E36 328: In over my head!

It wasn't really the parts that brought the large bill, but the extensive labor they had to do. Getting the car started and fixing the exhaust manifold flange was only $237.50 in labor. My bad, it was $1959 total.

If no one buys it, then I will chip at it. I need to fix the highbeam issue so I can pass the safety inspection. The previous owner told me that a few guys that wanted to buy it didn't know how to drive a manual trans, so he didn't let them test drive it, so it's possible that it can take a while.

I put a new battery in it and it runs good. The driving experience is odd because you have to muscle the steering wheel on slow turns, which doesn't feel very luxurious. That will probably also make the car a harder sell. The magical steering feel is not there so that is a disappointment.

I posted my E36 in the open classifieds in case one of you guys want to buy it.

The car was pulling to one side so I took it back to the shop. They tried a lame theory about the washers for the steering lines were too thick, and of course, it didn't work. A guy offered me $2700 for it. I think I still have the Advance auto parts steering rack so I will include that in the sale if he really wants the car for probably $2900. The nightmare continues.

My local auto electric shop did some work on the car and said the battery isn't getting drained, so maybe the battery was bad. That works out pretty good. Hopefully the highbeam issue isn't too expensive for them to fix.

They finally found out the problem. They said that the instrument cluster is not sending the proper signal to the highbeams. If they can't fix it, they will send it to a cluster repair shop since the local junkyards must not have one.

I have an autocross RACE , two actually. One on Nov 1, the second on Nov 2. I will most likely have to drive someone else's car again since I doubt the cluster will be fixed, I get an inspection and tires mounted up by Friday.

I was luckily able to race on the 1st and the 2nd. Unfortunately, I forgot (and didn't quite feel like) taking or asking someone to take some pictures of me and some of the guys there. I drove Adam's STS Miata. I paid him the entrance fee both days. Joe, my STS competition, said that Adam's car was a well prepped STS Miata. I competed against Joe directly before, so I wanted to be within a half second of his time to make sure I was driving the car well. It rained before we ran, so the tarmac and the concrete was a little colder. Being a little rusty and not knowing what to expect, I put down an adequate 65.45+1 on my first run and a 74.367+3 on my second run from a spinout. I finally started to remember the course and ran a 63.239+1 while Joe got a 60.47. I took a marine to ride along with me on my 4th and 5th run to give them some fun while I searched for more time. My last was a mission to get to a 61 and keep up a little with Joe. Very unexpectedly, I ripped off an amazing 59.772 to win STS for the day over Joe. We have a pro class for the really fast drivers, and that's where my co-driver was. He got a 57.65, which was good for 7th overall. My time was good for 15th overall, among my best performances so far. I was excited about my performance, because I truly did drive out of my mind on that last run. My Pax ranking was 9th, my first top 10 Pax ranking. My co-driver got 4th in Pax. On Sunday, the course was completely different. They made it with bends and curves that resemble a race track, which was waaaaay different then how they normally set them up, especially a 2 race weekend. I had to try to remember the course set up, and not overcook the tires when they're cold, so I ran a slow 71.2 Joe ran a 65.9 My co-driver asked who was winning, and I said Joe was and that I have to wait until the afternoon runs to have a warmer course and to really understand how to push the car. After I ran the second run and got a 69.88, I decided that it's time to chase Joe and try to get the win now. I got aggressive and got a 66.0+1. Even though I drove the same car the day before, after the lunch break, I decided to get some coaching from my co-driver who got a 60.4 for his 3rd run. He told me to be smoother with the steering, braking, and the throttle, along to correct my line in certain spots. I got a 65.03. Joe got a 64.68 and I got a 65.17 while getting sideways and ruining that run, so I knew I could get a 64 and be close to Joe's time. I lined up on my 6th run and chopped my time to a 63.964 and was confident that I beat Joe. He pulls up right behind me and tells me that he got a 63.929, beating me by .035 seconds! It was thrilling having our times that close. Now, my region gives out trophies by grouping all the similar level classes together ie. all the Street Touring Classes together and giving the trophies out by pax with the top 5 times like they do in Nationals. So on Saturday, I got 2nd place and 5th on Sunday.

The car is finished! Well, not technically because the steering rack is faulty, so I might have my shop install my spare one and have the faulty one rebuilt. Maybe more importantly, It passed the safety inspection and is now registered to be driven on public roads.

Unfortunately, because of state law, I had to remove the tint from the rear windows because they were too dark for this state. Why did lawmakers and maybe citizens complain about dark tint? Does it really make the car unsafe to drive? Or were there ulterior motives at play? Sorry about the political rant, but it just irritates me because there are three reasonable reasons to have tint, not to mention that all new trucks and suvs have tinted windows from the factory (only in the rear, but still). I'm very likely to put legal tint in the rear windows later, and post about it.

I will give a review on the new tires. I bought a set of 205/55R15 Dunlop Direzza DZ102s, their new ultra high performance summer tire from the Tire Rack. I cooked my last set of all-season tires in only three autocross races and around 20K miles, so I'm never going back unless I move to where it snows. The Tire Rack is great, because I ordered a set of 205/50R15 because they were significantly cheaper, and there were more selections in that size. They called me and told me that the shorter ones weren't strong enough to support the car in the rear, so I changed to the taller tire. That could have been a huge save to an unknown problem, so they have my recommendation. They also said to bump up the air pressure to 42 in the rear instead of BMWs setting( I forgot, will check it later). There only summer tire available in the original 205/60R15 is Yokohama Advan A048 Medium compound competition tire at 60 treadwear rating. The first thing I noticed when they were mounted up was that the ride was firm. Moderately firm, in fact. The old tires that were worn out unevenly rode much better in the few miles that I was able to drive on them. I noticed that the tires seem to transmit the uneven road surface directly to the chassis. Unfortunately, a couple of slightly loose interior panels are rattling now. Also, going over bumps, uneven pavement, and speed bumps sends the roughness and irregularities straight to the chassis, which leads me to conclude that these tires are the first set of tires I have bought and driven on the street that have stiff sidewalls. I'm really glad the 50 series height tires wouldn't work for this car now. These tires definitely ride the worst of any new tire I have purchased or drove on. I have learned to tolerate it, but they may deter a regular 3-series driver from buying it off me. At first, the rear of the car was bouncing over bumps, so I bumped up the rear pressure to 42psi, then the rear of the car settled down. They seem to be tuned for FWD cars because they need to be pumped up more in the rear than BMW suggests. The dry handling is good, but of course, it's difficult to push the tires on public back roads safely, even if there aren't many drivers on them. The car has noticably more grip, so that's good to have when I'm driving on the back roads. But, the tires have introduced more understeer in the chassis on some curves, so that is very undesirable. Dry braking is ok. I have to drive some more, drive in the rain, and on the autocross course to give you guys a full report on the performance.

I would ignore TR's suggestion of 42psi for the time being. I think you'll find that they have a better ride and more traction with less air.

They were set to a normal psi at first, but after driving it for 20 or so miles, the ride was bouncy in the rear, so I put it up to 42psi like they suggested, and it stopped the bouncing.

I have an update. I was driving the car the other day and was wondering why the engine was making a loud rattling noise at idle. I hoped that it was something loose and forgot about it. The next day, I really listened to it, and it sounds like rod knock. Tell me if you agree. It's loudest under the car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDlpRhnhyhQ&feature=youtu.be

Another small update;The oil is watery so I'm also worried that the block is cracked. I'm not sure how often the car was started while it was in the shop for the last two months, but maybe condensation could have built up in the block (probably not). If the rattling is only from watery oil, I'll be lucky.

I changed the oil, and drove to find out if the rattling would get worse. At first it only quieted down a little, but as I drove more, it really got back to almost how quiet the engine used to be. I am a lucky man. The car also got 28.8 mpg on 87 octane fuel.

The trans is leaking a good amount of gear oil. I was worried that one or both seals for the trans that I replaced were leaking. I wiped the fluid off the trans and crossmember along with other parts. I jacked up the whole car on jack stands to run the car in gear to see if I could watch the gear oil leak. It didn't leak after a couple of minutes so I watched a video on youtube to find trans fluid leaks. I sprayed some anti-fungal spray on the suspected spots to see if they would show fresh leaking.

It might be a tiny leak there at the output shaft, but not where the heavy leaking is coming from. It really seems like it's coming from the seal on the top of the trans where it connects to the shifter, even though I actually replaced it like I should.

The input shaft seal may also be leaking because of the oil on the bottom of the bellhousing near the engine. I still need to investigate.

Both seals are leaking so I bought both to replace them.

I fought the shift selector seal in place and I tried to do the same for the output shaft seal. After a few minutes of struggling with it, I had pounded it out of round so I need to call Pelican Parts to see if they can send me one on the house.

I'm trying to pull my manual trans to make sure the front seal isn't leaking and to make sure I install the output shaft seal perfectly straight. I tried to tap it in with it attached to the car and ended up bending the seal and possibly the seat for the seal. It feels like it is stuck to the pilot bearing because I can only pull it to maybe 1" apart from the engine. I have put the jack under the front part of the trans (close to the engine) to see if that will help it come out, and it didn't. I also put a jack under the trans crossmember, and that didn't help, either. Does anyone have any tips?

That rattling sound is most likely a valve sticking. Mine started doing it at the last autocross and a bmw mechanic that was there said it wasn't a big deal and it would go away soon, he was right. He also said it is a very common problem with these engines. He also suggested using a thicker oil, so I threw in some lucas oil until I can change the oil to something thicker.

I just gave up on pulling the trans out and am crossing my fingers that the input shaft seal is holding oil like it should. I had to sand the new output shaft seal down some so it could fit. It took quite a long time. I carefully tapped it in and bolted everything up. Then, I proceeded to bleed the clutch. I bench bled the clutch slave cylinder so it would be easier to do. I then tried to pump up fluid through the slave cylinder with an oil can while my partner held down the clutch pedal just to see if it would work. Of course, it just shot fluid down the system and popped the clear tube off the oil can spout. So I just bled it with the one man system, then pumped up the pressure so the pedal would not go straight to the floor. It only engaged halfway through the pedal travel, but that was the best I could get it. After driving the car tonight, it now engages properly, which is surprising. I also hustled the 328 on a curvy back road, but this time, I actually kept the car at 4K rpms. The car was just sticking to the road like glue, just like you. It felt really good. You knew it would. I do what you do.

When I was halfway through the course, I noticed that the power steering pump felt like it was working again, and I was worried. I was worried that I may have cooked the pump because some of the p/s fluid is leaking out because the lines BMW make aren't that good. I still hustled the 328 back through the reverse course at 4K rpms again, and I gathered and analyzed the data the car was sending me, and it is a berkeleyin scalpel. With the summer tires, bilstein sports, and polyurethane front control arms, it has a ton of grip for the street and the car is extremely responsive, with excellent steering response. It has a dual personality that I didn't know it had. I hustled my Camaro on the same road with better summer tires, and the Camaro felt good, but nowhere near as precise and finely tuned as the 328. The 328 also is making an annoying rattling noise under the armrest area. I thought that maybe I put the shifter rod on the wrong side, but nope. It could be the center bearing for the driveshaft failed, or something else just behind the guibo. I don't really know yet.

I checked the output shaft seal, and it's not leaking, which is excellent. I was looking to see where the sound is coming from, and it's seems to be coming from the center driveshaft bearing. I will order one so I can change it out next weekend.

Clutch, I've been following along in your trials with this car - glad you were able to keep it, and that you're finally able to drive it and get some payback for all that work!!

In reply to Mr_Clutch42:

Before you swap out the center support bearing see if you can snug the big nut at the splines in the DS. If you cracked it loose at some point it could just have excessive play in the actual shaft and be rattling as it slides in/out over bumps. It sounds like a little bell ringing.

What brand control arm bushings did you go with?

I finally checked it out, and it was just loose bolts I forgot to tighten at the center support bearing. I tightened them and test drove the car without the exhaust real quick just to be sure it was that. I was correct, so I put back the exhaust and the heat shield. The engine sounds like crap without the exhaust on it.

I think that a small drivetrain vibration is coming from the bearing at a specific speed, which is a little irritating, so I have to wait a while before I know if I can call bavauto for a refund and send it back. I didn't have to put this new one on the car.

In reply to Uncoiled: I went with AKG Motorsport brand bushings.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker: I had everything done before I read your comment, but I didn't crack the big nut loose. The sound from my car wasn't of a bell ringing, but of a rhythmic knocking against plastic.

In reply to XR99: It's actually still for sale. No one has bought it off of me yet, probably because Kelley Blue Book values it at around $2300 when I thought that they had it around $3100 and I listed it at $3600. I will re-list it soon. It's one of my favorite cars, but I originally purchased it to own it for a year or so to buy a diesel powered car for my DD at a good price. I would be able to keep it as a weekend/autocross car, however.

Oh, and I have an autocross race tomorrow, so God helped me out with this one. It will be my first race this season in this car, lol, which is also the last of the season. I'm excited because I finally get to sticker up my own car (I have a lot of stickers for the autocross events).

I left for the event a little late because I was scrambling to get some tools ready that I should have packed the night before, specifically my air compressor, torque wrench, and power converter. I get there 30 minutes late and I'm scrambling to get registered, unpacking my car and removing my subwoofer, and getting through tech. When we start, I am completely surprised. The car transformed from a driving weapon on the street to a soft, mushy, wallowing pig on the course. It was very easy to tell that it's undersprung, and I feel that it's also underdamped, too. It also needs a big, front sway bar with aftermarket sway bar endlinks. It also didn't help that I forgot to turn off traction control on my first run. I was distraught at this finding, and told my fellow competitors about my disappointment. Mike told me that is what the stock classes are all about; He has raced more than I have in the stock class. I was competing directly against Mike, Joe, who I competed against the previous event, and another guy who's name I forgot. Mike and Joe got into the 38.5 range early, and I was trying to see if I could keep up with them. My first run was a 41.0, so I knew the fast button is key. I didn't forget to turn off the traction control after that. After my first run, I was worried that I wasn't understanding where the good line is, but I had it down on my second run. My second run was my fastest at 39.89. I also had Mike coach me up on my third run to make sure my driving was good. It was a couple of spots that I missed, but I couldn't speed up in the afternoon, which is a little odd for me. The tires are definitely a hard compound summer tire, because Mike and Joe both ended up getting in the 37.9-38.1 range on Direzza ZII's. I didn't feel like I was flying around the course like the fast drivers probably did. I also have a few pics.

My power inverter popped a fuse so I couldn't adjust the tire pressure, not that It would have made a significant difference. I also need to check the instructions to make sure I'm not screwing it up.

It looks like a proper race car with all those stickers on it.

Woah, look at all of that body roll!

I was hoping the spectator would take a few more pictures, but he didn't want to. I also overheated on the way home, which I really don't like. The Evan's waterless coolant was supposed to prevent overheating, period. I don't think that my old coolant reservoir would cause overheating. I just stopped and waited a few minutes, and I opened up the refill cap. The coolant wasn't boiling, but it was pressurized a little, which the Evan's coolant is supposed to prevent too. I think that there is a some regular coolant/water mix still in the system. That seemed to solve the issue, because it didn't overheat for the rest of the trip.

Now, I want a Miata for my autocross car.

I was hooning around on some dirt roads near my house, practicing drifting on the dirt. I noticed that with my 91 Camaro (when it was running) and my 328i, both rear tires will spin even though both cars are practically an open diff. Does this happen because there is limited traction for both wheels? I am interested because I want to do some rallycross events (for fun) next season. If I keep the Camaro, I may do a few events in it and it needs the LSD replaced for autocross. I'm asking those rallycross guys is if an open diff RWD car is much worse at handling and accelerating in the dirt or gravel. A couple of people saw me, which isn't so great. However, I am getting better at drifting the 328i in the dirt.