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A 1997 e36 M3 that I shouldn't have bought :/


Rekpoint

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A few days after my parents not letting me buy @m42b32 e36 m3 (They want me in something newer) 

A 1997 e36 m3 sedan popped up on CL Had engine problems

Only an hour away so I took a look.

After spending 4hrs looking at it (Literately) I determined it had no spark it cranks and such.

After consulting some friends.. Thanks @wasnt m3 @KaiserRolls @ChrisO

I figured it be worth it. Worst comes to worst sell it for what I paid..

Here are some basic facts about it

220k miles with 160k mile motorish and manual swap

K&N CAI

light weight clutch + flywheel

max-speeding rods coils

ds2s

Black interior

Also has a muffler delete

A bit of rust.

It was owned by a guy who had a bunch of friends into e36s but didn't know too much about them himself. Nice guy tho

Had to pay off his loan and get a release.

 

I plan on fixing the problems and selling it as a drift car or something. So hopefully I didn't buy myself into a hole or anything LMAO

Here are some pics. More tomorrow!

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54 minutes ago, jc43089 said:

So it still doesn't have spark?  First thing to check, lift up the back seat and listen for the fuel pump priming for a couple seconds when the key is turned to run.  If not the ECU isn't getting powered up.  Do you have a multimeter?

Yes I have a multi-meter. It is getting fuel. Just no spark. Before I bought it I tried putting new spark plugs in and that didnt work either.

I have a feeling an ecu ground/fried or a cam/crank position sensor. Leaning more to an ecu problem.

Gonna try some stuff tonight.

21 minutes ago, m42b32 said:

Nice!! Looks like it will be a fun project, get it running nice and daily it! 

Probably drive it for a few weeks but ultimately I bought it to flip because the price was decent.

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Ok, if you have fuel injecting then that's a good sign.  Coil pack wiring harness is a separate part on OBD2 cars and I have heard of them going bad.  

 

ETMs by production date here.  http://wedophones.com/BMWManualsLead.htm

 

Page 1210.17-03 has the coil wiring harness, note plug X6150.  If you need help understanding the diagram let me know.  I'm not sure how electrical savvy you are.

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2 hours ago, Rekpoint said:

Yes I have a multi-meter. It is getting fuel. Just no spark. Before I bought it I tried putting new spark plugs in and that didnt work either.

I have a feeling an ecu ground/fried or a cam/crank position sensor. Leaning more to an ecu problem.

Gonna try some stuff tonight.

Probably drive it for a few weeks but ultimately I bought it to flip because the price was decent.

I have an ECU from @ChrisO's 97 M3 if you deduce the problem might be from that.

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So today I was just about to pull the crank possession sensor when @ChrisO hmu. He asked If I needed to borrow his check engine light scanner. I didn't check it so I said sure bring it over!.

We started fiddling with it and we actually noticed when you turned the key we couldn't hear the fuel pump priming. We compared it to his car and we confirmed our suspicion. After further evaluation we noticed there wasn't a 15 amp fuse in the fuel pump fuse spot. We popped one in and WHALAH it runs. It is currently having trouble idling but I assume it has something to do with the intake boot being so cracked and warn out.

 

Woo my bank account doesn't look bad to me anymore.....

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Well my suspicion was confirmed today. It randomly/idled bad due to the old intake boot. Installed this mishimoto one and it started right up with no hesitation and went right back down to idle!  (700ish rpms)..

Next things to figure it out is the oil pressure light. I suspect that it's on due to the fact that there's so much gas in the oil the oil is very thin. I drained it and there is indeed alot of gas in the oil. Grabbing a filter and some 15w-40 mobil 1 to see if that's it!.

I also ordered a used oem clutch fan and a single lug nut.

Anyway does anyone have any experience with Aero Catches? I am not about to spend a couple hundred dollars to fix the hood cable when I can buy aero catches for 80 and it not be a pain in the ass LOL

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1 minute ago, P_Roloff said:

If it was me, I'd try to tackle replacing the cable before i went and put hood releases on it. Worst case, you're out 30 bucks and you just get the aerocatches.

Found a DIY: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?668742-xjeeper-s-Hood-latch-and-cable-replacement-DIY-(the-easy-way)

I wish it was that cheap. But the cable was cut in multiple places. So I would need the whole kit. Would be around 150$. This car isn't perfect and I will probably selling it as a track car or something.

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2 hours ago, Rekpoint said:

Put new oil and oil filter in it today. Did not get rid of the oil pressure light. Going to replace the sensor tomorrow...

It's acting weird. It just kinda stalls out. Then a the sudden no power then stall. Gotta diagnose it..

 

The straight pipe is very ignorant and loud...

I'm praying for you

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