Performance BMW's E36 Touring (UK)

[BenKoflach]

Originally Posted by VIPForgedModular

badass wagon buddy!

Thank you!

Not much of an update, but got a couple of jobs done over the weekend which had been niggling me for a while.

First up, my passenger side rear door lock hasn't been operating with the central locking since only a couple of months after I got the car. So today I replaced the actuator, having got one from a car someone (bnum3 on E36coupe) was breaking for just a fiver - bargain!



It's a fiddly git of a job - got most of the way through dis-assembly then had to resort to this rather handy guide - http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=114414

In that guide it says that you have to take the glass out to replace the actuator - thanks to my weedy hands though, I managed it without resorting to that. Took a while but got there in the end.

This is where it is - I had to fit it through the opening for the door handle.



With that done I moved onto the next job - replacing the seized aux fan, which was diagnosed last time I was up at DynoTorque. Again bought one from a car being broken, though I think it may have been off an M3 as the cowling was different.





Quick switcheroo of the motor and it was ready to go back in - after I'd cleared the mountain of leaves out that is.



Back in - top right bolt is a bugger so had to pop the headlight out for a mo.



Put it all back together and went for a test run, crossed a funny number - and yes, I need to redo my sharpie needles.



No matter how hard or slow I drove the fan just wouldn't come on but there's no reason to think it's not working. Will just have to wait until a warm day I guess. Numberplate also fell off so need to get some sticky pads, and I've gone back to smoked lights.



Replaced the climate control unit as it seemed to blow either boiling hot or freezing cold.



Gave the car a quick wash too.









Also, this is the reason I'm not currently running the Azevs - two cracks in one wheel, bloody potholes!





But they will soon be back - I've ordered new tyres for them (Falken ZE914s) and also ordered some brand new flat centrecaps from Azev in Germany. Good times





This will also be wired up soon.

[BenKoflach]

Little update - been continuing giving the Touring a tidy up and generally fixing it up.

Got a Park Lane tax disc holder - my car was from there originally so it made sense. Thanks to Sam for the eBay tip-off :wink:



Then on Friday fell foul of the weather and slid into a bank - this will be professionally repaired on Saturday. Felt like quite a hard impact so was pleased to see that once I'd flicked the mud off it's only really cracked the bumper and broken a couple of clips.



Also had the local dealer (Coopers in Sevenoaks, 2 doors down from work) get me a few bits in - picking up a couple more today, which had to come over from Germany. Mainly clips, as well as an oil filter and a C pillar trim. Two new ashtray bulbs too, which were a little pricey at £7 each but I think the extra lighting is a nice touch. Was also hoping to order a new interior a-pillar trim as mine has some broken clips but they wanted £145 (!) so I told them to leave it.

Was going to do an oil service this weekend, in time for our track day, but ran out of time - still has two green bars but no harm in doing it early.



Several clips were broken at the front of my drivers side skirt so I gave the skirt a tug to see which ones had gone and was pretty surprised by the amount of crap in there - nothing the pressure washer couldn't sort out though!



And done, fits much more snuggly and doesn't move any more.



Next up was the mouldings on the passenger side, both of which had gaps around them where the clips were broken. Another very satisfying fix.







Gave it all a thorough clean before refitting but it began raining so didn't take any photos!

The final job was changing my climate control unit - yes, I only did it last weekend, but that unit keeps suffering from a blank screen. Luckily I had another spare unit, but the case/fascia was pretty well used and had broken clips etc, so I 're-shelled' it into my car's original one, which was nice looking but broken. The fan from my car's original one also looked like a newer design so I used that again.



Fitted it and it works really well so I'm chuffed with that. Wasn't chuffed with the weather though, so tackled some other jobs that needed doing - name the kart, any kart geeks out there



Finally, went on a late-night errand lastnight in my mate's Herald. Sorry to anyone in Tunbridge Wells that we woke up, it's not quiet!

[323ci_Gilbert]

Nice build! keep up the great work

[BenKoflach]

Had a really good day at the PBMW trackday last week - saw some familiar faces and met some new ones which was good!

It was seriously cold and with the track being damp, it was seriously slippery too. Which made for a new challenge, that's for sure. Was also a great place to test a few upgrades I've fitted recently.

Just a couple of snaps from the MSV website:

This is when I asked Robin from RAW Motorsport to test my car out (and show me how to drive properly)





Then I got out there for some hard charging - was really so pleased with the car, the handling was really progressive and predictive and it was pulling very well too. Overtook a caged E34 M5, E46 M3s, E92 M3s...







Then it decided to do this - spray coolant everywhere from the rad cap. I topped the system up and bled it thoroughly, but during a longer stint later on the needle started creeping up the temp gauge. I immediately slowed, sat in fifth and let the air get through the rad, which bought the temperature back down swiftly. However, it had done it again - there was coolant everywhere.



Not good, and after refilling/bleeding again the needle tried to creep up again on the way home - luckily keeping moving saw it come back down and it didn't get as far as the light but still a little worrying. Going to limp it to Munich Legends tomorrow to have it checked out - hoping that with a proper pressure bleed and a new rad cap it might be ok. Though it could well be something much more serious...

Sorry, this is copied from another forum - bit of a back-dated update.

Before the track day I replaced my radiator and hoses - the old rad was bowing out nicely at the bottom and was full of leaves and bits of bird etc, so it was time to get rid. I only found out how bad it was when I swung into Munich Legends a few days before the track day so the rush was on - my old hoses looked pretty knackered and fearing a split when I tried to remove them, I gave Samco a ring. They only had blue in stock but hey, they'll do the job nicely and they said they'd work something out for giving me the colour I want (black, maybe yellow) at a later date.

The rad was just an Eis one from ECP, but I used genuine coolant. I would have done anyway but Munich stressed that they often have problems with inferior coolant furring things up etc - worth noting to anyone planning a coolant change.



Rad swap was even easier than I thought - didn't really get any pics apart from this one, showing how knackered the old one was.



New rad in, coolant refilled and bled:







As mentioned previously it then got a little warm on track after pressurising its coolant, by the looks of things. It also started trying to overheat while I limped it back from Brands (after a coolant refill and bleed).

So at the end of last week I decided to limp it to Munich Legends. Got my rescue kit together - refitted the viscous fan and shorted out the air con fan to keep it all as cool as possible and took lots of water. A friend followed me down there to bring me back.





It wasn't enough - I'm yet to have the official line from Munich Legends (they're really busy so I told them to keep it for as long as they need) but my suspicions are head gasket. In which case, RIP M52.

I've been offered a 318iS engine for free so daft as it sounds, might bung that in the hole to keep it moving, or maybe even see if I can build up a cheap turbo M44 for a bit of fun. Who knows - will update when I have the verdict from Munich.

As you may also have noticed I took delivery of a few UUC bits including that rather lovely strut brace - when I have a bit more time I'll write about those too!

[omni01_k]

Keep at it. Hopefully you won't need to get rid of the M52

[L///MU Andr3w]

I've always admired your car Ben! It's fun to see it get some love in the magazine from time to time!

[BenKoflach]

Originally Posted by omni01_k

Keep at it. Hopefully you won't need to get rid of the M52

It turned out to be ok, but is going anyway. Thanks for the words of support though

Originally Posted by L///MU Andr3w

I've always admired your car Ben! It's fun to see it get some love in the magazine from time to time!

Thanks! It's a privilege to have it in the mag, really enjoy it and glad you enjoy reading about it.

Have been meaning to do a quick write-up on the UUC bits that were fitted just before the track day. This is also written up at full length in the latest issue.

First up, here's a list of the bits I got:

Evo 3 Short Shifter with dual shear selector rod
Stage 2 clutch and flywheel
Braided clutch hose
Sway Barbarian strut brace

I then also got a low mileage replacement gearbox (the 323i Touring has a ZF anyway so not an upgrade as such, just maintenance as the old one was a little noisy) and a new shifter carrier from Munich Legends, as the gearbox didn't come with one and it saved faffing around using the old one. The gearbox came from A1BN, really cheap and turned up next day.

I built the shifter parts up at home, then put the gearbox and other bits in my boot to drive down to RAW Motorsport one evening the week before the trackday.

Clutch/FW kit:


Short shifter kit:


Fitted:



Transport time!


As you can see I also used Royal Purple gearbox fluid and ATE Super Blue hydraulic fluid - only the good stuff.

Down at RAW in Southampton:


All fitted:


Robin pumping in the RP gearbox fluid:


And job done. As ever RAW Motorsport have done a fantastic job - I can're recommend Robin and his team enough. They always go above and beyond, always do things the proper way (I can't stand shortcuts and bodges and they're the same) and perhaps best of all, are a really friendly bunch and a good laugh.

Here's an example of the proper work they do down there - this is a Compact Cup racer they're building for a customer. Not only are they carrying out all the necessary steps to making it ultra-competitive, but they're also making it all absolutely mint in the process. They're doing another like this at the moment, which will be available to hire.







The last step was then fitting the UUC strut brace, which I did at home.



The result of all this is that the car feels absolutely fantastic. The UUC parts I had before (engine mounts, gearbox mounts, rear braided hoses) were all of excellent quality and the same can be said for these parts. Everything bolted up as it should, came with all the needed lubricants and Loctite (which makes me happy) and just performs exactly the way UUC promised it would.

The shift is short and feels so mechanical without being notchy or difficult to use. There's just no slack or rattle through it - it makes shifting feel really intense, for want of a better word.

The f/w clutch combo is fantastic too. The flywheel is the perfect weight - the engine revs quicker and accelerates quicker but without it being so light that it's undriveable. For any road or track day car I'd go as far as saying that it's just absolutely perfect. The clutch is an OE E34 M5 item so gives a greater area of friction material (so the capacity to handle more torque) but doesn't add any pedal weight. It's made such a huge improvement to the driving experience without sacrificing driveability in the slightest.

The strut brace has also made a notable improvement to turn-in - I'm going to be looking for another X-brace to bolt on now as I hadn't realised just how floppy the front of the touring had felt.

In other news, the Touring will be going back to RAW at the end of the month, following which it'll be put back on the road - I've got a daily now so let the tax and MOT run out so that I could save a bit of cash until the weather improves.

Sorry for the large images - can't find how to reduce them on the new Photobucket. If anyone's worked it out please tell me!

[BenKoflach]

New (well, second hand) rad is now in, with genuine coolant - so the car is theoretically now fully functioning.



My dad also had his wheels refurbed by a mobile smart repair guy, so needed something to keep his E39 propped up.



Which meant I put the rear Azevs back on mine. Forgot how good they look!





My brother-in-law also painted my rear arches as they'd suffered some damage, and rust was setting in. No pics of that I'm afraid.

Probably dropping it down to RAW next weekend for a few bits to be done, then an MOT and we're on the road again!

[BenKoflach]

Eek!

[DennisCooper!]

Hi Ben,

Nice updates over recent months and glad to see you've stuck by the car

Looks like those pesky squirrels have half inched your motor !

which 'S' designation engine is going back in there?!

Cheers, Dennis!