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 Click here for the full 1280x960 image.  Click here for the full 1280x960 image.  Click here for the full 1280x960 image.  Click here for the full 1280x960 image.  Click here for the full 1280x960 image. A few pictures at UTK. Going to take some pictures with a friend's modded S2000 soon! I can't wait to put some more money into this car. I just need my drat e36 m3 parts to sell, which is a pain since I am three hours from home 
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Aug 24, 2008 20:28
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I'm looking to pick up a 1999 323i in a few weeks with ~80k miles on it, I know the current owner pretty well and have driven the car a few times already, and it doesn't have any known current issues. The sub frame thing though has me worried, any idea how ballpark expensive it is to repair? I keep hearing 'pricey' but no one I've read has put a dollar figure on that. I'm pretty well resigned to replacing some of the cooling parts already from what I've read and I'm not really to worried about most of the common issues except that one (and how common is it, really?). I'll be trading in my '01 Toyota Corolla to the guy plus 6 grand, which seems a pretty good deal to me.
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Aug 24, 2008 20:36
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BraveUlysses posted:All non-M E36's are susceptible to subframe failures, and E46's area already showing problems well under 100K mi, which looks like many more in the future as E46's continue to age. The Z3s are also susceptible to the subframe issue. It is a constant worry for M Coupe owners as the extra power and general driving hoonery that often accompanies owning one tends to put them under extra stress.
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Aug 24, 2008 20:52
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Does the 318ti have the same problem with the subframe failure?
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Aug 24, 2008 23:49
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snowman posted:Does the 318ti have the same problem with the subframe failure? Nope. 318ti uses the semi-trailing arm rear suspension from the e30, which is a totally different design from all other e36's. "- A very few of the E46 3-series cars have an issue where the rear subframe tears away from the car. You can recognize the problem by odd, random clunking sounds coming from the back when you go over bumps. It's expensive to fix but it's rare and people in online forums like to exaggerate how widespread it is." Some people like to downplay how widespread it is, but it's been known to happen on even later model, already reinforced e46 m3s. It's also much more of a pain to install the kit on e46s than e36s. I think people don't realize how widespread it is because the vast majority of e46 owners would never think to check, and would never notice a problem like that. Also that BMW would probably make anyone that has the failures fixed at the dealer sign non-disclosure agreements; but that's just me posturing. Read:Completely hypothetical
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Aug 25, 2008 01:32
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Well, I tried and failed to replace my rear rotors today. They were completely rusted on. I poured PB Blaster all over them, beat the hell at them with a mallet and then a hammer, all to no effect. So now Im driving around with new pads on beat-to-hell rotors. Anybody have any suggestions?
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Aug 25, 2008 02:57
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Did you try loosening your parking brake?
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Aug 25, 2008 03:10
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I've been thinking about grabbing a 3 or 5 series sedan with an inline 6 and a manual. I'd like to spend 10k or less as it'll be a DD - which of the E34/6/9/46 lines should I look at and/or stay away from?
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Aug 25, 2008 03:22
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I may have been wrong on the subframe thing. I just remember that when I was researching E46s for a friend, one of the forums had a pretty big poll of owners who'd had subframe failures (as in a few hundred on that one forum), and 323/328s outnumbered 325/330s by something like 10 to 1. I wasn't really considering the self-selecting nature of the poll, the relative age of the cars in question, or the fact that newer models that failed under warranty/CPO weren't included due to BMW's love of NDAs.
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Aug 25, 2008 03:31
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Das Volk posted:I've been thinking about grabbing a 3 or 5 series sedan with an inline 6 and a manual. I'd like to spend 10k or less as it'll be a DD - which of the E34/6/9/46 lines should I look at and/or stay away from? Below 10k is where a bunch of model prices seem to converge. You can pick up a late nineties e39 (528i) or e36 (328i) for under 10k easily. The e34 and e46 will end up on the two extremes of your budget. I assume you already know the differences between a 5 and 3 so I won't get into it. They'll both use the same engines and both feel the right amount of "sporty" given their chassis. The e39 will feel less dated than the e36 if you care.
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Aug 25, 2008 03:42
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Das Volk posted:I've been thinking about grabbing a 3 or 5 series sedan with an inline 6 and a manual. I'd like to spend 10k or less as it'll be a DD - which of the E34/6/9/46 lines should I look at and/or stay away from? Any non-M E36 with an I6, a 5 speed, and a stack of maintenance records. Buy the newest/best one you can afford (within reason). A 5 series will be slightly more expensive to maintain. Alternatively buy an 1993-1995 325i for $5k, and throw another $5k in maintenance and mods and have yourself a daily driver go kart. That's more or less what I'm doing/have done to my 1992 E36.
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Aug 25, 2008 04:00
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snowman posted:Did you try loosening your parking brake? My parking brake hardly works, I was planning on adjusting it while I was in there.
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Aug 25, 2008 04:14
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CornHolio posted:The wipers were really mesmerizing, too. Anybody thats seen how the E60 wipers work will understand. okaay, I'll bite. What's mesmerising about E60 wipers?
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Aug 25, 2008 12:07
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Just completed on a '89 325iS. Timing belt, suspension bushings, engine mounts, airmass meter and gear selector linkage are all being replaced. I did see on a previous page a suggesstion of a $300 cooling refresh, what would this entail? I'll post some pictures when I collect her. Any reccomendations for suspension set-ups as this will become my track car.
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Aug 25, 2008 13:39
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ThwartedEfforts posted:okaay, I'll bite. What's mesmerising about E60 wipers? The right one has some dual-motion swing or something. Its hard to explain, I wish I could find a youtube video. Its mesmerizing.
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Aug 25, 2008 14:50
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case posted:Just completed on a '89 325iS. Timing belt, suspension bushings, engine mounts, airmass meter and gear selector linkage are all being replaced. I did see on a previous page a suggesstion of a $300 cooling refresh, what would this entail? Replace the waterpump, radiator, and hoses since you need to take them out to get access to the timing belt.
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Aug 25, 2008 15:24
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I own a cursed 2001 330i. On the day I got out of the Army as I was driving it to the port for shipping I was rear-ended by some uninsured kama'aina. After months of shipping, body work and a snowed in winter I was having it towed for some mechanical issues when the tow company let it roll off the flatbed, across the street and into a boat+truck. Click here for the full 768x512 image. As much as I like it I'm hoping the next incident totals it so I can have a perfect car again. 
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Aug 25, 2008 15:26
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Chin posted:I own a cursed 2001 330i. On the day I got out of the Army as I was driving it to the port for shipping I was rear-ended by some uninsured kama'aina. After months of shipping, body work and a snowed in winter I was having it towed for some mechanical issues when the tow company let it roll off the flatbed, across the street and into a boat+truck. Hey look you have suicide doors!
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Aug 25, 2008 15:33
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CornHolio posted:The right one has some dual-motion swing or something. Its hard to explain, I wish I could find a youtube video. Its mesmerizing. The E39 does this as well. It has a dual point pivot that allows the arm to extend and wipe more of the windshield. The Top Gear e39 M5 video with Tiff Needell shows it pretty well. I wouldn't say it's mesmerizing, but it's neat that they thought of it.
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Aug 25, 2008 15:37
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Mesmerizing is those mono-wipers that they put on Mercedes cars before the DCX fiasco.
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Aug 25, 2008 17:16
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Got a torch and finally got thosr loving rotors off. Im glad we have awesome poo poo like that here at work.
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Aug 25, 2008 18:13
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I called the guy selling the '95 325i here in Halifax and asked him a couple of questions. He's got a license to sell cars and effectively runs a used car lot, but it sounds like he either runs it out of his own home or runs a garage that also sells cars. Here's the details about the car: 152k km 5-speed black 16" alloy wheels power windows, power locks sunroof The guy tells me he bought the car from an "older" couple who were the 2nd owners of the car; they purchased it at 30k km and owned it until this guy got ahold of it a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, because of this, he does not have any maintenance records for the car. He says I might be able to run the VIN to get the history, so if I go look at the car I'll copy it down. He did an MVI on the car when he took possession of it and found everything to be in good shape; he says the car drives great and feels good. He's not sure if the cooling system has ever been replaced or if any of the suspension parts have been replaced either. Not exactly a promising scenario.. what do you guys think? I figure it can't hurt to go take a look at it and see the place he runs (if it's a garage, etc). tropical fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Aug 25, 2008 |
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Aug 25, 2008 19:37
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Das Volk posted:Mesmerizing is those mono-wipers that they put on Mercedes cars before the DCX fiasco. Yes. Mainly because in a rainstorm you ended up mesmerised by how loving useless they were, even on full tilt, and how much closer they brought you to an overnight stay in hospital. A far more sensible and less convoluted arrangement is the 'hand-clap' wipers you see on cars like the Benz A-Class, Citroen C6 and others. They pivot at the two furthest points on the lower edge of the screen, parking across each other and then sweeping away so that they stand upright opposite each other. It means not only that the 'dead spot' of missed water is out of eyesight beneath the rear view mirror, but also that you don't need to reposition them for RHD and LHD markets. When you look at them you wonder why the heck the existing design persists, and why a company like BMW persists in complicating matters with weird and noisy cam arrangements. I do wonder if they know something.
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Aug 25, 2008 19:42
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Brock Landers posted:Replace the waterpump, radiator, and hoses since you need to take them out to get access to the timing belt. Also strongly consider a thermostat and housing while you're in there. E36 parts are available here, I'm sure a comparable kit is available for E30s somewhere: http://store.bimmerworld.com/shared...et=products.asp
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Aug 25, 2008 22:34
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I have a 98 M3 that's pretty much ruining my life as we speak and I'm wondering what I could do. The car has 200k miles, needs new brakes, shocks, has a CE that my mechanic tells me it's valve-related (in his words, can't say much more), new tires, and is overall in an ok-shape, at best. I'm trying to get a reasonable price selling it, but I haven't got any calls yet. I absolutely need to sell it by the end of summer, or I will be out of a car by the first snow fall, and will be working my rear end off to pay for it, all winter long. It pisses me off because anyone with a little more money than I could do something great with the car. The body is fantastic, and with the appropriate maintenance fix (brakes, shocks, tires, etc.) it would be a wonderful car. Black on black with the Contour wheels and Vader seats. Am I better off shelling out the money for the repairs before trying to sell it? Should I sell it as it is right now and get significantly less for the car? Or if neither is a good idea, should I keep it for the winter, and, knowing that I'll have a steady job by June 09, fix it then? Thoughts?
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Aug 26, 2008 00:50
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Pimpsolo posted:Nope. 318ti uses the semi-trailing arm rear suspension from the e30...
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Aug 26, 2008 01:05
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Mad Dragon posted:Z3s use the same rear end. Which would tend to indicate that the 318 is susceptible.
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Aug 26, 2008 01:12
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On getting a 5-series as a daily driver: hells yeah. Just got one myself, really couldn't be happier. Or maybe I could. I bought one with the DICE iPod integration, and it does work after a bit of RTFMing, but it has serious sound issues. It is an older kit (does not support 3rd/4th gen iPods), which is ok because I had my trusty old 2nd gen mini around. But the trickier issue is that it seems that the sound comes out of the iPod way, way too hot and ends up sounding like poo poo. As in anything and everything has massive clipping at any volume in the car. I did cross check the iPod settings and made sure the EQ was off. Is there anything else I can do or should I just throw money at the problem and buy a new silverline kit?
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Aug 26, 2008 04:07
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Why are 7 series so cheap? you'd think a car that expensive from 8 or 9 years ago would be worth a little more.
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Aug 26, 2008 04:53
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Sigma X posted:Which would tend to indicate that the 318 is susceptible. Touche. Which would then implicate the e30 is susceptible? I could be wrong here but I haven't heard anything about e30s having the subframe problem. I won't lie, I'm not an expert on the specific differences in design between e30, e36 318ti, and z3 rear subframe mounts, but I suspect that the z3 has some feature different from the e30 and 318ti that make the z3 more susceptible because I haven't heard about failures in either 318ti or e30s ever really. Good point though. You know it just occurred to me also that they attribute the cause of subframe failures to high torque. The M Coupes, and M Z3s, and really even the 2.5 z3s are putting way more power to the differential than the typical 318ti or e30. Maybe it's a displacement thing?
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Aug 26, 2008 05:13
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Das Volk posted:Why are 7 series so cheap? you'd think a car that expensive from 8 or 9 years ago would be worth a little more. 1) Very expensive to maintain, and lots of little things go wrong. They have a pretty bad reputation reliability wise. If you're comfortable doing your own work, much of this can be negated, however, but most 7-series owners are the kind who drop it off at the dealership for every little thing. 2) Most of the people looking to drive a large German luxury sedan are the kind of people who want a brand new one - and they will lease it. Very few people actually buy a new 7-series since once they are out of warranty they are a nightmare. 3) Even though you can buy a 10 year old for $10k doesn't mean parts will cost the same as $10k car. Parts will still cost what they would as if it were still a $70k car.
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Aug 26, 2008 05:22
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Das Volk posted:Why are 7 series so cheap? you'd think a car that expensive from 8 or 9 years ago would be worth a little more. One, really isn't a lot of the reason someone buys a 7 series kind of a status thing? You hardly portray high status in a decade old car. It isn't that they handle particularly well. They're relatively big and heavy compared to the much more abundant 5 or 3 series. I think mostly though, they're much more expensive to repair than their 3 or 5 series counterparts and have more things to break in the first place. Thus, for someone looking to buy a 8 or 9 year old BMW, their options are basically limited to
Edit kinda beaten Pimpsolo fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Aug 26, 2008 |
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Aug 26, 2008 05:30
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How does the S-class or A8 fare compared to the 7-series in those terms? I always wondered why people get a 7 when the S-class is available. I almost bought a decade-old A8 a few years ago, Im glad I didnt but I wonder what Id be missing.
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Aug 26, 2008 05:55
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CornHolio posted:How does the S-class or A8 fare compared to the 7-series in those terms? The 7 series is for those who like sitting behind the wheel. The S class is for those who like sitting behind the driver.
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Aug 26, 2008 08:50
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I'm so depressed after this bit of news, I think I've finally lost hope in BMW. Let's start with this bit of news from a while back: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/29/the-future-of-m-bmw-x5-x6-and-less/ BMW announces that instead of going ahead with the M3 Wagon, no E92 M3 CSL, and no M1 concept. Instead they want to make some goddamn M SUVs. Then a couple days ago: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/25/no-audi-r8-competitor-coming-from-bmw/ BMW EfficientDynamics director says that there will be no response to the Audi R8. Instead BMW will focus on green technologies. Now today: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/26/spy-shots-bmw-m-tuned-x5-and-x6-in-spartanburg/ Yeah. They went ahead and did it. This is just such a loving watering down of the M brand I can't stand it. Seriously, what happened to the BMW of 10 years ago that focused on sport and driving, instead of the massively bloated and feature-ridden BMWs of today? 
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Aug 27, 2008 03:04
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Here's something to add to your depression.
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Aug 27, 2008 03:25
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maxallen posted:Seriously, what happened to the BMW of 10 years ago that focused on sport and driving, instead of the massively bloated and feature-ridden BMWs of today?
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Aug 27, 2008 03:34
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Xenoid posted:Dollar signs. BMW has always been profitable but just like Porsche makes a lot of money on their Cayenne, BMW makes wads of money on their SUVs as well. Sure it will be fast as hell and probably lap the ring faster than an M3, but why? I would rather see diesels (which are finally coming to Canada this year) and green cars. But even with Porsche and the Cayenne, they still haven't lost their main focus. They still pump out GT2s and GT3s and design exciting new cars like the Cayman. Of course they're also making the Panarama, but I digress. Even the 3 series seems to have lost it's way, becoming more of a small luxo-barge that happens to be sporty, and gaining about 1000 lbs of weight in the process and losing a lot of that character as well. E: That may be a bit too harsh. The 335i is a fine performing car, but it just seems like all the performance is getting lost in feature creep, especially in the M3, which just seems to be turning into more of a M5 to me. maxallen fucked around with this message at 04:47 on Aug 27, 2008 |
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Aug 27, 2008 04:39
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evobatman posted:The 7 series is for those who like sitting behind the wheel. In almost every way the big Benz is a superior drive to the current 7-Series. Its imminent replacement turn things around, supposedly, but still -- the notion that BMWs are inherently better driving than the competition is no different from the notion that Duracell batteries keep your torch burning longer. The S-Class holds its money best, particularly in diesel form, but values still drop faster than spanners down a lift shaft. A high price, big engined, niche model from a mass market manufacturer will always weep money: hardly anyone buys them and few people can afford to run them by the book. If owners skip maintenance or revert to non-authorised repairs, as is often the case after the car has changed hands a few times, then things snowball. You end up with a complicated car that hasn't had its needs attended to, and demand for it will be less as a result. Of course, depreciation is wildly different depending on which country you live in. The Lexus LS is a heavy depreciator in Europe because it's not well regarded, but in the U.S. it's probably one of the more sensible luxury barge buys.
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Aug 27, 2008 09:23
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maxallen posted:But even with Porsche and the Cayenne, they still haven't lost their main focus. They still pump out GT2s and GT3s and design exciting new cars like the Cayman. Of course they're also making the Panarama, but I digress. Even the 3 series seems to have lost it's way, becoming more of a small luxo-barge that happens to be sporty, and gaining about 1000 lbs of weight in the process and losing a lot of that character as well. For the most part I agree, but the 1-series is slotted where the old 3-series was. Every car company moves its cars upmarket - compare the first and latest Maximas, Accords, etc. The new ones are always much larger, because car companies won't sell a car if its smaller than the previous generation - its seen as 'worse.' The 135i is an absolute blast to drive and while Ive never driven an E30 M3, I suspect that the 135i is a pretty decent (and affordable) incarnation of that spirit. As for the 7-series / S-class argument, I don't think a lot of people buy a large luxury car for its handling abilities - they want it to be as isolated as possible, like the S-class. Its just too silly to be a large, well-handling car. If I was going to buy something that large I sure wouldn't have any hopes of tearing up the slalom.
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Aug 27, 2008 13:34
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