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Newbie needing some advice on E36 donor/rivable car
I've been looking into building my very own Marlin Sportster and have found a possible donor. Its a BMW E36 convertible with 50k miles on the clock. The only downside is it's an auto. It's selling for £1.5k. Whilst this may seem a lot (for a donor) I may only be stripping it sometime next year and in the meantime it would be cool to drive it around. Is £1.5K a bargain or too good to be true? Also will I experience probs being a 1994 E36 engine eg. Vanos, Immobiliser etc. Apparently it doesn't have a big service history, just lots of receipts. The car drives fine so I'm told. do I have to worry if it was an insurance write-off, stolen because I feel £1.5K for a Beemer (and a convertible too) is quite a bargain.
Not necessarily so - If it's been looked after, it'll be just as reliable as a 'modern' engine. Vikki fires up without fail every time I turn her over. And if the milage is accurate, it's got less miles on than Vikki's donor had.
True! Its just that unknown about whether or not the car has been looked after well...although I s'pose 1 owner is a good sign!
GreatOldOne wrote:
Not necessarily so - If it's been looked after, it'll be just as reliable as a 'modern' engine. Vikki fires up without fail every time I turn her over. And if the milage is accurate, it's got less miles on than Vikki's donor had.
I've been looking into building my very own Marlin Sportster and have found a possible donor. Its a BMW E36 convertible with 50k miles on the clock. The only downside is it's an auto. It's selling for £1.5k. Whilst this may seem a lot (for a donor) I may only be stripping it sometime next year and in the meantime it would be cool to drive it around. Is £1.5K a bargain or too good to be true? Also will I experience probs being a 1994 E36 engine eg. Vanos, Immobiliser etc. Apparently it doesn't have a big service history, just lots of receipts. The car drives fine so I'm told. do I have to worry if it was an insurance write-off, stolen because I feel £1.5K for a Beemer (and a convertible too) is quite a bargain.
Thanks,
SR-71
Hi Brandon
Welcome to the club.
Do you know if the convertible you are looking at has an M50 or M52 engine?
I believe it is easy to tell, by the position of the oil filler cap: the M50 is towards the rear of the engine, while the M52 is closer to the front? Definitely avoid an M52 due to the complications of the wiring, unless you are happy to import the entire loom including the instrument binnacle.
My preference was for the M50 as it is more fuel efficient, can be fitted without the CAT, and is a more modern engine.
Hi Brandon
I agree with Mike. If its an M52 you may well encounter the same problems as I have getting the immobiliser to work correctly (although if you have the complete engine harness that may well solve the problem).
I am currently sourcing an M52 engine harness for a complete re-wire in order to solve my immobiliser problems (my own efforts at wiring meant that it would start about 50 times then die). My 'expert' has been trying to sort it out for 16 months now and has eventually concluded that a complete re-wire is the solution using a full original engine harness.
In retrospect I would have gone for an M50...but as you say, insurance write-offs can be great bargains. If you want to drive it in between stripping it, you will need a VIC check (more details available on the government website) and an MOT. If its only bodywork issues it won't be too much of a problem, as I have done the same with a Mazda MX5.
Hope this helps
Tim
Wow, a 1 owner e30 from new and still at £130!! (even I'm tempted and I've already got three engines!!)
I think the M50 e36 would be my choice if starting today. I think you'll pay a premium for a convertible but I can see the attraction of hooning around for 6 months.
looking for some advice guys, not a kit car but ive fitted an M52 engine and auto box to my 66 zodiac, i had the engine running on the garage floor after it was removed and after a week of sorting through the wiring, now the engine is fitted and im about to start permanently wiring it into the car im beginning to worry about getting the auto box to change up and down gears as ive read that it is controlled by one of the ABS sensors
anyone shed any light on how o could get round this??
