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E36 M3 Common Maintenance Issues (Reference)

252K views 127 replies 71 participants last post by  stim989 
#1 ·
Common Maintenance Issues

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)

Anyone think of anything else?
 
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#118 ·
I was just curious. In Japan, it used to be considered quite chic to own a LHD car, and for all I know, it still is. From what I remember of the southeast, Oz has pretty generous sight distances that should make LHD not intolerable, sight distance that are probably much more generous than in parts of Japan! Most countries also allow you to import, duty-free as part of your household goods, a car you have owned while living abroad for a while. The homoligation of the older US-market cars is generally also not too bad. At least that has been true with the four countries I am a little familiar with: Denmark, Finland, Germany and the U.S.
Cool. Thanks for the reply, John. No, its just not worth it in Aus. They make it extremely difficult to import cars and have all new laws on grey imports which make it expensive.
Gone are teh days when you would import after owning a car for a year. My mate back in 2001 bought an RX7 series 6 and brought it back home with him to sell. It cost him a fortune to import.
You do know we live in cities in Australia right?? That line of sight stuff.....I have NO idea where you're getting that from. To me, you have better line of sight here in NA. All the roads are long, straight and boring compared to where I live anyway. An M3 is far more suited to Aus than NA with how well they are designed to handle.
Most cars back home (in Perth) are built for handling and then speed. In that order ;-).

I think I'm going to walk away from buying an M3 now after reading more and more and seeing that I just dont have the time nor the storage space to have to deal with all the issues when they arise. I dont think its the car for me at this point in my life.

Thanks to everyone who's contributed to these forums and helped in creating them. It was really helpful to me and many others.

:)

Wes
 
#128 ·
Another option for the oil pump nut is to replace the pump with an upgraded unit from Achilles Motorsport. They changed the nut to a bolt and therefore change the shaft as well. If I remember correctly they also tie it with wire for extra safety. I have their pump in my e36 and it's been running well.
 
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