Copious amounts of electrical problems in the M3...

11/18/2007 10:51:14 AM

like what?

11/18/2007 10:52:07 AM

"Tailight failure" and "brake light circuit" continuously come up on the check screen...

Gauge cluster doesn't work sometimes... but when it does work, the speedometer goes straight to 57 mph and stays there until I stop. I could be going 3 mph and it will still say 57 mph.

Driver's side foglight went out, which is a bitch to replace (can't seem to find the plastic clip to release the housing).

Heat isn't working right now.

Airbag light is on, and when a technician tries to reset it, it stays on...

Third brake light isn't working (just replaced the socket, still doesn't work, which probably has a lot to do with the "brake light circuit" failure).

I just replaced the spark plugs yesterday and put an aftermarket intake on it (the old air box was cracked, including the boot connected to the MAS... so at least it is running like a champ.

Just wish these other problems would go away...

11/18/2007 10:59:17 AM

wow, sounds like you bought a piece of shit


OEM taillights? If not, theyre finicky. If theyre OEM, put in good bulbs.

brake light circuit means you need a new brake light switch under the brake pedal. $15

gauge cluster. i dunno. thats not so common on E36s like it is on E30s.

SRS problems? your fucked go to a good shop like Shadetree who can scan the SRS computer and see where the fault is. I bet its the passenger seat occupancy sensor. You can hack it for 50cents w/ a resistor and a diode. A new sensor is $250.

I forgot how the foglights work, but theres a hole where you stick a screwdriver in a push in one of the corners. the other corner has a screw. I'm sure you can find details on bimmerforums. Or you can take the lower engine cover off and attack from the back

heat? is the cooling system properly bled? check that first. also make sure the cooling system is up to date (pump, hoses, radiator, tstat/housing, etc)



Its not a flood car is it?

11/18/2007 11:04:01 AM

All of your problems beyond the speedo sound like a wire and a switch circuit.

They are obviously not working but at least they are the most elementary problem to debug.

11/18/2007 11:07:45 AM

Quote :

"brake light circuit means you need a new brake light switch under the brake pedal"

I already have the switch, just need to run a few miles and drop some Lbs. before I can shimmy under there...

I've taken the car to Shadetree once and they couldn't fix the SES light. They also said they would have to send my cluster off to a specialty shop. Funny you mention them, I e-mailed Truett about all these problems less than 30 minutes ago...

As for the heat, I will have him check that stuff out.

And no, this isn't a flood car by any means -- but it has been wrecked, hence the excellent deal I got it for. It only has 65,000 miles on it. According to carfax, it was wrecked in 2005 (I think) and wasn't driven for about 2 years, so I guess I got it when all the body work was finished. You would never know, the car drives like a dream, but these little nitpicky problems are frustrating -- I knew what I was getting into though.

11/18/2007 11:12:49 AM

i don't understand why there are so many E36 fanboys. We used to call 'em SHS-- Sanderson High School Specials. I guess they were quick for the day (but slow by today's standards)... they look alright, they're not like amazingly moddable, they handle pretty good I suppose. I see so many of these beat the fuck up. and yeah yeah you can flame me about 2nd gen rx-7's, but few people seriously thinks they are good cars. And that's exactly why I like them.

11/18/2007 12:02:06 PM

yeah... i wanted a mkiv supra when i was 16 and they were worth just over 12k for a turbo.... now i could give 2 shits about them.

its $ per performance that i like

[Edited on November 18, 2007 at 12:20 PM. Reason : .]

11/18/2007 12:20:14 PM

The plan is to strap a stage one blower to it mid next year, then stage two at the end of next year... then it will be fast to today's standards.

The reason I like it: it's simplicity. There isn't a bunch of frilly plastic, the interior is nice and simple. Just my kind of car, not to mention it handles incredibly, much better than my previous land-yacht Trans-Am.

It's not that I'm a fanboy -- it's just a quick little car, fairly nice inside, and gets decent gas mileage -- and eventually, I can make it fast.

11/18/2007 12:41:53 PM

^^^they're fine cars. add to that list relatively cheap, reliable if maintained, great track cars, and rwd. i wouldn't call many of the e36 owners on here fanboys- as most of them are quite informed, and have pretty broad taste in cars. if you're gonna troll, at least find a proper audience

[Edited on November 18, 2007 at 12:47 PM. Reason : ^fu for making me edit]

11/18/2007 12:46:54 PM

^ +eleventy billion

11/18/2007 1:29:48 PM

An E36 will eat a fat turd of a supra for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on track. Theyre fantastic cars.

I miss my M3 a lot

11/18/2007 2:06:44 PM

obligatory for this thread

11/18/2007 5:02:30 PM

traded calahan's old e30 and some cash and got scottyc's red frankenstein monster of an e36. hopefully putting in a new clutch master cyclinder by wednesday so i can show the parents where my little scholarship money goes. also i am going to be working very part time at shadetree so that should help with acquiring parts at a good price, but i am much more excited about the learning experience.

11/19/2007 1:29:57 AM

awesome, you'll get to hear nick bitch about bimmers on a daily basis

11/19/2007 1:44:48 AM

If the car has been wrecked and your SRS light is on get them to check on whether the driver side seatbelt has been fired or not in the accident as that will set off the airbag light. Basically if it has you just have to replace the seatbelt buckle assembly on that side and clear the code.

11/19/2007 8:21:28 AM

the head gasket finally shat the bed today either that or i blew something up in the coolant system. i knew it was on its last leg since the upper radiator hose kept getting pressurized like woah. the stop and go traffic outside of charlotte finally made the system go pop, literally. well i will have to trailor it back to raleigh sometime in the next few weeks. nothing like showing my parents my new car as it gets unloaded off the back of a roll back tow truck into their driveway. time to rock the e30 318is back to school.

11/21/2007 11:49:31 PM

should have kept the e30

11/22/2007 4:57:19 PM

Quote :

"add to that list relatively cheap"

i'll agree with everything but this... how do you figure that? a clean example of one certainly isn't my definition of cheap, especially age/mileage considered for most. not to mention parts/maintenance costs.

great cars, but entirely too much $$ for what you get imo.

[Edited on November 22, 2007 at 5:08 PM. Reason : .]

11/22/2007 5:06:49 PM

word

11/22/2007 6:51:04 PM

Quote :

"Tailight failure" and "brake light circuit" continuously come up on the check screen... "

I've had the exact same warnings for about a year in my M3, along with the airbag light, I paid the dealership $200 a pop to fix the airbag light......twice (it's a faulty sensor in the seatbelt if we don't replace it your airbag won't go off in a wreck, so they said).......before I eventually said screw it, brake light circuit and tailight failure come and go as they please, although they don't actually affect anything except the fact that they make the warning show up so I just ignore them

11/24/2007 7:52:01 PM

i replaced brake light circuit sensor twice now. brake light circuit, variuos CELs and faded light spots in speedometer/odometer area all show more often in warm weather. cold weather FTMFW. im guessing light emitters in speedometer area shrink and coalesce better during cold hiding the dark spots well.

11/25/2007 12:24:59 AM

200$ or a working airbag

that's a toughy

11/25/2007 12:25:37 AM

Quote :

"i'll agree with everything but this... how do you figure that? a clean example of one certainly isn't my definition of cheap, especially age/mileage considered for most. not to mention parts/maintenance costs. great cars, but entirely too much $$ for what you get imo. "

my $9500 M3 makes me giggle like a school girl
my $34000 03 cobra never did that

11/25/2007 1:35:39 AM

So the "head gasket" could easily be (and probably is) just a bad pressure cap/tank issue. I'd do a leak down before jumping to conclusions.

The cars are 10+ years old in most cases, they can need a few bulbs, and sensors here and there.

The airbag issue I believe is not if the airbag will deploy, it's if it will deploy at the reduced rate as necessary. Tell your passenger to buckle up/not lean on the airbag, and it shouldn't be an issue. That said, I always wear my seat belt, the airbag's existence should be trivial for a properly belted passenger.

I concur, the e36 M3 -if not in need of bushings and/or tires is a phenomenally fun car. It's not that you can't get a car for the same price that performs better on paper, but the e36 M3 is such a well rounded package. It's great fun to drive, has excellent steering/brake feel, performs well, all the while being relatively comfortable, etc.
Ahmet

11/25/2007 1:57:24 AM

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=884693&highlight=winter

12/2/2007 8:20:29 PM

can we quit buggering up tww and just make ***an official bmw page***** there has been at leat 12 pages of this bs and its al the same fucking posters.
bmw long story short. whats the diff between a porkipine and a bmw...... on a pokupine the pricks are on the outside.....

save this shit for bowerforums. or something

spelling ftl

12/3/2007 1:08:14 AM

well i like having both an e36 thread and an e30 thread because this prick has one of each and we elitist don't like our body codes to touch.

12/3/2007 1:58:58 AM

^^ If you ever decide to give up your ignorant stereotypes about cars, I'm sure any of us would be happy to give you a ride and talk shop. Until that day comes, quit trolling legitimate threads. Your time would be much better spent in studies, assuming you are pursuing a degree. Better yet, do something productive to your fine automobile, in hopes that at least you look respectable at the starting line of your upcoming race.

12/3/2007 2:52:24 AM

ignorant steriotype nigg that was a joke. i was drunk as shit but really why did they make so many chassis. and bmw is not elite by any fucking means.

12/3/2007 11:48:08 AM

ok, my apologies. <3

12/3/2007 1:22:04 PM