The rebirth of a 1992 E36...

[PatAllen]

Hi group.

I told myself that i should put my work into a blog.

I bought this car in september 2005.

It was looking real nice. There was tons of receip with it so i was able to see whats was done to it.

The lady who sold it to me never gone anywhere but at the dealer.

All the known recals was done (rear bushings, radiator cap,...).

It was driving real fine, so i bought it.

5k.

One month later, i discovered what i did...

Everything was well hiden under bondo.

3 coil springs out of the 4 was broken.

Ball joints were toasted

Front brakes needed attention.

Hand brake was not working because parts were missing into the back plates.

Front rubber control arms were toasted.

Electrical gremlins started to play.

And then.... THE RUST !!!!

[PatAllen]

Around january, i went to my family for hollidays. These roads are nightmare.

One of the rear shock sheared of off the body.

It broke one of the rear sway bar links.

I ordered a new sway bar because it was rusted beyond logic, and two new links.

I also ordered 2 door sills.

Here is what you should never see on a E36...inside door sills...

I was wondering if there was some drains for the sunroof...there is a small openig right in front of the oval hole for the jack pads, it should drain by there ???

[PatAllen]

I forgot to say that i discovered the rust when i decided to jack up the car.

First, there was no jack pads....wtf...

And then the jack raising up and not the car...cool.

The jack point were just crushing and the bondo was faling off.

The lady from who i buy it paid 8k for this car at the dealer in 2004. what a steal.

I am assuming that this car have been farded* at the dealer, the BMW dealer jeeezus chri&*st !!!

*farded means for me when a car is makeuped to the bone to be sold and just look the best it can to fool every ones.

I am trying to ask BMW CANADA what is their policies with used cars, and what a dealer can or cannot do.

[PatAllen]

(nt)

[PatAllen]

Update: yesterday, i managed to cut the remaining of the old rocker.

I went to the BMW dealer to spy what a straight e36 looks like, because on my new rockers there is a provision for a plastic nut retainer and i wanted to know whats is for, and discovered that 2 parts are missing on mine (see picture), and that the 4 jack pads on the spyed e36 at the dealer are missing...go dealer go. I told the salesman and he laughed "we dont bother with theses"... that explain it all.

I filled all the welds with seam sealer. I may instal the new rocker this weekend...who knows...my 02 is a real gas sucker, i just cant restrain myself to floor it, you know

short storie, after getting out of the dealer, a guy with his clean stock 320i (e36?) followed me, he was trying my 02 !!!!

stupid pimp ass hole, i have close to 3x his power...guess the result. it was a shock for his ego

Pat Allen

[andrewro]

MAN That car is just plain crazy! From the dealer...

[PatAllen]

update: test fitment of the new rocker...it gona fit very well.

also a picture of my 02 waiting, looking at me doing surgery...

Pat Allen

[PatAllen]

I have installed the new jacking points, and the new rocker. It looks very good.

I also did a jack test. Nothing is moving, i think it is stiffer than oem.

i also re-routed the sunroof drains inside the fender, just behind the inner wheel cover.

No more water will go in the rockers now. All sealed with seam sealer, and rubberized undercoating.

There is still the driver side to do.... pfff !!

Pat Allen

[PatAllen]

here is some pictures, showing the new jack points, the sunroof drain and the final result...

it all ended well, just that i am so TIRED OF HAVING SCRAP CARS !!!!

i will sell them all for 2$ and buy myself a new echo. thats gona be wise isnt?

[PatAllen]

Little update...

I am about to start the other side of rocker replacement, i must say the other side is much more rusted than i thought. I want to do it just before the winter will kick us.

I changed most of the front suspension components...Bilstein tourings chocks, strut bearings and mounting kit (spring pads, bump stop and protection tube), so now the front end is absolutely new, staight and clean. Feels good. Thanks bavauto.com.

Also, i did few modifications to it. i put DEPO head light, a JC/TM performance chip, a HUGE K&N air filter and a M3 muffler.

The car hauls very great and the sound is absolute music to my ears. I do believe it is doing the advertised 209 HP that the chip claims. It is still not comparable to the power of my 02, but fells good. I guess one day i will turbocharge it like my 02, who knows

Pictures of both non M and M muffler, showing differences, for future references. Its a total bolt on affair and took me 5 minutes to do it. The sound is more deep and less raspy. I love it. The M is obviously the bigger one with the chrome tips (which looks very cool btw).

Pat Allen

[brad_c-ville_VA]

man, what a mess! looking good now though.

did you do a carfax report or anything like that after finding all this out? sounds like that thing sat in about 3 feet of water for a month.

glad you aren't afraid to jump in and fix those rockers. wanna come down to the states and do the ones on my 02?

[PatAllen]

Some fresh pictures.

I must say that i am shocked, but thats usual.

The floor have been fixed very poorly in the past, ive been able to remove a big chunk of it with my bare hands. I was able to see 3 layers of repairs. What a messy job !!

The rear portion of the floor was totaly gone, only sdm was holding the stuff. What happened omg. Looks like the car been sitting in a acid bath.

It is almost done for now, i went to the shop of my friend and we bented many pieces of galvanized steel. I used 2x thicker steel that what was there oem, it will be hell solid now. One must say that the car is/was dangerous,...surprisingly, the main structure is intact, i can jack the car in one corner and the door hinges dont budge a bit.

See pictures, warning, not for the faint of the heart

[PatAllen]

Here is some of the final result pictures.

Took me 5 days 8 am to 5 pm to achieve this. What a pain. But it ended up prety nice.

[PatAllen]

few more...

[PatAllen]

and the car just washed...

nice hein?

you can see the big mofo M3 muffler as well, the 500$ 318is that now belongs to my girlfriend, and my beloved 02.