The Bimmersport Family E36 328i

[nick496 268]

Well I figured I'd carry on the legacy, and keep a project thread for this car that I bought off M3AN. 
Old Project thread: http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/56912-another-e36-my-328-beauty-sold/

I purchased the car wanting to turn it into a track hack, as I've taken the E30 touring out to a few track days. It's performed well but would eventually like a rollcage for safety, and also some larger brakes. Both of which aren't something I would to do to my touring, so here we are. Same motor, but I think it will easily be able to beat the tourings time around the track without stripping it for weight savings.

So picked up the car on the original 16s yesterday.

Got her home, and on went the ACS type 2's (17x8 ET38)

Initial impressions
-Handles really well
-Not a fan of the aftermarket alarm (had to get M3an to show me the trick to be able to leave his driveway)
-The Auto box needs to go. It's really lets down all the suspension work done on the car, as it likes to hunt around and jerk. In comparison the E36 318ti I've been dailying is much nicer drive around town, and feels the same power wise ?
-I did say to M3an that I didn't think there was much difference between the stock E36 rack and a purple tag after having both in my E30 (admittedly I drove it a year apart). But after driving this and the E30 back to back, there is definitely a difference. Purple tag is just tighter, and doesn't have the dead zone in the middle.
-Sunroofs are not my friend. Hair rubs on the roof with the seat as low as it goes. Might have to change my seating position.

Things to do
-Value cover seal replacement (weeping a bit from the front)
-Fix weird idle issue (hunts around a bit there)
-Manual conversion
-Bucket seat
-Boss kit
-Brake upgrade (Need to find some 330i fronts)
-Purple tag rack swap
-Have all the barrels work off 1 key
-Remove the aftermarket immobiliser 
-Find a replacement front guard
-Poly bushings
-Rollcage
-Put the AC back in (I'd rather be cool driving too and from the track, rather than have weight savings)
-VANOS rebuild
-Fix drivers window (Seems to detect too much pressure going up, and then retracts slightly)

Edited January 12, 2020 by nick496

[nick496 268]

On a whim I checked pick a part's website on Saturday night.
There was a 318i manual over in Tauranga.
So a trip over there Sunday morning, arriving just after opening, was greeted with the whole thing still being there (even with the car being in the yard for a few days).
With some help from @alisterh (who I had picked the wheels off from in Auckland only the day before) managed to get the whole lot out in about 2 hours.

I know the Getrag 220's aren't quite as good as the ZF boxes, but for 1/6 the price of a conversion kit for one, I'll give this a go.

So that will go in once I've gotten rid of the 318ti.

Edited January 12, 2020 by nick496

[M3AN 4016]

Nice one Nick, good to meet you and chat. I'm glad the car has gone to a worthy and suitable new owner and that you're someone that can appreciate the handling... because it cost me a bucket-load ? also a shout-out to @sweetm3 here for his contribution to the mix, thanks as always mate.

And holy crap, you moved fast on the 'box... I understand your lack of enthusiasm for the slushy though! Not the best... ?

Looking forward to the thread updates. ?

Edit: I'm rating the new wheels!

Edited January 12, 2020 by M3AN

[nick496 268]

Likewise Dave. Good to put a face to the name.

I took it out on my normal backroads, and it certainly felt a lot nicer than the E30 around all the corners, and the power delivery was surprisingly different with the auto box. Felt like it pulled more at the top end, but that's probably because it was slower at the bottom end haha.

Well as we all know, manual conversions aren't normally cheap, so figured if I could get it from pick a part, that would be the way to go. So might as well bail on my Sunday plans to fix up the 318ti so I can sell it, and get a manual conversion instead (No real loss)

Cheers on the wheels. Love me some ACS wheels.

[qube 3570]

good to see its gone to a worthy new owner

[M M 250]

On 1/12/2020 at 8:32 PM, nick496 said:

-Fix drivers window (Seems to detect too much pressure going up, and then retracts slightly)

Curious to see what you do here, I have the same problem and haven't been able to find a solution for it.

[aja540i 1906]

4 hours ago, M M said:

Curious to see what you do here, I have the same problem and haven't been able to find a solution for it.

Check the door switch, my coupe did this, something to do with it not knowing the door was shut and dropping the glass to clear the door rubber when you shut it. The plastic on the door switch wears where it hits the striker, replacement (good 2nd hand) switch sorted it.

[M M 250]

On 1/15/2020 at 6:05 PM, aja540i said:

Check the door switch, my coupe did this, something to do with it not knowing the door was shut and dropping the glass to clear the door rubber when you shut it. The plastic on the door switch wears where it hits the striker, replacement (good 2nd hand) switch sorted it.

My issue is when the door is closed and you press the button to close the window, it goes up a bit then "catches", stops  and drops down a little. How would the door switch affect that?

[aja540i 1906]

If it thinks the door is open because of a worn switch it drops the glass down a bit so that when you close the door it lifts the glass again and it seals into the rubber properly. Try it with the door open, then push the door switch in all the way with a screwdriver, if the glass lifts back up your switch needs changing.

[M M 250]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:01 PM, aja540i said:

If it thinks the door is open because of a worn switch it drops the glass down a bit so that when you close the door it lifts the glass again and it seals into the rubber properly. Try it with the door open, then push the door switch in all the way with a screwdriver, if the glass lifts back up your switch needs changing.

I see what you're saying, but that all works fine. What happens with mine is when the window is say all the way down, and you press to put the window up, it will stop halfway and drop a little. Similar to what happens if your arm is out the window and you try to put it up. How I read Nick's explanation it sounded like he has the same problem.

Edited January 18, 2020 by M M

[aja540i 1906]

Ah, ok. When were your runners and tracks in the window mechanism last lubricated? If the motor draws too much current it triggers the safety function and having dried up scummy old grease in the mechanism can be enough to push it over the edge. Take the door card off and put some new grease in the runners where the window carrier slides, and a little bit on the drive gear, then run it up and down a few times, it should help.

[M M 250]

4 hours ago, aja540i said:

Ah, ok. When were your runners and tracks in the window mechanism last lubricated? If the motor draws too much current it triggers the safety function and having dried up scummy old grease in the mechanism can be enough to push it over the edge. Take the door card off and put some new grease in the runners where the window carrier slides, and a little bit on the drive gear, then run it up and down a few times, it should help.

Probably never so I'll do that. Thanks.

[nick496 268]

Cheers for the tips @M M 
My first thought was to just grease the rails, but the door switch is something I'll look into.

I've done literally nothing on the car, and it's already falling apart on me.

That's just from the heat with it parked up on the street.

I've finished tidying up my E36 Ti, so once that's sold, will be able to manual swap this and drive it.

Will order some seals for the intake and a new tube for the ICV, which is normally a failure point, along with some bushings for the manual conversion.

[M3AN 4016]

Oh dear. Although it does reveal that the glove box isn't sagging (which is what I thought was the problem). I've not seen a cover fall off like that before.

 

[nick496 268]

On 1/26/2020 at 9:36 PM, M3AN said:

Oh dear. Although it does reveal that the glove box isn't sagging (which is what I thought was the problem). I've not seen a cover fall off like that before.

 

It is still sagging at the edges, but I'll probably just give it a clean up and reglue it back together.

Found out why the key doesn't work in the boot. It's the Valet key.
So my assumption is that the drivers door has been replaced, and the lock wasn't swapped over. (If any of the previous owners could confirm that would be handy)
Which would mean I just need a new full key cut off the passenger door code, and a drivers door lock rebuild kit. And hopefully the boot lock hasn't been swapped also.

 

The boot lock decided it wanted to no longer work with the central locking.
Fortunately the rear seats fold down, so was just a case of crawling in there and manually opening it.

The solenoid still works when 12 volts is applied, and the rest of the system works when you move the arm back and forward. I'm assuming it will be the boot loom which looked ok at the parts where it exits the body and enters the trunk, so that will be some fun.
 

Tidied the garage, and gave the gearbox a clean.

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by nick496

[nick496 268]

A couple of weekends back, did the valve cover gasket. That had to be be pried out with pliers out of the cover, as it was so hard and brittle.
Managed to chip a piece off into the head, so had to borrow a mates air compressor, and fortunately managed to blow it out.

Also did the oil filter housing while I was in there, which wasn't too bad, but likely needed to be done.
The head looks much cleaner than the one in my E30.

 

This weekend pulled out the auto box. Bit of a pain doing that solo, as it's flipping heavy, and I didn't have enough extensions to got the whole length of the auto box.
The fluid that came out of the auto box was dark, so that probably wasn't helping the poor jatco.

Manual pedal box is in.
Fresh fluid inside the manual box, the little bit of oil still left in it was nice and pink, so hopefully she hasn't been abused too much.

Providing I have a spigot bearing, should have this rolling after easter.

[M3AN 4016]

14 minutes ago, nick496 said:

A couple of weekends back, did the valve cover gasket. That had to be be pried out with pliers out of the cover, as it was so hard and brittle. Managed to chip a piece off into the head, so had to borrow a mates air compressor, and fortunately managed to blow it out.

Better you than I ? a week later and it would have been me doing it! ?

[nick496 268]

Managed to drop the autobox by myself.
Need to purchase a 1/2in 0.5m extension as I didn't have enough extensions to easily get behind the auto box.

Put on the dual mass 318i flywheel and clutch.
Not ideal, but will get the job done for now, I'll look at replacing this setup once shipping costs have died down.

Put on the gearbox and everything underneath the car.

Still have to:
-Bend the clutch line and fit
-Fit the intake back on
-Swap oil filter, and fill with oil
-List whatever hoses need replacing, and get those post-lockdown.
-Get the shifter carrier cut and welded so that it's where it's supposed to be.

Lessons learnt:
-Just pull the whole engine, makes the job easier, especially when it comes to the clutch line
-Don't do this job by yourself. Took probably twice as long as it would have with help, and I managed to pull some muscles in my arm, so lost strength in it after I got the exhaust back on day 3. Again, might not have been an issue if I had just pulled the engine out.

[Gaz 1058]

How come you have to bend the clutch line? 

Definitely easier with a 2nd person helping fit the gearbox and exhaust. Taking stuff off is easy enough 

[nick496 268]

2 hours ago, Gaz said:

How come you have to bend the clutch line? 

Definitely easier with a 2nd person helping fit the gearbox and exhaust. Taking stuff off is easy enough 

Ah, didn't pull it off the parts car, so have to make one up.

[nick496 268]

Well, went to bleed the clutch, and the bleeder nipple snapped off flush.
Tried to use a drill with an easy-out to get the rest out, but she was pretty stuck in there, and so snapped the easy-out in there.

So ordered a replacement slave, put that in.
Rookie mistake. Didn't order a replacement master as well, as the seals are basically gone on that.
Clutch pedal releases just about the floor, but managed to take her out for a quick drive to test out the gearbox, and there are no crunches, so that's nice.

Drives much nicer now, and is a really comfortable drive.
I found it much nicer as a daily than my E30, which is a bit concerning.

Have got a single-mass flywheel to go in that's actually suited to the engine to go in, and will order a replacement master too.
Will get those in, put all the trim pieces back on, figure out the boot locking issue, then take her in for a wof.

[nick496 268]

Got the replacement master. Put that in.
Swapped over to a Competition Clutch and light flywheel (7.5kg) (pedal is very heavy).
-Can't say I recommend for daily use, but I got it for a good price, and it does the job.
Fixed the boot locking issue, turns out it was a wire so worn it had split in 2
-Common enough issue, but and not where I thought it would split
-Recommend to anyone who has E36 central locking boot issues, to fully peel back the loom cover on both ends and get a decent look at all the wires underneath to spot any potential issues.
-Soldered that back together, and now I have central locking again
Replaced one of the tyres, as I had an interesting wear mix, 2x 5mm, 1x 8mm, 1x 2mm.
And replaced the windscreen... (Make sure you put down a towel or something when you try to remove wiper arms, otherwise they can cause a nice chip, which then spreads into a crack across the entire windscreen)

Went in and got a wof, and so she's all road legal.
Until I noticed that one of the park lights was out the following day

Next on the list, replace the faulty camshaft sensor, and hopefully that fixes the intermittent idle issue. 
I would normally point the blame at a vacuum leak, but I just replaced all the hoses and gaskets on the intake, so I have my doubts.
If the camshaft sensor doesn't resolve the issue. Time to build a smoke tester I think.

[nick496 268]

Righto, final update on this one, as will be listing the car for sale.

The tyre that I replaced ended up getting a puncture after less than 500km's of use. 
Unfortunately I didn't notice soon enough, and the inside showed discolouration, so had to replace it again  

Ended up replacing the faulty camshaft sensor. 
This appears to have resolved the intermittent idle issue, as I drove across town and back today with no issues.

Reglued the glovebox back together. 
Now it's just a normal saggy glovebox. 

Drivers door window kept getting stuck and not moving.
Took out the regulator, greased it, pressed the switch, it moved. Put it back in.
The following day, go to use the window, doesn't move.
Replaced the motor and the little guide clips, has been fine since.

Swapped to a 3.15 ratio diff, which brings down the revs a little while cruising, which has been nice.

Edited December 21, 2020 by nick496