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BMW E36 advice


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yeah i used these guys too - not very talkative though.

 

which engine isit your looking at you'll have to be careful of the vanos problem or niskali if M3, vanos problem tries to get past off as bad coil/sparks as the engine misses, there's a how to to check if the car has it or not but i prefer to open the door as wide as possible and watch the furthest top edge to see if it bounces up and down - it SHOULD be level pegging.

 

arches are a nightmare and once they start rusting they turn into a big problem........FAST.

 

im assuming its got good history if its a drop top - have a look see when it had its last inspection II service & if the viscous coupling fan has been done as this can be canny costly

 

other than that they're pretty much bullet proof cars god luck

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e36coupe is okay, but the search function is poor and a lot of people have opinions on things that they have no idea about.

 

The E36 vert is almost identical to the coupe, so the usual rear trailing arm bushes and front arm bushes should be checked. The front arm bushes are cheap and easy to replace (I did mine this week on the compact) but you need access to a press. The rear trailing arm bushes aren't really DIY unless you have the patience of a saint. You'd be looking at about 3 hours labour for them at a garage.

 

What aaron is talking about with regards to Nikasil is that the nikasil cylinder linings wore on the old, poorer petrol(sulpher content, I think) of the mid-ninties and eventually allowed very slight side-to-side movement in the pistons, which rocked the engine, which was most noticable when you opened the door and checked to see if you could see/feel the top of the door moving.

To be honest, nikasil isn't really a problem nowadays as it was a recall from BMW so most folk took them up on this, and also modern petrol is of such a high quality that it no longer wears the nikasil linings. If the car is over 100k, then I really wouldn't worry about it.

 

Due to the extra weight of the vert, the rear shock top mounts - which wear on all E36s - are even more of a problem. This allows slight movement and a wandering feel when worn. However, these are easy to replace, and most vert owners go for an uprated mount when replacing, which are available for circa £100 for the pair. 30 min DIY job per side.

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Haha thanks, how much power are they... about 200 isn't it? Although I haven't done a proper test it does seem pretty damn thirsty.

and I remember another thread people where people were getting the details of there build options etc, was it you that was providing it?

 

Haha thanks, how much power are they... about 200 isn't it? Although I haven't done a proper test it does seem pretty damn thirsty.

and I remember another thread people where people were getting the details of there build options etc, was it you that was providing it?

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