Adam C
Premium Member
Registered: 10th Jan 07
Location: Cornwall UK Drives:Arden Blue Gsi T
User status: Offline
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Been looking more and more at these over the past few weeks, seen some lovely examples in Dakar yellow, unfortunatly not for sale as they seem rather rare in that colour.
Ive always liked the E46 shape but they are way out of my price range, and have seen you can pick up an e36 shape for similar price to what I could hopefully get for the Gsi.
Problem is Ive never driven a BMW, never owned one and have no mates who own one.
So anyone ever owned a E36 3 series before, specifically an M3 if there is anyone on here who has had one?
What are they like to drive? And reliability, common problems etc?
Getting bored with the Astra these days, and know my 3rd years NCB is due soon, and before I go chucking more money at the Astra Im weighing up other options.
Picture to keep you entertained
My Arden Blue Astra GSi MK4 on BBS LM's Project Thread
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connollygt30
Member
Registered: 16th Nov 08
Location: West Lothian
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That looks perfect
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John G
Member
Registered: 18th Jul 05
Location: Wirral, Merseyside
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very reliable cars, iv had 2 e36's miss my last one allready, mikeGSI had a dakar yellow one on here, doug is also very up on his e36 knowledge
all in all, great cars
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DannyB
Premium Member
Registered: 6th Feb 08
User status: Offline
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Love them, there was a few at KH last weekend, including a Dakar Yellow one but I forgot to get a pic of it 
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John G
Member
Registered: 18th Jul 05
Location: Wirral, Merseyside
User status: Offline
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pistonheads and www.e36coupe.com good sights for ones for sale
[Edited on 23-06-2010 by John G]
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mwg
Member
Registered: 19th Feb 04
Location: South Lakes
User status: Offline
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They are nice and all but its an old car now
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Adam C
Premium Member
Registered: 10th Jan 07
Location: Cornwall UK Drives:Arden Blue Gsi T
User status: Offline
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Cheers John will give the e36 site a butchers now
My Arden Blue Astra GSi MK4 on BBS LM's Project Thread
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SportBoy
Member
Registered: 5th Oct 01
Location: Retford, Nottinghamshire
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never been a fan of that shape tbh. allways looked old to me? even when they were new 
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John G
Member
Registered: 18th Jul 05
Location: Wirral, Merseyside
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by mwg
They are nice and all but its an old car now
Means nothin, my last one was 1995 plate and didnt have a spot of rust on, most that are on the 100k milestone are like a brand new car underneath as things like bushes, suspension arms so on so forth have all been changed, the engines will last 250k if looked after easy, but most m3s are lower milege as usually owned by enthusiasts
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AndyKent
Member
Registered: 3rd Sep 05
User status: Offline
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Look ancient so I'd never have one tbh.
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K3 VMU
Member
Registered: 28th Jul 06
Location: Portlethen, Aberdeen,ken
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love them, and you will love driving them
watch out for the vanos units on the evo, they cost around £2k to replace :/
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chrisritch
Member
Registered: 2nd Sep 08
Location: Northants Drives: V40
User status: Offline
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The Mother has an e36 323 in Metallic Violet (:O) absolutely bulletproof lol. not much kop in front end accidents though. radiators, grille panels and bonnets bend like sol campbell
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P1CK4D
Member
Registered: 19th Jun 06
Location: Around Essex Somewhere
User status: Offline
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I bought an E36 2.5 as a run about. So So comfy to drive. Already had 165000miles on the clock and it easily gave me 5000miles care free miles aloing with doing 500 in a single day. E36's are fantastic. You wont be disappointed.
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Jambo
Member
Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
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quote:
Originally posted by K3 VMU
love them, and you will love driving them
watch out for the vanos units on the evo, they cost around £2k to replace :/
I knew the Vanos internet phobia would start to come out 
The vanos if the filter is changed will work fine, so long as the car is warmed up before you spank it (i.e looked after properly) then it should be fine. I did 12k in my Z3 (same engine s50) and mine never skipped a beat.
The actual cost is more like £1500, even less now i would guess as that figure was from around 2008.
If you are worried about a £1500 bill, DON'T BUY AN M3
They are expensive cars to run, servicing will be very expensive, expect it to eat rear tyres too. Non specific Mparts are reasnable, anything with an M on it will be a fortune. For e.g i needed a rear axle, costs was in excess of £3.5k 
It will be a world apart in terms of build quality, feel and driveability from your Gsi, with actual driver feedback and ineraction. It will also be very very refined. Proper wheels are driven too, so you can concentrate of driving without the car fighting you through corners.
Watch out for whiney diffs, uneven tyre wear and notchy gearboxes.
Its not designed as a race car, so it will be softer than say a Scoob or Evo in terms of loud noise and crashy suspension.
It will need revving to go, very different drive to a turbo motor.
Don't buy an smg
Don't buy a non evo
Don't tell Fad hell only get jealous
P.s Dakar yellow is the tits.
[Edited on 23-06-2010 by Jambo]
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Tomnova16
Premium Member
Registered: 21st Jan 06
Location: Gerrards Cross Drives: Porsche 911
User status: Offline
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What he said lol
http://www.lemass.co.uk/ for all your automotive/bodyshop needs
Located in Chalfont st Peter
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Colin
Member
Registered: 4th Apr 02
User status: Offline
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Yeah bills can be massive to keep everything working as it should.
There was a guy on M3cutters a few days ago hit with a bill for 3k for a new SMG pump
Plenty dogs about now so be very carefull when buying!!
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broster
Premium Member
Registered: 6th Dec 02
Location: Drives: E39
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I work on the basis of needing £1k on the bank just in case with anything like this! Only real issue is you have 2 vanos units to break on these but there is plenty of knowledge on repairing rather than replacing them which is good! Great car and look good IMO!!!
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Jambo
Member
Registered: 8th Sep 01
Location: Maidenhead, Drives: VXR Arctic
User status: Offline
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FFS
Im on pistonheads now 
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Tomnova16
Premium Member
Registered: 21st Jan 06
Location: Gerrards Cross Drives: Porsche 911
User status: Offline
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Get rid of fenchy and go back to german
http://www.lemass.co.uk/ for all your automotive/bodyshop needs
Located in Chalfont st Peter
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sand-eel
Member
Registered: 15th Mar 07
Location: carluke/braidwood--IRNBRULAND
User status: Offline
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Finally someone says don't buy a non-evo, evos are a big upgrade.
Also this vanos issue can be "fixed" before it goes wrong, a company called dr-vanos does "something" for £400-500 and it won't go wrong, think they actually put in different gears for the vanos.
common problems - viscous fan stops turning or jams on (whoosing noise when revved, happened to me), rad leaks (expansion tank is on the side of the rad with rubber seals, the seals leak and the tank cracks, new rad is the easiest, as the expansion tank is an arse to take off and will prob break anyway), water pump impellors break (upgraded pumps with metal or ceramic impellors is what you buy), sometimes the thermostat plastic cover becomes brittle and leaks (upgraded aluminium cover is needed), basically the cooling system is shit unless the new bits have been done.
Another than that bushes seem to be a wear item so should be replaced every 25-30k miles or so if you want the car to handle well.
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sand-eel
Member
Registered: 15th Mar 07
Location: carluke/braidwood--IRNBRULAND
User status: Offline
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I've seen the build thread for that M300YEH car
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DannyB
Premium Member
Registered: 6th Feb 08
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by sand-eel
I've seen the build thread for that M300YEH car
Yeah, it's on TS
http://www.trackscotland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=971
edit: There's the dakar yellow one that was there too, stunning cars, spent a lot of time looking at them both
http://www.trackscotland.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=947
[Edited on 23-06-2010 by DannyB]
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Twiggy
Member
Registered: 15th Oct 04
User status: Offline
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i had a e36 328i sport. Fuckin proppa car! Would have another in a shot!
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Colin
Member
Registered: 4th Apr 02
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Jambo
FFS
Im on pistonheads now
Buy my E46
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CORSA NUT
Member
Registered: 3rd Aug 01
Location: Wirral
User status: Offline
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I'm looking for a 323/325/328i at the moment but there are NON near me  all wank engined south african built shite
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