Keith Posted April 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 Great write up as usual Keith! I've been looking for a replacement for our 2 (Cooper S and E30 cruise mobile) and the e36's are such good value for money I think its a strong contender. A 328i Coupe is on the cards. I'll keep my eyes peeled! Cheers Sam! I'm quite in on the e36coupe forum, so if any particularly nice examples crop up (buy nice I mean looked after, no rust etc) then I'll certainly give you a shout mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 Cheers Sam! I'm quite in on the e36coupe forum, so if any particularly nice examples crop up (buy nice I mean looked after, no rust etc) then I'll certainly give you a shout mate. Cheers Keith. I'm undecided between M3 and and 328 Coupe. I don't think the extra running costs (servicing etc) warrant a M3, but I'd love to have a M. That is IF we go down that route! S2000, Z4M, Cooper S covnertible, SLK etc have all come up in conversation, we just cant decide! I'll probably do a topic on it soon. But yours makes me want one. (Can I ask how much you paid, even via PM?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amowolves Posted April 26, 2010 Report Share Posted April 26, 2010 Sorry mate, missed this. The brakes are excellent as standard, seriously. The Evo's came with 2 piece floating discs (about £140 each from dealers) and the they are fantastic stock brakes. Similar to the 330 in terms of stopping power, definately, but the design means they are better at dealing with heat and hard use. A floating disc will be better than a one-piece, as they allow a slight tolerances for movement, allowing heat expansion to happen without causing undesiable effects as with a one-piece, and thus perform better when hot. A common upgrade on the 6-pot E36s is to upgrade to 330 brakes or M3 Evo floaters - both are regarded as being very good upgrades, which shows they are similar in terms of performance. For the money though, the OEM discs are regarded as being the best you can buy - rated above slotted/drilled one-pieces anyway. Same brakes are on the M Coupes. Hope that helps answer your query mate Cheers Keith, First time ive heard of them. Keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natedogg Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 You wait til you see this with the coils wound right down woo hoo. good man keith. (make sure you deck it pre tracking though) awesome e36 chap - look forward to seeing it at a show - just dont park anywhere near my car - its a shed in comparison!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted April 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 UPDATE. Postman arrived today with the last pieces of my washer system jigsaw - the correct telescope. Old next to new; And the rest of the pieces; The 5L washer bottle, new rubber seals, mesh, telescope and bracket were all new dealer bits. The rest, were sourced elsewhere... A new HL pump, plus the appropriate electrical connection for the pump (as it was an older type and mine didn't fit) were from Phil at Shropshire, a new and rather white washer bottle lid (which are a discontinued part) was kindly donated FOC from another e36coupe.com forum member's personal collection of them (Now that's OCD - stockpiling old washer tops)! Finally, a new pair of decent headlight wash nozzles, as mine were dog eared from somebody getting pliers on them; Old New Telescope assembly was aligned and given a new jubilee clip; And the new washer bottle in place and everything connected; Much better than the skanky old black one, I'm sure you will agree. Excuse the slightly dirty bay, and car for that matter - the full-on cleaning will come once all the niggles have been sorted :wink: Total cost to refresh and make this system work is about £90 quid, but well worth is as it now all works I do need to pull my finger out and get some more photos of the car, as I now have the wheels back from the refurbers and all the rub strips treated and back on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted April 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 Finally fitted this too It's a very snug fit, and the weave pattern and colours make it a very nice feature inside the (presently dirty) engine bay. I'll get it all cleaned up and go for a proper drive tomorrow, and report back on how it howls :twisted: Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljc8165 Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 I fukcing love reading your posts mate!!!! I gotta admit some of it goes right over me head but its like looking into a haynes manual!!!! The dogs dangly bits, keep it up!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee131 Posted April 27, 2010 Report Share Posted April 27, 2010 If your gonna bump into me soon you'll see your inspiration......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted April 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 Finally finished the tiresome jobs on the car today. This involved a second cleaning of the arches, as I hadn't quite finished them on my rest days (from shift-work) last week, and had to use the car. So the wheels came off again, arches washed again, and a final thin coat of Hammerite Underbody Seal + Waxoyl was laid. Liners were washed, and replaced. The newly-refurbed wheels were cleaned with Autosol (they are bare metal, no lacquer) and then treated to 2 coats of Poorboys. Finally, I haven't scraped on the bump down my road recently, so I felt I could afford to wind the fronts down another two threads. Still no scraping as I go over really slowly, but I can't be far off, so this is how the stance shall remain until the shows in summer (at which point I'll have it down further). Haven't had a chance to take any proper full-shot pictures until today, but here she is. New rub strips and refurbished wheels have improved the appearance no-end. Please excuse two things: - The plate in the window; the screw holes were so near the edge, the plate simply cracked as I was trying to remove it. A new one will be ordered soon. - The grey Vaders in the front! Mine are with John as we speak. Next up is getting an OEM sound system back in, new mats, sorting the boot (can't decide to de-spoiler or not) and I've got some ideas about creating a simple, but quite different look visually, which I might try out for the Pod. Gaydon will be OEM+, much like it is now, just tidier. Thanks for looking. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffman Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 nice work keith. just my 2 cents worth but i'd keep the spoiler............. it flows well with the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted April 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 nice work keith. just my 2 cents worth but i'd keep the spoiler............. it flows well with the car. Cheers man - I'm leaning toward keeping it too. It's the rarer 'rainbow' curved type too, so it is a nice feature. But I can't stop thinking about how 'clean' it could look without one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffman Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 Cheers man - I'm leaning toward keeping it too. It's the rarer 'rainbow' curved type too, so it is a nice feature. But I can't stop thinking about how 'clean' it could look without one... just from lookin at your sig keith i think it looks really clean as is. thats a rare enough spoiler you have there mate. if you remove it i think you'll change how "tasty" the whole back end looks. that is one awsome looking beast as is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrimja Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 I too think the spoiler works well. The wheels look good after the refurb too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaz Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 Very tidy mate Another vote for keeping the spoilet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted April 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 All pro-spoiler so far?! Maybe I just like changing things for the sake of it lol. Cheers for the comments anyway. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffman Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 use the force keith.................. the answers will come!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conor Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 Car looks fantastic Keith. Another for keeping the spoiler. Such attention to detail, it really shows through. Top work as always dude! More pics too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amowolves Posted April 28, 2010 Report Share Posted April 28, 2010 looking great keith....im all for keeping cars looking oemish so the spoiler must stay! looks mint....will be wrth more by the time youve done with by the sounds and looks of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffman Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 true statement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natedogg Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 keep the spolier - but... needs to be 5mm lower at the front or 5mm higher at the back - front has arch gap rear doesn't = fail!! lol i'd lose front plate and get a number plate blank US style - even if only for shows mate - or a shortened one if you must run a plate. other than car looking very nice. paint has come up very good - hard to believe its 12yrs old!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted April 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 keep the spolier - but... needs to be 5mm lower at the front or 5mm higher at the back - front has arch gap rear doesn't = fail!! lol i'd lose front plate and get a number plate blank US style - even if only for shows mate - or a shortened one if you must run a plate. other than car looking very nice. paint has come up very good - hard to believe its 12yrs old!! Cheers dude. Lol, don't want to raise the rear any more else it looks too high, front can't go down (although I'd love to be able to), as just to leave the estate I live in, I have to cross 3 full-length speed humps - so it's dialled in to the very limit. I have a plate blank on order mate - that will go on for the shows :thumb: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorge- Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 I love your use of cut and paste in the signature Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mit Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 My 2p on the spoiler... cars that had the spoiler from the factory had the 3rd brake light integrated into it and removed from the rear window. Cars that had it retrofitted still have the 3rd brake light in the rear window. If your car has the 3rd brake light in the rear window, dump the spoiler. If it has no 3rd brake light, keep the spoiler as that's how it came from the factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted April 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 I know Mit I I were to remove Id retrofit a parcelshelf brake light to keep it all original Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted April 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 I love your use of cut and paste in the signature Lol... Crude, but effective. I'm a bit hopeless with fancy Photoshop skillz. MS Paint is easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
