Advice for my '98 328i

[deadpool]

So I have had this car for about 10 years. It's been a great 10 years but things are slowly starting to deteriorate.

I won't even begin with the body because I'm sure it's obvious that it is starting to rust. I had taken it to a body shop a couple of years ago and they cleaned her up real nice (shop owner is a friend of the family) and the price was fairly cheap, however the shop owner told me beforehand that it was pretty much the beginning of the end, and no matter how hard he tried, once it's started to rust, it'll always come back.

I've been a fairly loyal customer at RMP. I'm not wealthy by any means, and any kind of repairs I can do by myself or with my dad, I will always attempt because I simply cannot afford to always bring my car in to a shop, however when I have had to, RMP has always pulled through.

I guess where I am going with this is: I need some advice on what I should do with the car. This car was my 1st BMW, back when life was simple. Lived at home, had a decent job, no worries. Now that I am married with children and a mortgage, this will also likely be my last BMW and I am very reluctant to let go!

At 280km's, the car seems to be running fine, however there are parts that I badly need (passenger tail light, hood struts). Too often someone in the buy and sell will say 'fits all E36', and when I go to pick up the tail light or hood struts, they won't fit my car.

Anyone on this forum who knows E36 BMW's (Changing oil, spark plus, brakes etc i can do. However I don't "know" cars, and have no idea how good or bad condition my car is) feel sympathetic to my cause and want to give my car a glance and tell me whether it's worth hanging on to or not? I'd love nothing more than to just saunter in to a shop like RMP, slap my credit card down and have them fix the whole car but I simply cannot afford that any more. Not even after market parts for me at this point. Strictly used parts from forums, kijiji, craiglist etc.

[propr'one]

Hood shocks are interchangeable between all e36's.

Passenger taillights are interchangeable between all e36 sedans.

If it runs fine, keep it. You can try to sell it, but e36's are pretty close to worthless (~3K) these days.

[deadpool]

Originally Posted by propr'one

Hood shocks are interchangeable between all e36's.

Passenger taillights are interchangeable between all e36 sedans.

If it runs fine, keep it. You can try to sell it, but e36's are pretty close to worthless (~3K) these days.

I've proven this to be false on 2 seperate occasions.

1st instance was a '96 325. Tail lights he had were way different then the ones I had, and no way they would have fit mine.

2nd instance was with , I believe, a '97 with the hood struts that were about half the length mine were, and were not compatable. Guy even said to me, i dont want to sell these to you because I can see right away that they wont fit your car. have no idea why.

Don't want to sell it. It's my baby. Just worried about how much money I should be pumping in to save the car.

[cormier]

Well with some pictures, people on here could probably give you a start

What else is going wrong? Hood struts and tail lights don't seem all that bad! :p

[deadpool]

Originally Posted by cormier

Well with some pictures, people on here could probably give you a start

What else is going wrong? Hood struts and tail lights don't seem all that bad! :p

LOL!

I'll have to snap some photos one day and post em. Hood struts and the tail light is all that I know needs replacing. It's what I don't know that worries me.

Everything seems to be running fine..I just don't want to spend the money to get more bodywork done only to fidn that
A) the rust comes back - might have to just give in and accept the rust
B) car breaks down for some reason, as per Murphy's Law, right after I get body work done.

[propr'one]

The guy gave you trunk shocks, not hood shocks.

I personally removed taillights from a 95 325 and installed them on my 98.

If you look for excuses or reasons to fail, you will.

p.s. stop doing body work. when it gets undriveable, chuck it

[deadpool]

Originally Posted by propr'one

The guy gave you trunk shocks, not hood shocks.

I personally removed taillights from a 95 325 and installed them on my 98.

If you look for excuses or reasons to fail, you will.

Negative. The hood struts were on the car and he took them off and was going to put them on mine, noticed that they were about half the size, and said they wouldn't be any use to me.

And in the other situation, I saw the tail lights on the car being parted out, and they weren't even close to being the size or proper fit for my car.

No need to be rude bro. I'm not looking for reasons or excuses to fail, just mentioning that I have actually gone out and met people who were selling parts on kijiji/craigslist etc, claimign that they are compatable with all E36 when they wouldnt fot my car.

[cormier]

Originally Posted by propr'one

p.s. stop doing body work. when it gets undriveable, chuck it

agreed. Bodywork usually doesn't pay for itself unless its very extensive and wasn't that bad to begin with

[BrianM]

your best bet if you just need a tail light and hood struts is to go to a bmw wrecker and you could probably get both of those parts for around 100 bucks total, and they would be an easy install (I did rear corner light for 40 bucks because I didn't want to wait around for a deal, and I did it in the parking lot before I left in just a couple minutes (and I'm not particularly experienced).

I "need" hood struts too, but I just use an umbrella to hold it up when I'm doing something under the hood. I probably could get some cheap enough but I don't see it as necessary so I am not going to go into debt for it.

[doogee]

All e36 sedan tail lights are exactly the same. You were obviously handed coupe tail lights.

Hood struts on the other hand are different between coupe and sedan.