New Member, New e36

[JonCr]

I just purchased a 1999 323is as a third car and for my son to drive to school. This forum was very helpful in learning about these car before I purchased it. Only had the car for a day, but so far it is great. Changed the oil this morning and lubed the steering shaft to get rid of the squeak. Has a quiet, occasional chirp in the blower motor, so replacing that is in my future. Otherwise, it seems pretty solid and drives good. I look forward to interacting with this group to help with maintenance and repairs.



https://www.dropbox.com/s/bsnzdw1ic2...%20PM.jpg?dl=0

[Eric93se]

Nice piece of hellrot!!

For texas go with 10w-40 or 15w-40 full syn, you can run it atleast 10k miles, I usually replace the filter at the 4k mark.

Replace all the fluids and make sure the cooling system is rock solid, verify all the fans work properly. Never let the car overheat, if it ever comes above normal or anywhere near redl turn the car off and get it towed. Driving it while overheated will warp/crack the head $$$$.

[pizzaman09]

Nice looking coupe! Is it an auto or standard?

Have fun!

[JonCr]

Nice piece of hellrot!!

For texas go with 10w-40 or 15w-40 full syn, you can run it atleast 10k miles, I usually replace the filter at the 4k mark.

Replace all the fluids and make sure the cooling system is rock solid, verify all the fans work properly. Never let the car overheat, if it ever comes above normal or anywhere near redl turn the car off and get it towed. Driving it while overheated will warp/crack the head $$$$.

I used Castro Edge 0W-40 oil. I used a Wix filter because I couldn't find a Mann - I'll use a Mann next time.

The car has 106,000 miles, so I assumed I would need to overhaul the cooling system right away. However, I'm a little confused because it has a metal thermostat housing, so possibly some of that has been done already. The cooling system looks very solid, but I'm going to have a shop look at it to make sure. After reading the horror stories with overheating, believe me, I keep an eye on the temperature gauge!

I'm going to change spark plugs and air filter this week. The bushings look pretty good, but I'll get all that checked out also.

- - - Updated - - -

Nice looking coupe! Is it an auto or standard?

Have fun!

It is an auto. If I were the primary driver, I definitely would have looked for a standard, but the rest of my family doesn't share my enthusiasm for standard transmissions. My daily driver is a VW GTI with a standard transmission and the rest of the drivers in the family look at it like its radioactive.

[jc43089]

If nothing else I would replace the coolant. I have seen many problems caused by not replacing the coolant as the maintenance schedule requires. What color is the coolant, the original should have been blue, someone correct me on that if blue would be incorrect for the year.

[Eric93se]

You can actually put whatever antifreeze fluid you want in the car. But it's best to flush the system when changing over to another chemistry. 50/50 mix with distilled water. I'm using Xerex G05 in mine, same chemistry as bmw blue iirc.

The fact that someone upgraded to an aluminum thermostat housing is a good thing, the problem is the weakest link, that could be a hose or the rad or the water pump. Your car lasted this long so the water pump had to have been changed at some point. Years back there were cars with the original plastic pump impeller and those failed at high rates. We now have solid alum impellers, new composite, and cheap stainless with thin fins. The one thing on mine I did not change was the thermostat housing, it looked to be the upgraded composite design.