good car choice?

[Young328i]

Hello all, i'm 15 and just joined the forums. in march I bought my 1996 328i with a 5 speed manual and its been a really fun car. I just want professional opinion on if I made a good choice on my first car. it has an exhaust and intake on it, paired with I think are e34 M5 wheels and lowering springs. it has no issues and runs great. is there anything I should be careful of or keep an eye on? I know that some people get their sunroof stuck or their shifter falls off like mine did (replaced with sparco shifter) but what problems could I see down the road?

[hkdboarder42]

You made a good choice. I view the e36 chassis as the miata/civic of bmws. Not in a negative manner, but purely positive. They're dirt cheap to fix and maintain (especially if you use fcpeuro.com, only have to pay once for anything and its covered for life. Yes, including maintenance. I get free oil changes through them and you can too), the chassis was designed with the intention to be easy to work on, the whole engine can be rebuilt with it still in the car (not including pistons themselves), the aftermarket support for these cars is vast, and to top it all off, gas mileage is good and insurance is low. The only things you need to be wary of is the cooling system. BMW kinda cheaped out in its design, lots of plastic where it shouldn't be. It's extremely important that you make sure your cooling system is overhauled, which includes a metal thermostat housing, metal impeller for the water pump, and a couple other things I'm missing. ALWAYS keep your eye on the temp gauge, even with it just tapping red, you run the risk of warping your cylinder head. Which is not cheap. Other little things to watch out for include the intake boot has a tendency to develop tears, the ICV has a tendency to stick, and the interior doesn't necessarily want to stay together. Welcome to the club brother.

[gdavid]

Yes, you made a fine choice but this really isn't the time to ask. It is a 23 year old car so you should expect a lot of maintenance and repairs but that will build knowledge and character so don't look back. There are countless similar threads looking for advise and very good information has been shared. The short version is ensure the cooling system is in good shape and rather than spending money on "upgrades" focus on restoring suspension components to original spec. These cars handled great when new but most parts in the suspension that can wear out have done so by now including rubber bushings just due to age. Once you have all of the bushings and joints in good shape then you can start considering playing with the ride height or geometry but in my opinion you will really enjoy the car as built when everything is in good shape. Have fun.

[zellamay]

It all depends on what you paid for it and it's condition. There is no right answer without that info.

[Young328i]

paid $2,200 canadian dollars for it and heres the rough parts from the PO: curbed wheels, rusty and rough sideskirts, back of rear fender is starting to paint bubble and dent in panel between trunk and bumper

[Eric93se]

You paid too much for a rusty car, $1600 would have been more appropriate. But I'm sure it will serve you for a few years as long as it doesn't give you tetanus. Change all the fluids and have fun with it. No at all mandatory for a metal thermostat housing or metal water pump, mine are neither. If the coolant expansion tank looks real old then replace it, don't buy a cheap ebay one they will fail prematurely. Rockauto.com has Hella (behr).

[Young328i]

thanks, and remember its canadian dollars. in USD i did pay 1,600, and i figured i didnt need to upgrade the cooling just yet