B3 3.2 Touring its suddenly getting old

[Simon13]

who the fook are they?

[Jhonno]

Broker based in Somerset iirc. Do classic and modified cars. Flux wanted £850 for renewal, and couldn't better £600..

[tomson]

Looks a cracking car Si, well saved

[Simon13]

i've just insured this, i actually got a £15 refund from swapping it over from the e30 325i

i've also managed to get it insured for the year for £599 in the end. I thought this was pretty good £50 more than my old 328i touring.

So a tax disc and off we go! I'll be honest its been driving me up the wall with it sitting there ready to go as such.

[Dezzy]

Im Jealous! That's an epic daily!

[Simon13]

Cheered me up no end, its been a sh!t year so far with the donk going bang and i know theres more to life to worry about but you know. I'm working in London at the mo and driving the manual e30 everyday with this auto sat on the drive is a bit silly!

[Jhonno]

Big auto FTW

[Dezzy]

It'll be perfect forth at job.

I really do fancy a dirty6 touring. Especially after all the pics on here reasently.

It'll turn out in the end mate. It'll be worth it I reckon.

[B7]

Enjoy it Si. A proper chariot this one.

I was followinw an Alpina D3 touring the other day into Cardiff city centre. Didn't seem to have much pressence if I'm honest.

Got your text mate. To be honest, at the mo's probably not the right time so advertise it and if my circumstances change i'll be on the blower! thanks for thinking though.

[Simon13]

I gave it some cleaning treatment and couldn't help but take some more pictures before it hits the road. I'm sure powelly will get this seriously shiney.

I've cleaned and fed the leatherz, and back to blacked it and waxed it! I know you shouldn't but the paint felt smooth so it must be pretty clean.

So heres the best ones i think, Trevor if this doesn't have road presence then i don't know what does!!






Its bullet straight down both sides, i can't see many dents in it anywhere tbh

















Its all come up pretty good, the gliptone leather cleaner got a good few grubby marks out here and there. But the drivers seat didn't respond aswell theres some in grained dirt in the creases which i guess i'll never get out without some more severe action. Its plenty good enough for me. The pictures make it look a bit better than it really is.










I can see it now molesting diesel rep audi scrap out of the outside lane on the M3!





And the wagons in harmony but..............




The E30's brakes are clearly bigger so this will have to be sorted out!!

[sunnyr83]

Like e30 tourings im not really a fan, same with the e36....

But these 2 are epic.

[Kedge]

2 awesome chariots! Just hope you can get thing sorted to keep the E30!

[Dezzy]

E36 touring looks (dare I say it) better than the E30

[Simon13]

The E30 really needs its front alpina spoiler to make it fair.

[Blitz]

Now thats nice.

[B7]

So nice. looks the shizzle.

The D3 looked bland in comparison. I had to look at it twice before I realised it was a 'pina.

Whereas the B3 looks like it has big fat hairy boll0cks and ain't afraid to use them.

[DanThe]

Id like to see this at Santa Pod this year

[VeinAST]

Lovely

[deanocool]

wow the 36 tourer - thats ace. performance bmw this month has two of the staff members tourers in. The white e30s nice but the red e36 tourer looks mean as if you get chance to have a look. Seriously thinking of getting one for my next whip

[Simon13]

Its taxed and all legit now so i went out for a spin earlier just to see really, i ended up doing 50 miles! I went on a little jolly on the motorway first, its about 2400 rpm@70mph. Its very relaxed but theres a fair bit of tyre noise but they are pretty big wheels! so 90 is not even 3500RPM. Noice

Suspension is very firm but never crashy and its quite a darty thing, sniffs out the bends pretty well. I left it in auto mainly on the m-way and it does the relaxed role very well. So then i peeled off the m-way and headed for the local b-roads near me to see how it takes the corners. Switch-tronic mode on and a bit of a charge! Well the fag tronic is great i can't say you feel cheated out of a manual with that sort of control over the gearbox you have. TBH i couldn't reach the cars limits out on the road tonight in the dark. But its very neutral in its manners. The traction light didn't come on much either and its dry here. It didn't feel like it really needed an LSD tbh. I'm sure in the wet it would be a much different story. It didn't want to understeer at all really even when i over cooked it a bit on one bend. I'm really impressed by its breath of talents. Its great to hustle along back roads and felt very flat. It didn't feel like a fat wobbly turd like my old 328 did but this is the first decent e36 i've had to be fair. I reckon it would be quite handy round the ring if i can get back out there this year

I got the oil upto 102 degrees on the guage! diff temp went to 80 at one point but!......... the oil pressure guage got stuck on 6.5 bar?! its never done this before. Maybe the actual switch thing has died. I tried fixing it by turning the engine of and on again but nope

My biggest gripe as i suspected is the brakes are simply not up to the job. How sytners sold these new without the upgraded fronts like all the left hookers seem to have is beyond me. Its stops fine like a 328 would but theres 70 plus horse power more here to play with. It doesn't help the front discs and pads are toast and in need of replacement. Now is the ideal time to upgrade i guess.

There doesn't appear to be any coolant leaks or oil p!ssing out anywhere so the tools are in the boot and its off to work tomorrow into the big smoke. I didn't want to come home but the wife thing phoned in the end wondering where i was!

[bss325i]

Happy days!

An E46 300mm front brake upgrade would be ideal and easy to source.

[ricey46]

'the wife thing' lol.

Si you f'ing hero! Yet another saved and added to the fleet, good work on the rebuild, at least it wasn't too bad a fix.

Looks to be a rather nice we equipped chariot, cleaned up pretty well too. Enjoy the cruse to Laaaandan!

[Jhonno]

Nice work Si..

E36 Tourings are epic ain't they! I think they are the best looking model out of the e36 range also. Gave my sorry turd a bath this evening.

[Dezzy]

I'm happy to hear some good news mate.

Its all the better as you've saved it from god knows what. Good job, well done

[Kos]

Happy days!

An E46 300mm front brake upgrade would be ideal and easy to source.

IIRC they are 325mm, well the 330d and 330i ones are. The e46 328i brakes are 300mm, hardly worth the effort

330d/I 325mm discs calipers carriers with an e36 m3 servo will ba a great & worthwhile upgrade

[bss325i]

Happy days!

An E46 300mm front brake upgrade would be ideal and easy to source.

IIRC they are 325mm, well the 330d and 330i ones are. The e46 328i brakes are 300mm, hardly worth the effort

330d/I 325mm discs calipers carriers with an e36 m3 servo will a great worthwhile upgrade

Yes you are right, got muddled up with the 328i/325i 300mm discs.

[bss325i]

You can even get the 325mm 330i/D discs in drilled form from BMW.

[Kos]

You can even get the 325mm 330i/D discs in drilled form from BMW.

Indeed you can, floating as well

I was looking into this for the compact at one stage but upgraded the 328i parts and it held up well even on track, however this car is heavier and about 40hp more

E46 330d/i stuff is the better option

[bss325i]

For sure!

[Kos]

For sure!

Well fuck me, that's twice we agree in the space of a fortnight lol

[bss325i]

[oomz1975]

Nice cars, e36 scrubs up really well.

[Simon13]

Well i fixed the the oil pressure guage, the plug was not quite on enough. I like those fixes. All appears to be ok. Showing 26mpg on the obc after todays trip into london and back. Not too bad considering

[fowler]

Simon sell it to me !!!!!! i have a lovely E46 coupe with your name all over it and it gives you better MPG than that

[Simon13]

its perfectly ok the m-way i reckon it will do low 30's. Its just 3.2's and autos are never going to be good in traffic around town!

Ben buy your own! theres a boston green B3 3.2 saloon forsale at the moment with 110,000 LESS miles on it than this i think it has a black interior and no front spoiler looks nice for a 4dr. Really stealth