E36 320i any probs ??

[bazza93]

hi guys
i'm buying a E36 320i 4 door next week ( only because its cheap £ 650 )
do they suffer from any probs ?
i know about the front windows coming out of line and the clips breaking, they have been done allready
do they suffer from anything else ? are the engines as good as the E30's ?
any info gratefully received
chris

[monkey]

front outer ball joints are a week point as they are mounted in rubber . on my e36 i replaced the wishbone arms with e30 ones as they fit the same but have all steel ball joints . made the car drive much better too . door cards could be made better and come off at the top of the door , but you can repair clips for them from bmw . as far as i know the engines are good i havent had any worries with mine . rear trailing arm front bushes may need doing at around 100 000 miles you will know if they neeed doing as they make a knocking noise when going over bumps and around corners . i am happy with my e36 but dont think its put together as well as my e30 is

[Elecblondie]

My e36 320i is a heap of junk and suffers all kinds of problems, including the windows, door cards and ball joints mentioned

Engines are prone to overheating, mine has had headwork before my ownership. My car has suffered difficult to track down electrical gremlins all the time I've had it, ranging from a failed crank position sensor to indicators that occasionally cut out (Still can't find out why ).

I've enjoyed driving my car but in retrospect I'd rather have had a 318is (M42/M44), mostly just because the fuel economy is not as good as I want it to be. It is a nice fun car, a little heavy if you like things light and darty but certainly chuckable down the lanes.

I will probably be breaking the aforementioned car if you want any bits, two useful bits that come to mind would be a set of 40mm lowering springs with associated monroe dampers and reproduction motorsport alloys.

[bazza93]

cheers guys will defo check out the wishbones and trailing arms for any movement

[bazza93]

i am happy with my e36 but dont think its put together as well as my e30 is

well guy's.......... i bought it all seems fine but defo agree with the above quote
takes a bit of getting used too nothing like an E30 engine sounds fine ( do like the sound of a 320 )
probally keep this for 6 months to a year then get back into a E30
once again thanks to the above guy's for the few pointers