Jazzbass

What buttons are in your centre console?

One other thing - it is not uncommon for those replacement 'blue xenon' lamps to die early. There are many stories about them only lasting a few months to a year. The plain halogen lamps will last many years... If you've replaced your heads (all four), it looks better if you do your fogs also, otherwise you get that nice blue/white heads with yellowish fogs - not a cool look.

IIRC, (working from memory) there's a socket at the back of the light assembly. Turn the socket 90 degrees to the left (anticlockwise) and the whole lamp assembly just pulls out. Disconnect the wiring harness (pull apart connectors) I think there is a little metal clip you also have to disengage (or that might just be in the fogs - can't remember). At this point, it is important to note that you should be using a clean handkerchief whenever you touch the lamps (the natural oil in your fingers will drastically shorten the life of any lamp operating at high temperatures). If you have already fingered the lamps, you can clean them with alcohol (propanol or similar will do - not Jim Beam). With the clip out of the way, you can just pull the old lamp out (handling only by the base) and store it carefully (you might want to use it again - I suggest you store it in the packaging that the new lamps comes in). using the same precautions, insert the new lamp into the hole and refasten the metal clip. Reconnect the wiring harness, push the assembly back into the hole and turn it 90 degree clockwise, until it locks into place. Now try the lamps out. NB: I'm assuming you have bought direct replacement 55W lamps. If you have bought 100W lamps, you 'could' just upgrade the fuses, but its not a smart move. Let me know if this is unclear. Cheers, Rog

What topless says. If in doubt, RTFM

Can you really imagine anyone being THAT stupid??? A great advertisement for compulsory birth control!

Vt= \sqrt{{2mg \over C_d \rho A}} where Vt is the terminal velocity, m is the mass of the falling object, g is gravitational acceleration, Cd is the drag coefficient, ρ is the density of the fluid the object is falling through, and A is the object's cross-sectional area.

.... yes, those rear shock mounts - at least its cheap to replace them.

I never had any engine problems with either of my E36s. But I certainly had enough other little niggles to make me very wary of ever buying another. Both had to have new steering racks (at around 110k), both needed suspension work, both needed brake switches, both had these stupid little tail-lighting faults caused by BMWs silly sliding contacts, both had window winders (electric) fail. The 318 needed new cam belt at 100K of course, but the 325 is chain driven so no bother at all with that. The VANOS was smegging noisy and I felt embarassed being close to people when I started the car up - sounded like a Massey Ferguson. The exhaust note was sweet in both, but better in the 325, although quite noisy from outside the car when starting off in the morning. All that said - I enjoyed both and they handled brilliantly - I just won't have another - I've moved on. If I was to go back to a 3 series, it'd be an E46 - which IMO is the most beautiful 3 series ever.

I guessed it was a 316i with M badges ?

I'm not sure how 19' wheels would look? ' mean feet - therefore 19' means 19 feet diameter buggers - WOW!!! Would look a bit like Bigfoot!! +1

Too many hoops to jump through - lost interest.

I'm on 11.02 - I'm sure you young braves will wipe that off... Doesn't appear to be a limit on how many time you can enter...?

play the game - enter the comp - maybe win some petrol http://www.bpultimatesprint.co.nz/Default.aspx

LOL - well, that's a surprise!!! It really doesn't matter - its only money - I make it every week.... I never buy or sell privately, so I'm well used to getting screwed.

LOL - its gonna happen!!

Well, just to skew the demographics curve a little, let's get rid of the idea that we're all skinny young things .... Here's me when I was your age: And here's me at my age: Serves ya right ....

BTW, rxsumo - good informative post.

You've highlighted one of the problems. There are a couple of million ex-Japan E36s around Palmy, so their trade value is accordingly low. The fact that there's so many of them around is one of the reasons I moved away from the E36. There's 423 on every car yard in town and there's even examples around with bloody awful chromies on. Totally cheapens the look and makes me feel guilty of bad taste by association.

I once worked out that I've lost close to half a million dollars on buying and selling my cars since my first motorbike in 1965. Its a mug's game for sure!! The guys who buy a new or low mileage car and keep it for 20-30 years are the ones who are playing the game far better than me. If I'd known then.....

A friend just traded a nice '97 328i with 82k on it and got $7,750. 6 months ago I traded my '95 325i with 140k on it for $6,500. The bastard car sales did nothing at all to my car, apart from a polish and sold it within a fortnight for $14k - not a bad profit. Moral of the story - don't trade in..... the bloke at the car sales told me he could land a car like mine from Japan for less than $4,500. Like he was doing me a favour ..... :thumbsdown: If you want to sell - just hang in there - eventually someone will take it away for a damn sight more than you'll ever get as a trade-in. In my case I can't be bothered with all the crap that goes with private sales, so I took the loss and got it over with. Its only money, after all.

It looks a very nice car indeed, mate. However, I've done my dash with e36's also. All the best with the sale.

Personally I have never found the Temperature and Traction ratings to be of any use to me. Neither have I found a significant difference between tyres with different Wear ratings. I have found every directional tyre I've had to be more noisy than non-directional tyres, but OTOH, they have stuck better to the road...

I've had two E36s - both required steering racks replacements at over $1200 each. It seems to be a common problem - my other friends with E36s have both had theirs done too. All of us have also had to replace the rear shock top mounts, but they're quite cheap. They just wear out - not an accident problem.

Its normally your ladies' feet.....

LOL - talk about kick someone when they're down...