For many years I've promised my wife (fellow petrol head) that I was gonna help her build/restore a 1980 Mercedes Benz 350sl. Now, seeing that I know absolutely f-all about mercs, besides the fact that old people love them, I decided to go behind her back and get her an E36M3 instead. Well, the car kinda just landed on my lap kinda. I wasn't even looking for one. I was just focused on finishing my E30. & doing a few upgrades on the X5
car was previously stripped and was gonna be used for track. And by stripped I mean really stripped. Like XXX porn naked. Picked up the shell for super super cheap. came with all the junk that makes the rest of the car.
Things that were missing:
Front Brake discs
Diff
Engine
Gearbox
front door cards
steering wheel
wheels
ECU
Engine loom
Seats
So far, wife doesn't know about this as yet, but will reveal it to her once I'm kinda halfway done. I don't think she'll see it the same way that I'm seeing it. She'll probably see it as scrap or junk. Will do the reveal once the shell is painted which should be in 2 weeks time thanks to @Mushtaq for helping me out with the coloring part. Will update those pics in a few weeks time.
This has to be the cheapest E36 M3 Coupe build. I'll be happy. A lot of people say it can't be done but I think I can do it, or at least try to before giving up halfway & selling it on gumtree as a "1 owner car" "just needs some minor TLC".
here are pics of what I've managed to find & I'll actually share some of the prices I paid for the items.
Things that I've found so far:
Front Brake discs - R500 (Set)
Diff R1000.00
3.0 Engine R5000.00 (yes, Five Thousand Rands)
Gearbox R1500.00
ECU R500
Engine loom R200.00
Seats R4000.00 (set of clean Vaders)
I know very little about E36s, so here goes nothing
These aren't the best, but they'll do for now. If I don't use them, I'll use them on my E30.
E30 Disc on top of the E36M disc
how the old diff looked. managed to sell the pieces and recover my money that I spent on the new diff.
oil inside the new diff. Looks and smells like a sewer. How disgusting.
steering rack will be getting a clean and new seals.
Clocks.
Gotta love these sills.
really don't like these lights. Original clear tails
luckily, I have these. :wub: :wub:
Picked up the Engine from the seller & started stripping down some of the bits. Wife helped me & I told her its a friend's motor & she believed me.
:rollsmile:
Silicon for daaaays. You'd swear this was a plastic surgeon's car that specialised in breast implants.
Mixed injectors
Injectors gone.
Gonna need new ones
Branches look pretty good.
still solid. no holes whatsoever
then stripped some of the intake off. The ram tubes don't look so good.
more silicon
some have cracks & holes
Checked some of the rear suspension out. I have 2x rear sets available. so had to decide which one I'm going with.
I was also told by a friend of mine that I should replace the rear trailing arms with new ones coz they tend to break easily on E36s. [QUESTION: Does this also apply to M3? & if so, can these be reinforced like the E30 ones can?]
This doesn't look Koscher
These still look solid.
Not sure how I feel about the black interior. Would have loved the camel or white one. Buuuuut..... will make it work
QUESTION: Did these come in Manual? Its my 1st time seeing manual VaDERS. I wonder what the weight difference is between the electric ones and the manual ones.
car was previously stripped and was gonna be used for track. And by stripped I mean really stripped. Like XXX porn naked. Picked up the shell for super super cheap. came with all the junk that makes the rest of the car.
Things that were missing:
Front Brake discs
Diff
Engine
Gearbox
front door cards
steering wheel
wheels
ECU
Engine loom
Seats
So far, wife doesn't know about this as yet, but will reveal it to her once I'm kinda halfway done. I don't think she'll see it the same way that I'm seeing it. She'll probably see it as scrap or junk. Will do the reveal once the shell is painted which should be in 2 weeks time thanks to @Mushtaq for helping me out with the coloring part. Will update those pics in a few weeks time.
This has to be the cheapest E36 M3 Coupe build. I'll be happy. A lot of people say it can't be done but I think I can do it, or at least try to before giving up halfway & selling it on gumtree as a "1 owner car" "just needs some minor TLC".
here are pics of what I've managed to find & I'll actually share some of the prices I paid for the items.
Things that I've found so far:
Front Brake discs - R500 (Set)
Diff R1000.00
3.0 Engine R5000.00 (yes, Five Thousand Rands)
Gearbox R1500.00
ECU R500
Engine loom R200.00
Seats R4000.00 (set of clean Vaders)
I know very little about E36s, so here goes nothing
These aren't the best, but they'll do for now. If I don't use them, I'll use them on my E30.
E30 Disc on top of the E36M disc
how the old diff looked. managed to sell the pieces and recover my money that I spent on the new diff.
oil inside the new diff. Looks and smells like a sewer. How disgusting.
steering rack will be getting a clean and new seals.
Clocks.
Gotta love these sills.
really don't like these lights. Original clear tails
luckily, I have these. :wub: :wub:
Picked up the Engine from the seller & started stripping down some of the bits. Wife helped me & I told her its a friend's motor & she believed me.
:rollsmile:
Silicon for daaaays. You'd swear this was a plastic surgeon's car that specialised in breast implants.
Mixed injectors
Injectors gone.
Gonna need new ones
Branches look pretty good.
still solid. no holes whatsoever
then stripped some of the intake off. The ram tubes don't look so good.
more silicon
some have cracks & holes
Checked some of the rear suspension out. I have 2x rear sets available. so had to decide which one I'm going with.
I was also told by a friend of mine that I should replace the rear trailing arms with new ones coz they tend to break easily on E36s. [QUESTION: Does this also apply to M3? & if so, can these be reinforced like the E30 ones can?]
This doesn't look Koscher
These still look solid.
Not sure how I feel about the black interior. Would have loved the camel or white one. Buuuuut..... will make it work
QUESTION: Did these come in Manual? Its my 1st time seeing manual VaDERS. I wonder what the weight difference is between the electric ones and the manual ones.
