G'day. Hi. Howdy. Morning. Nǐ hǎo.

[stickslap]

I'm an Australian living in Australia. This is my first forum post because I signed up to this Bimmerforum thing only a few minutes ago. I have questions but because I know how forums work I am going to search for my answers before asking. I'm nice like that. I just bought a E36 320i (built March 1994) for $1,000. When I test drove it everything was excellent. Before I picked it up the owner washed it and decided to fill the ECU/DME cavity up with water, bugs, spiders, leaves and rubbish. So I asked for my grand back, which I got and he insisted I keep the car aswell. Sweet.
So I'm in the process of fixing the knackered unit causing a crank, no spark thing problem that has been discussed in these forums over a million times. Please don't offer advice on this thread, just say G'day with a smiley or something.
So I'm Dave. I'm a very old man (52) have a broken neck and back (Dr's love me) live on a Disability Support Pension so the age old "BMW needs BMW money" thing is all too real.
OK, my only question - Forums that have been going for many many years tend to die a slow napalm type death. Is this forum still a going concern and if I do have any tech questions, can I expect an honest, down to earth answer.
Cheers.
Dave.

[MauiM3Mania]

Good luck with your problem.... I moved your post to this area where you're sure to get good input.

[shadowpuck]

hello, dave - welcome.

there's quite a few BMW techs, savvy DIY'ers, and general BMW fanatics hanging around this particular sub-forum, so, yes, if you ask a question you'll get an answer. Since we prefer to diagnose and not just replace parts, I'd also say, yes, it'll be honest and down to earth. Sometimes we ramble and get off topic, but, that's ok.

Bimmerforums, as mentioned, has been around awhile - and, I just took a look at some statistics, which are interesting:
Threads 2,376,319 Posts 33,839,534 Members 741,181

Also, we have some sticky posts for this sub-forum that talk about how to give us the info we need to help, as well as what to expect here:


https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ose-your-issue


https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...cal-Help-Forum

one thing to keep in mind - different parts of the globe get different BMW models than others. this is a - mostly - North American/US based forum, but, we do have folks from around the world. I'd just say keep that in mind.....

[ross1]

Greetings, very old Dave.
Lots of good folks here to help you. Also an active E36 sub-forum where same coexists with some KIAs & fools so be careful who you listen to over there.
Having also had a flooded E36 DME compartment I understand. Wet DME is junk. There is always power present in the DME so once flooded electrolysis begins. Mine was full of goo after 24hrs or so wet. My solution was different, insurance comp. coverage totaled the car due to water damage. I did source a replacement DME for it as I was originally figuring to keep it. Pretty sure it is the same one your car needs. PM if you can't find one in OZ.
Obviously the water intrusion needs to be addressed first. Mine was never investigated so no help there.