E36 323 tourer advice

Tue Feb 27, 2007 3:59 pm

My manager is looking to buy an E36 tourer (can't convince him to get an E30) and has seen quite a nice 323 tourer.

Anything I should tell him to look out for. It's '97 in blue with 162k on the clock.

Here's the Ebay link:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... otohosting

Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:52 pm

have a look at where the rear subframe mounts on. the floors rot and fall out!!

Tue Feb 27, 2007 7:45 pm

Cheers Stuart, I'm also going to look for any signs of a towbar being fitted, the seller recently sold a small boat so I'm concerned it has been used as a tow vehicle.

Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:12 pm

yeah, watch out for that! you'll have a chassis like a toaster rack!!!

Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:18 pm

Correction.... HE will

I'm still staying firmly behind the E30 steering wheel.

Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:33 pm

good lad!!!

Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:36 am

Watch out for knackered bottom ball joints at the front, wrecked rear trailing arm bushes - both of which will give knocks and horrible loose wobbly handling. I don't think thats an engine that Nikasil was a problem for, but I am sure someone will know.

Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:14 am

it was but if its ok now its fine

Wed Feb 28, 2007 4:01 pm

The floor doesn't rot, but a really badly abused car MIGHT develop a crack in the boot floor where the diff bolts in which is easily welded up once the diff has been dropped down. I've never seen an E36 with underbody rot - all of mine are perfect and the oldest is a 1991.

That car would have had a Nikasil engine too, but if it runs okay at 162k it's not going to be a problem. Ã‚£1900 was a bit dear though - I'd have said around Ã‚£1400 for that.

Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:10 pm

Well he bought it yesterday :lol:

Knocked the guy Ã‚£300 i think, And is a very happy camper. I had a quick browse over it today and it looks nice. Will swipe the keys for an hour tomorrow to "run some errands"

He said it pulls really well, and is smooth and comfortable. Be interesting to see what it's like compared to my old turd?

Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:32 pm

stuartgallafant wrote:have a look at where the rear subframe mounts on. the floors rot and fall out!!

Funny, That's why I got rid of mine! Hehe.... But it doesn't actually rot so much as rip! The floor is a known weak spot around that area. Easy fix, but from the quotes I got VERY expensive to repair and reinforce.

Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:59 pm

tristan325 wrote:
stuartgallafant wrote:have a look at where the rear subframe mounts on. the floors rot and fall out!!
Funny, That's why I got rid of mine! Hehe.... But it doesn't actually rot so much as rip! The floor is a known weak spot around that area. Easy fix, but from the quotes I got VERY expensive to repair and reinforce.

you say its an easy fix, but its not really. its a whole new rear floor pan, which my dealership quoted 3 E36 owners, in the space of 2 weeks, Ã‚£3500 to repair... not worth on a car like that, unless its a low-mileage M3, in which case, it probably wouldnt suffer from this anyhow

andyboy, i can asure you mate, this is an extensively known problem with E36's. not sure why/what causes it, but i have had loads in at the dealership with this problem. Even a Z3 M-Coupe!!

a call to the insuance company and Ã‚£4000 and he was ok, but it does happen pal

Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:00 pm

stuartgallafant wrote:
tristan325 wrote:
stuartgallafant wrote:have a look at where the rear subframe mounts on. the floors rot and fall out!!
Funny, That's why I got rid of mine! Hehe.... But it doesn't actually rot so much as rip! The floor is a known weak spot around that area. Easy fix, but from the quotes I got VERY expensive to repair and reinforce.
you say its an easy fix, but its not really. its a whole new rear floor pan, which my dealership quoted 3 E36 owners, in the space of 2 weeks, Ã‚£3500 to repair... not worth on a car like that, unless its a low-mileage M3, in which case, it probably wouldnt suffer from this anyhow

andyboy, i can asure you mate, this is an extensively known problem with E36's. not sure why/what causes it, but i have had loads in at the dealership with this problem. Even a Z3 M-Coupe!! a call to the insuance company and Ã‚£4000 and he was ok, but it does happen pal

With all due respect a BMW main dealer is not the font of knowledge on anything older than an E46. I remember you assuring me that E36 instrument clusters need recoding..................!
Yes it does happen OCCASIONALLY and the cure is to drop the diff 5-6 inches and weld the cracks before reinforcing the transverse boot floor rail - 'new boot floor' is a typical BMW Main Dealer knee-jerk bullshit answer - just like all the 'failed' Nikasil engines that in fact had just flooded. Witness a silver 323i that 'needed a new engine' which, when looked into properly needed the engine spinning over with the fuel pump fuse out for 10 seconds until it fired up - at which point the fuse was stuck back in and it was perfect.
Been there. Seen it. Done it. Wiped my arse with the t-shirt.

BTW my 1991 320i - fitted with a BMW towbar when new - has no cracks or rust in the boot floor.................