BMW E36 Blog

I’ve been contacted yesterday by Peter (he’s of the blog readers) and he sent me this link which has a review for BMW Australia. Peter has suffered from problems in a number of BMW cars that he owned.

It’s really sad to read how much of pain he suffered with these BMW cars. I’m really sure these problems were annoying and maybe dangerous in some situations. I recall that my E36 used to turn off when I turn my A/C on and in some situations, it turned off in some bad areas that really scared me (in traffic intersections sometimes). After that, I had to do some research and keep looking for solutions until one mechanic successfully fixed it.

I know for sure that these cars need good maintenance which can cost a fortune sometimes, but I think you all agree that you enjoy driving them. I’m not affiliated with BMW in anyway but I have to be honest about this. These cars are fun to drive.

I have also noticed that every newer model of BMW is a little bit more complicated than the previous one and in some cases leaves you with some problems that no one can help you with. That’s a real situation that I’ve been in couple times lately. It seems that every newer BMW generation gets even more complicated which results in more faults and more money to pay for fixes. I guess the new Mercedes and Jaguar cars are not better though.

With all that said, I know that the cars (especially new models) have some serious problems and in some situation hard to fix also, but BMW is a cool car when it’s working fine 😆 and I guess that’s what keeps the crowd hungry for more of that product.

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

First I want to start this post by saying "Happy New Year to you all". 2007 is almost out with its good and bad things. I hope 2008 is going to be a better year for all of us.

Now, for today’s post: It’s time for our monthly featured model. Today, I decided to feature this cool BMW E36 M3 simply because of its great interior. It’s really stunning to see how clean the car is and how it’s well maintained. Please pay attention to the door panels, the seats and the center console. The car is in a very good shape. Plus, the leather color is really cool with the car’s exterior. It’s 100% match.

What do you think of it? Would you kill for such a beauty?

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

As you may already know, this blog is growing really fast and I get excited everyday when I see that the number of readers on this blog is increasing steadily. I want to thank you all for being loyal readers for my blog and I hope you are enjoying the posts that I write almost everyday.

Now, I have a favor that I need to ask. It’s a simple thing that will help the BMW E36 Blog to rank better on Technorati. If you’re unfamiliar with Technorati, think of it as the authority website for blogs. The Technorati ranking is measured by how many persons have voted for that blog (i.e, made it their favorite). So, my request is simple: I was hoping from all the readers of this blog to click on the following link to vote for the BMW E36 Blog on Technorati to push its ranking. You can also, click on the green icon at the top of the right sidebar (Add to Technorati) to accomplish the same thing.

I hope this is not much to ask for and I hope you all vote for it. Thank you all!

Note: If you don’t have a Technorati account, you may need to register a new one. It’s straight forward and won’t take a minute.

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

Hello Everyone, I found a series of 3 videos talking about BMW E36 M3 cars. The videos contain some tips/info that I found very useful. In the first video, the guy talks about a mistake in the production of these cars and that BMW has produced some cars with two pedals instead of three 😆 . It seems the guy was just joking about this although it doesn’t seem to be a joke to me, but forget about this note … It’s silly. In the first video also, pay attention to the climate control part which talks about how to set the air condition/heater to trigger at a specific preset time. That’s cool, isn’t it? You do know that I don’t have a digital climate control, so I can’t verify this for you.

In this video, I specially liked the one touch open/close sunroof as well, unfortunately I don’t have it. I recall that I’ve seen a DIY (Do It Yourself) for it somewhere. I will check that and see if I can find it. You will also notice the lights above the vanity mirrors which I don’t have as well (man I missing a lot!). Please notice the mistake in this video about how the OBC (On Board Computer) controls the heated mirrors. Please make sure to read BMW E36 Heated Mirrors for more information about this.

In the second video, please pay attention to the double-locking section, which closes all the windows/sunroof automatically. This is really awesome. I just wish it worked for me, unfortunately, it didn’t. About the OBC information, you can read BMW On Board Computer (OBC) secrets! and BMW E36 on board computer . . . learn how to use it to learn more about it. Please notice the rechargeable flash light as well. Is that standard in this car? come on! Am I having a bad day or what?

And here’s the third part:

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it useful. If you like BMW E36 cars and you didn’t subscribe to my blog yet, please do. You can subscribe using RSS or Email

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

I’ve posted previously about BMW Options List and I said that you can find the list of options that your car is equipped with. In that post, I thought that a sticker should be found on the backseat with a list of numbers that are actually options codes. That was correct, but the location of the sticker was not on the back of the rear seat as I thought. It was actually placed on the back of the rear bench instead. I know that because I went and looked for it and simply didn’t find any until I removed my car’s rear bench and there it was. So, here are some simple photos for it:

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

Pull in the direction of the arrows below to remove the rear bench

After you remove that bench, you will see the sticker in the back of the bench

I took a photo of the sticker itself, I’m sorry for the dirt. I couldn’t remove it because the sticker is actually a normal paper, so using a little water or cleaner on it will simply ruin it

From the list of numbers that you can see (at the bottom of the sticker), I got my car’s list of options

031	?
055	?
240	Leather Steering Wheel w/ Airbag
320	Script Name Plate … what is this?
354	Anti-glare Windshield Strip
401	Sliding Sunroof Electrical
415	Sunshade for Package Shelf
423	Velour Floor Mats
428	Warning Triangle/First Aid Kit … this is missing! I’d better go find the previous owner!
440	Non-smoker’s Package
473	Front Armrest
481	Sport Seat – Driver/Passenger
494	Heated Seats Driver/Passenger
510	Headlight Adjustment Low Beam Light
554	On-board Computer V
661	Radio, BMW Business
690	Cassette Box
704	Sport Styling (body and suspension)
801	Order Control … What?
848	Enlarged Cable Harness … excuse me?

This is really awesome to be able to find all the options that came with your car. But unfortunately, I don’t recognize some of the options like 031, 055, 801 and 848. Anyone knows what are these options? Now, I would love to see you guys doing the same thing and lets see if you have any special/rare options on your cars. Try it and let me know.

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

BMW E36 Blog: The ultimate BMW E36 information source.