BMW 328Ci

Note: Posted in BMW 328CI coupe section until 328i coupe section becomes available. This review is about the older E36 328i coupe, not the newer 1999 onwards model.

I’ve come over all BMW these days, and have recently bought BM number 4 within 3 years. After an unfortunate smashing good time with my last one in December I was back humming about in my trusty Peugeot until I got things with the insurance company etc. sorted out. Because ...
...has a full and documented BMW history. It also had proper expensive BBS alloys and Contential tyres all round with all treads matching. This is one detail that shows a lot was thought of the car. Most people tend to fit cheaper brands of tyres with the thought “they’ll be fine and their much cheaper” - an attitude I don’t personally like, but everyone to their own.

One thing that I was shocked by on the drive home was the fact the ... more

Note: Posted in BMW 328CI coupe section until 328i coupe section becomes available. This review is about the older E36 328i coupe, not the newer 1999 onwards model.

I’ve come over all BMW these days, and have recently bought BM number 4 within 3 years. After an unfortunate smashing good time with my last one in December I was back humming about in my trusty Peugeot until I got things with the insurance company etc. sorted out. Because there was a 50 / 50 blame regarding the accident, we mutually agreed to fix our own cars, or in my case, scrap my own car and buy another one. Tip for everyone….. don’t crash into a jeep unless you’re in a jeep!

So, I made the decision not to go through insurance and just to take the loss on the car, as come renewal time – as my insurance company put it - I wouldn’t be of insurable interest on anything over group 10!

To be honest I didn’t really know what I wanted and seeing that I had to fork out for it all myself, I wasn’t planning to spend more than £4k or so…but when it comes to cars, my brain stops functioning and all sense is left at my backside. I buy what I like and the running costs, insurance etc. is just an after thought.

I had been pimping for an M3, but have been warned over and over again not to bother as my local BM specialist who is a good friend of mine informed me that they cost a stupid amount of money to run and you don’t really get to exploit the performance on the public road. A 328i would be a much more sensible option as it’s parts are much cheaper. It uses the same brakes and suspension as the rest of the range meaning it’s relatively cheap to service (in theory anyway), and it is every bit as quick as an M3 in normal road driving.

Spent over a month looking for one that I really fancied but to no avail. All had been quite rough and not looked after well enough. The only clean one I could find was an auto, which I didn’t want. I had to laugh with one fellas description as to why he was selling his. “Girlfriend forgot to take the pill”. Snigger snigger.

The car I really fancied was one belonging to an owners club member. It was a Madeira Violet E36 328i coupe with custom creamy/yellow leather and black piping. Yes, it was getting on a bit being a 1995 ‘N’ reg, but I fell in love with it. It was so obvious from the photos and talking to the owner that he had a love for his car and it was as spotless as spotless things come. The only problem was that it wasn’t for sale. Damn!

It didn’t stop me however, and in the end I managed to persuade him to sell it to me, partly because I offered him top money for it. This is what I mean by all sense being left at my backside. I just had to have this car and once it was in my head, that was it. After another month of talking him round to selling it, £7500 and a long drive home, it was sitting on the driveway, gleaming and I have to say, she was a stunner! J

It had covered 110,000miles, and please don’t think that’s massive mileage because it’s not! I’ve had a few BMs now and it really is nothing to them. The car drives like new and has a full and documented BMW history. It also had proper expensive BBS alloys and Contential tyres all round with all treads matching. This is one detail that shows a lot was thought of the car. Most people tend to fit cheaper brands of tyres with the thought “they’ll be fine and their much cheaper” - an attitude I don’t personally like, but everyone to their own.

One thing that I was shocked by on the drive home was the fact the car managed 34mpg! (300 miles and the needle was still registering half full) 34mpg from a 2.8 6 cylinder petrol engine! I was beaming from ear to ear. My 5 series before it was the smaller engined 2.5 but paired to an auto gearbox it only ever extracted 24miles before it needed another gallon of gold dust.

Performance
Well as expected from a 2.8, performance is suitably brisk. I think the best way to describe this engine is that it surges! It’s not brutal, or noisy. It just seems to surge forever. It has a refined but powerful engine note that howls beautifully once near the redline. It’s got the addictive soundtrack that made BMW famous for their 6 cylinders power plants. (I know the fellas at the local petrol station and one day when I went past nearing the redline, they told me they swore it was a ferrari approaching by the sound of it – that alone is worth buying the car for!)

It pulls smoothly in any gear from 1000rpm and below. It never judders at all, just seems to tug itself away. Beyond 4000rpm, the performance will slap a silly big grin on your face. I have tried it out a couple of times on the motorway when no one was about, and the acceleration just doesn’t let up. Here’s when I get childish and admit the most satisfying thing I find is toying with Volkswagen drivers he he. I don’t know what it is, but Golf drivers in their GT TDIs hate been overtaken. Everytime I go to pass one, you can see the puff of black smoke as they get their right clog down to try and halt your progress. The great thing with the 328 is that, it makes no difference whether they put their foot down or not or whether their golfie is chipped or not, the BM is going to pass them with ease and without a cloud of smog behind it. Grin grin! A friend of mine has purchased one of the new style golf gt tdis 140bhp. I have driven it and compared to the BMW, it’s a slug.

Performance Stats:

Engine – 2793cc Straight Six 24 valve.
Drivetrain – 5 Speed Gearbox, Rear Wheel Drive
0-60mph – 6.4secs
Max Speed – 149mph
Max Power – 193bhp

These figures are on the conservative side as a BMW magazine has had a standard 328i hit 60mph in 5.9secs on a dry road. I’ve had my own car on the rolling road and it is putting out 200.8bhp, a bit more than the book suggests. This may be to do with the newer engine in mine though, more on that later!

The 328 is also a hugely restricted engine in order to pass German legislation. The inlet manifold is small to reduce airflow and power. With some small alterations, a 325 manifold from an older 325i will fit. As this manifold has bigger inlets, a considerable power gain is to be had. I am talking of an increase from 193bhp to around 215bhp.

For those of you considering a car like this, please….one word of warning. Don’t try to drive it quickly in the wet, it will bite! As with most rear wheel drive cars, unless you’ve been a rear wheel drive veteran all your motoring years and even so, the car will easily catch you out. To be honest, I wouldn’t let anyone drive my car on a wet day, too much power and not enough traction.

What to look for:

Right, if you’re in the market for a 6 cylinder e36 (that the 3 series from 1991 – 1999), there are a few things to look out for and one major thing! As I mentioned earlier, my car has a newer engine. This is due to a nikisil issue, which affected all M52 engined cars manufactured until March 1998. The M52 engine was used in 323i’s and 328i’s. The engine bores had nikisil liners which reacted with sulphur in the fuel and consequently wore away resulting in a knackered engine. A lot of these cars including mine had replacement engines with steel liners instead. My car had the replacement engine at 84000 miles if this is of any help. It is simple to check which engine the car has. If you look down the engine block underneath the air intake manifold, a non-nikasil engine will have a little copper plate on the block. A nikisil engine won’t! Older 325i and 320i engines were not affected, nor are the units in the M3.

Next thing to check are the rear wheel arches. BMWs that don’t rust are only a myth. The rear wheel arches are especially prone to rust and bubbling. A caring owner will have wax oiled the car to prevent this but most 3’s you will find in autotrader won’t have had this level of TLC. This rust problem is not covered by the manufacturers 10 year anti-perforation warranty either as it is apparently caused by stone chips!

Other more minor problems with the E36 are electrical niggles such as wonky electric windows that tend to eat their way through regulators. The viscous cooling fan also wears out but a lot of owners don’t notice this as it still turns with the engine even though it is not been driven with force. Result of this….overheating!

Sticky brake callipers, broken springs and failed ABS sensors are also part of the 3 series ownership experience. The mechanicals themselves are very good, but I feel the car suffers from being too complex for its own good. As with everything now, it’s all ECU controlled and it’s packed with bloody sensors that go all wonky.

I’ve had to replace the crankshaft sensor and an ABS sensor on mine so far, at £45 and £65 + VAT respectively. Not major engine problems but it aint half dear for just a bit of plastic with a plug!

Tyres are certainly not cheap either and the 3 is hungry when it comes to rears! My last set of rear tyres stung me £118 EACH! Of course there are cheaper alternatives out there at around £65 but I firmly believe in good tyres especially when they have to deal with upwards of 200bhp.

These cars had a safety recall issued on the steering column which I’m led to believe was attacked by rust at a certain point. By quoting the last 7 digits of the chassis number to your BMW dealer, they will be able to tell you whether this has been done or not. If not, it’s free anyway, so nothing to worry about.

My last point to mentioned for potential purchasers: Concentrate on the history of the vehicle and the owner you are buying it off to judge its condition. Don’t just look at the mileage. I have seen some very dodgy 70,000 milers for sale by people who treat it simply ‘as a car’. I also know someone that has one with over 200,000 miles on the clock but is in fantastic condition because it’s his pride and joy and gets looked after accordingly. History and owner care is everything with these motors. They are not like a Toyota or Honda, which you could use, and abuse for years and it will still never go wrong.

Running Costs

Ok, things go a bit downhill here but the slope is not quite as steep as you may be thinking. If your still shocked by my 34mpg comment, then to bring you back to earth, I can tell you that when revving its nuts of, 20mpg is a more accurate figure. And with the glorious sound it makes, it’s hard to resist.

Insurance wise, it sits in group 17 so you better not have a shopping list length of penalty points on your license. It’s not as hard to insure as it sounds though…..honest!

BMW have 3 types of service routines. Oil Service, Inspection I and Inspection II. Rough prices for these are as follows:

Oil Service – over £100
Inspection I – over £200
Inspection II – over £300

I recently had an Inspection I done on mine at a cost of around £400. This however included the replacement of crankshaft sensor and ABS sensor along with some Mobil One Oil, which I purchased separately.

The service intervals are variable, the car displays 4 green service lights on startup which countdown to the next service. 1 light is extinguished roughly every 1500miles, giving a service interval of around 6000 miles. This is dictated how the car is driven. So expect shorter intervals, if you rev it like a formula 1 car everywhere and longer ones, if you’re scared of the throttle. I got around 1600 miles to the last light even though I was making sure I kept in front of all those VW drivers! J

General Opinion

This is now an 8 year old car which feels as though it left the factory a week ago. Everything is reassuringly heavy and solid. The steering is direct if not full of feedback, the power is smooth and the gearbox is slick enough. The brakes are not great as they fade very quickly with repeated use, however I will hopefully sort this out by changing the brake fluid for dot 5.1 or dot 6 and fitting new discs with mintex fast road pads.

The handling in the wet is un-nerving although in the dry the car is fantastically quick and agile. The chassis turns in quickly and with a low centre of gravity it does not roll. As the coupe versions feature a standard M suspension, the ride is a little firm, too firm at times but I have got used to it now.

The seat has a lot of adjustment, including height, making a good driving position easy to achieve. Space in the rear is laughable. Anyone who has sat in the back of my car have had to sit with their knees around their ears. The saloon may fair better though in this territory. The coupe is more style over function and as I don’t have any young sprogs running about yet, it is adequate for my use.

There are some little details, which have made this car that little bit special, such as the frameless doors. When the windows are down, the doors give that ‘proper sports car’ effect. Other details include, wipers that automatically switch to intermittent wipe when the car comes to a halt to stop them from drying the windscreen too quickly and starting to squeak. The glovebox houses a torch and its own charging socket. When locking the car, if you hold the key in the lock, the windows and sunroof will close automatically. It’s little touches like this that make the car for me.

Open the boot lid and there’s an impressive amount of space. A fairly comprehensive toolkit is included along with first aid kit and a warning triangle – handy for nighttime breakdowns (not that that would ever happen in a Bavarian autobahn basher now I hear you say!! lol). Oh and one last thing….. the battery is also located in the boot, which will prove a godsend to those of you that like upgrading their sound systems with amplifiers etc. as it’s so easy to wire.

You can pick up a 3 series saloon now for about £1200 for a 318i, although to be honest if you want a decent example, pay maybe £5000 for a 328i saloon / touring, and give £6 - £7k for a nice coupe. They are indeed of the old school BMs in a way when you look at the newer, more rounded E46 which has now attained dare I say it – some middle aged spread. The new ones of course are a fantastic machine but a mint E36 is still every bit as desirable, even more so than the E46 to BMW enthusiasts as there is a great potential with them and they are still a sharper machine to drive.

To sum my thoughts on the car up…..when I bought it, I bought it with the intention of maybe selling it the summer and going for something diesel powered (like a golf, oh er… red face now), but now I have the car and have fallen in a car type love with it, I couldn’t part with it. Every time I polish it, I fall for it again and again. The engine is a masterpiece; it’s even good to look at! It’s a car I can recommend to an enthusiast, although if you are simply buying a BMW for the sake of the badge, you will prob be better of spending the £7000 or so on a newer type E46 318i.

Do I like? HELL YES, I LOVE IT! Thanks for reading.
 

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