Talk to me about E36's...

When looking to buy, what do i need to check? Apart from the usual, accident damage and service history etc.

Therafter, which do i stay away from? 316, 318, 320, 323, 325, 328?

Auto or Manual?

Hows maitenance on them after 200 000km?

What sort of common issues should i brace myself for and are they costly?

Bear in mind, it will be a daily driven car. What consumption do i expect travelling via stop/go traffic and suburbs with speed bumps etc for 26km per day.

TIA

Check List : Suspension Rubbers. Shocks. Springs. Front control arms. Entire cooling system (radiator, expansion bottle, hoses, thermostat, viscous fans). Avoid any with electrical gremlins. Check the a/c has worked properly in the last 5 years.

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Avoid auto like the plague. If you must take it in one of the six cylinder models

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My pick for the daily grind would be 318i (1.8 16v m42), 318is (1.9 16v m44), 323i (if you can find one) or 325i

I'll give you my experience, 1998 328i manual.

Arbee@TheFanaticsEvents said:

Therafter, which do i stay away from? 316, 318, 320, 323, 325, 328?

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I see you already know to stay away from the M3

Arbee@TheFanaticsEvents said:

Auto or Manual?

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I've driven a 318i automatic and didn't like it at all, but I'd prefer manual any day anyway.

Arbee@TheFanaticsEvents said:

Hows maitenance on them after 200 000km?

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So far so good at 201'000km I have a leak at the head cover gasket, and the gearbox is starting a new trick where it pops out of gear (happened twice now), which is apparently a combo of worn engine and gearbox mounts, and shifter bushes. My (sport) suspension is also pretty worn out as you can see in my sig.

Arbee@TheFanaticsEvents said:

What sort of common issues should i brace myself for and are they costly?

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• Cooling system (leaking sides on radiator, replacing the water pump if it's an older model with plastic impellers, thermostat in my case @ 188k km) which can be a few thousand bucks depending on which route you go. I replaced radiator, hoses, water pump, thermostat, radiator temperature switch, and expansion tank. Some people replace the viscous fan, or remove it entirely.
• Brake light switch, just go OEM on this one trust me, R430.
• Door handle rubbers, you can buy all new handles from the stealers or just the rubbers on eBay for R170 landed.
• Rear trailing arm bushes, feels like the rear end has it's own steering rack, E46 M3 replacements at R700.
• Power steering system leak around the resevoir, would need all new hoses and unfortunately the pressure side hose is rather expensive. If you're lucky you get away with only new clamps.
• Front control arms, 3 of 4 balljoints of mine were completely finished at around 190k km, R3k for Meyle HD replacements.

Arbee@TheFanaticsEvents said:

What consumption do i expect travelling via stop/go traffic and suburbs with speed bumps etc for 26km per day.

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Since June my fuel economy has averaged 11.9L/100km, and I suspect I have a leaking injector (or two) and some maintenance to do. Best was 8.2, worst was 13.6. According to Fuelly I should be expecting around 10-11L/100km.

My experience..... you never stop maintaining. But such a joy non the less.....and all the above

Go for the 328i, you consumption will be the same as with the other 6 cylinder models. My 323i which had just over 300 000km was doing +-10l/100km.

For me the 328i is the pick of the bunch. It has a wide power band thanks to the Vanos and still returns 8 l/100km in town with relative ease.

Things to check:

1. Rear shock mount towers for cracking;
2. Rear trailing arm bushes;
3. Plastic pipe on the radiator gets very brittle with age and can suddenly crack, driving the car any further will result in a blown head gasket;
4. Exhaust valve that blocks off the one tailpipe at low revs. Preferably it should work. The actuator valve that sits in the boot is expensive;
5. Oil level sensor. Expensive;
6. Brake light switch; and
7. Dead pixels in the OBC.

You want the 328i

Check entire cooling system, and the entire suspension will be shot at that mileage....front control arms have the ball joints pre-pressed (R3k ea), tie-rods (R1.5k ea), powerflex bushes for the entire front and rear should be around R4k (incl. subframe). Sway bar bushes (incl. brackets) and linkages are often forgotten yet are cheap even from the stealers make a huge difference to the ride/handling,you be able to cover the entire car for R1.5k.You'll want to do the diff bushes and centre bolt too, maybe even guibo/centre bearing also depending on the car's condition. Look out for noises/leaks from the power steering, a reconned unit is +/- R4k. Check for rear subframe cracks although this is more of a concern on the M3, replace rear shock mounts.

My feeling though is that these cars can really take a beating so one that is in less than decent shape has lead a tough life.

I didn't mind my auto trans but I'm sure the manual feels alot more responsive with it's much shorter gearing.

Good luck! :thumbs:

My '97 328i was the best car I ever had. That is the one to go for. If you can't find a good one, a 323i is also very good. At the time I was all set to get one of them when the 328i turned up at the last moment. We also had a '97 318is which was pretty good, light on fuel and easy to drive.

I wouldn't bother with any of the others. A 325i or 320i would be very old and the later 238i and 323i are just plain better. Likewise, the 318is was a step up from the 318i.

Man my fuel consumption is bad

Major said:

Man my fuel consumption is bad

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Fuel consumption is over rated, I mean I get VERY good consumption, but its a bit boring at times. Need petrol and revs in my life.

My main concern is reliability, if im enjoying the drive i dont mind 'wasting' a little bit of fuel.

I dont want a car thats heavy on fuel and costly to maintain, if you know what i mean.

If thats the case, i rather buy a Kia Picanto, its light on fuel but costly to maintain...

I have owned 2. Both 316i's. No neck snapping power to be found there. I keep a log of repairs and the costs :

Vehicle 29 500.00
Service 500.00
Globes 15.00
Gear Knob 300.00
Hood Lining, Oil Leak,
Adjust Handbrake 1 800.00
Rear Shoes 750.00
Head Light Switch 600.00
Radiator 2 202.00
Brake light 20.00
Clutch 3 200.00
Ball Joints 1 600.00
Control arm bush 350.00
Pedal Squeak 30.00
Hand Brake Cable + Labour 900.00
Air Bag light Reset free
Spare Light Switch 600.00
Rear tyres 1 350.00
Rust 700.00
Radiator Switch 450.00
Touch Up 800.00
Actuator - Driver Door TBC
Gear linkage TBC
Head Light switch connection TBC
Brake Fluid 200.00


Both cars have never broken down and left me stranded. The first E36 was my first car (1994 model) My dad still drives it daily. Over 300k on the odo. My daily is approaching 240k and I still love driving it. My Mech had one with 870k on the odo. Sadly it was in an accident before it hit the 1 million mark.

These car are not very expensive to maintain if you don't go to the stealers.

if all else fails be nice to MOOSE and maybe he'd sell you his :cartel:

The 325 or 328 is what id look at..haven driven a few in the range none are more enjoyable as these 2, the 4 cylinder cars seems nice, comfy etc,,,but there's no grunt to it if you know what I mean...

Common things to look out for...
Rear subframe/ shock towers - prone to to tearing
Cooling system
Those little plastic gears on the electric seats

Good luck in your search bro

Facelift 97 or 98 build 328i gets my vote, plenty low down torque which is what you want in a daily driver so you don't have to ring its neck everywhere and waste fuel. Also the facelift has traction control which is great for wet roads. Plus the facelift front fenders and kidney grills update the front end nicely.

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The right one is sitting 3 metres from me under a car cover...:fencelook:

Having owned 10 different variants including a 4 door M3 but the one of that I would probably never sell is my 325i track toy. The 328i is the best all round package but the 323i is grossly underated. I just sold my wifes 323i which had done 426000kms and it never left her stranded. she used the car daily and in town the consumption sat between 9.5 and 11l per 100kms Besides the normal maintenance and wear and tear items we never had huge maintenance bills.
The 323/ 328i manuals came with a 2:93 diff ratio. I swapped that for a 3:46. Much better in gear acceleration, but at the expense of top end.

The 2.93 is perfect for the torque on the 328i but way too tall for the 323i, wonder why BMW did that?

35k for an e36, what am i looking for? Trouble?

That's around the going rate but don't buy the first one you see, shop around first to get an idea of what is out there and what conditions. I will accompany you if needed.

From my personal experience here in Cape Town, plenty of 316-320i's, some with a motorsport kit, and only the occasional 325i/328i, and they'll either be higher mileage or pre-facelift, almost never a motorsport kit.