BMW E36 Blog

I’ve just found out that there is a secret compartment inside our BMW E36 cars. This secret compartment is hidden inside the rear seat armrest and it’s actually a cup holder for the passengers in the rear seat. I’m not sure if this is only for the 4-door BMW E36 cars but I think so, because as far as I know, there’s no rear armrest in the BMW E36 coupe. I’m not 100% sure though. Anyone got these cute cupholders? Take a look at their photos … They are awesome! don’t you think?

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate BMW E36 M3 information source.

Hi Guys,

I’ve found a thread on the bimmer forums talking about the features that some of us don’t even know they exist in their cars. So, I thought it would be cool to share them with you and see if you already knew about all these or not. So, let’s start:-

1. Speed Sensitive Volume (Harmon Kardon Audio System).
2. Speed Sensitive Wipers:- In the rain, the wipers will change their speed according to the car speed. The 3 settings for the wipers speed are:-
   a. Intermittent:- Wipers go intermittently at speeds above 3 mph (about) and do not work at all when stopped.
   b. Speed one:- Wipers go slowly at speeds above 3 mph (about) and go intermittently when stopped.
   c. Speed two:- Wipers go fast at speeds above 3 mph (about) and slowly when stopped.
3. Closing All Windows and Sunroof By Holding Key in the Lock Position. (Didn’t work on my BMW E36 1993 318is though. I think it’s a 94+ feature). Take a look at this BMW E36 M3 Review and Info.
4. Gas Door Closes with Central Lock.
5. Heated Windshield Nozzles (Winter Package).
6. Heated Door Locks (Winter Package).
7. Tilt Steering Wheel. Anyone got this?
8. Cupholder/Central Console is pre-wired for the ashtray light.
9. Secret OBC Functions.
10. Heated Mirrors.
11. The BC Button On The Signal Selector. Just click your signal stick towards the steering wheel column. You can switch the OBC functions this way.
12. After you park the car you can switch on the parking lights on one side of the car only. To do this, just switch the car off and push the indicator stalk all the way up or down (it’s quite stiff). The right or the left parking light will turn on.

So, what do you think? Did you know about all these features? be HONEST 😈

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate BMW E36 M3 information source.

Hi,

As you may all know, I don’t like to mess around with the car’s interior. For example, I always hated using multiple colors of leather inside the car unless the colors really match. Using leather with light colors in the gear boot will always make the car’s interior look bad IMAHO. The end result is always worse than the standard look of the car.

Today, I’ve found this car with some nice interior modification. They actually made the car look better and at the same time they look/are OEM. So, they won’t look ricey on the BMW E36.

The interior upgrade for this car included:
1. Blaupunkt Business CD43
2. 7 button MID with temp retrofitted
3. Genuine dark walnut gear knob (new) and glovebox trim (used)
4. Dome maplights
5. Centre console and cloth armrest
6. Dark walnut handbrake

This is an example of how you can upgrade your car’s interior, without making it look ricey. Take a look at the photos:

I have to admit, this car looks clean and has a decent interior.

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate BMW E36 M3 information source.

Hi,

I’ve found this video for a BMW E36 with Plasma gauges. I have to admit, the color mix is not the best I saw (especially with that Cyan color on the outer circles), but it looks nice though. Please let me know what do you think? BTW, check my previous posts BMW E36 with blue interior LED lights and BMW E36 With Blue Interior LED Lights . . . Revisited to read more about these gauges.

This is the video

BMW E36 Blog: The Ultimate E36 Information Source.

I published the post Faulty temperature sensor in BMW E36 long time ago. The post talked about the reason why your OBC shows a wrong external temperature like -35F or -37C. At the time of writing that post, I was going to replace the sensor and to my surprise I found that it’s missing. Luckily the wires where hanging there. It seems that someone thought it’s not necessary and this car will not need it. Anyway, somehow I forgot the whole thing and it took me until today to actually get a new one (used) :p , take a look below:

Poor sensor 😀 . The wiring was very easy, just connect the sensor wires to the wires inside your brake duct and you’re set.

After I connected the temperature sensor, I thought the car will show the temperature right away, but it took some time until it started showing the correct temperature. First it started like this -37C , then  gradually increasing until it reached 0C then it started going up until it reached 30C.

It’s very nice to fix this problem and very easy at the same time, so if you have this problem in your car, I don’t think you should wait like I did. Just get the temp sensor and fix it.

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate BMW E36 M3 information source.