New member something " a little" different
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Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.
So far my first impressions of the E36 are....
1. Might be the worst handling car I have owned, Its a big sloppy boat. I was told the shocks are new-ish, but who knows if thats accurate. There not leaking but damn does this thing just lean into everything. I have odd tire wear on my inside front drivers tire, Tie rod ends? Who knows. To be honest I am most likely going to throw some racelands on it and call it a day. Its just going to be a DD so racelands should suffice. Along with the racelands, new tie rod ends and ball joints will be installed also. You guys experience wheel hop? This car has it bad, going to replace the RTAB's and shocks and see if it helps this problem while sliding.
2. The E36 is remarkably faster then my E30 was. Going from my last Miata with about 98whp to this makes it seem like a supercar. I'm very suprised to say the least. I'm so suprised at how it pulls that when I have the time I am going to pull the ECU and see if its chipped. Car sounds killer at 6k with the rigged up exhuast it has.
3. I have to get rid of this cars ricer blacked out theme, I just hate it.
4. Car has a few odd quirks that need attention.
- Gauges have shut off randomly on me now on two occasions, they come back on right away its very odd. Bad ground?
- Car sounds supercharged at times, coming from the alternator/belt. Needs replacing.
- The interior needs a complete overhaul, the door panels are riveted on,headliner has staples in it, there is glue on the doors, power windows don't work....WTF this car is haggard inside.
- Lastly the big concern of mine, the car smells like coolant to me at times. I'm worried its the headgasket. Car never overheats, or actually looses any coolant from the overflow. But at times I can smell a faint sweet smell. I hope its nothing major. I can't see any leaks, or see any lost coolant from the overflow.
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I want that crx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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First thing be done is take those M badges off!!! Lol
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Agree'd the badges must go. Hope they don't take any paint with them when I pry them off.
The CRX and my red miata have been my two favorite cars hands down. I was very sad to see both of them go, and looking back on things I probably never would/should have sold them.
The CRX is now rusted out, half spray painted. The guy who bought it from my removed all the nice parts I had installed and replaced them with ebay parts. He took my 1000$ Tanabe exhuast and chopped it up, and straight piped it. I saw the car for sale about a year after I sold it, and I died a little inside.
Here is a video that I made a long time ago. In the video the cars butterflys on the intake mani were not hooked up. I later replaced the intake manifold with a Skunk 2 type r replica and the car really woke up. Wish I had a video of that...
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I would get Rokkor coilovers instead of Racelands. They are a stiffer spring rate and the quality is a tad nicer.
Many of the Bimmer forums have threads devoted to the debate. However, Rokkor and Raceland are sister
companies and cost about the same. I have Rokkors on my Ti and it rides very well considering its slammed in
the rear with 40 threads left up front, but only about 2"-3" ground clearance.
Also, e36's like to shed the interior and tend to have a nice sag to the headliner and panels that just start to fall
off=P My headliner needs to be fixed but otherwise I got lucky for now with my panels being in nice and tight still.
And check the heater core for leaks. That might result in the sweet smell you're getting. Is it stronger when you
have your vents or heat on?
And welcome=)
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JustTouge said:
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.
So far my first impressions of the E36 are....
1. Might be the worst handling car I have owned, Its a big sloppy boat. I was told the shocks are new-ish, but who knows if thats accurate. There not leaking but damn does this thing just lean into everything. I have odd tire wear on my inside front drivers tire, Tie rod ends? Who knows. To be honest I am most likely going to throw some racelands on it and call it a day. Its just going to be a DD so racelands should suffice. Along with the racelands, new tie rod ends and ball joints will be installed also. You guys experience wheel hop? This car has it bad, going to replace the RTAB's and shocks and see if it helps this problem while sliding.
2. The E36 is remarkably faster then my E30 was. Going from my last Miata with about 98whp to this makes it seem like a supercar. I'm very suprised to say the least. I'm so suprised at how it pulls that when I have the time I am going to pull the ECU and see if its chipped. Car sounds killer at 6k with the rigged up exhuast it has.
3. I have to get rid of this cars ricer blacked out theme, I just hate it.
4. Car has a few odd quirks that need attention.
- Gauges have shut off randomly on me now on two occasions, they come back on right away its very odd. Bad ground?
- Car sounds supercharged at times, coming from the alternator/belt. Needs replacing.
- The interior needs a complete overhaul, the door panels are riveted on,headliner has staples in it, there is glue on the doors, power windows don't work....WTF this car is haggard inside.
- Lastly the big concern of mine, the car smells like coolant to me at times. I'm worried its the headgasket. Car never overheats, or actually looses any coolant from the overflow. But at times I can smell a faint sweet smell. I hope its nothing major. I can't see any leaks, or see any lost coolant from the overflow.
You probably need new suspension bushings. E36 bushings arent known for lasting a long time (set aside 500 bucks for FCABs, control arms, end links, diff carrier bushings, RSMs, RCABs, diff bushings, etc.)
M50>M20
You need new headlights and some Euro clear corners
Most likely bad connections on the back of the cluster, pull and check (two screws at the top and some wiggling to get it out)
Supercharger noise is the belt tensioner bearing going. 30 bucks from pelican parts
I have window motors and switches if you need em. E36 interiors arent known for interior greatness either
Hows your heat? Im guessing you just have green coolant and not BMW Blue? Obvious could be heater core, but could also be leaking pipes. Trust me, this one isnt fun.
Im the resident E36 guru. Where are you located? I'm in waukesha, just west of Milwaukee. If you're near, lemme know
Ryan is a post whore
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Chadley said:
You probably need new suspension bushings. E36 bushings arent known for lasting a long time (set aside 500 bucks for FCABs, control arms, end links, diff carrier bushings, RSMs, RCABs, diff bushings, etc.)
M50>M20
You need new headlights and some Euro clear corners
Most likely bad connections on the back of the cluster, pull and check (two screws at the top and some wiggling to get it out)
Supercharger noise is the belt tensioner bearing going. 30 bucks from pelican parts
I have window motors and switches if you need em. E36 interiors arent known for interior greatness either
Hows your heat? Im guessing you just have green coolant and not BMW Blue? Obvious could be heater core, but could also be leaking pipes. Trust me, this one isnt fun.
Im the resident E36 guru. Where are you located? I'm in waukesha, just west of Milwaukee. If you're near, lemme know
IMHO clears just look out of place on a clean black car. I'd get aftermarket ambers due to them being a darker shade of orange=) But do whatever you'd like.
If you get new headlights, I recommend DJ Auto's. They're available at ddmtuning.com for a very tiny price for what you get=P I love mine and have had
absolutely zero problems. Glass quality is good, plastic is nice and rigid, aiming the lights is quick and easy. Only problem I had was that I had to remove
the horn for my alarm because the new headlights were deeper due to the HID projector housing.
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Chadley said:
You probably need new suspension bushings. E36 bushings arent known for lasting a long time (set aside 500 bucks for FCABs, control arms, end links, diff carrier bushings, RSMs, RCABs, diff bushings, etc.)
M50>M20
You need new headlights and some Euro clear corners
Most likely bad connections on the back of the cluster, pull and check (two screws at the top and some wiggling to get it out)
Supercharger noise is the belt tensioner bearing going. 30 bucks from pelican parts
I have window motors and switches if you need em. E36 interiors arent known for interior greatness either
Hows your heat? Im guessing you just have green coolant and not BMW Blue? Obvious could be heater core, but could also be leaking pipes. Trust me, this one isnt fun.
Im the resident E36 guru. Where are you located? I'm in waukesha, just west of Milwaukee. If you're near, lemme know
Awesome information, thanks. I figured that the wheel hop, and overall suspension sloppyness might be due to bad bushings throughout the whole car.
I like the idea of headlights with clear corners. I have looked into the DJ auto lights on DDM, I will order a set eventually. Tailights also need to go, not 100% sure what I am going to replace them with yet. Altezza's yo! ( I keeeed I keeed).
How much you want for the window motors/switches?
Heat works great, I'm worried the blower motor is going though. Heat only works on low and high, I believe there is some sort of relay I can replace near my gas pedal to fix this, but if I read correctly online, it will most likely break again becuase my blower motor is going. I can't think of whats that called right now...
Coolant is Green.... Should I flush that out?
I'm in Oshkosh WI, but I am in Milwaukee visiting friends from time to time.
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Tony. Go die.
+1 to the DDM DJ auto lights. I rock those too and love em (although if I remember correctly DDM is trying to stop selling bmw stuffs, so you might wanna get em while they last. Also, DDM has the worst customer service in the world)
Clear corners vs amber is a personal taste thing, I'm gonna get clears because of my frenched fogs, and I'm bored of the blacked out look.
Make sure that your cooling system is in good shape. As in, if you dont know when its been replaced, make that in the top 3 of to do. One overheat kills M5x engines. ECStuning.com has an overhaul kit for 220 bucks which has everything except the radiator and an extra gallon of coolant. I got my kit from them and so far, so good!
What color is the bottom of your switch? I have green bottom switches, so you'd need those in order for the switches to work (BMW used like 4 different window switches in E36s). I'll get it all together and quote you a price
I see you're OBD1, so you dont have a FSU (unless swapped the digital climate control panel into your car). I'd check out the heater control valves as well, those are under the intake mani, kind of a PITA to get but not too expensive/hard.
If you wanted to go back to blue, I'd wait till you have the new cooling system parts. I did that, and have been running blue ever since. The whole debate is green coolant conducts electricity and causes hydroelectric charges to go through the cooling ports in the engine, which wears on aluminum parts. Some people say only BMW blue (G-05 formula I think) will work, others think its a ploy for more money, and some dont care. Its your call. Personally, I'd go with BMW blue though
Let me know if you're ever around. Im always up for a photoshoot or wrench day
Ryan is a post whore
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Again, thanks for the awesome info.
I'll look into ordering headlights soon, but I think the cooling system is a bit more important.
Not sure on what color switch I have, I can look later, its pouring out right now.
The car developed a issue over the past few days, but today it seems worse. The car clunks up front while hitting certain bumps it seems. At first I thought it was ball joints or bushings, it wasn't that big of an issue. The clunk was quiet. Today though it seems worse, clunks alot while turning right, but much less clunking while turning left if any. Its a pretty loud clunk now, I'm concerned. It seems to be coming from the middle of the car to me, could my guibo bolts have came loose? I wish I had a nice warm lighted stocked with tools garage to use.
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JustTouge said:
Again, thanks for the awesome info.
I'll look into ordering headlights soon, but I think the cooling system is a bit more important.
Not sure on what color switch I have, I can look later, its pouring out right now.
The car developed a issue over the past few days, but today it seems worse. The car clunks up front while hitting certain bumps it seems. At first I thought it was ball joints or bushings, it wasn't that big of an issue. The clunk was quiet. Today though it seems worse, clunks alot while turning right, but much less clunking while turning left if any. Its a pretty loud clunk now, I'm concerned. It seems to be coming from the middle of the car to me, could my guibo bolts have came loose? I wish I had a nice warm lighted stocked with tools garage to use.
Jack car up and feel the suspension parts (you know, check for play and such). It sounds like the nut on the top of your strut has come loose, allowing the whole strut to move up and down inside the mounting plate on the top of the housing. Pop the covers off and see. This has happened to me numerous times and drives me bonkers
Ryan is a post whore
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Are you talking about the 3 bolts on the top, in the engine bay? Mine seem nice and tight...
Spent 4 hours washing, waxing, and cleaning it. Helped alot, but some areas still look like they were buffed with a steel wool pad. Here are some pictures.....
11 by Touge Photo, on Flickr
10 by Touge Photo, on Flickr
9 by Touge Photo, on Flickr
Also ordered a set of Rokkors today, Hoping to diagnose the odd clunk while I install them later this week. Also might have a line on some 7 series wheels too.
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No they are not style 5's, I wish. They look kinda similar, they are a 16x8 BBS wheel. A guy offered to trade them in my ad listing my Kosei's for sale. Seen here... http://hondamarketplace.com/showthread.php?t=2996367 He posted some pictures in there...
318t'ILL lets see some pictures of your car!
Any plans for it right now?
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