mustang_john

Have PM'd you the info. the 096 is the correct battery for the car and should be plenty big enough unless you have loads of add on electrical goodies. If you go much bigger, it wont physically fit, you might get away with a 110, that's about 780 CCA if memory serves. They dont get much bigger unless you go to a commercial battery. As for what NOS is, I can ony think of New Old Stock. Don't take any waffle from the supplier, know your consumer rights, and make sure they know you know. John.

Dude, i work for one of euro's main competitors. PM me your car's full reg no, and I will tell you exactly what battery should be on your car. I can tell you right here and now that an 063 is no where near big enough. My 318 specifies an 065 which is 450 Amp. At a guess i would say you need a 096 or 100. I await your PM. As for euro, if they have sold you the wrong battery, then demand a full refund as the sale of goods act requires. Do not be put off. John.

I did wonder, but thought, hoped i'd got rid of it. How the heck can I erradicate the air lock fully? Cheers. John.

Right guys, get your thinking caps on! I have an E36 318i with air con. So the heater valve is the 3 hole type. My car has LPG fitted. The heater is the dual zone, digital control type. The heater pipes have been T'd into were the heater pipes exit the bulkhead, the additional hoses run below the inlet manifold, up over the top of the radiator to the LPG vapoursier and back. Here's the fault. The heater will only blow hot air from the passenger side vents. Except for one instance. If you turn the car to the right, the heater suddenly blows hot air from the drivers side vents. Once you go straight again, it steadily cools until cold. I have bled the system using the vent in the radiator, even going so far as to jack up the left front of the car sky high whilst bleeding it. All to no avail. I have replaced the heater valve once and discovered that the old one was fine. So i'm stumped and cold! Any thoughts on were to try next? Oh and for anyone outside of the UK, the car is right hand drive. Cheers guys.

If memory serves, cars fitted with run flats have softer springs to offset the lack of sidewall flex in the tyre. So if you go over to normal tyres, that increased give in the side wall will make the ride softer still. And from personal experience, they're a swine to fit :(

Not the rear trailing arm bushes is it?

The lpg side is not a problem, easy to tap into new inlet manifold and fit the injectors. The lpg ecu can be reprogrammed in under a minute so no worries there either. Reason I asked is simple, my M43 has 192k on it. I belive the M44 is about 25BHP more. If the M43 eventually lets go. Wondered about swapping for more power. Was concerned about the electrical side more than the mechanical. Did not know if the main ecu would have to be changed and looms altered etc. As for putting a six pot, hmm, if I were gonna alter things to that level, then the only way to for me would be a 5.0 small block ford. If only I had the money :unsure:

Hi all, Just out of interest, how easy or hard would it be to swap my existing 1.8 M43 motor for a 16v M44 engine? And, has anyone already done it? Cheers, John.

Did any of the E36's come with under trays. If so which models and are they model specific? Cheers, John.

lol nutter :)

Right, first hand experience. We sell Kseal at work and when my 318 was loosing coolant, i thought why not give it a go. This stuff has copper and ceramic in it. When it sets, it literally sets as hard as glass. The water outlet on the back of the head seemed to be the cause of my troubles. So i decided to replace the plastic pipe. The old plastic had fractured with age, and the Kseal had fused the broken plastic to the inside of the head casting. The was no way to removed it with out taking the head off. I had to cut down the new pipe and make a paper gasket and seal it with gasket cement. Nightmare job. If yours is the M43 engine, I would suspect the head gasket. I chased a coolant fault around on mine for many months, no CO in the coolant, no oil or cream cheese anywhere. Eventually after replacing most of the plumbing, the new parts held the water long enough for the culprit to finally be found, the head had corroded on number four, just enough to allow the gsket to finally fail. Propably not what you want to hear, but I would definatley start to consider head gasket. Especially if your hoses are getting hard at normal temps. Having said all the above, we've had guys buy the stuff to go in K series Rover's and it has fixed those head gaskets, and that's a dog of an engine IMO. Basically, check out all other stuff before you try it. I'll keep all crossed that i'm wrong. John.

Just out of interest, what is the difference in tread depths of your front and rear tires. My fronts were replaced last January, but the rears hung on till they were down to the legal limit. The abs/asc did not like the huge difference in tread depths and threw up abs warnings and skid warnings. All gone now it has new tires all round. John.

I lowered my E36 saloon a few years ago with a full Spax sports kit. Very pleased with both ride comfort and handling. It sits lower than an M3 on 17's Just watch out for the negative camber on the rear wheels, and the rear wheel alignment. Set it to parrallel, not what it tells you on autodata. I went for the recomended autodata spec on the back and shredded a pair of new michelin hp primacy's in 10K. Have fun.

It will probably be an 075, 096, or 100, depending on your engine size. The above comments are spot on, go for as big as you can physically get it. 4 years warranty batteries usually have more power than lesser models for the same size and shape. But get it tested before you shell out, and make sure you can trust the person testing it, as I see alot of "dead" batteries at work, and one of those "dead" batteries is still running on my 318 two years later !!! John.

Good effort, but those are the type that won't fit. Mine have a specific cut out half way up that fits the skirt. That's why i'm struggling to find them. My local dealer said there are no new ones at any dealships in Europe :( So I need to find second hand ones or NOS spares. Asked a guy at my local dealer who said he would keep an eye open if any E36's come in that are for scrap. Could be a long wait. Keep looking guys, cheers. John.

Hi all, Does anyone know were in the UK I can get hold of a drivers side, (RH) front mudflap for an E36 with the skirts, The standard mudflap will not fit properly and the original has a cut out half way up. My local main dealer came up with this part number 91 760 000 026 but says it is an obsolete part. Fleabay is of no help and the breakers yards are fast dissapearing. Tried FAB Recycle already, computer said no......ahem! So if any of you might be of help that would be cool. Cheers, John.

Steady now ;)

Hi all, as the title suggests, I am new to this forum, having been reccomended to visit by Dabsy. So here I am. In case you're wondering about the username, well my first love car wise is the Ford Mustang, I have owned two, and hope one day to be able to own another one. Betty the beemer is my daily driver. An 1998 E36 318iS that is running on LPG. She has been lowered all round with a Spax sports kit. She also sits on AC Schnitzer replica wheels and has 197,000 miles on the clock. Only recently having to have the head gaskket replaced. She drives like new. So that's me and my jalopy, oh and by the way, I play the Bass too. Cheers, John.