e36 m3 evo 'loon, m-tax

Post Mon Jul 04, 2011 11:59 pm

decided to move away from a staggered setup as i like to be able to rotate wheels to even out wear, and felt that there was no need for 245 section rear tyres. a while back when i ran the turbines i had 225 45 on the rear and thought they had plenty of grip in the dry, and were better through standing water.

a set of the 3.0 m3 sunflowers popped up on ebay fairly locally and were mine for a decent price. tyres ordered and a quick and nasty repaint on the wheels whilst i waited for them as they had a few scuffs, but the new tyres had to go on asap to replace the existing semi slicks!

tada

very pleased, don't think i've ever seen a set on a saloon, and the narrow rears don't look as lost as i thought they might, may play about with some spacers at some point though. feels more nimble, and noticably less road noise too.

they also happen to be my favourite oe e36 wheel, i much prefer the flat face and thin spokes on these to the later evo sunflowers (although i know i'll be in the minority)

i even gave it a bi-monthly wash

Post Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:10 am

Needs spacers imo.. Looks good though!

Post Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:22 am

Also re road noise.. Have you fitted different tyres?

Post Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:31 am

to the rear, yes. it could well be the tyre type, but im pretty sure dragging 40mm less tyre along helps a bit too.

Post Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:51 pm

i had a set of these on a compact i had,nice rims i think they look good what were you running before.i bought my m3 with staggered contours but didnt like the look of them at all so i put some polished staggered style 24's on there but i think im picking up some 17" alpina softlines at the weekend,i hope ill be happy then?

Post Thu Jul 07, 2011 10:58 pm

Defiantly better thab the other e36 m3 wheels imho too!

Post Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:03 pm

I like them. Had a set on my old 328i Coupe.

Post Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:04 pm

Just twigged..

It's clean Harry!

Post Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:07 pm

it was on standard staggered saloon contours before, at first i hated them, but grew to not mind them, but these have always been my favourites.

still deciding what to do with the contours, i'd really like to give them a full refurb and hide them away somewhere as although i tend to change all my wheels i like to keep the option to go back to standard.

but then the car has done too many miles to ever be desirable or worth anything so i'm starting to wonder if i should worry about being able to put it back to how it should be?

Post Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:12 pm

i like the contours but it would hardly be a deal breaker if they were missing and you sold it as is? the sunflowers look nice also.

If i put a M - kit on my e36 touring it would sport contour rims as they are the factory effort.

Post Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:14 pm

I love the factory contours..! They are my favourite wheel tbh. Closely followed by the staggered sunflowers.

Post Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:17 pm

ok, i tell you what, i'll do you a straight swap. my contours for your RSs. i'll even include the spare.

Post Thu Jul 07, 2011 11:28 pm

Post Fri Jul 08, 2011 12:27 pm

I know this sounds weird and its has been proven, however narrower wheels and tyres give better grip in the wet, something about cutting through the water, less resistance and chance of aquaplaning, totall opposite to the dry.

Post Fri Jul 08, 2011 11:47 pm

/\ yeah as when its dry there isn't any water for the tyre push out the way!

anyhow above the wheel change imo was the bootlid. They're nasty with spoilers and sooooo much better without

Post Fri Jul 08, 2011 11:57 pm

i have just bought an E36 M3 with sunflowers I think they look great

Post Sat Jul 09, 2011 11:03 am

harry_p wrote:ok, i tell you what, i'll do you a straight swap. my contours for your RSs. i'll even include the spare.

LOL!

Post Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:17 am

Last week a low flying rabbit made fairly firm contact with my bumper. Killed the fog and it's bracket and broke part of the front undertray, which now has a worn corner where it dragged allong the road until I got to work. Splitter survived

Although you can see scratches in the paint where it got pushed well up the front lip of the bumper!

Removed the other fog for symetry, think it looks better without them tbh, could do with a duct of some sort though instead of an empty hole.

Next, front control arm rear bushes.

I've had them a few weeks and have been putting the job off as I'd heard it could be a bit of a ball ache. A break in the weather and the prospect of an extra day to fix it spurred me into action.

I knew they were cracked from when I fitted the x-brace.

Removed the brackets and with a bit of leverage the rubber insert peeled put of the metal outer collar!

A hammer and chisel soon crimped in one end of the collar and knocked it through the bracket. Hacksawed through the top of the rubber bush to expose the metal inner collar. Ground a groove in it with an angle grinder, a wack with hammer and chisel and it was clear of the arm.

End of arm and inside of the bracket roughed up with course sand paper, outer pushed into bracket, inner knocks onto arm with a 22mm socket and few light taps with a hammer.

Lube the inside of the purple bush with supplied copper grease, slide the outer over the inner, and wiggle the bracket back into place and bolt it up.

Total time start to finish, 1hour!

Post Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:24 am

hopefully these will last a while

Post Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:31 am

Major dollar them discs..

I just did similar on my Touring..

Post Thu Sep 01, 2011 12:14 pm

still deciding on pads, and waiting on a set of braided hoses to turn up, then i'll finally be putting that calliper on i bought off you months ago

undecided on colour for them too, not sure what the factory finish was, quite often theyre a silvery gold, but will probably just do them either silver or black just to make them look a bit cleaner next to the bling new disks

Post Thu Sep 01, 2011 10:03 pm

are any of these E36 M3s cheap to run and cheap to maintain being a M roadcar and all? talking of which are there any cheap BMW M cars which are cheap to run and cheap to maintain?

Post Thu Sep 01, 2011 10:22 pm

E36 M3 3.0 is about the cheapest i would say. Finding a nice one is the challenge though!

Post Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:02 pm

i don't think there's a lot between the 3.0 and evo, other than the front disks (and floating ones are supposed to be a worth while upgrade on the 3.0 cars anyway ) plus evos seem to be slightly more economical when driven normally.

i guess it's when things go wrong that evo bits are more expensive, i.e 3.0 gearbox is shared with 328i, evo 6 speed is evo specific.

i did over 20k miles in the first year i owned the car and other than a couple of oil and filter changes i think i only needed front pads and a couple of bulbs, none of the things i'm doing are urgent, and would more than likely need doing on any car of this age / mileage.

Post Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:54 pm

the E36 M3 Evolution engine is meant to be based on the same technology as the V12 engine in the McLaren F1 roadcar. Which is one incredible engine itself designed by Paul Rosche.

Yeah i got an original BMW E36 M3 Evolution brochure at home with an Estoril Blue Coupe on the front.

The only big thing about the E36 M3 Evolutions seems to be the VANOS unit...which i think you can get Warranty now with Warranty Direct/rebuilt by Mr VANOS. Though the E36 was unloved by the motoring press when launched the engine meant to be a real gem. From the official figures i dont think it is much slower than the legend that is a E46 M3?

Post Fri Sep 02, 2011 12:08 am

there are plenty of side by side vids on youtube.

e46 is fractionally quicker from a standing start, but up and rolling there's absolutely nothing between them, some say an e36 actually starts to pull away once youre up to silly speeds ( 140 mph plus)

i don't think the e36 got bad press as such, a lot of the old articles i've read seem to be full of praise, it's just never had the 'wow' factor that the e30 before, and e46 after had, so it kind of gets forgotten about.

Post Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:10 pm

Having a Cnut of a job doing a rear wheel bearing. Driveshaft just will not come out of the hub flange, haven't even started on the bearing yet

Now have the rear arm, with the whole driveshaft sat in the vice soaking in plusgas overnight. Think im going to have to find a bigger hammer.

Everything else came apart surprisingly easily!

Post Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:20 pm

Hammer it too much and it just expands inside the drive flange..

Gas axe is the tool of the trade

Post Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:50 pm

I did try a bit of heat but was probably a bit too gentle.

Will give it another bash tomorrow.

Post Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:31 pm

Lots of heat, lots of hitting with a hammer, one broken lump hammer handle, and two hard smacks to the left thumb and eventually it came out.

Smashed the hub out of the bearing, and found my circlip pliers are too small for the clip so called it a day.

Note the entire hand brake cable is still attached, nicely stuck in the hub

The temptation to cut it off was strong!

Post Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:35 pm

pony wrote:are any of these E36 M3s cheap to run and cheap to maintain being a M roadcar and all? talking of which are there any cheap BMW M cars which are cheap to run and cheap to maintain?

An M roadcar and cheap to run/maintain, the two words just don't go hand in hand. Unless that is you're good at the DIY as running an M on the cheap will either quickly ruin the car or end up bankrupting the owner.
Even though you can pick them up ridiculously cheaply now they need the correct parts, correct servicing, and on the whole you need to use OEM parts otherwise you're in for a rough ownership experience.

If you think you'll struggle to run one properly then go for a 328 sport, a good real world alternative.

Post Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:52 pm

AndyG wrote:
pony wrote:are any of these E36 M3s cheap to run and cheap to maintain being a M roadcar and all? talking of which are there any cheap BMW M cars which are cheap to run and cheap to maintain?
An M roadcar and cheap to run/maintain, the two words just don't go hand in hand. Unless that is you're good at the DIY as running an M on the cheap will either quickly ruin the car or end up bankrupting the owner.
Even though you can pick them up ridiculously cheaply now they need the correct parts, correct servicing, and on the whole you need to use OEM parts otherwise you're in for a rough ownership experience.

If you think you'll struggle to run one properly then go for a 328 sport, a good real world alternative.

whats your opinion on buying a decent M (not concours or anything) running it for 6 months including a service if it needs one then selling it in 6 months time?

I dont mean anything really really new expensive just some of the older classic Ms (e.g. E36/E34/E39). I have only ever owned two BMWs myself and though i have driven the E46 M3 Coupe as my old man used to have one..........alot of people on here seem to have owned/driven so many different BMWs and i just feel like i have missed out......

Post Mon Sep 05, 2011 7:22 pm

Problem is the market is flooded with e36 M3's , so come resale time it may be a next to impossible task. Also 6 months time from now people will still be paying off money spent over xmas.

I personally think it would be better if you looked at it as a longer period , because in say a year to 18 months the ressesion could be over and people will have the cash to look for a nice example. It's all about getting the right spec and colour , once these get classed as a must have future classic then prices could rapidly increase like they did with the e30. Thing is will the e36 ever get that lable?

Post Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:14 pm

you could go down that route but as Felix says you may have trouble selling on, best to look at a longer term ownership if you can. As for missing out, on what is the question as some go through cars like they're going out of fashion where as many keep their cars for donkey's.

But if you do buy one, go with your eyes wide open, do your research to see what the issues are, pick the type you'd ideally want and go hunting. But you could end up with a cheaper car that needs work, and its not a cheap exercise to rectify a poor M car.

I think certain e36's may increase in value but not for a while now though. The M will lead the way.

Post Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:42 pm

Do the comments above apply to the E39 M5s......and E34 M5s too?

[quote]
what is the question as some go through cars like they're going out of fashion where as many keep their cars for donkey's
[quote]

the question is loads of people on here seem to have loads of experience driving all manner of BMWs whether the M3s, M5s, M635CSis, M6s, 330Cis, E21, E30s........i dont have any of that.......unless alot are car mechanics or something........also from a few of the posts on Pistonheads if i ever go on there........the amount of cars people have owned in the past........they had more cars than hot dinners.......it would be a crime not to be able to sample in your life time a range of the great cars BMW M ever produced?