So I bought an e36........

[Turf1600]

It's a 93 4 door auto for my girlfriend. It has some 2 piece wheels, nicer headlights, and a mint reupholstered interior with a new headliner. The door panels are pretty nice and it runs REALLY nicely. It does have some sort of free flow cat back - which she says has to go. It has 185k on the clock but i was very impressed with the cleanliness and mechanical soundness.

So, a couple of questions...

Whats a good e36 forum?

Is 93 vanos or non vanos?

How long do these motors last?

Any maintenance I should do immediately? (ie timing belt on e30)

What wheels work on these cars?

Is the AC r12 or 134a?

This is going to be my girlfriends DD instead of her e30 - which has a questionable future.

[Teaguer]

Nice car ....for a chick .

Try bimmerforums.com for all your E36 needs .

93 is first year of vanos for the M50 .

Motors las faily long but the headgasket is usually the first big item to go .
Well along with a noisy Vanos unit .

Wheesl are high offset .
I've got a set of M3 contours I'm selling soon .

[Turf1600]

Nice car ....for a chick .

Try bimmerforums.com for all your E36 needs .

93 is first year of vanos for the M50 .

Motors las faily long but the headgasket is usually the first big item to go .
Well along with a noisy Vanos unit .

Wheesl are high offset .
I've got a set of M3 contours I'm selling soon .

What's the offset on e36 wheels? I'd like to throw on some DSIIs but I'll take anything. Also, the engine is nearly silent. It ran impressively.

[Teaguer]

I want to say the offset is around 40 on the E36 .

I've got two 7.5 DSII's I'd like to sell as well . :)


Oh and it being a auto ...that is also one of the first high Dollar things to go .
I just ahppen to also have a M3 ZF 5-spd swap kit for sale too . :p

[Bimmerista]

No pictures??

[Turf1600]

from the CL ad -

[amdspitfire]

It's a 93 4 door auto for my girlfriend. It has some 2 piece wheels, nicer headlights, and a mint reupholstered interior with a new headliner. The door panels are pretty nice and it runs REALLY nicely. It does have some sort of free flow cat back - which she says has to go. It has 185k on the clock but i was very impressed with the cleanliness and mechanical soundness.

So, a couple of questions...

Whats a good e36 forum?

Is 93 vanos or non vanos?

How long do these motors last?

Any maintenance I should do immediately? (ie timing belt on e30)

What wheels work on these cars?

Is the AC r12 or 134a?

This is going to be my girlfriends DD instead of her e30 - which has a questionable future.

best e36 forum is bimmerforums, 93 first year with vanos, motors last forever, no maintenance like timing belt just the basics. Biggest issue is the subframe ripping out if cars are tracked. Wheels need to be 5x120 et 32/35

[Jordan]

What you need is a personal BMW Mechanic... one who happens to be moving to Houston at the end of the month.

[Dave]

Cooling System on M50s is a little fragile.

Crappy radiators, plastic thermostat housing, and suspect water pumps.

If you dont know the age of the system, I'd replace it now - at least the water pump and t-stat. If it still has the plastic t-stat housing, get the Ronak aluminum unit. Make sure you also get the t-stat housing profile gasket as well.

[HST]

Cooling system needs to be looked at, and flushed. M50 is a timing chain so no worry there. Of course get the Bentley. Mine, 1994, has 152k on it, and runs strong, and I beat the hell out of my car. Auto trans like to go out around your mileage, might as well do a 5-speed swap. Rear shock towers have all the same issues as a E30. And you should check out the rear sub-frame with that kind of mileage.

[e30e]

[QUOTE=Dave;883613]Cooling System on M50s is a little fragile.

Crappy radiators, plastic thermostat housing, and suspect water pumps.
QUOTE]

2nd that the 2nd week I had my e36 m3 i had to replace my thermostat housing and radiator...The thing is about the metal and plastic thermostat housings is they last about the same amount time and cost about the same, I've had two mechanics tell me the metal metal thermostat housings crack at the seem they were formed at. The radiator is cake to replace, 4 coolant lines. The plastic necks on the radiator crack real easily. If the interior has been redone then you don't have to worry about the door panels coming apart or the seems in the leather seats ripping. It would be smart to get the car on a rack and check the bushings on the rear as those a failure prone.

[WillisE30]

Yeah, the aluminum T-stat housings really aren't all that great. They're better than plastic, but not a whole ton. I've seen enough warped ones out there that I flat file them all before I put them on.

[whiltebeitel]

I did the cooling system on my pop's e36 328i 4 door. I'ts not that bad. repalcing the belts is a snap compared to an e30. 2 belts and the tensioners twist out of the way. 5 minutes max when you are doing the cooling system.