BMW E36 Blog

Fabric BMW E36 Door Panels

21st October 2008

Fabric BMW E36 Door Panels

 

I’ve been looking at the bimmer forums when I saw this photo which was posted by Boarderx192:


Fabric Door Panel

Fabric Door Panel

It’s a picture of a BMW E36 door panel with fabric on it. At first, I was shocked to see how far some people can go with their changes to the look of their cars and honestly (as I’m sure many will agree), I didn’t like the fabric but Boarderx192 has explained that this is just the first step of a major change to his interior and that he was going to introduce other changes to the interior to match that fabric. So for me, I guess it’s good to put an effort to make your car stand out from the crowd, but I’m not sure if this car will end up to be a very cool or a very ugly one. Anyway, can you imagine the changes to this car that will make it something special?

For those of you who were asking about the new BMW E36 Forum that I’ve just made, it is running very smoothly now and it’s getting more and more users everyday. So, why not you go there and participate? I’m sure you’re going to find something useful to read.

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posted in Interior, Photos, Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

7th October 2008

Estroil Blue BMW E36 M3

 

Hi Guys,

Today I’ve found this fabulous estroil blue BMW E36. It’s making me feel so bad about my car and about not giving her all the love I could. I’m sure almost (if not all) of you will feel the same after you see the pictures. It’s simply the cleanest BMW E36 M3 I’ve ever seen … seriously. As a bonus to that, the car has 48K miles on it only. Isn’t that awesome? Have you ever seen a cleaner car?

Take a look at the photos and let’s hear your opinions.

 

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posted in Engine, Exterior, Interior, Photos, Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

25th September 2008

BMW E36 Navigation System

 

I’m sure the title of this post has dragged your attention and it should because it did the same to me. I’ve discovered that the BMW E36 had an OEM option to get a navigation system with it. It seems the navigation system was a rare option and very expensive at the production time which explains how rare it is. I think it may also have been not very common and that’s why not too many cars have that option installed.

Take a look at this picture:



It’s amazing to find out that a BMW 1993 or maybe older could have this integrated navigation system.

Before anyone asks, I’m not sure if this navigation system is text or image based as I didn’t see it running. All I got to prove the existence of such an option is the above picture and this realoem link. I think it would be very cool if that option could be installed in our cars. Don’t you think?

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posted in Electrical, Interior, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

14th September 2008

Installing Plasma Gauges For Your BMW E36 . . . DIY!

 

This DIY (Do It Yourself) is a contribution by Daniel Castro, thanks Daniel. In the following text, you will find a detailed procedure on how you can remove your gauges cluster and disassemble it in order to replace your OEM gauges with the Plasma type. I know that almost everyone here is looking for these gauges but unfortunately I couldn’t find them on the German eBay where I found them for the first time. I’m not sure where you can get them from now, but I will keep looking and hopefully I will find them. Daniel, do you know where I can get this from? If you want to know how they should look like after you finish, take a look at the BMW E36 With Plasma Gauges and BMW E36 with blue interior LED lights . . . Wow!

Disclaimer: Use this info at your own risk!! The author is not responsible if this didn’t work for you :-).

1. Removing Screws:

Remove upper Left & Right screws using a 4 cornered screw driver. Once removed, use a flat screw driver to remove the whole unit from above.


2. Removing Sockets:

Pull the unit until the wires at the back are exposed. Remove the sockets by pushing the lever upwards or to the direction shown above. 3 sockets are to be removed, Black, Blue and White.


No need to remove the Steering Wheel, adjust it to the lowest position. After all the sockets are removed, just slowly slide the unit to the right side of the steering wheel, as shown below…


3. Unit Disassembly:

Use a #T-9 screw driver (hex shaped) to remove the screw (3 pcs) as shown below. Then Lift the level locks on the left & the right.





Lift both levers at the same time. Notice the outer back cover is lifted. Now, you will see 3 stick locks, Rotate the white locks wrapped around the black plastic poles.

Afterwards, you may separate the front cover from the middle part.

In my case, I have not locked them back, so I can easily lift or separate the middle part along with the back part. As shown below…

Using two flat screws, or anything that can lift the needles (of the Instrument Cluster).

BEWARE : The Needle pins are very SENSITIVE, as it can easily be bent.

Once all five needles are removed, remove the smaller hex shaped screws and place the Illuminating gauge face.


Placing the needles back is tricky, I recommend you rotate the pin by 45 degrees, hold it down, then place the needle slowly, pointing to 0 or minimum.

Reverse the whole process to install it back to it’s original place.

 

Are you looking for more do it yourself procedures (DIY) ? I recommend the Bentley BMW 3 series service manual for you. I got it and I think it’s a gold mine for us -BMW E36 Owners-. If you didn’t grab your copy yet, get it right now! I’m sure you’ll find this book worth every penny you’ve paid for. Get the Bentley BMW 3 series service manual

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posted in Do It Yourself, Interior, Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

5th September 2008

Fixing BMW E36 Headliner . . . Video

 

I wrote before about Fixing BMW E36 Headliner and provided a link to where you can buy a kit to fix your car’s headliner. Today, I’ve found this video which shows how you’re supposed to fix your headliner. I couldn’t find a specific procedure to fix the headliner for the BMW E36, but this will give you an idea about how you’re supposed to do when you get the headliner fixing kit.

Take a look, I hope you like it.




 

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posted in Interior, Tips & Tricks, Uncategorized, Videos | Comments Off on Fixing BMW E36 Headliner . . . Video