My Auction 328 Vert

[MrFixItBuilds]

So about 10 days ago, I went to put my new konis on my 99 323is that I am refreshing and noticed I was missing the hardware from the strut...

After waiting for KONI to respond for a week, I got bored staring at my car on jack stands, so I bid on a 99 328i Convertible in PA. Well.. To my wife’s dissatisfaction, I won lol.

It is a salvage title and has limited rear end damage, but not sure how none of the airbags were set off. I’m wondering if it was clipped while parked and no occupancy sensors triggered the airbags (at least those don’t have to be replaced). Surprisingly, it has even less rust than my 323is! Which has very little surface on the nose/around rear license plate mounts.

There are no CEL or other codes, and it appears to run quite well (though I need to spend a little more time with it running, as the exhaust doesn’t smell 100% correct). I took the trunk lid off today since it wasn’t really latching, and I wanted to start revealing the damage on the car.

Unfortunately, the top reset process isn’t working correctly, and I cannot get it to work and end up with some nasty grinding. Not quite up to date on the convertibles.

Here are some dirty photos of the car and a little bit of the hidden damage I’ve revealed so far.

If it’s decided the damage isn’t worth repairing (so hard when the rest of the car is in great shape) I’ve already started to feel ok with my return on the car if I part it. Many parts I need for my 323 are in great shape on the 328 (midpipe,xbrace, tires, windshield cowl, power seats, brand new cooper cs5s and mint spare Michelin [though I really like the way the 323 looks with 17s]) and that’s just a partial list.














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[gdavid]

Glad to see that the shipping worked out. I'm afraid the body shop estimate will be pretty high but perhaps they are hungry for work. Check the floor pan for rust thoroughly before deciding anything else. If verts had bad tops or were left down at some point, it is hard for the water to dry out. The undercoating on these things is very thick and can hide some pretty bad rust from the inside. Pull the back seat up and you can pull the carpet up enough to check that area. The drive foot well is another common area for rust.

[MrFixItBuilds]

Glad to see that the shipping worked out. I'm afraid the body shop estimate will be pretty high but perhaps they are hungry for work. Check the floor pan for rust thoroughly before deciding anything else. If verts had bad tops or were left down at some point, it is hard for the water to dry out. The undercoating on these things is very thick and can hide some pretty bad rust from the inside. Pull the back seat up and you can pull the carpet up enough to check that area. The drive foot well is another common area for rust.

Yeah, that crumpled section is ~300 oem before even looking at the bumper or quarter + paint + labor. Sadly it’s a really really good condition car, but I’m pretty sure that it’s going to be better to part it out, or just try to do it myself (Iowa has no roadworthy inspection, only theft inspection for salvage cars).

I’ll continue to pull it apart to get better visual on the damage, and maybe trailer it over to a shop and see if they can inspect it to give me a better idea of the cost or an aftermarket component to whether I should part it or not..


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[gdavid]

You could probably find a very clean vert chassis for less than the cost to straighten out that one. Pull a third project e36 into the driveway hand pray for forgiveness.

[MrFixItBuilds]

You could probably find a very clean vert chassis for less than the cost to straighten out that one. Pull a third project e36 into the driveway hand pray for forgiveness.

You’d be surprised in Iowa. Not very many for sale around here.. especially verts. We don’t have a very long convertible season with the cold here. The few e36s I’ve seen (sedan) are really rusty AND they want more than I paid for this + shipping. Don’t know why.

I’m not decided either way, but pretty sure my wife will kill me if I buy a third one lol.


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[MrFixItBuilds]

Man.

It really seems like the e36 BimmerForums is kind of quiet. Ive had 90 views on this since I posted early this morning, and Gdavid is the only one that has responded so far. My 323is thread has over 1500 views and outside of Gdavid, theres been only a handful of people who have participated.. Don't get me wrong, I love that people are at least viewing the threads, but a little sad that people aren't interested in adding to the discussions. CMON Peeps! I'm starting to get a little hungry for conversation that isn't my 3 year old screaming at me or asking me to get him whatever for the 50th time.

When I bought the car as a salvage sight unseen, I knew there was a potential that I would be just parting it out to upgrade my 323 in the future (midpipe, xbrace, 2.8L etc), but I've discovered that I have issues with just seeing the car as nothing but parts and scrap metal.. I kind of wish this car was even WORSE condition wise, so it would be a no brainer. (I hate seeing cars that could be fixed get scrapped, tossed or parted because people can make more money selling the engine/trans/etc than the whole car to someone that has the knowledge or skills to repair.. especially mechanical issues). I think its more of two sides of the coin.

1. Would love a real project car that isn't just a mechanical fix project that would provide ample learning of a new skill (Welding, Body, Paint) and hate to see good cars go to waste.
2. I was being pressured by the COVID risk to not go and get the car myself but have it shipped, essentially doubling the price I paid for the car, and making it that much harder to put *more* money into a salvage title (future rebuilt) car, knowing it would be a large loss in the event of accident etc. (by the time I paid for the car, 800+fees, 725 for shipping, and likely 1000-1500 in replacement parts to get it in proper shape, not even including the body work needing to be done).

That being said, I looked at realoem to get some idea as to the availability of replacement panels for the car if I would decide to go that way. I might call a body shop to see if they can get aftermarket pieces, rather than oem, but the prices i've found for the major components I've identified so far is ~500 from ECS or FCPEuro etc. If I was to pay to have it straightened, painted (assuming no other major panels need to be replaced, and potentially sourcing a used bumper), Id be looking at another 2-2.5K probably easy.

This would put me at ~4.3K for the car before any refreshing costs (since i bought from auction i have no service history). Lets assume another 1500-1700.. meaning ~6K for this "rebuilt vert". Which is stupid spend. I can buy a clean M3 for around that price, which would be a clean title and MUCH better value. Its just hard for me to just toss a car away. I wish I didn't live in the rust belt, where I could probably find an e36 shell that would be as clean as this to swap it.

That being said.

Anyone speaking up for wants or needs for a potential part out, let me know. I'll feel better if I could actually prove that I could part it out reasonably and have people interested without filling my already too small 3 car garage with tons of parts

[Eric93se]

/participation/

Kiss my grits!

/end.participation/


If I were you I would take some measurements, one being from front tire to rear tire. Setup two jackstands, use thin string to pull tight from one end to the other, measure center of the front wheel to center of the rear wheel, take your time. Compare to the other side of the car.

If those measurement are within an 1/8" your probably ok (pull that figure out of my 'you know what'). Also I wouldn't pay $$ for that 5mph bumper in the trunk, just straighten it out, maybe get yourself a welder instead of buying the part and put some steel there instead.

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Scan the car for codes and do a compression test to make sure things are good otherwise.

[Eric93se]

Rethinking the string idea and that probably won't be effective (was thinking of string alignment which I've done before). But with two people you should be able to do it with a good tape measure, again take your time and steady the hand. Maybe tape a pencil to one end so that it could be a centering indicator.

[MrFixItBuilds]

/participation/

Kiss my grits!

/end.participation/

Bahahahahahahahaha.

Also I wouldn't pay $$ for that 5mph bumper in the trunk, just straighten it out, maybe get yourself a welder instead of buying the part and put some steel there instead.

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Scan the car for codes and do a compression test to make sure things are good otherwise.

Hmm. Interesting idea. I have access to a mig with my father in law. I was thinking about taking a mig class this year or something.

No codes, not even one, which is better than my 323 was, which was Christmas lights when I got it. Car runs really well all things considered 178k miles etc. the semi couldn’t drop it at my house since I’m on a tight street on a dead end, so I drove it a couple miles at highway speed to get it home.

No power-steering issues like my 323 has (hopefully had), no leaks so far in my driveway or garage and the engine was smooth and quiet.

It needs some cleanup, but it’s in pretty great shape, which also makes me mad, since I wanted the 2.8 and midpipe and brace for my 323 oh well. Could just go for mad max type ls swap if I butcher it too bad learning is worth some money right?


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[flyfishvt]

The cover for the top storage compartment and the trunk lid share an interlock. The top won't operate if the trunk lid is open and the trunk lid won't open if the storage compartment lid is open. Didn't you say you removed the trunk lid?

The grinding you hear is probably from one of the 2 motors in the trunk. If they aren't fully engaged the gears will slip and you'll get a grindingbsound.

Vert specific questions are probably better addressed in the Vert Forum

[MrFixItBuilds]

The cover for the top storage compartment and the trunk lid share an interlock. The top won't operate if the trunk lid is open and the trunk lid won't open if the storage compartment lid is open. Didn't you say you removed the trunk lid?

The grinding you hear is probably from one of the 2 motors in the trunk. If they aren't fully engaged the gears will slip and you'll get a grindingbsound.

Vert specific questions are probably better addressed in the Vert Forum

I did remove the trunk lid, because it wouldn’t close due to the bumper damage, but did make sure to handle the interlock on the trunk by removing the micro switch and forcing the car to think that it was fully closed.

I’ll have to pull the motor completely out and check it, but both were fully engaged as far as I could tell. I do know that both the tonneau cover struts are probably bad because it doesn’t stay up at all when you lift it manually. Might be part of the issue.

Seeing as my original post wasn’t a question about the vert top per se, but just opening a discussion about the auction car, and may ultimately have some vert specifics as we go but I didn’t think it needed to be under the vert section, but I can understand that.

For now I think I’m going to keep looking into repair or part our option while finishing my 323 refresh. May end up putting this in storage for a little while to make sure that there isn’t any water intrusion into the trunk since it doesn’t close all the way.


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[MrFixItBuilds]

Took the bumper off, trunk liners, and lights out to see all of the damage to give me a better idea of what I was looking at.

Gdavid, I did pull the back seat up and tried to get the carpet up to check the floor in the back seat, but will need to pull some trim off first but what I could see looked like it was from the factory yesterday. Will need to check the front floor as you suggested also for hidden rust spots.







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[Eric93se]

Damn it looks sexy like that, I think you should drive it around like that lol.

Uhh, giant back hammer (screw in type) and a gallon of bondo and I think she'll be good as new. Be optimistic, "YOU CAN DO THIS!"

Make sure none of those blue lines are cracked and the connection on the evap system under the spare tire are good and above the rear right tire.

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Watch youtube vids on how to do body work

[MrFixItBuilds]

Damn it looks sexy like that, I think you should drive it around like that lol.

Uhh, giant back hammer (screw in type) and a gallon of bondo and I think she'll be good as new. Be optimistic, "YOU CAN DO THIS!"

Make sure none of those blue lines are cracked and the connection on the evap system under the spare tire are good and above the rear right tire.

Ha ha. It’s like stealth mode.. or asking for it to get hit again lol. Interesting idea with like a slide hammer. Hmmm. Gallon of bondo lol.

Too bad it’s not “road legal” even though Iowa doesn’t have an inspection for road worthiness (thank god- while some things I support inspecting like when I see people driving down the road with struts/shocks so bad the car never stops bouncing or when their tires are so bald that the cords are beginning to show. That shits dangerous. I do think some states take it wayyyy too far.) Iowa only has a theft inspection to go from salvage to rebuilt title to endure I didn’t repair the car with stolen parts.


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[MrFixItBuilds]

Damn it looks sexy like that, I think you should drive it around like that lol.

Uhh, giant back hammer (screw in type) and a gallon of bondo and I think she'll be good as new. Be optimistic, "YOU CAN DO THIS!"

Make sure none of those blue lines are cracked and the connection on the evap system under the spare tire are good and above the rear right tire.

- - - Updated - - -

Watch youtube vids on how to do body work

YouTube kids bahahahahaha. My 3 year olds favorite app..


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[flyfishvt]

I've owned a bunch of e36 verts. My best guess on the grinding is that it's commi ng from the tonneau cover motor. Especially since located in the corner that sustained the most damage. This motors are like a clamshell with the hinge on the bottom. The tonneau cover motor has a long history of causing that grinding noise. Even though it's fully engaged the gears don't mesh correctly. It's caused by the motor mounting plate being bent over time. Your struts don't have anything to do with it. When the cover is closed the actuating rod exerts a lot of torque on the motor assembly. This eventually twists the mounting plate out of shape. In most cases it's fixable but it's a bit of a pain to remove and disassemble

[MrFixItBuilds]

I've owned a bunch of e36 verts. My best guess on the grinding is that it's commi ng from the tonneau cover motor. Especially since located in the corner that sustained the most damage. This motors are like a clamshell with the hinge on the bottom. The tonneau cover motor has a long history of causing that grinding noise. Even though it's fully engaged the gears don't mesh correctly. It's caused by the motor mounting plate being bent over time. Your struts don't have anything to do with it. When the cover is closed the actuating rod exerts a lot of torque on the motor assembly. This eventually twists the mounting plate out of shape. In most cases it's fixable but it's a bit of a pain to remove and disassemble

It’s on the opposite side of the car from the damage. Damage is on the passenger side, motor is on the drivers side, but I’ll have to try and sneak a camera around the side and see if it’s not engaging or pull the mounting plate out and see if it’s got flex to it.


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[MrFixItBuilds]

I am now parting this out, for several reasons, but mostly because I have bought another clean sedan, and between my coupe and the sedan (motor swap from vert). I’m going to be busy for a while.


Shoot me a pm if anyone needs anything. Willing to ship!


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