So... I bought...

[Chapel]

a 1997 BMW 328i Sedan with the Sport Package
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=cd8b2ef0da
the 'ass problem'

here it is in another position


here's one of the reasons I bought it:


Interior is clean:


two problems here

what should I do about this? i always buy cars with bolster tears and the intent to fix them, but no idea what it costs. I'd like to do it right out of the gate this time. How much would that cost?

Needs a couple of things that I noticed:
clutch bushings are shot
shifter bushings are shot
Front tires are mounted backwards of rotation.
trunk fabric is falling down from seat area

[Sporin]

The rest of the seats are in nice shape, imo it's worth taking the driver's to a pro upholstery shop and getting a quote, probably less $$$ then you think to repair.

[dubjager]

Wow that looks nice. Aside from the bolster which you can get fixed at any upholstery shop, you can glue that carpet back to the rear seat and bingo!

[Maggiolone]

Wow that looks nice. Aside from the bolster which you can get fixed at any upholstery shop, you can glue that carpet back to the rear seat and bingo!

Or velcro fasteners.

[patrickvr6]

You can get a new seat cover from these guys and put it on yourself.

http://www.autoberry.com/

[just4play]

contrats!, i miss my old bmw

[turbo_nine]

The rest of the seats are in nice shape, imo it's worth taking the driver's to a pro upholstery shop and getting a quote, probably less $$$ then you think to repair.

Indeed. I have a receipt here from an interior job done on my 745i where all the leather was replaced. Total was $600, and the seats were only half of that -- the rest was the headliner.

[Obin Robinson]

The rest of the seats are in nice shape, imo it's worth taking the driver's to a pro upholstery shop and getting a quote, probably less $$$ then you think to repair.

Ditto. I've found that professional upholstery shops not only can do the work much faster than I can but they cost a whole lot less than I originally thought.

obin

[Sporin]

Ditto. I've found that professional upholstery shops not only can do the work much faster than I can but they cost a whole lot less than I originally thought.

obin

Yeah, and as long as you aren't anal about the wear/color matching, you can have them do just the upper and lower bolsters on that side and it will be really close and you shouldn't have to worry about it ever again.

[Obin Robinson]

Yeah, and as long as you aren't anal about the wear/color matching, you can have them do just the upper and lower bolsters on that side and it will be really close and you shouldn't have to worry about it ever again.

Exactly! They might have a whole bunch of extra material in a slightly different color that will end up looking fantastic. You never know until you ask.

obin

[Silly_me]

Make sure to have a spare water pump in the trunk for that 'just in case' moment when the plastic innards explode

[Mike0105]

Nice buy Jared! Besides the driver side seat the interior is in really great shape, how many miles on the car?
Mike

[PhilHVW]

Congrats! Fun car.

[josh_did_what]

Also, my local BMW dealer has an interior specialist come in every week and will replace individual pieces of leather on seats with OEM leather. Since the rest of the seats look perfect though I would just get the whole driver's seat done and have a mint interior.

[BLK9GEN]

Very nice! Mind if I ask what you paid?

[Chapel]

Or velcro fasteners.

I was thinking of using CommandLoc strips (fancy velcro)

Very nice! Mind if I ask what you paid?

It was advertised at $3500. I paid a little less.

[OOOO-A3]

shifter bushings are shot

UUC bushings, and UUC Short Shifter
http://store.uucmotorwerks.com/uuc/articles/main.htm

trunk fabric is falling down from seat area

I can explain this.

The e36 could be had with a ski pass-through in the rear armrest. On cars that did NOT have the pass-through installed, there was a metal panel tack-welded into the opening that you see there. A hammer and punch is all it takes to pop the panel out (obviously done on your car) and as you will see by looking at the armrest, the interior (back seat) upholstery covering the hole behind the armrest has velcro at the top for easy access. The previous owner just took the in-trunk upholstery panel down to use the pass-through instead of cutting a hole in the panel. That panel should be held in place with some of those plastic trim fasteners that you can get in the red "HELP!" packages.

Now, if you want to make it a proper pass-through, you can order the part from BMW. You'd cut a matching hole in the trim panel in the trunk, and part of the kit is a plastic flange that dresses it up neatly and covers the edges of the metal opening, and has an attached ski bag that would expand into the car through the armrest opening when in use.

The cheap thing to do would be to get some windlace to dress up the raw metal edges of the opening (so you don't scratch the **** out of your skis/whatever passes through it), and cut the matching hole in the trunk panel before you re-attach it. That's what I did.

[matty_peppers]

Awesome find. I need to be more vigilant, you beat me to an awfully clean e36 and you're in my area too. Not many in such shape around here.

[Old Windy]

That is a nice one. Any reason as to why is the suspension locked in that position? E-brake cables rusted solid and in that position? Does it only happens when it is parked?

[J-Tim]

Looks very straight! Congrats!

[Chapel]

UUC bushings, and UUC Short Shifter
http://store.uucmotorwerks.com/uuc/articles/main.htm

100%. I loved my UUC Short shifter. It's wicked expensive now.

I can explain this.

The e36 could be had with a ski pass-through in the rear armrest. On cars that did NOT have the pass-through installed, there was a metal panel tack-welded into the opening that you see there. A hammer and punch is all it takes to pop the panel out (obviously done on your car) and as you will see by looking at the armrest, the interior (back seat) upholstery covering the hole behind the armrest has velcro at the top for easy access. The previous owner just took the in-trunk upholstery panel down to use the pass-through instead of cutting a hole in the panel. That panel should be held in place with some of those plastic trim fasteners that you can get in the red "HELP!" packages.

Now, if you want to make it a proper pass-through, you can order the part from BMW. You'd cut a matching hole in the trim panel in the trunk, and part of the kit is a plastic flange that dresses it up neatly and covers the edges of the metal opening, and has an attached ski bag that would expand into the car through the armrest opening when in use.

The cheap thing to do would be to get some windlace to dress up the raw metal edges of the opening (so you don't scratch the **** out of your skis/whatever passes through it), and cut the matching hole in the trunk panel before you re-attach it. That's what I did.

Yesterday at the show, the kid was using the passthrough to put something through. He played dumb about it on Saturday, but maybe realized he could use it on Sunday to put some fold up chairs.

[sandiegan]

That looks nice.

[B3passatBMX]

words about the ski pass

Or...someone had a subwoofer in the trunk and wanted more bass in the cabin. Easiest way to do is punch out the ski pass. Did it in my E30

[ATL_Av8r]

UUC bushings,
http://store.uucmotorwerks.com/uuc/articles/main.htm

Too harsh for a DD. Ask my spine how I know

[Chapel]

Too harsh for a DD. Ask my spine how I know

clutch bushings?

[ATL_Av8r]

clutch bushings?

Oh. Thought he meant chassis bushings

[Jrod511]

My guy could patch that hole but he would recommend against it, because it would look like a patch on an otherwise ratty seat. Best method would be to recover the thigh bolster, fill and airbrush the leg bolster and side bolsters to blend.

Don't screw around with these over the internet reupholstery kits. The quality may be good but they are a major, major pain in the ass. You don't have the tools, time, or patience; trust me, BTDT. Do you have a slightly urban area around you? Find a small shop in an urban area; have the car with you to show them.

I would estimate no more than $200 max to have the seat looking tip top.

[BltByKrmn]

Do you have a slightly urban area around you? Find a small shop in an urban area; have the car with you to show them.

I see what you did here.

[Chapel]

[Bluegrape2]

Awesome score I have a 93 325I around same mileage. Things to look over:
-Strut mounts
-Guibo bushings
-Rear subframe bushings
-cooling system-rad endtank "necks"/waterpump

From what I have gathered the cooling systems need to be well looked after every sixty thousand or so. If you hear any THUDS or Bumps when sliding into gear while stopped check rear trans mounts/guibo mounts.

What I love about my early E36 that I'm sure you will too:

-Raced my buddies VR SLC from a roll...spanked him in the top end ...which was a surprise to me I thoght he would beat me for sure.
-like mentioned the motor is a absolute gem, insanely smooth, awesome throttle response...sure the vanos is not as mechanic bliss sounding as VTACK or say MIVEC even but it works and these motors have the same vibration at 7K RPM as they do at 1K RPM
-Chasis dynamics- awesome, I added a auto car LSD to my 5-speed from a M car and after that it was the perfect DD, soft ride but begs to pushed harder and harder down your favorite country road
-Coming from my GTI VR car felt crazy balanced and I quickly learned that these cars also hangle great in the rain.... I actually came to love rainy days and driving with the long peddle ever soooo more over time.
-They are great cars...at low speed steering feels heavy and kinda slow but once you get moving the whole package morphs into such a great overall driving feel

My only gripe is I wish it had more storage space on the inside and I went through two window regs in about two years...But yours in several years more fresh so you should not have to worry about that for a while. Got mine with 140K Currently at 210+ going strong no problems!!!!


Report back with wet parking lot drift vids

[speedworks1]

Nice pickup!. The interior guy Joe in revere can take care of that seat under $200.00.

[geofftii2002]

Hey, WATCH OUT!! SOME CRAZY LOOKING THUG IS STEALING YOUR LICENSE PLATE!

[Chapel]

According to some people in chat, I'm the black kid in the back...

[Arju]

Hmm...

[GLIRyder]

Front tires are mounted backwards of rotation.

If you just swap the front two wheels, you should be fine