E36 - cheaper than a hire car.

[Gwynleym10]

I needed a car for next weekend, have a weeding to go to in the middle of nowhere! My 318is rebuild isn't finished (i'll update that thread in a bit) so it was either spend £150-200+big deposit for a hire car, it will be over a long weekend or go out a buy something!

So had a search around, couldn't find any e30s worth buying at a cheap price and kinda fancied something different.

So here is my £420 e36 318i







It has MOT till Jan, tax till Aug CD player and usual other stuff. It is very respectable - drives straight and doesn't over heat.

Only problem is that it has the loverly m40 tick and the wind mirrors are buggered. Think I have found some wing mirrors - not sure if I can be bothered with the tick.

It has 95 000 on the clock

Its an OK price in my opinion, while not £70 it is legal. Hopefully I should get my money back, before the tax runs out!

[dobbie82]

bargain! nice car for the money ther! certainly doesnt look its age, nice e46 wheels instead of the horrid ones the 318i e36 used to come with!

[dazleeds]

march is breaking one of these

so shout him fella

[E30Mark]

Check for rust around the rear subframe mounts...

[320Touring]

clean the oil spray bar, sell the e46 wheels for a profit and relax in cheap motoring


nice buy

[Gwynleym10]

Got hold of some mirrors, £15 for a pair - in the right colour as well!

I'll have a look at the subframe mounts, but sometimes ignorance is bliss!

It badly needs a service, oil is very dark. It has no history on the cambelt so i'll do that as well as I have a m40 tool.

It does however idle perfectly...

How much are the e46 rims worth then? For some reason I didn't think they were worth much. The old owner had paid £300 for them about 2 years ago. Rubber is OK but not great.

Its is deffo smother than the e30's I have had, much more of big car feel. Though for some reason I have to keep reminding myself it isn't a toyota carina. It is also a whole lot more difficult to park and drive around london - I love the way in e30's you can see all four corners - in this its a bit different, can't see the boot at all. Perhaps this is why so many of them have huge spoilers

[march109]

Good call daz, looks like you sorted the wing mirrors tho!

need any more parts gimme a shout, there is definatly potential to turn your car into profit and still use it. Free cars are great. The tapping is likely a worn camshaft only fix is new camshaft and tappets, not an easy job. Or try some diesel grade oil to quieten it down a bit.

Sell the wheels, sort the cam and tidy it up no reason you shouldn't see a nice profit from that, wheels should see you £200 richer and the right victim could well pay £500-£750 with the cam sorted for the car.

[Rosc0PColtrane]

nice motor to smoke around in!!

Good job!!

[snoops]

[steerfromtherear]

Bargain car in a nice colour as well.

Personally I think you'd be doing well to get over a ton for the wheels though, I've owned a couple e36's and have spent a lot of time on e36coupe.com and cant recall there ever being a demand for them.

Best to leave alone as they help freshen the car up a bit, should help come resale time imo.

[Gwynleym10]

Yea I think they do freshen the car up a lot. Can't really be bothered to sell them sepratly / buy other wheels.

[Andyboy]

Those wheels might make £60 on Ebay - they're absolutely worthless. I had a well kerbed set here and weighed them in as scrap with a load of others. A guy from another forum put a set of 5 on Ebay and they made about £42 - but they're a nice wheel for an E36 and better than the standard shite.

I sold my Calypso red 316i for £700 2 weeks ago. But it had a new MOT, 6 months tax and a mint top end. Changing the cam, rockers and tappets is an absolute piece of piss on these but drilling bigger holes in the spray bar is easier still - I guarantee yours is blocked so £8 for a new one is an excellent idea.

[Gwynleym10]

Well head was somewhat gummed up - spray bar was blocked big style!

Changed the oil - then again as is was black straight away.

Can't be bothered with sorting the head out - it isn't thaaaat bad and I need to get ride of it. Did a few other tings instead such as cambelt etc etc

It for sale now 1p n/r

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=014

[Greeny]

I'm suprised it suvived the jet wash without something falling off Sorry but my experience with an E36 318is put me off them for life.

Bargin price as long as it lasts tho.

[Gwynleym10]

Yea it was never a keeper! I do feel that my e30 feels more solid!

[Jhonno]

my e36 is v well built!

under rated imo

[fozzymandeus]

The problem with the E36 is that there are still quite a few about, and a lot of them are pretty nasty.

And I like standard E36 wheels! (more than those E46 ones tbh)

Maybe I'm pretty odd wheel choice wise!

Truth be told my E36 is more car than my E30 will ever be, but my E30 will make an excellent runabout.

[josh-hocking]

depending on the tyres my dad wanted a set of these on ebay but they were selling at 190-230 pounds!!!

[josh-hocking]

oh and a bargin!! well done

[Gwynleym10]

The problem with the E36 is that there are still quite a few about, and a lot of them are pretty nasty.

And I like standard E36 wheels! (more than those E46 ones tbh)

Maybe I'm pretty odd wheel choice wise!

Truth be told my E36 is more car than my E30 will ever be, but my E30 will make an excellent runabout.

Not sure what standard e36 wheels it should have come with?!

Yes e36 are more of a "car" then an e30, but it is missing something!

One day left on the auction..

[darkchild]

The problem with the E36 is that there are still quite a few about, and a lot of them are pretty nasty.

And I like standard E36 wheels! (more than those E46 ones tbh)

Maybe I'm pretty odd wheel choice wise!

Truth be told my E36 is more car than my E30 will ever be, but my E30 will make an excellent runabout.

Not sure what standard e36 wheels it should have come with?!

Yes e36 are more of a "car" then an e30, but it is missing something!

One day left on the auction..

Judging by its age, I expect it would have come with the rather bland flat face E36 alloys. The E46 ones are a big improvement. Personally, the only E36 wheels that do it for me are the 328i Sport cross-spokes or the 16" twin spoke ones.

I agree, the E36 is a more "complete" car than an E30 but is does lack a bit of the old sideways hooligan BMW character.

[ric325i]

looks like someone will be getting there weekend away paid for too.

nice work.

lucky git

[fozzymandeus]

The problem with the E36 is that there are still quite a few about, and a lot of them are pretty nasty.

And I like standard E36 wheels! (more than those E46 ones tbh)

Maybe I'm pretty odd wheel choice wise!

Truth be told my E36 is more car than my E30 will ever be, but my E30 will make an excellent runabout.

Not sure what standard e36 wheels it should have come with?!

Yes e36 are more of a "car" then an e30, but it is missing something!

One day left on the auction..

Judging by its age, I expect it would have come with the rather bland flat face E36 alloys. The E46 ones are a big improvement. Personally, the only E36 wheels that do it for me are the 328i Sport cross-spokes or the 16" twin spoke ones.

I agree, the E36 is a more "complete" car than an E30 but is does lack a bit of the old sideways hooligan BMW character.

Yeah it's those little 15" flat bottletops I like!

I've got the 16" twin spokers on my cabbie

I'm beginning to rather like my little 316i Lux... was fun in the wet around Ruthin today...