The schwarzes loch build - supercharged e36 convertible

[cpalella]

Schwarzes loch - black hole....... this build and car has become a black hole

So I bought the car in the fall of my senior year of high school. I had been saving for it for about 5 years and it took me a good year of searching before I found the right combination of model, color, condition and !!transmission!! I was very very particular with my specifications… it had to be either silver, black or blue, 5 SPEED MANUAL (no negotiation on that one), black or grey interior (or beige if it fit right), not more than 100,000 miles, and either a 328is or 328iC in very good condition or an M3 in decent condition. Well, after about a year of looking at cars in poor condition and priced too high, I saw an ad in the NJ BMW CCA classifieds for a 1996 328iC black on beige, manual, looking to be in good shape, but just a bit too expensive. Checked back a month later and it was still listed, but for LESS!! So I immediately called and it was MINE!!! (I did go and see it/drive it before buying, and it was in very good condition)

Small issues were a little dent in the nose panel, which also broke the grill on the left side and a very small, unnoticeable dent in the hood (all from the same incident), a small piece of the rear bumper, behind the left rear wheel was cracked, some badges were faded, soft top dog ears were hanging, headliner was sagging, radio and climate control displays were faded, some light wear on drivers bolster, suspension was meh, clutch was ok… blah blah all the normal stuff was wearing out for a 15 year old e36.

Bear with me on the pictures please, I know nothing about photography and all the shots were with a point and shoot. I tried my best.

Pictures of when I bought it:






Before I go any further, I would like to make a huge shout out to my friend Ray (SirDrippington on the forums) who helped me A LOT!! with everything. Without him or his generous help, most of this work would not have been possible, or at best, it would not have been easy. And Ray, you need to post some pictures of your beautiful alpine sedan!!! It is one of the cleanest I have seen.

Since buying the car, I have been slowly addressing everything, first with the small things (radio, headliner etc.) and then onto upgrades and new replacements parts for stuff that broke, or was wearing out. So in no particular order is the list of repairs/replacements/upgrades to date that I can remember.

Ground control street kit
koni yellow sport shocks
eibach springs 450f 550r
4 ride height adjusters
Ground control camber plates
Lemforder control arms
Lemforder tie rods
Meyle FCAB brackets
Powerflex FCABs
Eibach Swaybars 28mm F, 21mm R (installed about 1000 miles before)
Lemforder M3 RTABs
Rogue Engineering RTAB bushings
Rogue Engineering RSMs
Rogue Engineering RSM reinforcement
Lemforder upper and lower outer trailing arm bushings (all 4 upgraded to ball joints)
Eibach aluminum strut brace
Shark Injector
AFe cold air intake
Samco silicone intake boot
M50 intake manifold (not pictured)
ASC delete
M3 exhaust
Bavauto spark plug coils
NGK spark plugs
Fan clutch delete
Cruise control delete
New OEM clutch and flywheel (I really wish I had gone lightweight flywheel here for better throttle response)
Aluminum water pump and thermostat housing
New continental extreme contact DWS tires
New OEM Nose Panel
New OEM grill (not pictured)
OEM Mtech side trim
New door handle trim
New windshield/windshield wiper trim
OEM leather mtech shift knob
OEM leather shift surround
Painted brake calipers black
Painted exhaust black
Carbon fiber emblems
Radio backlight fix
OBC backlight fix
Ipod integration
Bavarian soundwerks speakers
Convertible “dog ears” fix
Shadow black “328i” rear badge
Turner Motorsport racing aluminum pedals (black anodized)
Light smoked Depo corners, side markers, taillights
Superbrightleds 45 led tower type amber bulbs in corners and tails
Superbrightleds 45 led tower type white bulbs in brake light
Superbrightleds 5 led wedge amber bulbs in side markers
(and all appropriate resistors to avoid bulb out warnings)
(I also mounted all the extra fuses and relays in the fuse box, and rewrapped all the oem wiring together with the added wiring for an oem look and for a “professional” finish. I wish I had pictures of it because it was a lot of work that I think people on the forums would appreciate)
ZKW foglights with light smoke laminx and 5000k HID
Depo (Hella style) headlights retrofitted with TSX projectors (color modded)
low beams - 6000k morimoto 5Five 50w bulbs and morimoto 5Five 50w ballasts
Khoalty led angel eyes (with remote fade on/off)


Future Plans:

Wheel spacers
Style 32s (17”/18” not sure)
or CCWs
or BBS RK
Full catback
M3 front bumper with slats or pre-facelift bumper with ac schnitzer lip (not sure)
M3 steering wheel

In any event, I plan to keep this car until the day I die. Maybe someday when the engine starts to go, an s54 will find its way in . . . . . . .

Pictures of how it sits now:

First round of pictures and initial mods/changes (mainly cosmetic)




Hahahaha 4x4 mode





Second Round of changes








Some winter shots from 2010/11



See my dad’s 330ci in the top right covered in snow . . . hehehe . . . the vert gets the garage ftw

[cpalella]

My custom ipod holder and placement



During suspension work:







That tie rod was a b**ch to remove . . . See Ray's sedan in the background



IT’S FLYING!!!!





That bump stop was like swiss cheese. See how rusted the strut was at the threaded end. The bump stop was actually fused to the rod. Looks like it was truly time to replace the suspension . . .



Rear springs were quite broken . . . that might have been the occasional rattling I was hearing lol




Figured out a way to keep the dust covers



My hands got dirty. Just the way I like them.



So now here are pictures of how it sits now (minus the m50 manifold, ASC delete, samco boot, and new front grills)

[cpalella]

Constructive comments and criticism are welcome! I hope you like!!!

[imola e36]

NIce progress man! I like where you've taken it and it's nice to see it kept so clean. Good job.

[DRVN2WN]

Thank you for doing things right. Inspiring to see hard work and commitment to detail.

[Compactive]

some hard work there, keep it up, definitely going in the right direction

[MikeVAC]

Great progress!

[HTOWN///M]

very clean. i like it. Very nice car. keep up the good work

[Bane2000]

I like where this is going!...

I have the same iPhone adapter but this is where I am running mine... (Phone sits in the sun glasses "pocket")

Keeping OEM radio FTW



Maybe, consider disengaging the low beam angel eyes and running the high beams only?... Looks more aggressive ... Just a thought...

[OnUrleft]

Great progress, the car is really coming along. I really appreciate/like modded vert's especially.

If it were mine i'd go ahead and throw wheel spacers on it to get that slightly wider stance, and change out the seats to something with some support. I think this would definitely give it a beefy/badass/manly look and the seats will bring it down to coupe weight. Not to mention you could use/will probably need spacers on your new wheels if you go with something aggressive

[filipinoise]

I'd say throw the ambers back onto the front, or even clears. Contrast is a good thing.

Beautiful car, though! Truly inspiring.

[jamesthebikeguy]

Looks good man, reminds me of my first car:


Just keep yours nice and don't let it look like mine:






Seriously though, clean ride. Its nice to see someone take care of an e36 and learn on it!

[New2M3]

Great build so far

[theblue]

need an M3 front bumper in the worst way... but I am a little biased.

[Inv3ctiv3]

Lookin' good but I hate the smoked/blacked out lights and corners you need some contrast not just an all black blob.

[WTFPENGUIN]

In any event, I plan to keep this car until the day I die. Maybe someday when the engine starts to go, an s54 will find its way in . . . . . . .



Second Round of changes

I think every owner of an e36 say that at one point

I like 2nd round, I'd ditch the halos, and get either a lip or an m3 bumper

[Ragnorak]

Tasteful mods, clean car. I'm not partial to the pre-facelift front, but to each their own.

[NJohc]

Must have been nice to put that top down this week in Jersey! I was wishing I had a vert. Nice progress! Good to see people doing it right the first time mechanically.

[Sniz]

car looks very clean, great work. That suspension was ridiculous!

oh, ditch the smoked/blacked corners ASAP. Get OEM clears and call it a day.

[NwE34]

Clean tasteful mods, good job. Not a huge e36 fan, but I like yours.

[WeiBCoupeE36]

I think every owner of an e36 say that at one point

I like 2nd round, I'd ditch the halos, and get either a lip or an m3 bumper

you are right....however some of us end up getting rid of it


looks good due, keep up the good work

[///Mposter]

looks good... Arnt the ground control pretty low? You dont wanna lower it more? I think a little lower will make it a little more aggressive. Looks pretty good

I live where this is going!...

I have the same iPhone adapter but this is where I am running mine... (Phone sits in the sun glasses "pocket")

Keeping OEM radio FTW

That doesnt look very clean. I like the OP's version better. Even my setup is cleaner than that

[AlexanderE90]

Great car and great work you've done to it. This is basically what I'm looking to buy for a more economical DD, but in coupe form.

[THADREAMIN]

Looks good... and good upgrades so far

[whitebeast]

Follow klove83s footsteps, god damn his vert is clean..