Ive now decided to scrub the idea of an S13 (at least for a while) and now ive decided i want a BMW 3 series,E36 325 or 328 (possibly the 325 from Bigcos)

Anyone know anything about the E36. Ive looked for owners clubs but cant find any,and parkers for some reason does not give any figures on the 192BHP 325 (0-60 and top speed) yet it does give details on the 2.0 and thats pretty swift too.

Do they have any common faults?
Do they rust badly?
Are parts easily come by,and do parts cross from model to model (would leccy rear windows be easy to fit if they are not standard on the one i get)
Are the auto boxes any good?

Really gettin excited now,i'll be well chuffed if i get bigcos's one. Such a capable motorway cruiser (and lets face it,thats what i need a car for these days,no more mindless cruising for me)obviously ill still cruise every now and again but not every night

BMW
3-Series Saloon (91-98)
325i SE 4d

Production: 01 Apr 1991 until 01 Feb 1995
Length: 4445 mm
Width: 1701 mm


Engine Size: 2494 cc
Power Output: 192 bhp

MPG: 31
Insurance Group: 15

==================================

You can select different BMW models from Here or another manufacture from Here

exactly where i got my info from before i asked jay but on there there is no performance info,yeah it has 192BHP but it doesnt say weather that gets u to 60 is under or over 8 seconds

And the model history doesnt give the FULL STANDARD spec list of the SE

One of the lads in work has a e36 325 so I can give ya some info.....

I think it's a H reg, older than mine by 2 or 3 years anyway.

Do they have any common faults?
Don't think he's had any problems with it at all, so can't help ya there much, sorry.


Do they rust badly?
The arches are rusted quite bad. Other specs of rust appear round edges of the bodywork like doors, bonnet, sunroof e.t.c


Are parts easily come by,and do parts cross from model to model
I'd say so, There are plenty of spare parts, both scrap and new'uns on ebay alone. Best do a quick search on there to see how easy or difficult it is to get hold of parts for that specific model, that specific year and that specific engine type and size - thats the difficult part. Although, when I search for parts for mine, I get quite a few 325 parts aswell.

Hope that helped, probably not but oh well

0-60 will be under 8 secs as my e30 325is did it i think 7.9 so i am only sure they would have improved on that figure. The 3 series is a nicley balanced car and if you go for a IS(sport) verion you get a limited slip diff which is great for donuts ha ha ha also with the e30 sports version it came with leather recaros which look alot better and more sporty than the standard cloth trim.

just found out the IS(sport) is 7.1 secs 0-60 and 125 top end which i feel is wrong as i got 135 out of my e30 model hmmmmmm. I this the specs are all the same through out the different models I think the sport is just lsd and trim and few other bit and pieces. Hope this helps.

The E36s can rust round the rear arches, so check them, but the motors are very good indeed

Performace aint stunning due to their weight, but they are great "cruising" cars and pull well in any gear.

Book figures from BMW are normally pretty accurate, but the clock figure can be a different story. I had the tourer to which I fitted the 2.5 (12V engine - E30) and that touched 150mph on the clock (with a few mods), though I wouldnt swear to that being a 100% true figure :rolleyes:

If you dont think the 0-60 is too impressive on them, it may be because they need 3rd gear to hit 60!! If you can find some, try and find the figures for say 50-70 in 3rd gear - the 2.5 24V engine is a gem

I would say the 0-60 time would be about 8 seconds for them. I could pull away quite easy from them in my old FTO GPX manual. The 0-60 time in that was about 7 seconds.