Intro - New E36 Owner

[xrotaryguy]

Pardon the oxymoron in my title. I just bought a '95 325iC and I am THRILLED to finally own a car that I might actually enjoy driving again! My old daily was a 2001 Mitsubishi Mirage with... who-cares handling and 0-60 times that could be measured with a calendar. It was my daily while I was finishing up a degree and saving money by living in an apartment. Now that I have a garage, I need a car that I actually WANT to work on. Hello, E36. The new daily will be a sometimes auto-x car as well.

My E36 has some issues. Hey, it's 21 years old! High on the list is that the gearbox that allows the driver seat to flop forward. The previous owner got around the issue by rigging the seat somehow. The down side to his workaround is that the seat sits too high. I feel like I'm driving the car from a bar stool! Otherwise, the top needs new canvas (a new one was provided in the sale). The top doesn't actually motor up and down right now either. And it needs shocks. Nothing I can't deal with. Looking forward to it!

Before going back to school, my daily was usually a 1st gen Rx7. I also had an Rx4 sedan and an Rx2 that I would take to the auto-x track.

I've been working on a 62 Corvair Rampside quite a bit lately. It was my dad's and he finally decided that he wasn't going to work on it anymore so now it's mine... forever. The truck needs a new motor (again) and I have a basically-stock motor lined up for it.

I also recently bought a 65 Corvair convertible for some classic car cruising and autocross fun. The engine in the 65 vert runs well and will eventually find its way into the truck. I plan on building a pretty hot engine for the vert.

I've got lots of salvage reconstruct work in my background as well.

I've owned some other oddities such as a 79 Triumph Spitfire. Never again! And a Mitsubishi Starion which I wold totally own again! In fact, the E36 reminds me of a Starion or a 2nd gen Rx7 quite a bit. Kinda heavy for a sports car but pretty nimble as a cruiser.

Anyway, I'm super excited about this car and I look forward to getting my hands dirty! I'm sure I'll have some questions along the way and I look forward to chatting with you all.

-Brian

[CblockM3]

Congrats and welcome, tons of good info in the e36 sub forums.

[Matt Cramer]

Welcome! There's a couple gears in the power seats that are easily broken. I had one make the seat stick in one place; bought a new gear from Pelican Parts and it was just an hour or so to swap it out.

[E39M5ftw]

Hey @Matt Cramer i was wondering if you could help me I wanna buy this 97 vert with 79k miles from a dealer I just wanna make sure its not rolled back what's your opinion

[paimei]

Hi, I'm a newly converted, pardon the pun, 1998 black e36 328i vert owner, like yours it has some issues but its going to be fun
fixing it. Buying a new car didn't appeal to me, the wife can have a new one, I like to tinker a bit.

[Matt Cramer]

Hey @Matt Cramer i was wondering if you could help me I wanna buy this 97 vert with 79k miles from a dealer I just wanna make sure its not rolled back what's your opinion

Some of the convertibles were kept as toys and weekend drivers, so this mileage isn't impossible. The condition of the seats also suggest this is the case; a vinyl seat is going to look a lot more beat up at 179K miles. Some botched attempts to roll back the odometer cause a red dot tell-tale to stick on between the regular odometer and trip odometer. But mostly - find a good BMW mechanic and get it checked out carefully.

[jaidfox]

Hello ,
I have BMW e36 97 320i m52 automatic transmission.. I had problem with gear ,my problem is that when the car shift between 1 and second gear I hear very strange noise from the rear and I feel like the car jump also when I put in reverse I also hear sound and its a strange sound from the back .....
Iv take it to many machinist but no one can find the problem,,
Note sometimes when the car shift between 1 and 2 it took much time .so pls anyone can help me...