heres a wrecked e 36 in the making

Post Mon Aug 01, 2005 7:50 pm

a fella i know in passing who has always been admiring my sport has just got a big bloody claim and fancys killin himself in style by buyin his first rwd and having an e36 m3 (3L) as his coffin. did my best to talk this 21 year old out of it but he is intent. to try and prolong his life i'd like to make sure it is not a sh1t box. its a 96 i think. what do i need to look out for. ie what common problems do they give??
all advice appreciated
thanx

Post Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:01 pm

A big claim, i.e. personal injury?

To be honest I know fuck all about E36s, except that the 3.0 M3 is a lot more reliable than the 3.2.....

Post Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:02 pm

i have aclaim going too
hope mine turns into a big payout but certainly will not be buying an e36

maybe a nice 635???

Post Mon Aug 01, 2005 9:59 pm

Have been hunting for one with a friend of mine a while back, this is what I found after seeing about 7 of them:

- Aircon is frequently broken in lots of different ways (needing a refill, pump broken, control panel fooked - be sure to press all the buttons).
- The 6speed gearboxes tend to pop out of 3th going from accel. to coasting.
- The 6speed box is rather stiff and notchy compared to an E30 box, but this seems normal.
- The clutch usually slips (now I wonder why that happens

) in 1-2-3 under hard acceleration.
- VANOS units can make horrible diesel-like noises but I haven't found a way of telling when it's serious or not (it usually is not... but if it is.. $$$)

Can agree with you on the coffin part dude... That friend eventually bought one and I get to drive it once in a while... Great fun, but after getting out I'm always convinced something 200 bhp-ish is fine for me, for now..
If I'd have owned when I was 21 I'm sure I'd be either dead or in jail by now. And broke.

- Rick

Post Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:13 pm

Check the rear subframe mounts as well (lift the back seat), if it has been driven hard these can sometimes tear away from the floorpan!

Post Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:03 pm

slideways wrote:a fella i know in passing who has always been admiring my sport has just got a big bloody claim and fancys killin himself in style by buyin his first rwd and having an e36 m3 (3L) as his coffin. did my best to talk this 21 year old out of it but he is intent. to try and prolong his life i'd like to make sure it is not a sh1t box. its a 96 i think. what do i need to look out for. ie what common problems do they give??
all advice appreciated
thanx

If it's a 96, then it's probably going to be a 3.2 Evo. They stopped making the 3.0L in 1995, but I guess it may have been kicking around in the dealer network for a while before it was registered.

Ian.

Post Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:30 pm

Definitely get a 3.0l 5-speed M3... less hassle than a 6-speed Evo apprantley.