The official E36 OT Thread!!

325e which is what I wanted because better mpg...long term is mild drop, wheels and roof rack...going to be my daily.

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Originally Posted by drivinfaster

met alex today. note to self, no *not* plan to meet @ shopping center the weekend before christmas. ever.

traffic was insane!!!

between a bridge being out, some guy trying to make his sedan an suv (possibly getting away from teh po-po??), and then the rush of last minute shoppers.... traffic sucke!!

I agree we should have found somewhere better to meet. On my second circle of the mall I noticed a shutdown bank or something a crossed the street with lots of car in its parking lot. I think people were parking there a walking to the mall.
You hit traffic on the way back too? That sucks. I must be very lucky or something because again the second I cleared the mall 75-80MPH all the way home.


With DF's exhaust and some wire for Home Depot I now have everything I need to start painting my car genial lee orange. Tomorrow I will hook up the junk oven and soda blast my rims and exhaust. Then if I have time start powder coating the rims black. Maybe I should start a project thread. What do you guys think?

Originally Posted by cj.surr

Very true.

I'll wait for ed to pitch in with how exactly he mounted his, since it seems he has had good luck with it.


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I mounted mine kinda like you have yours, but carved a bit of foam to make a cradle in the rear brake light housing. That raised it up so that it had clear line of sight out the front window, and I then cut the slats out of the vented cover for the brake light. (Part #4)

Then because the R/D stuck out of the frame ( a little bit-sorry don't seem to have any pictures currently) so I covered the frame of the light vent with a thin sock. (Any stretchy thin material will do).

I am not worried here over police using laser, however range doesn't seem too badly hampered as I've still received ample warning the one time I did encounter it.

Originally Posted by TechieTechie

Crap Jesse, that is really nice! What is the long term plan for this car?

Oh, and hello from the Buckeye state. Man, that was one lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng drive in a non-BMW. Blech.

Disappointment obliviated by seeing my niece, nephew and family! All worth it :-)

Done the drive from Orlando to Ohio (and back) in a Dodge Ramcharger (7 x , 4 when speed limit was 55 mph), Chevy Astro Van, and a Dodge conversion van. Talk about Bleh!

What part of Ohhoho? My wife is from Willoughby.......

Originally Posted by dc_wright

Unfortunately that is a big a$$ no! The coefficient of expansion for water (coolant is essentially the same) is .000207 per degree C, which means it's volume hardly increases with temperature within the normal operating range of the engine. When it heats to the point of steam it transitions into the gas laws (((P1 x V1)/T1) = ((P2 x V2)/T2))and then you get significant expansion, that's why you get the so called "boil over". When you've got a couple of cubic inches of air trapped in the coolant circuit the pump just simply can't pump. It will move fluid until the air bubble gets to the pump and then circulation stops.
If all it took was just a little bit of coolant getting the pump the system would be relatively immune to air entrapment and wouldn't have to be bled.

I have officially been schooled.

I suppose I should've known that, I've seen pots of water boil plenty of times. Volume in the pot really doesn't change much until boiling point. Putting in new water pump anyway since the old one was a pita to remove.

I have a 92C tstat, brand new. Theoretically I could run straight water in there to test until I know that bleeding was the only issue, right? Combined with being pressurized to 2bar which should increase the boiling point some I can save some money on coolant until I have it sorted out?



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Back in the e36 game, just picked up a TI
quick question tho, any trans will bolt up to the M42 right? getrag or ZF out of an M50/52 should be fine right?

also its OBD2 so how hard is deleting the TCU gonna be?

any will bolt up.


nice to have you back.

Originally Posted by E36 Phantom

I can save some money on coolant until I have it sorted out?

Yes, but you'll be back to bleeding it after it's sorted because you'll have to drain a gallon of plain water to be replaced with coolant. There's no way to do that without introducing air back into the system.

Originally Posted by hornhospital

Yes, but you'll be back to bleeding it after it's sorted because you'll have to drain a gallon of plain water to be replaced with coolant. There's no way to do that without introducing air back into the system.

That's fine. This is just for troubleshooting. As long as running straight water won't hurt anything and still give accurate results to rule out other issues I'm fine with bleeding it afterwards. I just don't want to put $50 of coolant in there to dump out later.

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Originally Posted by E36 Phantom

That's fine. This is just for troubleshooting. As long as running straight water won't hurt anything and still give accurate results to rule out other issues I'm fine with bleeding it afterwards. I just don't want to put $50 of coolant in there to dump out later.

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There's nothing wrong with running straight distilled water for a short period of time. 50/50 mix raises the boiling point about 10-12 degrees so it's not that big a deal. To get significant increase in the boiling point you have to get into mixes where the coolant is 80% or greater part of the mix, and at that point you've lost 30% or so of cooling capacity because the specific heat of coolant is lower than plain water.
The anti-corrosive properties and the anti-freezing properties are the most important part of the deal.

Originally Posted by B1MM3R

325e which is what I wanted because better mpg...long term is mild drop, wheels and roof rack...going to be my daily.

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Just noted from your sig photo they put you in SM class for autocross. That's in line with the letter of the rules but pretty damn harsh with respect to intent. Seems like they should really class you as an M3 in SP.

Originally Posted by dc_wright

Just noted from your sig photo they put you in SM class for autocross. That's in line with the letter of the rules but pretty damn harsh with respect to intent. Seems like they should really class you as an M3 in SP.

I totally agree, I still hang with all those awd Sti's tho

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Yesterday gave our daughter a birthday party (turned 3). She loved it, we all had fun...

Just took a look at how much I spent and going to be spending within the next couple of days...

And so far I'm digging into the M3 funds... so no my tranny swap and paint will have to wait till late Jan.

I literally spent $1.5k on this party... but totally worth the smile on her face

Originally Posted by dc_wright

Done the drive from Orlando to Ohio (and back) in a Dodge Ramcharger (7 x , 4 when speed limit was 55 mph), Chevy Astro Van, and a Dodge conversion van. Talk about Bleh!

What part of Ohhoho? My wife is from Willoughby.......

Don....we continue to have more in common

Mansfield, half way between Cleveland and Columbus. At one point (in the 1930s and 1940s) it had the 3rd highest per capita income in the US and a nickname of Little Detroit, as it was a common stopping point for drug runners heading from the coasts to Detroit. And, Mansfield boasted gorgeous old homes, thanks to the headquarters of Ohio Brass, Tappan Electric, Gorman Rupp, and White Westinghouse in this county seat of 100,000. And, in the 1950s, it added one of GM's biggest tool and die plants. Now, it's home to a dying economy and so many old historic homes rotting at their foundations (or turned into drug houses) that it's tough to visit.....

Originally Posted by dc_wright

There's nothing wrong with running straight distilled water for a short period of time. 50/50 mix raises the boiling point about 10-12 degrees so it's not that big a deal. To get significant increase in the boiling point you have to get into mixes where the coolant is 80% or greater part of the mix, and at that point you've lost 30% or so of cooling capacity because the specific heat of coolant is lower than plain water.
The anti-corrosive properties and the anti-freezing properties are the most important part of the deal.

Someone was paying attention in his materials science class!

Originally Posted by B1MM3R

I totally agree, I still hang with all those awd Sti's tho

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And they still announce you as a 318 right?

Originally Posted by EnserioJose

Someone was paying attention in his materials science class!

Yep! Actually it was hydraulics, thermodynamics and chemistry classes, but close enough........

DC never disappoints with his knowledge of pretty much everything

Originally Posted by cj.surr

DC never disappoints with his knowledge of pretty much everything

Mostly wisdom of age folks..........

I recognize I go off the deep end sometimes too so if I get too professorial feel free to call me out on it.

I was fortunate to go through a very unique engineering degree program and work in an industry where I got to (or was forced to) learn a lot of different technologies to solve design challenges. Got to do a lot of failure analysis too so I was able to learn a lot from others mistakes.

Paint looking good...thought clear was off but actuallY I'm good shape!
This is after one paint cleaner application
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Dang Jesse, that little E30 is going to clean up nicely! That almost qualifies as a barn find.

Originally Posted by Brad31late

Yesterday gave our daughter a birthday party (turned 3). She loved it, we all had fun...

Just took a look at how much I spent and going to be spending within the next couple of days...

And so far I'm digging into the M3 funds... so no my tranny swap and paint will have to wait till late Jan.

I literally spent $1.5k on this party... but totally worth the smile on her face

So long as you don't get into this level you're doing OK.




Not to sound insensitive, but after getting the bill for this I'd have hung myself too.

Originally Posted by noexceptions325

Back in the e36 game, just picked up a TI
quick question tho, any trans will bolt up to the M42 right? getrag or ZF out of an M50/52 should be fine right?

also its OBD2 so how hard is deleting the TCU gonna be?

Any will work, but remember that the ZF 5-speed only came in the 328 and M3. The 318, 325, and 323 all had the Getrag 5-speed.

Originally Posted by B1MM3R

Paint looking good...thought clear was off but actuallY I'm good shape!
This is after one paint cleaner application
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Damn Jesse, I'm jealous, too. Good thing I don't have a garage or even a driveway, or I'd be dragging stuff like this home all the time.

Also, I'm assuming E30s all have single stage paint?

Open computer, hit refresh, notice Chad was complaining about 38*...



How is everyone?

Originally Posted by FenderBender

What is it? 325i, or 325e, or what?

In showing my noobness....what's the difference between the two?

The "e" was increased to 2.7L and low compression. Basically made it slow and saved a couple mpg. I think the 318 actually got better mpg and was just as fast. Not to mention like 100lb lighter.