e36 328 ownership experience

[ICEMAN 68]

lee36...welcome back sir ...still running ya e36 ?? or already upgrade ??

 

[Lee36328]

lee36...welcome back sir ...still running ya e36 ?? or already upgrade ??

Thanks bro.

Yup, still running and serving me well, the ol faithful. Won't be upgrading; it's a keeper... got another obsession lately, golf.

 

[ICEMAN 68]

Thanks bro.

Yup, still running and serving me well, the ol faithful. Won't be upgrading; it's a keeper... got another obsession lately, golf.

golf ...aisehhh i tough you're into detailing ...me got the bug lately ...

golf ..ummm time to find my iron ...

join us for TT larrr ...long time no see ...

 

[frogstonez]

Oh, this is an interesting question.

I think it was RM198k, give or take. I even got an official price qiuotation from the salesman in the PJ showroom, circa 1996-97, before I was posted overseas.

It is certainly costly to maintain. However, if duly serviced and the wear and tear parts changed on a timely basis, it will keep going strongly. My mileage is fast approaching 400k km now. I recently took it at a decent clip to JB, and I marveled at its stability at that speed for a car this age. The Eagle F1 tires and Bilstein B6 (or is it B8?) suspension helped too.

This model is now available at a fraction of its original sales price. Figure a generous budget of say RM20-30k to do it up, and you've got a keeper, and at good value too, relatively speaking.

Noted Lee...been using one since last December 2009..bought it for 42K..11 years of it's life.
Damn a good car..worth every penny...........for now..
So far no major prob..only minyak itam kuat mkn sket...not long for overhaul to come i think...can start kumpul modal from now..

 

[Lee36328]

golf ...aisehhh i tough you're into detailing ...me got the bug lately ...

golf ..ummm time to find my iron ...

join us for TT larrr ...long time no see ...

Well, if you find your iron, and you want to whack some balls, let me know.

I am usually at the Sunway driving range.

 

[Lee36328]

Noted Lee...been using one since last December 2009..bought it for 42K..11 years of it's life.
Damn a good car..worth every penny...........for now..
So far no major prob..only minyak itam kuat mkn sket...not long for overhaul to come i think...can start kumpul modal from now..

I think you are right.

The 328 engine is designed to be very efficient in scavenging and reusing the engine oil, so engine oil consumption is minimal. I am surprised by how little engine oil is consumed in between the standard oil change interval. So, if your engine is consuming engine oil, you'd be right to suspect an overhaul is probably due, because the gasket might be wearing thin. A sign to check as you know is the colour of the exhaust.

 

[frogstonez]

I think you are right.

The 328 engine is designed to be very efficient in scavenging and reusing the engine oil, so engine oil consumption is minimal. I am surprised by how little engine oil is consumed in between the standard oil change interval. So, if your engine is consuming engine oil, you'd be right to suspect an overhaul is probably due, because the gasket might be wearing thin. A sign to check as you know is the colour of the exhaust.

Lee,

Since i'm here just wondering if u have experience this..last time i have change the cooling pipe system due to leaking.also add the BMW coolant since the last owner use only water.afterward my car began to jerk & white smoke coming out when first ignition..only in the morning & the engine is cool..after few meter of drive the car became normal as usual.no white smoke..my mech said that it could be there's a air leaking because he did open it to install the pipe & advise me to get the replacement..the rubber hose near the monifold...could it be that the air is leaking?

Thanks.

 

[Lee36328]

Lee,

Since i'm here just wondering if u have experience this..last time i have change the cooling pipe system due to leaking.also add the BMW coolant since the last owner use only water.afterward my car began to jerk & white smoke coming out when first ignition..only in the morning & the engine is cool..after few meter of drive the car became normal as usual.no white smoke..my mech said that it could be there's a air leaking because he did open it to install the pipe & advise me to get the replacement..the rubber hose near the monifold...could it be that the air is leaking?

Thanks.

White smoke coming out from where? From the exhaust?

 

[frogstonez]

White smoke coming out from where? From the exhaust?

Sorry..yes sir..white smoke out from the exhaust.only when ignition...while the jerking gone after the engine is warm...pening..:stupid:

 

[Lee36328]

Sorry..yes sir..white smoke out from the exhaust.only when ignition...while the jerking gone after the engine is warm...pening..:stupid:

With white smoke in the exhaust, it is usually a sign of the coolant leaking into the engine. This may happen because the gasket, which seals the top and bottom of the engine together, is about to go, allowing the coolant from the water jacket surrounding the engine to leak into the combustion chamber. When that happens, the combustion is compromised by the water in the oil/air mix, hence possibly explaining the sputtering.

The crack in the gasket may be still quite minor, and when the engine gets hot and expands, it gets sealed again. This may explain why it only happens when it is cold, and goes away after the engine warms up.

It would also be consistent with your complaint that the engine is consuming engine oil. Engine oil may also leak if the gasket is faulty.

I would advise having your engine checked to see whether it is due for an overhaul. Meanwhile, avoid long journeys if you can.

 

[frogstonez]

With white smoke in the exhaust, it is usually a sign of the coolant leaking into the engine. This may happen because the gasket, which seals the top and bottom of the engine together, is about to go, allowing the coolant from the water jacket surrounding the engine to leak into the combustion chamber. When that happens, the combustion is compromised by the water in the oil/air mix, hence possibly explaining the sputtering.

The crack in the gasket may be still quite minor, and when the engine gets hot and expands, it gets sealed again. This may explain why it only happens when it is cold, and goes away after the engine warms up.

It would also be consistent with your complaint that the engine is consuming engine oil. Engine oil may also leak if the gasket is faulty.

I would advise having your engine checked to see whether it is due for an overhaul. Meanwhile, avoid long journeys if you can.

Noted Lee..will look into it soon as possible...come to think of it..it might be the gasket as per explained..

(The crack in the gasket may be still quite minor, and when the engine gets hot and expands, it gets sealed again. This may explain why it only happens when it is cold, and goes away after the engine warms up.)

Appreciate it sir..

 

[Lee36328]

Most welcome.

 

[dvng]

My M52b28 finally is laid to rest after 220km. It is eating oil at almost 1 liter a month and very bad white smoke in the morning and during driving. I have manage to source a 'engine kosong' and doing the transplant tomorrow. I hope the transplant will last for another 200km. I have bought all the gasket for the transplant and now hoping to feel the power of the 2.8 again. For those of you who is taking about top overhaul or full overhaul..forget it. The alu engine is not receptive towards overhauling as the m52b28 has very high tolerance limits and rebuilding the engine is impossible to achieve those limits.

 

[Lee36328]

My M52b28 finally is laid to rest after 220km. It is eating oil at almost 1 liter a month and very bad white smoke in the morning and during driving. I have manage to source a 'engine kosong' and doing the transplant tomorrow. I hope the transplant will last for another 200km. I have bought all the gasket for the transplant and now hoping to feel the power of the 2.8 again. For those of you who is taking about top overhaul or full overhaul..forget it. The alu engine is not receptive towards overhauling as the m52b28 has very high tolerance limits and rebuilding the engine is impossible to achieve those limits.

Hi dvng,

Quite a milestone, eh? Hope you enjoy your new engine as much as the previous one.

Just to share my experience which runs contrary to this, I rebuilt my engine some time back, probably documented in this thread. It was quite a deep job, not quite a full overhaul, but approaching there. Mileage at that time was somewhere around 200k km.

Since then, it has been running fine. The mileage now is approach 400k km. Oil consumption... well, in between oil service (20-30k km), the oil level hardly changes. Top speed is unaffected, 220-230 kph (depends on slope, wind, and the amount of junk in my trunk, :smokin:.)

If anything, it pulls well and my gearbox is finding it hard to keep up. The gearbox is due for it's 3rd overhaul soon.

So, it is true that the aluminum engine is not as malleable as the steel block for overhaul. However, it can be done as my case shows.

 

[dvng]

Is it worth rebuilding at all? The cost of rebuilding as I gather is much more expensive than a transplant.

 

[loafer]

A few of my friends have rebuilt their 2.8 engines and no problems at all. I believe it's done extensively in the US and Europe as well though M engines are cheap there.

 

[Lee36328]

Is it worth rebuilding at all? The cost of rebuilding as I gather is much more expensive than a transplant.

I guess that would depend. What's the cost of a transplant nowadays?

The cost of a 2nd engine goes down over time, but in the case of a rebuild, the labour cost to rebuild probably does not go down as fast.

Back when I did it, it was cheaper to rebuild than to get a 2nd engine to the condition I wanted. Actually, I'd prefer to rebuild the 2nd engine too anyways, probably open it up and see to what extent is required, say top overhaul, before putting it in.

How much did it cost to put in a 2nd engine?

 

[nuar]

Hi team, I just want to buy BMW E36 325i. 1994. Price RM25000. How do you think. Is it too expensive.

 

[Herbert]

Hi team, I just want to buy BMW E36 325i. 1994. Price RM25000. How do you think. Is it too expensive.

Nuar,

As a newbie please introduce yourself in the Newbie section.

Secondly, why are you posting your question everywhere in the forum?? If you don't know, then spend sometime to read the forum and get yourself familar with different sections of the forum first.

 

[frogstonez]

Lee,

Need your assistant if you have experience this..My fuel indicator keep rising up after a drive lately..i know sumthing is wrong since usually the fuel indicator will be 1/2 a tank after 315-320km..now it's reach 370km++ ...while driving the indicator did reduce a bit but after turn on the ignition again the indicator rinse again..did hope for a miracle that the fuel rinse by itself but sadly that's not true
..could it be wiring problem?..could it be that the current not evenly distribute?(meter turun naik)..could it be intrument cluster problem?,..

Thanks.