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BMW E36 3-series coupe (1 Viewer)

EATAPIE

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Hey, I want to buy an e36 in the near future (1-2 years), and am wondering about whether to get an e36 coupe or a 4dr.

I'm leaning towards the 2dr version though cos its sportier, and i wanna get LED tail lights which look better on the 2dr version, since the tail lights arent as tall. also i am thinking about scissor doors, which imo only look good on not full frame doors. So i wouldn't wanna get scissor doors on the 4dr, which is full frame.

Can anyone clear up if the coupe e36 has full frame door or not? and also any e36 coupe owners, does the rear window open at all?

The problem for me though, is the coupe would cost almost twice the amount of the 4 door. is that about right? like e36 4dr for ~10k, whereas the coupe is ~20k?
 

petar13

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Hello eatapie. I like your name.

I think if a cop saw you getting out of a car with scissor doors they will probably crucify you. Add to that they seem especially anal in NSW.
The E36 coupe has frameless window. What do you mean rear window? As in rear passenger window? It DEFINITELY does not go down (i.e. into the rear quater). However, I'm not too sure on this - but it may be a pop-out sort (angles out and leaves an opening of 5 or so cm). I've never been in the back. It's possible that the smaller ones (318ti) pop out, whilst the larger ones (328i) do not.

Prices depend VERY heavily on which year and kms. You can get yourself a 1991 325i coupe for something like $9000 with around 180k-190k (or more). However the early cars have the regular teething problems of any early model. There were radiotor and water pump problems, and a couple of other smaller niggles. You could easily be looking at $25k+ for a 1997 328i/325i I'd estimate at around 110k-130k.

This one seems pretty nice (curb rash and weird rear view mirror aside). http://www.carsales.com.au/pls/carsales/!cs_content.private_vehicle?vehicle_id=2280630&current_rec=5&used_rec=2&total_rec=9&sort_type=&total_rec=9&sort_type=&make_id=13&model_id=522&keyword=COUPE,%20E36&state_id=-1&search_distance=25

You asked 2 door or 4 door? Well, the coupe has probably a SLIGHTLY greater structural integrity in a crash, due to greater rigidity. But your rear passengers will hate you. The 4 door can seat 4 people plus driver comfortably and (or so I have heard) has better acousitcs for subwoofer setups, etc.

Overall, the E36 is a nice car - however they are the ones that are most likely to be thrashed, as they come down into a price bracket available to most boy racers. The E30s and E21s, however are likely to be available in a better condition, some of which may have been restored. The E46s and not to mention E90s are all above the average boy racer's allowance, and so are also probably in good condition - and never really over 4000-5000 RPMs.

Whatever you do, keep it tasteful, keep it Euro. There are too many 'pimped out' E36s that just look terrible, with snowflake alloys, canons, cut springs, and yes - LED tails. Not only does resale value take a headdive, but they just look ridiculous.
 
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7th Sign

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led tails = very ugly and not classey on a bemmer..

go for the 2 door for sure...
 

EATAPIE

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petar13 said:
Hello eatapie. I like your name.

I think if a cop saw you getting out of a car with scissor doors they will probably crucify you. Add to that they seem especially anal in NSW.
The E36 coupe has frameless window. What do you mean rear window? As in rear passenger window? It DEFINITELY does not go down (i.e. into the rear quater). However, I'm not too sure on this - but it may be a pop-out sort (angles out and leaves an opening of 5 or so cm). I've never been in the back. It's possible that the smaller ones (318ti) pop out, whilst the larger ones (328i) do not.

Prices depend VERY heavily on which year and kms. You can get yourself a 1991 325i coupe for something like $9000 with around 180k-190k (or more). However the early cars have the regular teething problems of any early model. There were radiotor and water pump problems, and a couple of other smaller niggles. You could easily be looking at $25k+ for a 1997 328i/325i I'd estimate at around 110k-130k.

This one seems pretty nice (curb rash and weird rear view mirror aside). http://www.carsales.com.au/pls/carsales/!cs_content.private_vehicle?vehicle_id=2280630&current_rec=5&used_rec=2&total_rec=9&sort_type=&total_rec=9&sort_type=&make_id=13&model_id=522&keyword=COUPE,%20E36&state_id=-1&search_distance=25

You asked 2 door or 4 door? Well, the coupe has probably a SLIGHTLY greater structural integrity in a crash, due to greater rigidity. But your rear passengers will hate you. The 4 door can seat 4 people plus driver comfortably and (or so I have heard) has better acousitcs for subwoofer setups, etc.

Overall, the E36 is a nice car - however they are the ones that are most likely to be thrashed, as they come down into a price bracket available to most boy racers. The E30s and E21s, however are likely to be available in a better condition, some of which may have been restored. The E46s and not to mention E90s are all above the average boy racer's allowance, and so are also probably in good condition - and never really over 4000-5000 RPMs.

Whatever you do, keep it tasteful, keep it Euro. There are too many 'pimped out' E36s that just look terrible, with snowflake alloys, canons, cut springs, and yes - LED tails. Not only does resale value take a headdive, but they just look ridiculous.
Hey petar,

thanks for the reply.
So you reckon scissor doors make you look like a tool? And as to a cop seeing me get out of a car with scissor doors, I've seen these scissor door conversion kits on ebay from GTFactory, that open sideways a bit before going up. So if i wanna be discreet/discrete and not draw attention to myself, I can just open it sideways and get out.

Yeah as to the rear window, yes I was referring to the rear passenger window. Thanks for the info. I think you're right about the window popping out though, cos from some google image searches, i think i've seen the window popped out. And this is on the larger coupes, not the tiny 318ti.

And in reply to your comment on keeping it euro, yes I'll try my best to do that. You really think LED tails are 'pimped' though? I only like the idea because its similar to the current M3s and 3-series convertibles tails. Do you know what i'm talking about?
Btw, I'll tell you what I'm thinking of doing to my e36 when i get it, and you tell me if it seems too pimped. Here goes: I wanna get a black e36 coupe (if its not black, paint it black). Get angel eyes, crystal corner indicators and side repeaters. Maybe racing side mirrors with indicators and driving lights. If not LED tails, then crystal tails, so just red and clear (no ugly orange bits). Eyelids to modernise the look of the headlights. Maybe change the kidney grill to an e46 grill, or get a full chrome e36 grill. e46 M3 (replica?) front bumper to change the old e36 front. sideskirts and rear bumper if its necessary to complete the look of the new bumper. Nice BMW alloys (maybe like the one in the pic you showed me) - not snowflake, highly reflective mags. And the controversial scissor doors. Probably no spoiler, but if i did, it would not be a giant wing, or ricer spoiler, but a small M3 spoiler with brake light.

Oh yeah, forgot to add, I wanna get black stickers i've seen on the web to cover the blue wedge pieces on all the BMW roundels. Just makes my car a tiny bit different, and matches black paint better than the sky blue. (either metallic black look, or black carbon fibre look)

One more thing. Want to get ///M or ///M3 badging on the boot, and will try to look for the M3 side fender grills.
 
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EATAPIE

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7th Sign said:
led tails = very ugly and not classey on a bemmer..

go for the 2 door for sure...
But you've seen the LED lights on the newest 3 coupes/convertibles? they look so nice in my opinion.
 

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LED tails aren't that bad. I think the e36 coupe is not bad. I'm not too sure if it's the same as the e46, but the rear windows do tilt in the e46 330Ci a little bit but they aren't very reliable... They open only a little bit, and barely enough to let any decent amount of air in^^ It's also kinda squishy in the back of the 330Ci, but it's not so bad that it's unbearable... just that the 4dr is alot more comfy for rear seat.
 

EATAPIE

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anyone wanna remark on my plans for my e36 coupe, listed above?
 

seremify007

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U talking about the scissor doors?

I'm not very sure how exactly they work... but wouldn't they modify/change the structural integrity of the vehicle considerably?

(edit: typo)
 

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EATAPIE said:
But you've seen the LED lights on the newest 3 coupes/convertibles? they look so nice in my opinion.
They hurt my eyes when I follow them. Especially at night.. I just want to murder whoever thought of fitting the rears with LEDs
 

EATAPIE

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MzbLaZeIT said:
go for the coupe!
scissor doors on a bmw, are you a tool or what!
i saw the most recent reply as by 'mzblazeit' and i was just thinking, oh no... i'm gonna get if from her...

Turns out it wasnt so bad: just "are you a tool or what", and even a helpful tip "go for the coupe!" thanks mz.

but come on, you really think the scissor doors are bad? awww. take a look at these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chev...040454217QQcategoryZ36475QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

yeah i know ppl think "BMWs don't have scissor doors", and I agree to an extent that only certain exotics deserve scissor doors. IMO only frameless doors look good. And even then, only with the windows down. And the car would need to b a sports car, not like a civic or something gay like that. But the BMW is sort of sporty, and looks ok i reckon, with scissors.
 

seremify007

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Btw.. not sure about the older BMWs, but with the frameless doors... i notice whenever u open the door, the windows go down a bit.. and when you shut them, they seal up again? Would that be a problem if you modify them?

My cousin also suggests you check out the BMW tuning sites in Singapore (that's where he finds out and buys most of his gear) before you consider doing anything... they usually have a lot of experience with these things.
 

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Hey eatapie,

And in reply to your comment on keeping it euro, yes I'll try my best to do that. You really think LED tails are 'pimped' though? I only like the idea because its similar to the current M3s and 3-series convertibles tails. Do you know what i'm talking about?
Btw, I'll tell you what I'm thinking of doing to my e36 when i get it, and you tell me if it seems too pimped. Here goes: I wanna get a black e36 coupe (if its not black, paint it black). Get angel eyes, crystal corner indicators and side repeaters. Maybe racing side mirrors with indicators and driving lights. If not LED tails, then crystal tails, so just red and clear (no ugly orange bits). Eyelids to modernise the look of the headlights. Maybe change the kidney grill to an e46 grill, or get a full chrome e36 grill. e46 M3 (replica?) front bumper to change the old e36 front. sideskirts and rear bumper if its necessary to complete the look of the new bumper. Nice BMW alloys (maybe like the one in the pic you showed me) - not snowflake, highly reflective mags. And the controversial scissor doors. Probably no spoiler, but if i did, it would not be a giant wing, or ricer spoiler, but a small M3 spoiler with brake light.

Oh yeah, forgot to add, I wanna get black stickers i've seen on the web to cover the blue wedge pieces on all the BMW roundels. Just makes my car a tiny bit different, and matches black paint better than the sky blue. (either metallic black look, or black carbon fibre look)

One more thing. Want to get ///M or ///M3 badging on the boot, and will try to look for the M3 side fender grills.
Look - keep in mind, it’s all a matter of opinion. I DO think that the LED lights are tacky. The M3s of the E36 era all have clear front, side and rear indicators – from factory. You can’t do any better than that, plus you get the typically over-engineered (a good thing) BMW quality. You could very well find yourself buying some aftermarket tail lights to find that the seals leak, and let water into the boot. Then you get rust. OR – you have the option of permanently sealing them, which means they turn into consumables every time you blow a bulb. I DO know what you’re talking about, however moving out of the original period of the car can end up looking very dodgy (keep in mind, not always).

OK. If you want a black one – get a black one, but don’t paint it black. I can give you a guarantee that however much you shell out for a paint job (an excellent one could amount to the value of the car), it won’t last as long, or look as good in the long run as a factory-spec job. So yes- get a black one – though I think all the black ones come with black leather. I think the ‘Avus Blue’ ones with the dove grey leather look very nice. Again I recommend you do not do the whole crystal (Altezza style) taillight thing. Go for clear, not crystal. The best way to explain it is – the ‘crystals’ have entirely transparent plastic where the indicator is, with a colour capped bulb underneath. The clears are white plastic, and you can only see the bulb when it comes on. Lets see if I can find a picture… ok here is the euro clear - and here is the - crystal. The difference seems quite trivial here, but you can recognize it instantly on the street – and it doesn’t look too flash. Keep in mind that this is my opinion.

Personally, I think the eyelids look terrible on a car like this. If you get an early E36, go find a wrecked 1997 E36 and swap out the front faschia, lights (and possibly hood) – these years received a face lift, modernizing their looks, and doing much more for the car than a plastic strip across the headlights can. The facelift is subtle, though.
I doubt an E46 grille will fit in without modification – and the look won’t be worth it. However, a chrome E36 grille might look very nice (might be worth seeing a black E36 w/chrome grille, and see if its worth it.
Again, swapping in an E46 bumper will need major modification at a body shop – which again might not be worth it. It might be more worthwhile to find yourself an OEM M3 body kit, or for even more individuality, go for an aftermarket body kit manufacturer for BMW, like Rieger or Hamann and install those.
Yeah, those wheels are nice. BMW has some very nice wheels for the E36 – check out all the wheels available to the M3s, from E36 and E46, they should fit without a problem. The M3 spoiler would be a nice touch.

Hmm. Don’t put black stickers on there – kinda ghetto. If you want the black instead of blue, I believe they sell emblems, which have been painted like that, and with a proper lacquer on top – not something you get with stickers. Or you can paint them yourself, with a lot of careful masking, thin even coats, and then a couple of clear lacquer on top.

Again, I would dissuade you from getting the M3 side fender grills, as it doesn’t fit with the car. But its your choice.

Have you thought about the interior? It seems you really like the M3 look, so you can find yourself some M3 Vaders- which are the very nice M3 sport seats. Or perhaps an MTech 2 sports steering wheel

Ah well. It’s all open to interpretation. At the end of the day, you should do what you like best. It’s not what I would do, but it’s your car, and you probably shouldn’t care.

EDIT: I just saw your scissor door ebay site. Man, that Hummer looks ridiculous. Personally, I do not think these fit with style of the car. And additionally, is it at all possible to open these doors when you're inside a garage? And wouldn't that kind of rotation seriously run the risk of breaking all those cables inside the door for electric windows, mirrors and speakers (Referring to the connection of cables from the body of the car to the door)
 
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Serius

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LEDs dont look 2 bad, just dont get a cheap set[judging by what ure willing to spend i hope to god this wont happen]

scissor doors? meh they are ok, but it seems to be a bit of like "look at me" when ure getting out. They do make parking abit easier, and i see how u can be descrete but yeah i dunno if they would look good on that car

dont get eyelids, they look really shit on most cars
 

EATAPIE

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petar13 said:
Hey eatapie,



Look - keep in mind, it’s all a matter of opinion. I DO think that the LED lights are tacky. The M3s of the E36 era all have clear front, side and rear indicators – from factory. You can’t do any better than that, plus you get the typically over-engineered (a good thing) BMW quality. You could very well find yourself buying some aftermarket tail lights to find that the seals leak, and let water into the boot. Then you get rust. OR – you have the option of permanently sealing them, which means they turn into consumables every time you blow a bulb. I DO know what you’re talking about, however moving out of the original period of the car can end up looking very dodgy (keep in mind, not always).

OK. If you want a black one – get a black one, but don’t paint it black. I can give you a guarantee that however much you shell out for a paint job (an excellent one could amount to the value of the car), it won’t last as long, or look as good in the long run as a factory-spec job. So yes- get a black one – though I think all the black ones come with black leather. I think the ‘Avus Blue’ ones with the dove grey leather look very nice. Again I recommend you do not do the whole crystal (Altezza style) taillight thing. Go for clear, not crystal. The best way to explain it is – the ‘crystals’ have entirely transparent plastic where the indicator is, with a colour capped bulb underneath. The clears are white plastic, and you can only see the bulb when it comes on. Lets see if I can find a picture… ok here is the euro clear - and here is the - crystal. The difference seems quite trivial here, but you can recognize it instantly on the street – and it doesn’t look too flash. Keep in mind that this is my opinion.

Personally, I think the eyelids look terrible on a car like this. If you get an early E36, go find a wrecked 1997 E36 and swap out the front faschia, lights (and possibly hood) – these years received a face lift, modernizing their looks, and doing much more for the car than a plastic strip across the headlights can. The facelift is subtle, though.
I doubt an E46 grille will fit in without modification – and the look won’t be worth it. However, a chrome E36 grille might look very nice (might be worth seeing a black E36 w/chrome grille, and see if its worth it.
Again, swapping in an E46 bumper will need major modification at a body shop – which again might not be worth it. It might be more worthwhile to find yourself an OEM M3 body kit, or for even more individuality, go for an aftermarket body kit manufacturer for BMW, like Rieger or Hamann and install those.
Yeah, those wheels are nice. BMW has some very nice wheels for the E36 – check out all the wheels available to the M3s, from E36 and E46, they should fit without a problem. The M3 spoiler would be a nice touch.

Hmm. Don’t put black stickers on there – kinda ghetto. If you want the black instead of blue, I believe they sell emblems, which have been painted like that, and with a proper lacquer on top – not something you get with stickers. Or you can paint them yourself, with a lot of careful masking, thin even coats, and then a couple of clear lacquer on top.

Again, I would dissuade you from getting the M3 side fender grills, as it doesn’t fit with the car. But its your choice.

Have you thought about the interior? It seems you really like the M3 look, so you can find yourself some M3 Vaders- which are the very nice M3 sport seats. Or perhaps an MTech 2 sports steering wheel

Ah well. It’s all open to interpretation. At the end of the day, you should do what you like best. It’s not what I would do, but it’s your car, and you probably shouldn’t care.

EDIT: I just saw your scissor door ebay site. Man, that Hummer looks ridiculous. Personally, I do not think these fit with style of the car. And additionally, is it at all possible to open these doors when you're inside a garage? And wouldn't that kind of rotation seriously run the risk of breaking all those cables inside the door for electric windows, mirrors and speakers (Referring to the connection of cables from the body of the car to the door)

Hey petar,
again I thank you so much for your detailed input, time and opinion.

Especially thank you for your advice with not painting my car black, but getting a black car instead. I don't mind if the interior is black as well, I think i will actually like that.

Thanks also for the recommendation for the original 'clear' tails as opposed to crystals, but I still think I'm leaning towards LEDs (though I'll consider it more caraefully when I actually get the car) because IMO they look nice. Not being disrespectful, but like you said, it's my car and I shouldn't be worried about what some boser thinks, since you may never see my car in your life anyway. But I do appreciate your input.

Ok, I'll also have a look around for emblems that are black, instead of purchasing the stickers, but I don't think there are any (not that I know of anyway).

in response to the scissor doors - yeah the hummer is stupid, I jus wanted you to see the video of the merc's doors, so you could see the action of the door. So yeah i think i can open it in a garage, I would just open it sideways, not up, or at least not fully up. And yes, I know the gap sideways isnt very big, but I'm skinny. =D And I have no idea bout the wiring and all that. I'll look into it more when i get the car.

And also in response to the next post, yeah scissor doors are a bit "hey hey! look at me!" But i think it's cool. Attention seeking!
 

seremify007

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Sorry if I missed this earlier, but how much are you willing to spend on doing the car up (and buying the car)?
 

EATAPIE

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seremify007 said:
Sorry if I missed this earlier, but how much are you willing to spend on doing the car up (and buying the car)?
well i'm not actually worried about how much i'm willing to spend - i guess whatever money i make will be going into the car till i get it to what i want it to look like. however i'm looking to purchase the stock car in the 'less than $20k' range, seeing as i think it'll take me around 2 yrs to save up 20k. After i get the car, most of what i earn will be used to modify it until it looks as i want.
 

EATAPIE

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Another 2 questions: My dad is trying to discourage me from buying an E36, as he says they're too old, and will require regular (monthly) services costing at least $1000 (according to him), and that with such high mileage, the engines won't last long. Can e36 engines only be replaced with other e36 engines? Or can i get a newer engine and place it in the older e36, so it stays alive?
 

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A well-looked after BMW inline 6 can last into the 300000km mark. The 'monthly' mark your dad has given you will depend on how much you drive it. Yes, if you drive 5000km a month - you will need to do monthly services. Personally, I don't think you have anything to worry about - find an example with a full service history (serviced at dealership or certified BMW mechanic), and you should be fine for the long haul.
If you try transplanting an engine from a different family, it will cost you as much (or more) than the value of the actual car itself. The amount of fabrication and one-off parts is quite astonishing.
 

seremify007

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EATAPIE said:
well i'm not actually worried about how much i'm willing to spend - i guess whatever money i make will be going into the car till i get it to what i want it to look like. however i'm looking to purchase the stock car in the 'less than $20k' range, seeing as i think it'll take me around 2 yrs to save up 20k. After i get the car, most of what i earn will be used to modify it until it looks as i want.
Oh fair enough. I only asked because I was going to suggest if you have a lot of cash to do up a car, maybe you might be better off buying a newer model.

EATAPIE said:
Another 2 questions: My dad is trying to discourage me from buying an E36, as he says they're too old, and will require regular (monthly) services costing at least $1000 (according to him), and that with such high mileage, the engines won't last long. Can e36 engines only be replaced with other e36 engines? Or can i get a newer engine and place it in the older e36, so it stays alive?
I don't know BMWs that well, but I'd say $1000 is probably a bit of an overestimate. Might cost you quite a bit initially to get it in good shape, but as someone else mentioned, BMWs tend to last quite a while.

You should probably check out more specialist BMW enthusiast sites- this is the one my cousin uses; http://www.bmw-sg.com/. Note, this is a Singaporean site- I linked to it because the people there modify their BMWs alot more seriously than anyone I've seen in Australia- everything from modifying the transmission to M3 SMG to installing super/turbochargers, and replacing a lot of engine components to lighten the engine load (but damage the engine). So if anyone would know (about your engine swap) then I'm sure someone there probably would. Any prices they give should be taken with a pinch of salt since over there, installation costs are usually much less than what you'd expect in Australia.
 
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