Buying an e36????
Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2010 10:13 pmThings to look out for when buying your e36
Iv a bit of free time on my hands what with been off work this week so thought I’d put up this. I’d be here all week if I was to go through absolutely everything so everyone feel free to add to it.
One of the main problems with our e36’s is without a doubt, overheating! BMW must of givenup when it came to the cooling system when they were designing the e36. They used very poor parts on it.
Check the waterpump, if you can get down to it check for any white crud around it, that white crud will be what is left after coolant vaporises, bad sign if there is any there, there maybe a leak. Also try locate the drive belt for the waterpump, try giving it a wiggle and if there is any sign of play in it then it could mean the bearings are going.
Give the entire cooling system a good visual check, check all pipe work and check the ends of all the pipes, if any of them are frayed at the end then it could mean they burst at some point and someone just tried cutting back the damaged rubber and reattaching. Make sure none of the pipes are been pulled to tight either, another sign of a pipe been burst and cutting off the damaged part.
Check the radiator for any warping, its hard to get a good look but there is a good few positions where you can get a look, if its warped it could be a sign that the car overheated at some point.
Ask the seller when the cooling the system was last flushed and replaced, it should be done AT LEAST once a year, twice in countries with big summer/winter differences, it is usually overlooked by a lot D.I.Y servicers.
The differental is another thing often overlooked at services. Its very hard to see signs of wear and tear on the differental but listen for any groans or squeeks when driving in 1st gear with full wheel lock, do the same in reverse aswel. When pulling off in a straight line feel for any unusual vibrations, this could be the gearbox or it could be the differental. Again, ask the seller when the fluid was changed last, it’s a small job that only takes 25-30 minutes to do and should be done every year.
With full steering lock on, check the C.V. boots behind the front wheels, these are the rubber covers over the C.V. joint. Just make sure they are intact and not burst.
Check around every wheel arch for flaking paint, it could be a sign of rust, check under the wheel arches for any rust aswel. Open the doors and pull the rubber insulation off “it will only take 3 or 4 minutes to put back on” check for rust or any unsightly kinks in the metal.
Open the boot and lift up the carpet, take the spare wheel out and have a good look for puddles of water or rust. Some of the bigger engine e36s have there battery in the boot, try stick your fingers underneath it and feel for dampness, if its wet it could be from a hole in the body under the battery or it could be the battery leaking itself. While the boot is open, make sure all the tools are there, that caught me out on my e36
Now, go wash your hands now incase the battery was leaking.
The engine is gonna be something else to check, if its an e36 then its gonna be 10+ years old. Be vigorous when checking the engine, listen to it and listen closely for any out of the ordinary sounds. You will find the throttle cable at the back of the engine near the butterfly valve on the intake. Pull it very gently and bring the revs up, listening for any noises the hole time. Any grinding, clapping, tapping, clunking and hissing noises is a no no. I can’t go into all of it so if you hear any noises and cant distinguish what it is it would be worth calling a mechanic or “a mate who knows cars”
Have a good visual inspection of the engine, check the oil filler cap after a bit of a test drive for any white sludge, a little bit is acceptable, it is a 10+year old car after all, but a lot should raise some eyebrows. Also check inside the engine itself, look in the oil filler port with a torch, preferably it should be smooth with a dark colouring. A lot of wear and tear could leave it a light color and very rough looking inside.
Check, if you can, a cold start on the engine. Check the exhaust for excess smoke, white smoke could be a sign of water getting into the combustion chamber, smoke with a blue tinge is oil getting in there. DO NOT confuse smoke for condenstaion. Put your hand over the exhaust and you should feel the pressure build up very quickly, if it doesn’t it could be a hole in the exhaust somewhere but you will also hear the hole in the exhaust.
When driving the car check for any noises going over bumps from the suspension, it should be quiet. Check for the car pulling to the left or right when your on a straight bit of road, also check for any pulling to the left or right when under heavy acceleration or heavy braking. Put the car in 4th gear at 30mph and push the accelerator to the floor, look behind you for any smoke and while doing it feel for any vibrations.
Give the car a good race from a standstill to 60mph, check behind you while your doing it for any smoke when your up at the top end of the rev counter.
One of the most important things to do when buying a car is to scout the owner out, while your doing these checks has he gone really nervous or dropped the price at all? If he has then there is a reason for it!
Keep throwing questions at him, then go back over the questions and see if he gives the same answer.
Never ever forget when your buying a car that YOU are doing the buying, don’t be pressured into buying AND always test drive at least one other car with the same engine.
It may seem a bit extreme to some people to do this when buying a car but at the end of the day YOU are the one handing over your hard earned money for it and you don’t want to find out a week or 2 later that there is a major problem with it. Also, from personal experience (and iv looked at a lot of cars for family and friends) if it looks to good to be true than it more than likely is too good to be true. In Ireland, a lot of dodgy car salesmen will sell cars posing as private sellers, they are doing this for a reason and it is ilegal in a lot of countries, they are doing it because 90% of the time there is a major fault with the car.
I know iv missed a lot of things but I like to think iv covered the major things, now just keep this in mind when your next buying and you should end up with a gem like I did!!!
Best of luck car-hunting,
Keith.
Iv a bit of free time on my hands what with been off work this week so thought I’d put up this. I’d be here all week if I was to go through absolutely everything so everyone feel free to add to it.
One of the main problems with our e36’s is without a doubt, overheating! BMW must of givenup when it came to the cooling system when they were designing the e36. They used very poor parts on it.
Check the waterpump, if you can get down to it check for any white crud around it, that white crud will be what is left after coolant vaporises, bad sign if there is any there, there maybe a leak. Also try locate the drive belt for the waterpump, try giving it a wiggle and if there is any sign of play in it then it could mean the bearings are going.
Give the entire cooling system a good visual check, check all pipe work and check the ends of all the pipes, if any of them are frayed at the end then it could mean they burst at some point and someone just tried cutting back the damaged rubber and reattaching. Make sure none of the pipes are been pulled to tight either, another sign of a pipe been burst and cutting off the damaged part.
Check the radiator for any warping, its hard to get a good look but there is a good few positions where you can get a look, if its warped it could be a sign that the car overheated at some point.
Ask the seller when the cooling the system was last flushed and replaced, it should be done AT LEAST once a year, twice in countries with big summer/winter differences, it is usually overlooked by a lot D.I.Y servicers.
The differental is another thing often overlooked at services. Its very hard to see signs of wear and tear on the differental but listen for any groans or squeeks when driving in 1st gear with full wheel lock, do the same in reverse aswel. When pulling off in a straight line feel for any unusual vibrations, this could be the gearbox or it could be the differental. Again, ask the seller when the fluid was changed last, it’s a small job that only takes 25-30 minutes to do and should be done every year.
With full steering lock on, check the C.V. boots behind the front wheels, these are the rubber covers over the C.V. joint. Just make sure they are intact and not burst.
Check around every wheel arch for flaking paint, it could be a sign of rust, check under the wheel arches for any rust aswel. Open the doors and pull the rubber insulation off “it will only take 3 or 4 minutes to put back on” check for rust or any unsightly kinks in the metal.
Open the boot and lift up the carpet, take the spare wheel out and have a good look for puddles of water or rust. Some of the bigger engine e36s have there battery in the boot, try stick your fingers underneath it and feel for dampness, if its wet it could be from a hole in the body under the battery or it could be the battery leaking itself. While the boot is open, make sure all the tools are there, that caught me out on my e36
Now, go wash your hands now incase the battery was leaking.The engine is gonna be something else to check, if its an e36 then its gonna be 10+ years old. Be vigorous when checking the engine, listen to it and listen closely for any out of the ordinary sounds. You will find the throttle cable at the back of the engine near the butterfly valve on the intake. Pull it very gently and bring the revs up, listening for any noises the hole time. Any grinding, clapping, tapping, clunking and hissing noises is a no no. I can’t go into all of it so if you hear any noises and cant distinguish what it is it would be worth calling a mechanic or “a mate who knows cars”
Have a good visual inspection of the engine, check the oil filler cap after a bit of a test drive for any white sludge, a little bit is acceptable, it is a 10+year old car after all, but a lot should raise some eyebrows. Also check inside the engine itself, look in the oil filler port with a torch, preferably it should be smooth with a dark colouring. A lot of wear and tear could leave it a light color and very rough looking inside.
Check, if you can, a cold start on the engine. Check the exhaust for excess smoke, white smoke could be a sign of water getting into the combustion chamber, smoke with a blue tinge is oil getting in there. DO NOT confuse smoke for condenstaion. Put your hand over the exhaust and you should feel the pressure build up very quickly, if it doesn’t it could be a hole in the exhaust somewhere but you will also hear the hole in the exhaust.
When driving the car check for any noises going over bumps from the suspension, it should be quiet. Check for the car pulling to the left or right when your on a straight bit of road, also check for any pulling to the left or right when under heavy acceleration or heavy braking. Put the car in 4th gear at 30mph and push the accelerator to the floor, look behind you for any smoke and while doing it feel for any vibrations.
Give the car a good race from a standstill to 60mph, check behind you while your doing it for any smoke when your up at the top end of the rev counter.
One of the most important things to do when buying a car is to scout the owner out, while your doing these checks has he gone really nervous or dropped the price at all? If he has then there is a reason for it!
Keep throwing questions at him, then go back over the questions and see if he gives the same answer.
Never ever forget when your buying a car that YOU are doing the buying, don’t be pressured into buying AND always test drive at least one other car with the same engine.
It may seem a bit extreme to some people to do this when buying a car but at the end of the day YOU are the one handing over your hard earned money for it and you don’t want to find out a week or 2 later that there is a major problem with it. Also, from personal experience (and iv looked at a lot of cars for family and friends) if it looks to good to be true than it more than likely is too good to be true. In Ireland, a lot of dodgy car salesmen will sell cars posing as private sellers, they are doing this for a reason and it is ilegal in a lot of countries, they are doing it because 90% of the time there is a major fault with the car.
I know iv missed a lot of things but I like to think iv covered the major things, now just keep this in mind when your next buying and you should end up with a gem like I did!!!
Best of luck car-hunting,
Keith.
