1998 E36 318is Motorsport 2- Fiji Green

[bradgalbraith 218]

Reposted with updated photos etc. Happy to do a deal with bimmersport members as I'd like to see it go to a good home. Now on trademe:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=2268866842 

[GlenK 59]

Hi all,

I have bought Brad's car, and will be picking it up from Auckland this Friday and driving it back to it's new home in Dunedin.

I thought I should join the forum as well as it played a part in my purchasing the car, with helping to research its background.

Looking forward to spending many pleasant hours behind the wheel of my first BMW!

Thanks again Brad, your assistance and help was really appreciated!

[M3AN 4016]

Sweet, good of you to join up Glen.

Post some road trip pics after you get home!

[Olaf 3317]

welcome aboard @GlenK!

[GlenK 59]

Hi all,

Time to finally report back after months of getting stuff on the BMW sorted, and I thought it might be best to put it on this thread for continuity, apologies if this isn't correct protocol.

I will preface the following "novel" with the comment that I am really happy to have bought Brads car as it has been a brilliant starting point for my “little” project as the foundations were very solid, i.e. good motor, good body etc. I could only live in fear of the saga that would have ensued had I bought the Lancia Delta HF Turbo I was looking at before that. So thanks heaps to Brad for supplying such a good starting point!

As with all 21 year old projects there have been a few trials and tribulations along the way, but I guess that’s what makes these things projects, I mean it would hardly be a project if all you had to do was clean and polish it.

The saga started with a delayed flight to Auckland where I picked the car up from Brad. It was interesting to reacquaint myself with a manual car after years of driving an auto. The car went well but I noticed it never warmed up (queue new thermostat job for later). Also the handling was a little off as the front tramlined over bumps and felt a little vague and disconcerting (queue lower ball joint job for later). I also noted the carpets were damp, not a biggie I thought… Nevertheless, the car never skipped a beat and got me to Napier with no real dramas, score!

It needed a service, and my brother is a mechanic in Napier so he serviced it the next day, oil/filter, gearbox oil, plugs, air filter, checked the diff oil and pronounced it a car that had been mechanically well looked after.  After all, it even had the wee tool for pulling the plug caps still there. Checked the rust in the tail and dismissed it as not a biggie. He thought the water in the drivers footwell might have come from the windscreen. One weird thing happened, overnight there was a frost, so when I opened the car the door wouldn’t close??? Once it warmed up it was fine???

So drove the car to Dunnos, via stops in Wellie and Chch, and got there with no real drama, it burned no oil, and it purred along, I could see that once we sorted the handling it would be awesome as the few cars that passed me on the straight were easily caught in the twisties. The only pseudo drama being on the ferry, and getting a call over the loudspeaker for the owner of the teal BMW to come to the pursers office... gulp... Turns out the alarm had gone off even tho I only locked it on the key (new car who knew?).

So started with the water leak, I ran a dehumidifier in the car for about a week to get rid of most of the water, at its worst on my steep driveway, it was like a wee swimming pool in the RH passenger foot well. However, I couldn’t figure out where it was leaking. Though I can say the foam holds water like you wouldn’t believe, even when the carpets above appear dry (must be a good vapour barrier).

A visit to my friendly local garage sorted out the central locking fault Brad had told me about in the passenger door, and the electric window fault as it kept popping out of its rail even after it was fixed. They did the thermostat, lower control arm, the coolant flange, new brake fluid, and obviously new coolant. They also remarked that it looked pretty clean, and was remarkedly oil leak free for a BMW...

Driving around in the wet showed up the deficiencies of the Supercat tires, so I replaced them and got a matching set on Goodyear Assurance tires (not required, but I thought why not, and they had improved the grip in my Honda Accord). Driving around also showed up some chips in the windscreen which couldn’t be fixed. This necessitated a replacement which unfortunately uncovered rust around the sills, but $250 later that was fixed, so all good, and a possible source of the water leak eliminated (not quite as it turns out).

I went to a local panel guy to get the rust cut out, and $500 later it looked factory again. The painter touched up the areas affected by peeling clear coat on the roof and the boot and the spoiler, but in the process of removing the spoiler the painter stripped two screws which remained in the spoiler, queue another trip to my friendly mechanic. Removing rear spoiler for painting also broke the rear spoiler stop lamp (broken wire was fixed when the rear spoiler was reattached). Whilst we are on stop lights, I replaced the left rear as it had broken and got the wiring redone after it fell apart in my hands and I didn’t know how to rewire it (another friendly garage job). Also in taking off the plastic cover on the bonnet which was all cracked it removed the paint… sigh, so that got painted as well, so now most of the car has been resprayed.

The latest problem to manifest itself in the leak saga was I found water under the left rear seat squab, which may have come from the rear screen. And when working on the passenger door somehow I managed to get another problem to come up which was the airbag light, however it turned out to be a seatbelt pretensioner connection, and not the sensor in the seat.

Other jobs I have done along the way are replaced the missing foam insulation in the drivers door (also a possible source for water leak), located missing plastic inner door handle surrounds (its amazing how many people own and are wrecking e36’s and I am getting to know most of them in Dunedin). I then ordered new trim clips for door cards and re-glued clip mounts to same door cards so they work. Some of the side skirt clips broke when I accidentally clipped the skirt with my foot getting out, so ordered new ones and refitted. I fixed the hole in the leather on the drivers seat with some black cotton (easy fix), and used my new friend Q-Bond (where were you when I was busting motorcycle fairings when I was younger?) to fix the broken RH front inner guard so it now mounts solidly. I also used Qbond to fix one of the vent pieces that closes the vent from behind on the passenger side which was cracked and broken, and to repair the hole I drilled to try and fix the droopy glovebox (don’t believe what you see on line lesson learned).

I also got a new gear knob (keeping the old one), fixed the backlight on the clock, fitted a new centre console to replace the one with the cool (but utterly useless) tape holders (tho I kept it for the next owner). I also got some better mats for free out of one of the aforementioned wrecked Dunedin cars, replaced the rubber strip that runs the length of the roof as the front door was catching it and snagging it, reconnected the boot light (disconnected it again when the car got painted). 

So that left a couple of things to do, like still tracking down the front driver floor well water leak (was not looking forward to pulling the carpets). After a day of investigation with my mechanic brother, it turned out to be coming in through what, looks like a sensor at the top front of the drivers door, and was then tracking into the car. The screen didn't leak at all, not sure why it did the one other time I checked after the screen replacement (even took a photo as proof), but after blasting water at it for ages, no leak. However this did necessitate another visit to my friendly mechanic to get the airbag light reset (had to pull the seat), and got a power steering hose leak fixed at the same time, so that’s pretty much job done for the moment.

It certainly is eye catching in Fiji Green, and does engender a lot of comments (mostly positive but it would be fair to say the colour is polarising), and people coming up to talk about it. Most importantly it puts a smile on my dial every time I drive it and has introduced me to a whole new bunch of people with a similar interest.

Have I ever had buyer’s remorse after the purchase, NO. Has it caused me a little angst along the way, YES. Have my friend laughed at me when I regaled them with the tales of what I did last night, what I fixed, and what broke after that, you better believe it! Would I change a thing about the story so far... NAH!

 

[Herbmiester 923]

Looks fantastic, I love E36 coupes but this makes me appreciate the saloon. Oh and that color wow. 

[GlenK 59]

Thanks John, its taken a bit of work, but I am very happy with the end result, and it was actually the colour that sold me when I first saw it, it certainly stands out!

[NZ BMW 368]

This is a classic 1990s period colour - looks fantastic. 

[dirtydoogle 383]

It's nice to see that car go to a decent owner! Most "nice" e36s are getting wrecked by flat bill hat wearing vapers, 

Will be cool to see this car tidied up properly 

[LemonHunter 583]

I love this colour on the E36. 

[bradgalbraith 218]

Awesome write up Glen! So glad that you've really put some time and effort into it- looks stunning. Such a nice little car.

[GlenK 59]

Thanks Brad, I wouldn't have been able to do it without a good base to start from, thanks again for selling me such a great wee car!

[euroriffic 607]

For being here in Dunedin for 6 months I’m surprised I haven’t seen it yet! I’ve got its off suited colour, Dakar yellow e36 m3 coupe .Pretty sure its the only yellow one in town now since my buddy sold his sedan, but was another coupe I always seen up highgate/Maori hill way, but haven’t seen it in over a year now, but give me a wave if you spot me. I don’t usually have the time to get it out much, but am always out and about in the work van during the day, so if you see some goon staring at you in a sparkys van, it’ll be me! 

And great to see this being saved. Think the last Fiji green 318is got scrapped. 

[GlenK 59]

Hi Justin,

Good to see another local, Dunedin can be so small, but likewise I am surprised haven't seen your M3 either.

It's my weekend driver, so you wont see it much during the week, unless it's being worked on at my preferred local garage (R&D European, Danny and Ryan have been awesome). Anyone who knows me now knows where I am because the car is the only one of its kind and colour in Dunnos! It's hard to blend in when your driving a Fiji Green car.

Dakar yellow is also a very cool colour and a friend of mine in Chch had an M3 in that colour that he sold quite a few years back. I was talking to him the other day and he wishes he had never sold it.

Will look out for you in the future.

[euroriffic 607]

mine started life in Wellington as an nz new car, then maybe to chch then timaru then here, so maybe the same car.

and funnily enough after talking about it I saw you today turning off the main into moray place. Car looks the goods!  

Edited January 6, 2020 by euroriffic

[GlenK 59]

Hi Justin,

Could very well be the same car, if you bought it off a guy called Willie, then it probably is, as i think Willie was living in Timaru when he sold it.

Funny, always the way isn't it, yes that would have been me (as you have now seen, it does stand out a little).

Still a couple of things to do, but I am slowly getting there. Went around some wreckers today, trying to find a left rear inner guard (as my one is broken), the little plastic 1/4 turn screw that helps hold the heater motor cover on, and my glovebox needs a little work (rattles a bit, and the soft opening mechanism is missing so it plops in your lap if your the passenger).

I saw another 318is MS today parked in lower Stuart St, Techno Violet colour, so there are a few of us out there!

 

[euroriffic 607]

I see that ‘is quite a bit too. Looks very tidy that one.

sure sounds like the same m3. Did it have black 19”s on it and the plate was cey950?  I got it off my neighbour lindsey who bought it from Timaru.  He got it as a bit of a project to tidy up but didn’t have the time and saw all my BMW’s clogging the street so offered it to me. 

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by euroriffic

[GlenK 59]

Good looking car Justin, it had standard wheels when he bought it round to my place, but at the time I didn't really pay a lot of notice, funny how things change once you own one yourself.

Just talked to Willie, it was his, and he asked if he could have it back...?

That was quite a collection, love the wagon, would make the perfect mtb vehicle.

I collect motorcycles, and have a Ducati 916, Aprilia RS250, and Aprilia Pegaso 650 (practical bike), it easier to store motorcycles as they can all fit in the garage. Tho I get the feeling that I will need a bigger garage soon if things carry on at their present rate.

Edited January 7, 2020 by GlenK

[euroriffic 607]

Ha! Small world! Can’t be many yellow ones around though. 

That pic is about 6-7 years old now, so only the m3 remains. Wagon was my daily and the black 328 was replaced by the m3. But do have a e30 coupe hidden away and the compact autocross weapon. When I picked the m3 up was getting a bit neglected, so has had a lot of work done over my ownership and a few sets of wheels. Is a thread on here I need to do a wee update on too! 

Some cool bikes you’ve got there. I can’t see myself being sensible enough to ride own reasonably enough!