I thought it might be helpful if we had a thread handy that mentioned the common problem areas of the e36 /M. Things to look for when searching for a new car and things to keep in mind as the miles go by (in fact, much of this list is normal maintenance). Here's a list off the top of my head:
1) Rear shock mounts
2) Rear Trailing Arm Bushings (RTABS)
3) Water pump (they seem to last about 40k miles even with the ss impellers, but 95 - mid 97 /Ms had a stock plastic impeller that failed routinely)
4) Transmission mounts (to avoid mis-shifts)
5) Shocks (oem seem to last about 40k miles)
6) Radiator (hose fittings crack - about 60k miles?)
7) Thermostat housing
8) Vanos failures seem to be fairly common
9) The undercariage panel seems to routinely fall off (and can be replaced with an aftermarket metal piece that stays)
trunk lid wiring shorts that cause several grimlins to crop up in the system (trunk lock issues, door lock issues, etc.), same for where the door harness goes through the driver hinge areas. These are not issues for the cars due to poor construction of the car itself, rather, much ike the issues with the radiator, the car is at least 10 years old for the 95's now, and much like Mrs. Bush says when George W goes to bed, we can say "I feel age creeping upon me..."
Sure, if you suppose you have to use the same wire in the same way. If you don't, then the wiring problems could be an engineering or cost minimization failure (for the owner), not a matter of old age. And more importantly, it means you could solve the problems so that they don't resurface every ten years (or whatever).
No burnouts, just some drifting here and there. Plus the wheel spin from first to second.
And does anyone burn oil at an obscene rate? I'm running full synthetic and I'm going through 2 quarts between oil changes! I drive hard, but still...
I'm doing oil changes every 4-5k.
No burnouts, just some drifting here and there. Plus the wheel spin from first to second.
And does anyone burn oil at an obscene rate? I'm running full synthetic and I'm going through 2 quarts between oil changes! I drive hard, but still...
I'm doing oil changes every 4-5k.
That's absurd oil consumption. I did 5,000 mile oil changes of Mobil 1 and the car burned less than a half a quart over the course of 5,000 miles. Including when I was autocrossing the car at least twice a month and generally beating the crap out of it.
The ignition cylinder fault has happened once or twice, Should I expect this to fail completely soon? Could this be fixed under a TSB, my car has 97 K on the odometer. How expensive is this repair?
I just bought a 1996 M3. I bought it knowing that the alternator tensioner needed to be replaced (it makes a horrible whistling sound at idle that gets worse if i turn the lights on) and the power steering hoses are weepy. I got the car home and this morning there was two five inch diameter puddles of brownish liquid on the ground. There was nothing on the ground of the guy's garage I bought it from. I love the car, but am I going to have to spend thousands on maintenance right away? If anyone might know what my problem could be I would appreciate it. Thanks
Jason is great. Very helpful and somehow shipped a tierod from CA at 5:00pm to TX in less than a day! (11:30AM to my door!) I have no Idea how they can do that! Even with shipping the entire tire rod assembly was $61, while BMW was charging over $120+tax for the same part!
Jason is great. Very helpful and somehow shipped a tierod from CA at 5:00pm to TX in less than a day! (11:30AM to my door!) I have no Idea how they can do that! Even with shipping the entire tire rod assembly was $61, while BMW was charging over $120+tax for the same part!
I stayed up late last night reading through the Pelican Parts site. I'm interested in entering the BMW community via the E36 M3, and that site went a long way to convincing me that they're very managable from a DIY maintenence standpoint. Great site. Very well written and thorough. :beerchug:
is there any others out there that have gauge problems..? my buddy is having a problem with the gauge needles going crazy from time to time (going right to the top then they go back)..... he has had it to the dealership at least 10 times they cant pinpoint it.. i am think ing grounding?? any ideas?
I stayed up late last night reading through the Pelican Parts site. I'm interested in entering the BMW community via the E36 M3, and that site went a long way to convincing me that they're very managable from a DIY maintenence standpoint. Great site. Very well written and thorough. :beerchug:
Thanks guys - I wrote most of the articles on the site. If you like what you've seen there, then you'll love my new book which has much more of the same (101 Performance Projects for your BMW 3 Series). The official book website is here: http://www.101projects.com and here is a recent link about it on BimmerFest.com:
I was looking forward to purchasing the E36 M3 till I read this thread and Wow! m3 has a lot of maintenance to worry about it gave me second thoughts of purchasing it. Im not worried about buying a m3 im more worried about second hand sellers not maintaining there vehicles properly and maintaining/replacing parts on time. Most of the m3s are around 100k miles for about $15k more or less nowadays which is all i can afford and if the m3 isnt maintained properly by the previous owner I or the new buyer will be having headaches dealing with mechanic issues and maybe even spending thousands more.
Anyhow I read many good things about the e36 m3 which caught my attention, especially knowing that the car can turn like its on rails but, is it really worth the money? maybe I should go with a 3series coupe E46 with less problems. what do you guys think? is m3 only worth it to m3 enthusiast who enjoys their car even after constant problems such as radiator /thermostat/waterpump etc. sigh* after reading all of these problems it gave me a head ache =/ anyhow if I do purchase a e36 m3 ^^ wayne@pelican I will definately purchase your book
Oh and thanks, this thread helped me a lot !! best thread with regular maintenace listed yet!
Im at 135,000 miles now on my '94 325is. Runs great, and once you get all the maintenance done its fine. All of my problems happened at 100k-120k and the car was 10years old at the time.
Things I did and you should do and/or get.
-new water pump with a metal impeller. OEM's were plastic.
-new metal thermostat housing. OEM was plastic.
-new thermostat at 120k. old one failed shut, resulting in a near overheat
-remove the fan. Install an electronic fan.
-remove rubber plug drain thing above computer. It gets clogged and results in overflow of water onto the computer
-beware of wires in the truck lid harness, many have shorted out due to disintegrated wiring. May cause fire.
-replace radiator with all aluminum one. My old one failed, the plastic water neck broke off.
-power window motor went out. replaced.
-brakes are underpowered. Replaced fronts with '04 330i rotors and calipers and carriers. Direct bolt on. Also, replace the rubber brake lines with stainless.
-front control arm bushings needed replaced. Used nice offset RTRS delrin replacements.
-trunk gasket squeaks when driving. Rub liquid hand soap into the gasket every few months.
-Oxy sensor replaced at 110k. That isnt easy to get to btw.
-drivers side door handle internals broke. Made of plastic that got brittle. Replaced.
-door panel leather was peeling off. '92-95 had bad adhesive. Replaced with new ones.
-sunroof developed serious leak. removed sunroof, replaced with carbon fiber plug. Very happy with this mod. Lost over 120lbs from the top of the car. Makes it handle a hell of a lot better.
-Shocks were shot at 120k. replaced with konis.
-Rear shock towers were shot. Replaced with Turner units.
-front towers are shot. Havent replaced them yet though.
I get a brake light circuit failure that shows up on the comp randomly and then goes away. I've checked the brake light and it works. I've also checked the fuse but it is not that either. Should I just leave it be until the message stays on or until the brake lights stop working?
This happened to me a few months back, seems like it's pretty common on our cars. Replace the brake light switch located directly above the brake pedal arm (use lots of lighting and prepare to work in a tight space, on your back).
Here's a pretty good link covering the procedure involved:
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