynes manuals around for this model. Unless I've missed something..

Wow, crazy. I quite like the look.

Yeah I'm thinking you should just keep it now, save the hassle, do a cool dual exhaust like discussed.

I couldnt think of a worse car to buy IMO Overcomplicated, boring and built in Mercedes' infamous corner cutting days.

I was joking of course, looks like pure junk!

This is true, there woud be some hurdles. But that is part of the challenge.

Jesus. What a mess. I had a fire extinguisher handy at all times when I did my engine conversion, especially near the early start up days, never know what could happen! Though EFI is so much safer than a dirty old carb. Surely it smelt like petrol when he was trying to fire it up? and that rogue spark from a live wire was worth investigating... sigh.

Mmm Z4M coupe indeed, but they are still fairly pricey. Well the whole point of cars for me is to do something different, namely that old trick of putting a bigger engine in with more cylinders. So much fun!

Z4? hehe

It has come to my attention used Automatic E85s in 2.5 / 3.0 spec are becoming rather well priced in recent years. This got me thinking, are they any good as a drivers car? Obviously as a convertible it's going to be somewhat floppy and it my creak over the rough stuff which is a contradiction to what I indicated I wanted in my 'Solid' riding BMW thread, but that aside, the roof can be folded down so any noise will be drowned out by wind and the exhaust note! That said from what I've read they are considerably stiffer than the weak Z3, 5.6k nm/deg vs Z4 12.5k nm/deg which is about the same as an E36 coupe, not bad for a convertible, not far behind the DB9 Convertible either, but who knows about those internet stats. I really like the way the Z4s look personally, so I could see it being a fun platform to make a fun weekend car. I'm sure many improvements could be made with extra strut bracing in the front and rear where possible, remove the somewhat iffy fabric folding roof assembly to make way for a rear 4 point roll cage with possibly side bars running to the forward firewall between the seat and doors, and just use a hardtop ($) for wet weather. The suspension and brakes would also need to be address as upgrades. No doubt I'd look into replacement engines. What is the question though While other options are E46s I think the E85 is much more unique looking and just has that extra fun factor. Thoughts??

Caution, It might scrape fitted on you car

All new original bushes have been replaced when I rebuild the rear end in March. Currently has M3 trailing bushes with the limiter kit installed. Also running the reinforced type strut mounts available through pelican parts.