My E36 Experience

[bmw7833]

sorry guys,
I am blur what do you guys mean by :

UDM=?
AB=?

thanks

UDM = Ultimate Driving Machine

AB = Auto Bavaria

 

[anxious]

My E36 behaved very well in 2010 that I decided to reward her with new fabric seats.

I got the upholstry work done at a shop along Lorong Seremban off Jalan Perak.( near Speedworks Pg) These guys used to be near the Free school roundabout a few years ago. It costed me RM900 and was done in 2 days. You guys can ask Chu Seng for his contact, I dont have the number. Very neat work.

 

[h1sham9]

Very neat work, congrats!

 

[JFT63]

Neat, really neat bro...

 

[masCh]

Neato. Just the cushion? or back panels of the driver seat as well? What about the door cards?
Anyway, congrats, beautiful interior!

 

[anxious]

Neato. Just the cushion? or back panels of the driver seat as well? What about the door cards?
Anyway, congrats, beautiful interior!

Thks. Just the parts covered by cloth ie seats, part of door panel and the rear board. Back panel of driver's seat and everything else still original.

Thinking of changing my rear speakers to DLS speakers. Need 5 inch speakers.

Any suggestions on the head. A friend suggested Kenwood.

 

[John_Smith]

Alpine CDA 9886?

 

[initialM]

DLS is good but beware of imitation

 

[anxious]

Some good advise from Loafer:-

Do you have a full service history from the previous owner? It would help to know what needs to be done and what can wait.

A full overhaul should cost somewhere in the region of RM5k, less if you don't want to replace all the stuff. IMO while you're at it might as well refresh everything and change it new.

If you don't want to do an overhaul then consider changing most of the wear and tear not related to the engine.

Usually the recommended things to do would be:-

1. Flushing and changing your brake fluids.
2. Flush your radiator. You can send it for a service if you want.
3. Change all your radiator hoses. Basically anything to do with the engine cooling system, just change it. That includes the water pump and termostat.
4. Flush your power steering fluid. Change the power steering fluid reservoir as well.
5. Check your steering rack to see if there's any leaks, if there is do a service on it. There's service kits available for e36 steering rack from BA.
6. Replace engine mounting and gearbox mounting.
7. Replace drive shaft rubber guibo.
8. Replace drive shaft center bearing.
9. Replace wheel bearings, front and rear.
10. Check the condition of all the bushes under the car. This includes the front lower arm bush, rear sub-frame bush, rear diff bush (not sure if this can be changed, but I think can).
11. Check the conditions of the ball joints in the front lower arm, inner and outer. Replace if necessary. This is highly recommended.
12. Check the front and rear absorber top mounts. On the E36 these are very prone to having a short life-span if you are rocking harder suspension setup.
13. Replace the petrol hoses under the rear passenger seat. This will crack over time and cause a very strong petrol fume smell in the passenger cabin.
12. Service air-cond compressor. This can be done at Naidu. To find out where he is do a forum search.
13. Check for leaks in your car's air-conditioning system and replace as per necessary.
14. Change the rear diff oil.
15. Change the manual gearbox oil.

There's a whole lot more things you can do to refresh the car to make it work like new. It's all up to what you're looking for at the end of the day and how deep your wallet is.

Remember that it's never cheap driving an old car due to all the wear and tear stuff and this is not to be confused with how people always say BMW maintenance is high.

see http://www.bmwclubmalaysia.com/foru...Major-Service-325i-M50B25&p=570821#post570821

 

[anxious]

Anor good piece of advise

It seems there are quite a number of newbies who recently purchased this model.

Having been a newbie owner myself previously, and having learnt many things the hard way, I thought I'd start this thread for the experienced sifus out there to share the benefit of their experience w the rest of us...

The 328 is a powerful car. For many of us, it is quite a large step up from our previous cars. There are many issues specific to this model which i wish someone else had told me earlier...

So, let me get the ball rolling...

1. First impression

Lots of torque! Unbelievable!

2. Next impression

Hmm.... how do i make it PERFECT?

3. The mod starts

Rims! Tires! Join the Car Wax shop as lifetime member!

4. Performance

Suspension, shocks, air filter....

5. Housekeeping

Aircond sucks! Overhaul the whole system... dashboard down job...

6. Fuel consumption

Ohmygod.... its got such an appetite for petrol....

That's just some thoughts I have, looking back on two years of owning it.


Unofficial instruction manual for beginners...

1. Mandatory refurbishment

All the bushes, ball joints, wheel bearing, BRAKE PADS etc. generally has got to go.. have it checked, and replace them if in any doubt at all. Trust me, this will actually save you money in the long run

2. Tires

If you got this car, no matter what u think or say, YOU ARE GOING TO PUSH IT... so get the best tire you can afford... or rather, YOU CAN'T AFFORD NOT TO GET GOOD TIRES.... ask around, plenty of advice out there... regular choices Continental Sport Contact (CSC) II, Michelin PS2, etc.. I'm a tire moron, so my basis is very simple... it's got to be EXPENSIVE, and EUROPEAN... and don't forget, get the right size... some people like to run on smaller size in front, bigger size at the back... check ur owner's manual...

3. Suspension

The standard suspension is too soft and therefore DANGEROUS.... took the new e90 for a spin yesterday, almost toppled it going round a highway exit ramp... salesman asked "Can u check if the EBD lights came on?"...dude! I'm busy keeping four wheels on the road and keeping us alive... will check those lights for you when my balls are no longer blocking my eye sockets, ok? And that was only on a two litre engine... you get the picture... do yourself a BIG favour, and change the suspension... eibach, H&R springs, bilstein, Koni shocks, they are all a massive improvement over the standard set up

4. ARB

Best money you will ever spend on your car, goes together with item 3 above. Why? They will improve your car's handling so that you can concentrate on managing your understeer/oversteer round bends instead of wondering whether you can corner safely on two tires...

5. Chassis stiffening

Foaming... worked for me... enuf said... other choices, x-brace, struts brace... in the works.... your car can never be too tight... mmmm... slurp.... damn...! tight things are God's most magnificent creations... tight short pants, tight thong, tight t-shirt, and most of all a tight, tight chassis and suspension....

6. Voltage stabilizer and earthing

I'm a total anti-gimmick guys, and a total sceptic.... but this stuff works! Our 328's are getting on in age, esp it's electrical and electronics.... this will clean up the current and give you better performance on all things running on battery power, including better ignition, radio/cd player (saved me a lot of money on ICE! standard system sounds much better now!), and best of all, better low-end TORQUE! slurp slurp! Am running two in parallel... This gets my vote as the ALL TIME BEST MOD in the Sub 1K Category

7. Engine and fuel injection cleaning

Imagine an oven used for baking day in and day out without ever being cleaned.... how efficient would the oven be all clogged up by carbon? Get some reliable products and clean both your engine and your fuel injectors regularly... you'll be amazed at the rejuvenated youth in your engine... Winner, Best Mod, sub RM100 category

that's all i can think of for now...

i hand the ball over to my fellow 328 owners to share whatever they like...

see http://www.bmwclubmalaysia.com/forums/showthread.php?1222-e36-328-ownership-experience&highlight=buying%20e36

 

[anxious]

My 2010 Maintenance Cost

　
Jan- Water Pump OE, Bearing, Pulley, Tensioner, Air Con & Drive Belts and Labour- RM940
Alignment & Balancing- RM60

Mar- Replaced Front Brake Pads & Discs(icld Labour) RM504

July- Oil Service & Coolant (icld Labour) RM391
Alignment & Balancing- RM60

Aug- Power Steering Repair Kit & Labour RM688

Dec - Inspection 2 RM1382
Alignment & Balancing (icld On & Off Wheel)- RM94

Total RM4025

Spent anorther RM900 in Dec on redoing the seats

Total Spent just under RM5k in 2010.

Distance travelled 139500km (end Dec 10) - 124500km (end Dec 09) = 15000km

 

[anxious]

Well I replaced my speakers today at Newton Auto at Katz Street which was confirmed to me by the DLS distributor in Malaysia as it dealer.

Got myself DLS 226 6.5" speakers for RM450.

The 6.5' speakers could fit if you throw away the original box. see below

see http://www.dls.se/en/car/prod.html?produkt=en_84

My original Nokia 4 inch speakers:-

I only realised now that actually you can get the DLS speakers even cheaper but the hassle and cost of importing it may not be worth the while.

see http://www.dealercostcaraudio.com/performance226.aspx

 

[anxious]

I also replaced the carper mat for RM350.

 

[initialM]

Wah damn cheap the DLS. Is it 2 way or component? Nothing like nice BMW interior with good sound system

 

[anxious]

Wah damn cheap the DLS. Is it 2 way or component? Nothing like nice BMW interior with good sound system

I think so. The link to DLS says

"Performance series 226 is a 16,5 cm (6,5") 2- way coaxial speaker with a 16 mm tweeter. Crossover has a 6/12 dB slope. Grilles are included."


see http://www.dls.se/en/car/prod.html?produkt=en_84


I wont be suprised if it is now made in China or under license somewhere. My friend got 6.5" DLS speakers a few years back for about RM800 or so.

Anyway the speakers serve my purpose which is mainly for radio anyway.

 

[anxious]

This is how the seats looked like when I got the car.

see http://www.bmwe36blog.com/2007/11/27/cute-bmw-e36-can-you-make-it-look-better/#comments




This is how it looks like now albeit from a camera phone

 

[z///]

is the carpet custom cut? or universal fit? I bought my mats from UK that right fit into the vehicle. Nice interior.

 

[anxious]

is the carpet custom cut? or universal fit? I bought my mats from UK that right fit into the vehicle. Nice interior.

Custom cut from the same shop that sold me the DLS speakers.

 

[Ade]

I got the same mats too for RM100 or RM150 at SmartTint Auto Accessories. Still holding up after 1 year...

 

[alangbuana]

Ade, that was cheaper than Anxious' cost. I'm planning to get a set for mine today...it's her 2nd Anniversary with me, cheap cheap gift cukup meh . Saving for Refurb GBox next..heheh