Peppermint green 328i Convertible

[MParallel]

No problem listening to German and sprechen es ein bischen myself.

Ekrem is a member of our E36 app group and I have seen most of his vids.
Like his stuff. Not all, but many.

I would say my benchmark is at least as high, if not higher. Not that it’s relevant. This topic is about yours.

[Lowspot]

Well, didn't like the small BBS RC040 wheels so I have finally bought the 18" BBS LM reps from a few posts before - they looking great !
It's a square set 8.5x18 ET35 with 225/40/18 all around and 5mm spacers at the rear. No modifications required. Want to keep my wheel arches stock.

I gone use them for a couple of month and see how they go. My stock Style 24 set is being refurbished ATM.

[MParallel]

Thought the RC's looked about perfect. Not too keen in 18" myself, but all a matter of personal taste.

Car's looking good nonetheless.

[Lowspot]

Thought the RC's looked about perfect. Not too keen in 18" myself, but all a matter of personal taste.

Car's looking good nonetheless.

18" is the perfect size for me. I actually would love to run 225/35 on these but the pot holes are just too large in Adelaide.

In an ideal world I would get a set of 18" BBS RS from a late 635CSI but they are impossible to find in OZ

[MParallel]

These will have terrible offset.

You could source any 5x120 17” RS set and upsize them to 18”.

ideally RS302’s as these have the lowest backpad giving you the best fit.

But 302’s are now a small fortune. I got my set in 2008.

[Lowspot]

These will have terrible offset.

You could source any 5x120 17” RS set and upsize them to 18”.

ideally RS302’s as these have the lowest backpad giving you the best fit.

But 302’s are now a small fortune. I got my set in 2008.

This below is the perfect looking set in 8x8" ET20 and 9x18 ET26 but I would have to do quite a bit of adjustment on the wheel arches and that's a no no for me.
I really don't like up sized wheels, they looking weird
everyone has a different taste and that's the beauty of being a petrol head :-)

[MParallel]

All 18” BBS RS (Original, not Super RS) are upsized. The original 6 series RS285/286 use the same size 17” centers (which are 13”) as the RS302’s.

The 18” RC’s do have larger centers, but well aren’t RS’s.

[Lowspot]

All 18” BBS RS (Original, not Super RS) are upsized. The original 6 series RS285/286 use the same size 17” centers (which are 13”) as the RS302’s.

The 18” RC’s do have larger centers, but well aren’t RS’s.

was referring to the 18" RC's from the 635i like in the video, not the more common RS - my bad - don't like the RS upsized

[Lowspot]

And then today I have finally got the wheel alignment done.

I'm running almost zero toe at the front and the car is super precise now.






What always blows my mind is that my car is 100% rust free (ZERO!) and I'm not talking about only the main body.
All screws, washers, clamps etc are rust free (!!!)
That's insane if you are from Germany like me, where cars are exposed to salt and snow. Got to love Australia !!!

[Lowspot]

The interior update:

Starting point - cleaned leather parts




.....removed leather trim from all interior parts that I'm not keeping. Went off pretty easy. My initial plan was to get new leather covers made up for my existing convertible parts but I want to reuse the original ones, so it has same stitching pattern and texture than the other leather and because the sedan version is covering a larger area than the vert, it's just a bit trimming and it should fit without any issues.





I have started to dye the centre console and the glove box lid. Turned out very nice, super happy with the result and it matches the leather seats 100%.
Looks a bit darker on the pics but it's identical. I have also ordered a matt clear finish to cover all parts once colour change is completed. The wood trim is just a place holder - not gone use it for this E36.

[Lowspot]

....and here is the result of re-trimmed parts.
The radius at the bottom is slightly different on the vert and it's really tricky to get the stitching right but I'm very pleased so far.





little sneak peak ......

[MParallel]

Nice work. Surprised the leather from the little cornerpiece even fits like that, since the shape is so different.

[Lowspot]

Nice work. Surprised the leather from the little cornerpiece even fits like that, since the shape is so different.

there was quite a bit of stretching involved but BMW factory leather is really simple to swap and very forgiving.

[Lowspot]

It's finally done - Have finished my interior update - it gives the car a whole new feeling while driving. No idea how I could survive without it for such a long time LOL







My plans? I still have a E39 M52 CC module here, which I have to implement and I have plenty of maintenance parts here,

so I'm not running out of projects anytime soon....

[Lowspot]

And here a couple of shots from last weekends cruise with the BMW club







Next weekend is cooling system rebuild time - my thermostat is stuck in open position and it sucks the temperature out of the engine - oil sensor is showing low temperature all the time.
I gone change the power steering reservoir and all belts, water pump, expansion tank, etc. - shouldn't take too long and is a nice job that's I'm looking forward to.

[Lowspot]

The cooling system overhaul. It was about time to replace all these parts. The old water pump was already replaced with a metal propeller one at some stage of the car's life but better safe than sorry so I ve replaced it again. Thermostat plus housing, attached hoses, idle rollers for AC and main belt plus expansion tank and crank shaft sensor (just because it was easy to access with all the cooling parts off.

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I ve noticed that the old expansion tank was green from coolant - not sure if this was ever replaced. The radiator and the fan plus clutch are in excellent condition and there is no need to replace em anytime soon.

My air con has always made a bit of a squeaky noise when activated but with a new idle roller and new belt it's super quiet now. I booked an air con service yesterday and almost a quarter of the old gas has disappeared with only little cooling effect left.
It 's super ice cold now - absolute fantastic !!!

I'm changing the injectors and fuel pressure regulator next and I might just do spark plugs and ignition coils in one go.

[MParallel]

Do I see the gasket of the t-stat housing between it and engine block?

Please do double check as there is a pretty known problem where the provided orange o-ring for the t-stat housing is too thick and therefor won't provide a good seal.

[Lowspot]

Do I see the gasket of the t-stat housing between it and engine block?

Please do double check as there is a pretty known problem where the provided orange o-ring for the t-stat housing is too thick and therefor won't provide a good seal.

it's red sealant, not the gasket :-) have added a very thin layer as the surface was a bit rough underneath.

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[Lowspot]

Small update

The car has a weird little gremlin since I ve bought it. I have to idle quite a bit until the car fires up - once fired up, it's running like a dream. Sometimes I stop idling - switch off and on again and then it fires up with no issues. My assumption was a faulty fuel pressure sensor or a leaky injector. But even after changing all these parts it's still doing it.
I have just replaced coil packs - injectors, spark plugs and FPR. The fuel pump would be next on my list - may be a faulty check valve and all fuel runs back into the tank
Here are the new parts - all Bosch

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The injector caps where so brittle that they broke off by just touching them - there is nothing inside the inlet manifold - thank god :-)






And then I have started to collect a new wood trim - Bruyere - was a pretty common option in Australia, together with extended leather and I'm looking for the hand brake at the moment.
I kinda like the contrast with green and of course gone enlarge the switch holes to fit the vert switches.

[Lowspot]

Found time to repair and install the new trim package ..... and boy that pops :-) I really like it. Have cut out the window switches with a Dremel and everything comes together really nice.
Still looking for a wooden shifter and handbrake lever but a friend of mine has sold me leather shifter and handle for cheap and I have dyed it with colourlock. Works for me until I eventually find the right parts.

[MParallel]

Nice.

I would have painted only the middle 'stripe' of the gearswitch in mint and the outside black. Like how these are OEM (with wood).

[Lowspot]

Thanks mate !

My green creation is ok for now and only a temporary solution and with the existing stitching it would be impossible to really get a crisp line between black and green.
The Bruyere trim is one of the more common ones in Down Under and I should find a suitable stick and handbrake lever soon.

btw: I think you referring to the OEM E46 E39 X5 wood grain with leather sides. It has a slightly longer stick that goes in the shifter that can't be used for the E36 as it would be impossible to get out of "P"
Found an image from another vert with a different but close enough trim- It's solid wood trim and no leather - only has the chrome ring underneath.

[Lowspot]

Have touched up the middle arm rest and mounted the hand brake handle - looks a lot better now with matching colours.







I think that's about it for the interior until I find the missing wood trim parts and my next projects are gone be rear axle and manual swap . . . .
BTW I have installed PDC btw but changed phones in the meantime and quite a few pictures are gone - so I have to look in my iCloud . . . .

[MParallel]

No there are various 'two tone' versions of the auto shifter handle for the E36.

And regarding use of one from a different model, no problem. Just swap over the rod. Which is what I did to have a fresh one for mine (SMG). The E36 on is NLA but the same matt chrome/black leather version is available for different models. So I ot that one, swapped over the SMG specific rod and bingo.

[Lowspot]

I was always wondering if you can just swap out the mechanism as the actual handle is identical- out of curiosity - do you have a part number for any of the two tone E36 shifters for the normal auto gear box?

Btw: I‘m actually looking for a manual trim knob as I gone do a manual swap in the next months