I bought my mk3 in 2006, ive put 100k miles on it myself and thrashed it to the end of the earth and back. my change of taste and rust has meant the mk3 is being superseded. Here is a series of copy/pastes from a thread ive got running on another board regarding my BMW It was bought on 11 February 2012 after spending months trying to find a VR6 and giving up due to all of them being total dogs. I looked at a couple 328 e36s but realised I would basically modify it to become an M3 anyway. There were a couple nice 328s but then they dried up. My plan then quickly turned to M3s and to buy one asap before the nice ones went, aka jump in and swim, less thinking more doing. The first round of work started which included Water pump Stat Fan coupling Plugs Filters all brand name bits etc 214.68incl So by 15 February I had the bits to start on the engine and was planning to get it running properly by the end of the week. All the parts went on nicely, the old stat was opening in luke warm water Next job was a set of Evo Sunflower wheels (wider staggered version of what I already had) and to tackle the front suspension. I ordered a set of Lemforder ball joints by 23 February. Id have to disassemble it and then send them off to have the ball joints replaced. By 16 March I still hadnt got the ball joints pressed as I wasnt sure whether my existing arms were actually correct. I went to ECP and bought some Evo arms only to find out they were totally the wrong thing. The car was reassembled again by 27 March Work on the car then stopped for months. I needed to rebuild the rear end. Being a BMW novice I had no idea what tools would be needed or how to tackle it, I was learning on the job. A rear trailing arm had three bushes. A mounting bush at the front and two bushes at the rear for the spring platform and camber arm. My aim was to replace those two bushes and the corresponding bushes where they join the subframe. I had issues with seized bolts, handbrake cables that wouldnt release and a 36mm hub nut, a problem when your VW tools only go up to 32mm! by now it was 12 August and I was making serious progress. The new parts needed cleaning and painting before I could refit
without my knowledge or experience of paint I decided to “do it properly” and fix the rust, primer it and put special paint on too
[youtube]z-M7cXnaiAM[/youtube] MOT failed. three items Headlight alignment. I hadnt tightened one of the nuts on the offside adjustable camber arm. Excessive corrosion on rear jack points (which really cant be that bad as ive had it on axle stands for months) I have to take it somewhere to weld. i cant weld myself but i also dont really know any garages so its a bit of a stab in the dark. heres a funny one though. transferred insurance from mk3 golf to m3 today. i was quoted an eye watering additional 570 for the remaining 10.5 months of the policy. i could take out a brand new policy, with the same people, for 400. i had forgot to tell him i wanted to change from TPFT to FC. requoted me on FC and additional premium was 140
Nice write up, It seems like we have similar tastes. I also had a mk3 16v which I sold to buy a VR6, quite rare in Belgium, and when you find one it's one foot in the grave material... frustrated I bought a BMW instead (E46 320ci => terrible mistake but still got me into liking BMW's ), then was lucky enough to find another mk3 16v, and then also bought a BMW with a proper engine ( S50 ), the ///M-Qp
as odd as it sounds, but the S50 has similar character to the ABF, especially if your abf has a lightened flywheel. snappy response, slightly rough/raw sounding, but 50% extra capacity gives it much bigger torque. the torque also extends further in the s50 but there are obvious reasons for that. i think my taste just changed as i got older. the new car had to have 6cyl. rwd would have been nice. i cant stand 4wd (which is the most VAG can offer), even after the 320bhp i had in an Audi S4 it was seriously dull.
Protip( you might allready know this) : fit 3.2 oil "system", the pump has more pickup points, and the 3.2 has a baffled sump. Drive a 3.0 hard through corners and chances are high you will get oil starvation. And get your oil pump checked for pressure, They also have a habit of failing after a while, 3.2 pumps fail more then 3.2 ones. Also, Bilstein clubsport suspension is mouthwateringly good on e36'es
Been following this elsewhere... Nice progress made!! Hows the welding coming along? Not tempted to buy a cheapish Mig and crack on?.. Your far from stupid and would probably pick it up real quick...
the_ valver: the engine in the car has been rebuilt when owned by the previous owner. It was done by a company called HRD (i think) who race prep cars for the BRDC race series. it has had ARP bolts etc and also the 3.2 oil system. they also fit their own pressure relief valve which apparently makes the system almost bullet proof but im still pretty much a newbie when it comes to the engines. As for the rust its being dropped back to the MOT place by my other half. they have not given me a quote on the work yet. to get access, in theory youd probably have to get to fuel tank and propshaft down http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f4/1998-e46-328i-advice-jacking-point-repair-t78083/ basically, what i want is for the functional lifting "box" to be working. if thats in a bad state then the sill would most likely have to come off too. id love to start learning how to mig but i dont think this is a job i should start on tbh the most annoying this is that im having to trust/rely on someone else to do it, its out of my hands, so ive no idea what level they will actually repair it to and you can be 9/10 sure theyll want to rip me off for it too.
so after a week and 300 miles on the road it looked like this wheels were almost black and i hadnt actually washed it once since i bought it in feb. gave it a quick clean and clay before the sun went down and the gnats actually ate my entire body. the wheels were actually a pleasure to clean, i love those wheels so much. they were a tad minging but it came up looking nice so it was washed and clayed lastnight. the aim of the game today was get some cleaner wax on it, a couple coats, to make sure it was nice and clean, then if time allowed, get some sealant on it. the pic above is of how it looked post-wash the cleaner wax did lift more dirt on the first run. thankfully being a small car it didnt take long and then went over it again and finally the sealant just in case my day hadnt been hard enough (also layed another big section of the garage floor) i thought it would be a great idea to put some hard wax on the car hadnt used one in ages. satisfying stuff! only did the front end though as i feel so dead. off to have a shower, couldnt resist another look i chose the right colour
so after a week and 300 miles on the road it looked like this wheels were almost black and i hadnt actually washed it once since i bought it in feb. gave it a quick clean and clay before the sun went down and the gnats actually ate my entire body. the wheels were actually a pleasure to clean, i love those wheels so much. they were a tad minging but it came up looking nice so it was washed and clayed lastnight. the aim of the game today was get some cleaner wax on it, a couple coats, to make sure it was nice and clean, then if time allowed, get some sealant on it. the pic above is of how it looked post-wash the cleaner wax did lift more dirt on the first run. thankfully being a small car it didnt take long and then went over it again and finally the sealant just in case my day hadnt been hard enough (also layed another big section of the garage floor) i thought it would be a great idea to put some hard wax on the car hadnt used one in ages. satisfying stuff! only did the front end though as i feel so dead. off to have a shower, couldnt resist another look i chose the right colour
