e36 328 ownership experience

[rubes72]

Could explain that, so, in short, it is not advisable to use a drop in filter for our cars. Thanks bro..... Anybody wants to buy a proactically new K&N filter???

 

[Lee36328]

Hi! Has anybody tried fitting a K&N filter? I just purchased the drop in type and installed it, However was not happy with the performance. at frst was nice then after about a month, it started getting sticky, felt like turbo car, pick up slow, then sudden surge in power. I do not hink that is normal, what do you think. anyway, I have removed the filter and reverted back to the original. Anybody with experience with this?

Hi rubes,

Thanks for your question.

Am still using KnN dropin until today; no issue like what you described. What Flash said may be right. Check (and clean) the sensor. I do that from time to time, esp when the idle is rough.

 

[infinityKL]

hi Lee,

how hv you been? been missing ur post's. hehe.. hope all is good wt u n ur car..

cheers...

 

[flash]

As usual, Lee will be at his usual hangouts, sitting outside, admiring his beaut....

hi Lee,

how hv you been? been missing ur post's. hehe.. hope all is good wt u n ur car..

cheers...

 

[Lee36328]

Hi Sach.

Thanks for your post. Yeah, all is well w machine and owner. Life intervened, that's all. Will catch up w u guys later.

Be well.

 

[batista_beast]

hi guys,

i recently bought a 328i E36 and my impression when taking it for a spin on the first time is..."OMG!!!!" "SHxxxxxT!!!"..this car is damn fast..(considering that i've been driving a 1.3engine all my life)..no doubt about the FC..but if think, the car saves more petrol when driving in town rather driving onthe highway (that's what i think)..i poured rm150 of petrol and the car went up to 550km..personally,for a 2.8litre engine,its quite cheap..

the stock abs is too soft,everytime i hit a small hole,my tyres will surely hit the fender and i'm scared my tyres will wear off sooner than it should..

to all 328i users and all the sifoos out there,please share with me any tips on how to take care of my car as i am a noob on BMW..hope to hear from u guys soon!!

 

[loafer]

hi guys,

i recently bought a 328i E36 and my impression when taking it for a spin on the first time is..."OMG!!!!" "SHxxxxxT!!!"..this car is damn fast..(considering that i've been driving a 1.3engine all my life)..no doubt about the FC..but if think, the car saves more petrol when driving in town rather driving onthe highway (that's what i think)..i poured rm150 of petrol and the car went up to 550km..personally,for a 2.8litre engine,its quite cheap..

the stock abs is too soft,everytime i hit a small hole,my tyres will surely hit the fender and i'm scared my tyres will wear off sooner than it should..

to all 328i users and all the sifoos out there,please share with me any tips on how to take care of my car as i am a noob on BMW..hope to hear from u guys soon!!

First tip for you would be to take your time and slowly go through the whole E36 forum. A lot of stuff is covered in the E36 forum and it's mainly the same questions being asked over and over again because people just aren't hardworking enough to look through the whole forum (or they have no idea how to use the search function).

Anyway, congratulations on your first BMW. Hope you enjoy the ride and what a great upgrade from a 1.3 to 2.8.

 

[batista_beast]

i use to stay at tmn kosas.now staying in tmn melawati but im working in ampang..feel free to contact me.maybe we can meet for teh tarik..012-6918443

 

[rubes72]

Hi rubes,

Thanks for your question.

Am still using KnN dropin until today; no issue like what you described. What Flash said may be right. Check (and clean) the sensor. I do that from time to time, esp when the idle is rough.

Thanks for the reply Lee. I guess it's a bit of a mixed oppinion on this, however I guess, proper maintenance is crucial with everything. I spoke to a few guys who have been using the drop in filter, and so far no problems on their side, so I guess first hand experience is much better than what you read.Wouldn't you agree! Maybe that will be my weekend project, get the sensor cleaned.

 

[rubes72]

Hi Guys!! Just wondering, anybody who has changed their intake manifold on the 328 to a 325 unit?

I was searching the forum for a simmilar thread, but could not find any. From what I've learned from write-ups, this increases torque as well as fuel efficiency. If there has been such a project, would appreciate if you could share with the forum on what is involved as well as what is the experience. What I read is that the 328's intake manifold is using the unit from a 320 to restrict power, and upon comparing with the intake manifold of a 325, the 328's intake manifold is significantly smaller. It looks like a direct bolt on, but so far not sure. So any input is much appreciated.

Thanks mates!!

 

[batista_beast]

Hi Guys!! Just wondering, anybody who has changed their intake manifold on the 328 to a 325 unit?

I was searching the forum for a simmilar thread, but could not find any. From what I've learned from write-ups, this increases torque as well as fuel efficiency. If there has been such a project, would appreciate if you could share with the forum on what is involved as well as what is the experience. What I read is that the 328's intake manifold is using the unit from a 320 to restrict power, and upon comparing with the intake manifold of a 325, the 328's intake manifold is significantly smaller. It looks like a direct bolt on, but so far not sure. So any input is much appreciated.

Thanks mates!!

if what you say is true,then i'm sure lots of us would like to convert our intake manifolds..hope that ur right..will wait for others to comments and share their knowledge on this

 

[rubes72]

if what you saya is true,then i'm sure lots of us would like to convert our intake manifolds..hope that ur right..will wait for others to comments and share their knowledge on this

Not saying It's true la.. This what I read. That is why need some input. If I know for sure, long time I would have done it already. So both of us will wait in patience for somebody to deliver us

 

[Slide]

i've done the 325 conversion so has dinan328i. you gain bhp but loose torque.
i ran my auto 328 (325 mani) against a manual 328 (stock mani) and i won.
both or cars were about moded the same except for the manifold. after that race, the stock 328 manual did the manifold swap and on our 2nd drag, i could not keep up at all. big difference. there has been a lot of stuff writen on this here. but the most info you can get is on e36coupe.com. i bought mine off there, dan did his locally. can be done much cheaper here if your mech is good and knows what he's doing. only hitch is you can't use your 328 throttle body on the 325 manifold. and to get really good gains you need to do a remap, and not too many people here can do one for you. don't get a superchip as it's just a slightly modded map of a stock car that they download into your car and it's not based on YOUR car. but once you do the mani swap, you might want to look into getting the full nine yards from it, do the bigger throttle body, get rid of the stock air box, US M3 cams and do your exhaust as well. and after you do all this your auto box will blow. i'm on my 3rd rebuild. so you might want to consider a manual conversion. going this fast means you also need better brakes and suspension. do the math and you would have spent more on the mods then buying a proper m3.... and you still would not have the same power or those sexy throttle bodies.

 

[batista_beast]

lost of torque? hmmm wouldn't want to lose that.hehe i love the fast pickups n acceleration..how bout the FC? any different?

 

[rubes72]

That's good Slide!!! at least I now know someone who has done it. Well I do agree with you that the brakes has to be upgraded, well all that is in the pipeline, just a matter of time. So let me get this right, should i do a swap, I will be able to fine local guys who can do a remap on the ECU? If that is true, then maybe ...just maybe I will start a new project on swapping the manifold first. The GB, if I'm not mistaken, you'd have to get one off a M3 right, 6 speed.

Wow 3rd rebuild, that must be lightening you wallet, unless you have deep pockets..he..he...

Hey man, thanks for the input.. hopefully we'll meet one day, and I can get some first hand experience from you.

Cheers

 

[batista_beast]

meet with him and test his car kaw kaw laa..hahhaa

 

[batista_beast]

i've done the 325 conversion so has dinan328i. you gain bhp but loose torque.
i ran my auto 328 (325 mani) against a manual 328 (stock mani) and i won.
both or cars were about moded the same except for the manifold. after that race, the stock 328 manual did the manifold swap and on our 2nd drag, i could not keep up at all. big difference. there has been a lot of stuff writen on this here. but the most info you can get is on e36coupe.com. i bought mine off there, dan did his locally. can be done much cheaper here if your mech is good and knows what he's doing. only hitch is you can't use your 328 throttle body on the 325 manifold. and to get really good gains you need to do a remap, and not too many people here can do one for you. don't get a superchip as it's just a slightly modded map of a stock car that they download into your car and it's not based on YOUR car. but once you do the mani swap, you might want to look into getting the full nine yards from it, do the bigger throttle body, get rid of the stock air box, US M3 cams and do your exhaust as well. and after you do all this your auto box will blow. i'm on my 3rd rebuild. so you might want to consider a manual conversion. going this fast means you also need better brakes and suspension. do the math and you would have spent more on the mods then buying a proper m3.... and you still would not have the same power or those sexy throttle bodies.

slide,
is it possible to tune our ECU so that the FC can go down a bit..will i experience loss of torque in order to get low FC? and how much the price to do this?

 

[loafer]

The M50 manifold can be cheaply sourced from chop shops if you look around. I have a friend who purchased one at RM150 a few months ago. Mine was purchased at RM200++ (can't remember already the exact pricing) about 2 months ago.

Depending on where you do the install, some places charge upwards of RM1000 (but this is inclusive of a M50 manifold already). My usual workshop charged me around RM400++ which includes labour, piping for the connecting joints (stainless steel) and all the necessary hoses (very tough hoses which is metal threaded inside). Time it took him to install was 1 full day which could have been faster if there weren't other cars around. The old 328 throttle body can be reused, just need to machine out a gasket to fit it.

If you car is stock with just the M50 manifold, your stock 328 brakes should keep up but it's always safer to upgrade them. Some people have gone with the E46 330i brakes which is plug and play. The other option would be to source for E38 4 pot OEM Brembo brakes. These are not plug and play and requires a certain amount of modifications to your spindle in order for it to fit. If done wrongly by an inexperienced mechanic it can be fatal (to your life ). The E38 4 pot brakes can be sourced for around RM800 onwards depending on your luck and how well you know the chop shop fellas.

There's a US M3 3.2 cams for sale right now in the classified section for RM2,700. If you have jalan in US, you can probably get it for half that price if you're lucky but that's not including the shipping and tax (which you can lari if you have jalan). Generally they're priced in the RM2k range onwards.

Manual conversion can be between RM4k to RM8k depending on which gearbox you use. I'm currently using a 325 gearbox with 3.15 rear diff (non-LSD) and my conversion cost me RM5k inclusive of labour. You can opt to go with the original ZF 328 gearbox which of course will cost you a bomb because it's very rare.

There's a lot of modifications which you can do for your car. It all depends on how deep your wallet is and how far you're willing to go. This is an almost endless route and be warned, once you start walking down the path of the dark side, there's no returning!

Slide, your car so power any modded 328 manual sure lose la. Unless supercharged then different story. The 328 auto gearbox is very very smooth and changes gear extremely fast if taken care off.

Just to give you guys something to ponder about, here's a list of modifications and their price estimates:-

1. PU Bushes - RM2400+ (SuperPro)
2. X-Brace - RM700++ (cheaper if you can source from US)
3. Sports suspension + absorber - RM3000++
4. Adjustable suspension - RM7000++
5. ARB - RM2000+++

This only covers part of the handling improvements you can do for your car. There's too many to list for engine so if you really want to do it, try the US BMW forums. They're full of information.

 

[Lee36328]

Slide,

Thanks for the definitive comparison.

Loafer,

Thanks for the... err, poison. With price list summore. Walau-eh.

Good to see lots of interest in this model. It's a rewarding experience if you're willing to put up w the pain the wallet...

Would be good to see these cars in action in the upcoming track day.

 

[loafer]

Slide,

Thanks for the definitive comparison.

Loafer,

Thanks for the... err, poison. With price list summore. Walau-eh.

Good to see lots of interest in this model. It's a rewarding experience if you're willing to put up w the pain the wallet...

Would be good to see these cars in action in the upcoming track day.

Poison is good Got more but I too lazy to list everything down. Need to dig up my receipts.