BMW E36 M3 Evolution GTii Journal

A few advisories

rear brake pipes
front pads
anti role bar front passenger

relatively happy with that. Shame its going to spend most of this MOT in the garage ha

I dont really have the time to do shows unless its local and falls on the right weekend.

I have bought this as a weekend toy but will be put away when th weather turns

I know the feeling - when carrying out a pre-use check after a month of inaction I found a family of mice living on the inlet manifold of my Z3.  I transferred them to an ice cream container, and their mother had  removed by the time we got home!



I have also found a four-foot long, bright green,  American Whipsnake living under the bonnet - glad it was not in the cockpit, and could suddenly sit up alongside me!


Edited by Mike Fishwick - 14 Sep 2014 at 5:13pm

I thought I had posted these but it seems I have not.


I gave the car a good clean (a little while ago now) and decided to use my DSLR to get some decent photos of the car. Every photo you have seen before has been from my mobile phone.


Shows the car in a better light



























































Cheers


Mark

Thank you

Did you purchase a new bonnet insulation ? you could have had the pixels fixed on the original stereo ? only my opinion but the rover stereo is not something I would have put in such a rare car  

Totally agree with you about keeping a car like this oem it's my plan too on my e36

BIG UPDATE: This is an update for the last 3 months or so

Right, Since owning the car I have known the front pads needed changing, just been waiting for the light to arrive and it did a while ago now. So I bought some ATE OEM Pads, I had a sensor from my previous M3 and bought some front anti role bars to resolve a knock on the front end.

A few photos of stripping it down etc

Anti role bar removal and replace
























Next up was the brake pads...



















And then this...





Looks complete doesn't it. Nope. The bloody front calipers have sized and will not retract correctly. I thought about refurbing these but not keen on messing with the hydraulic side of the brakes so opted to buy some used working items and replace. I might rebuild these calipers and sell on or keep for spares. So lucky for me. I managed to get the old pads back in so I could use the car or at least move it. I have just bought some working calipers and put a bit of paint on them. They also came with braided brake lines which was nice. These will be fitted by a mechanic mate after hours and I will be helping him. I will also be changing the brake fluid for ATE Super Blue and getting the HEL braided clutch line fitted at the same time.

A few snaps of the calipers and a bit of paint















Also I decided to tackle the parking light that had failed on the passenger side.

Why do you have to remove the air box to get at this? Rubbish but all sorted now after lots of bleeding knuckles etc





I started to take the head light out as well!! Bloody thing. But it is all working now and looks good

I have also replaced the boot actuator for the central locking as the boot does not lock on the button. Sadly this has not resolved the issue so need to investigate that. If anyone has ideas on this please let me know?

There is more to the update but that is on going at the moment so will put that up when its finished.

The car as always has been faultless to drive, always starts etc. I have not used it for a couple weeks and took her for a blast the other night and its astonishing how quick the car is even in 6th gear.

Thanks for reading

Mark

Update:


So I wanted to make a start on the bodywork and decided the side with the dent in was more annoying than the side with the key marks.


So off to the bodyshop it went, I was advised to get a new door so this is what I did. Took 14 days to turn up from Germany.


So the door was fitted, painted and blended in etc. Got the call to collect the car. It was dark when I collected so agreed for me to check it out on the Saturday and let them know.


Unhappy was an understatement.


There was a blemish in the paintwork

Buffer marks all over that side from machine polishing

The rear window seal was not fitted correctly and came off when opening the electric rear windows.

Side kit rubber seal was around 2" short. See the photos below

And terrible wind noise from you drivers window.








So an email later and the car is booked back in the following week to sort these problems.


Again, picked the car up after work and it is dark, so look over it saturday and find it is even worse!!


So this time, they have got polish all over the rear screen rubber seal

Wing indicator is not fitted correctly

Clips are sagging on the side trim and the side kit

Door card practically fell off in my hands (bottom clips broken) and the internal door surround fell off.

Wind noise is just as bad but the adjustment in the door means it does not line up correctly with the other panels.

Build up of pait (lip) on the drivers door seal and petrol flap.

And the worst of all, the door card has a small hole in the leather :'( real tears!


So another email and after a few questions the car is booked back in with a list of things they need to sort.


See the pics
























So this time it had all new clips, new indicator, door card removed and fixed etc (£580 for one door card) internal door surround replaced with new, the paint work bits sorted, and the window noise nearly sorted (still has a bit and is going back in Thursday again).


So I have nearly got the car how I wanted when it first went in. One side looks lovely now.








Really impressed with the repair. I have the guys number and will be getting all the leather sorted. Cost £60 to do this door card.


Now the car looks like this (it is dirty in the pics)








So you are probably reading this thinking, cheap bodyshop or repair etc, should of paid more etc etc. Well this bodyshop is the BMW approved shop for most of the South West. They also are approved bodyshop for Range Rover, Volvo and Jaguar.  I have a life time warrenty with the work carried out and the work cost the same as a ropey E36 M3. Hence why inwas so picky and got the car how I wanted.


So next up, the brakes.


I have been nursing the car for a while now trying not to use the brakes too hard. A reminder why, the calipers had siezed where the car was stored for so long. So I purchased some used working calipers, braided brake lines came with them, ATE pads, pagid brake sensor, HEL braided clutch pipe and 2 litres of ATE Super Blue brake fluid.








 


I had the guys who MOT the car do the work as I know the guy who did the work. So nice to have a proper service from a decent local company, car was in and out, work is spot on! Had a good chat about the car and any up coming work it will need. Car drives spot on! He found the car already had a braided clutch pipe so left that alone. Used three quaters of one litre brake fluid. Brakes really nice and strong! No pulling to one side etc, no judders etc. Lovely.


So the only thing left to do was brim the tank and take her for a blast! My god dont they pull well. Effortless power and so smooth





I also had to tax the car. It will probably spend most of its time in the garage now.


Cheers for reading


Mark

Hi Steve,

I ended up buying it from an eBay shop. Its ATE Super Blue racing fluid. Good stuff. I think I paid around £27 for two litres.

It looks good in the tank

I am in the process of buying another car to run around in and put this one away for a while

What about the warning sticker in bottom left corner of the left tin ?

Got the car booked back into the bodyshop on Tuesday so got the old girl out and gave her a clean. Also took a couple snaps of it next to my new purchase.















































Cheers


Mark

Decided I was going to a local Pistonheads breakfast car meet this morning at Haynes, not seen the car for over a month and forgot about it a bit. Opened the garage and and got her out, started first time and sounded so sweet. I have forgotten how fun driving can be, the E39 is nice and quiet but it is not a drivers car. Had a bit of a play on the way out and opened her up a bit, still goes like a scalded cat and the turn in and handling is lovely. It just feels so good. I really appreciate this car now I do not use it much, its epic to get in and drive..

Anyway, some photos of the meet. Alot of mine but hey, why not.

Update;


Got the car out today as the weather was lovely. Had a man and car day. Ages ago I bought the o ring to fix the power steering leak I had. The power steering started making a noise where it was low so decided today was the day.


This is what I could see which annoyed me.





So air box out





Cap off and the tank cleaned





Cap cleaned





O ring replaced





Fluid topped up and cap back on





And all back together





Power steering is now silent and no leaks. Car drove lovely again, goes like stink and so persist. Love it

mboon wrote: I pulled the old girl out today and decided to take her down to my local BMW Specialist and ask a couple questions. Says it all really. I have a weep from one of the vanos covers (left hand side when stood at the front of the engine) I have a sheared bolt on this cover as well which I looked at before (see above previous post) After a good chat we decided to replace all seals and gaskets in the vanos which is costing around the £300 mark. The vanos is nice and quiet and was replaced with a brand new one in 2007 (£2500 from BMW just for the part) He also confirmed that back in the day BMW recalled the Evo for the bolts, he said the new bolts they supply should be uprated so we are going with all new BMW bolts and seals to keep it original. I have also ordered these items in Locking door actuators (used and bought from a friend who breaks these cars, didnt fancy a hong kong version. And the covers for the top seat belt bolts. One of mine is missing and little things like this do my head in. I have also ordered in a load of new interior fixing clips for the door cards and some Glipton leather conditioner.  She is currently sat on the drive looking stunning! Took it for a quick blast to get her up to temps etc and love it.