Heres my daily E36 convertible it was bought to replace my wee white Mk3 saloon GT and I managed not to go too nuts on it for about a year then the water pump bearing died, followed by the thermostat, cat, lambda probe, back box and head gasket so I was ready for giving up, but it is fun to drive and is silent on the motorway.

Like all E36s it needed a bit of body work on the rear arches to make it look clean and straight and I got the side indicator plinths painted body colour and replaced the disks pads and front calipers as they were sticking on (common E36 issue).

It left the factory as basic model with the only optional extra being colour coded bumper and sills so it didn’t look to poverty spec outside, only good thing is half the common electrical problems are missing like air con and electric roof and it saves a bit of weight as the 1.8 is the smallest engine they put in the convertible and its 80kgs heavier than a coupe/saloon/touring to begin with and + 25kg for the hard top roof and all the crap I have added so it isn’t going to win any races.

it was sold from an Edinburgh dealership and seems to have stayed in the Stirling then Inverness area.

Previous owner fitted:

M3 clear indicators front and side aftermarket ones

M3 clear indicator rear lights

17" Alpina replica wheels

Center consol arm rest in bottle green –eww!

BMW wind deflector (it works really well like having the sunroof open)

Front powerflex bushes, drop links, TCAs

Spring kit of unknown origin and drop

And drove it up to 49K (now 85K)

Genuine OEM bits added by me some new, some scrapyard and mostly ebay:

Under bonnet light and genuine wiring loom

Underbonnet wing mounted alarm switch to power the above so the front panel didn't need drilled

M3 clear front and side indicators (side ones base plate painted out body colour)

M3 strut caps

M3 wide side strips with Alpina script and logo

M3 “Silver grey” leather coupe “Vader” front seats with luggage nets (comfier than mk2 scirocco seats) and silver grey convertible rear seats and door cards)

M3 heated/tinted/electric mirrors

M3/Alpina dark wood kit - ashtrays and centre consol

M3 front and rear suspension top mount reinforcement plates

Alpina front bumper and spoiler with silver deko kit

Alpina B3 wooden gear knob

Alpina staggered 17” wheels (8” front & 9” rear ET46)

Alpina logo dust caps

Alpina gear shift sticker on centre consol

Alpina script door sill trims

Alpina petrol cap sticker

Alpina new rear boot script

Alpina non air bag Momo steering wheel with resitor to fool the computer and keep the air bag light off.

Alpina clear petrol sticker on instrument cluster

Alpina clear oil change sticker on instrument cluster

Alpina/M3 evo chrome internal door handles

Alpina/M3 evo dark wood trim kit - 2x ashtrays, centre consol, but not the glovebox or handbrake trims.

Alpina/Bilstein shocks all round

Westfalia detachable towbar rear valance panel, dash warning light and relay, rest still to fit but all powder coated ready

leather handbrake handle, handbrake gaiter and gear gaiter

USB cigi lighter adapter

Headrest coat hanger

Door coin holder - LHD version

Pop out glove box cup holder

Pop out glove box CD storage

Centre console cassette storage

Fog lights and genuine retro fit loom

Early model 3 spanner tool kit

Centre console Electric roof switch - dummy but illuminates

Centre console ASR switch - dummy but illuminates

Centre console HI-Fi switch - dummy but illuminates

Centre console heated seat switches - dummy but illuminates

Centre consol Microphone handsfree kit

Centre consol Car Phone

Centre consol PDC switch from a E38 - dummy at the moment but illuminates and will eventually turn on and off front parking sensors.

Cruise control stalk and loom to footwell - rest still to be fitted.

Hidden phone ariel mounted in the corners of the bumpers

Rear mudflaps & fitting kit

Lumbar support seat switch - drivers side - dummy.

Rear “hi fi” system tweeter speaker grills in silver grey

front uprated dual cone speakers for handfree kit

Matching samoa blue hard top and handle covers and BMW Hoist for in the garage

Arm rest cover in the correct blue

Ski Hatch, bag and door (access to boot from rear seats)

Boot mounted first aid kit

New bonnet & boot BMW emblems

New Ariel and base as the old one needed viagra

Boot mounted warning triangle

Boot carpet with cargo straps

Passengers seat mounted fire extinguisher and sports seat bracket

Front “hifi” nokia speaker tweeters in grey

Rear nokia hifi speakers

PDC –rear parking distance control system full kit. (Will be getting removed and the below fitted)

PDC front and rear kit with dash switch out a E38.

6 cylinder grill air intake

18 button OBC with stalk using genuine 7 button OBC loom extended to do larger unit

Headlamp washers system, module and new front panel in samoa blue with the holes in it.

Heated windscreen washer jets and most of the wiring loom (2 connections to make and it should work)

Non OEM:

Alpina replica dash plaque in Aluminium die print with model designation “B1 318I Convertible No 318”. I copied a real one so the logo and text spacing and font/ colour are all spot on. Alpina wanted mega bucks for one, I managed to get it made for £20 - yay.

Bits sitting in the back bedroom it be fitted:

Front mud flaps

Alpina new wheel centre cap logos

Alpina new wheel metal air valves

Fit the detachable towbar and wiring loom

Boot mounted CD changer flap with fitting kit

Genuine fog light loom, (need to work out how to get the fusebox out to fit it )

Cruise control actuator (2nd accelerator cable) and bracket and genuine wiring loom

Future plans:

Replace the fuel filter and suspension rubbers

Find and fit the convertible hifi amp and bracket and wiring loom

Find the RHD door coin holder in grey

zip in a new rear plastic window to the fabric roof at some point as its a bit untidy, get the wheels powder coated and maybe get the vaders seats retrimmed in the original colour but with colour coded piping.

Get a remote locking and auto closure key fob.

heres some pics:

As bought at previous owners house in Elgin (good solid low miles car needing a bit of tidying):

with the wee polo GT loon she replaced.

after the hard top was bought - makes it a kinda pimp pillerless coupe

BMW hoist its scary and moved about alot.

after a spell in the bodyshop

Vader interior was manky when i got it and took 4hrs a seat to get them looking like this: not mint but very comfy.

then thought of m3 styling it, but after a hunt on google i decided to go for the alpina look as its quite descrete but still sportier than standard.

so tryied looking for bits on ebay etc but prooved pricey and alpina wont sell to you unless you have a Alpina V5 in your name. So only one thing to do. hunt out a cheep one!

so donor car for wheels, steering wheel, tool kit, seat nets, gear knob and a few other bits was this B2.5 coupe (one of 200 made) which was mechanically a good one but was getting tired in the bodywork department, so after a week of swap shop it was stuck up for sale and now lives not to far away and is getting some love.

Wide m3 side strips with alpina logos.

Alpina bumper was a ebay special and was quite badly cracked in 1 corner and road rashed, but the bodyshop did a great job on welding it back together and i fitted the silver pin striping kit in the living room as you do.

so off came the old.

and on with the new

ski hatch (big boot - interior condom) going in - came all the way from canadian ebay!

interior as it stands at the moment

next project is the reversing sensors kit as the wide C pillar can be a pain in the arse at times.

Edited 19 January, 201313 yr by genesisGT

Two words.....Hairdressers car Nah Ritchie looks bloody nice with the hardtop on mate

Pimp as fuck!

This is awesome!!

Want it :p

cheers lads :-) , i like driving it, its a big comfy cruiser.

but will have to stop the bmw oeming for a bit unless i get lucking in the scrap yard as i need to finish my polo.

wee update:

finally got the reversing sensors fitted you need to change the bumper reinforcement as it is taller and has pre drilled holes and the wee beeper goes in the rear drivers door card.

then wired in the on board computer its basic but handy item:

then started thw centre consol switches

night shot of the dash now, need to wire in the illumination on the centre consol switches which bmw kinkly make quite easy by fitting lare comb shaped connectors with spares under the dash so its more a match the colour job:

scrap yard £30 bargain was a genuine detachable towbar and all the bits - seen incomplete ones go for £160 on ebay! so that will help getting my polo shell to paint.

then ebay yeilded a 5th Alpina rim so that means the spare can match now, so will give it a good clean and look for a budget tyre.

Edited 4 June, 201214 yr by genesisGT

Nice one mate! Always had a soft spot for these

Looks sweet with the hard top. There's a couple of tuned BMW replicas in my town, I assume they are both owned by the same owner. One is an Alpina and the other is a Hartge.

BMW 325i Touring Alpina by MattLoaf, on Flickr

^ That one isn't taxed for some reason but then again I have never seen it anywhere else other than there, same with the one below, I only ever see it parked where it is in the picture.

1989 BMW 320i Touring Hartge Auto by MattLoaf, on Flickr

Pretty nice motors but both replicas (I think, My Car Check says nothing about the tuning companies). Both Northern Irish registrations too oddly.

love those two above <3

i love the tourings too theres a nice boston green one on ebay at the moment with only 20k on it, they look like replics like me based on the wheels and graphics.

my update is:

i got the 5th Alpina wheel fitted and the tow bar bits in the boot.

Towbars just back from the powdercoaters and managed to kill the relay when doing the wiring as some cars have check control so the pin allocation on the back lights are different.

got the alpina/m3 dark wood kit and a set of m3 mirrors

and the big one - old girls off to the bodyshop for a respray...

so when it comes back in a weeks time i can finally fit my headlamp washer kit and front panel - yay.

Edited 20 January, 201313 yr by genesisGT

How come you're having it resprayed?

How come you're having it resprayed?

well it started off i was only going to do the front wings and bonnet, but after a good look round her and it ended up being more than i thought...

bonnet was scrapped and chipped

front wings had bubbles starting as did 1 corner of the boot

drives door had a light key scrap

passengers door had a rust bubble hiding under the handle

sills were chipped

roor hatch had a chip in 1 corner

rear quarter that was done on the cheep was shit job and i was never 100% happy with it.

hardtop had fallen off the hoist and dented the corner in 1 place

i clipped the early alpina bumper on a kerb taking it back to primer on 1 low corner at the last polo meet. hence alpina made it smaller (1st pic below) on later models as it attracts damage.

revmoved the 318i badge on the boot and could still see the outline slightly

since its metallic the if you only do a panel it will go slightly darker than the one next to it due to the extra layers on it so it could have ended up like a patch work quilt up close so its been a good old girl recently so thought it deserved it. :-D

also means i can consider the full alpina deko trim kit in silver for up the sides and across the boot. like this one as i think it looks still quite descrete like the ones below:

Edited 20 January, 201313 yr by genesisGT

Ooft, that green one is lavely. Good enough reasons than any!

popped in past the bodyshop tonight on the way home so it should be in paint tomorrow...

Edited 7 June, 201214 yr by genesisGT

got the shell and roof back from the painters today, very happy with the results, amazing what they can do it 8 days.

So will get the other bits tomorrow morning then its put it back together time.

rear bumpers not been done yet so will be back in for that in a few weeks time.

Edited 29 June, 201214 yr by genesisGT

looks good richie

is that the practice job before the genesis goes??

indeed Chris so he passed so will be getting the Genesis eventually to do when the weathers better for tinkering.

heres some pics of it now its back together and out on a sunny day with the M3 mirrors and headlamp washers on and up and running.

The old man wood effect centre consol going in to keep the Alpina look going.

next jobs are the full on board computer which looks fun judging by the spagetti junction wiring diagram and towbar fitment.

Edited 5 May, 201313 yr by genesisGT

been i while since i updated this, i didnt get my parking space at work this September so on the bus, so good news is its keeping the mileage down and i am getting to fit more of my OEM bits as it isnt in daily service...

went out a run when it was classed as summer...

and finally wired up the additional switches..

and tracked down a rare BMW phone for those important business calls to my dealer and hoes

so its 75% fitted just go the transmitter and bracket to fit and wire in..

Edited 5 May, 201313 yr by genesisGT

Love the phone, extra pimp points!

Thanks i love the phone to its a big brick but is a nice optional extra.

Done a few more bits over the last few months so here is some pics:

18 button On Board computer and stalk wired in but no check control or ignition code wired up.

phone and hands free now working just go the internal bumper Ariel s to mount next time the back bumpers off.

CD storage in the glovebox took me ages to track down.

Chrome line handbrake button and internal door handles (going in this weekend hopefully).

MOTs at the end of the month so got new shocks and mounts to go on it so should be slightly less 90s ship on the ocean in corners

rear shocks were totally bust. Factory M3 reinforcement plates fitted to help the 17yo metal.

Edited 5 May, 201313 yr by genesisGT

Done a wee bit since the last update:

90% the way through fitting cruise control

Fitted a rare rear view mirror with built in compass

New late spec door cards with the built in airbags

Fitted the proper mid range HiFi door speakers.

Fitted under dash panels with built in foot well light (Just need to wire in)

Got a boot mount 6 Disk changer and cable and factory head unit

Waiting on new silver-grey leather handbrake and gear gators arriving from BL.

Got a factory internal bumper mounted Ariel for the phone

Fixed the rag top C pillar as its been annoying me since i bought the car.

Here are some pics:

Factory phone Ariel for in the rear bumper so no body drilling required.

compass and factory stereo in.

Airbag door cards

Cruise control along the inner wing, had to move the alarm sounder but managed to just squeeze it in.

Factory headunit, CD player and changer, took ages to remove in the scrappy but worth it.

Compass mirror works in 45 deg increments, makes you want to go round roundabouts more.

Drivers footwell panel with built in light passengers one looks more or less the same.

C pillar on the rag top before like a bust couch.

C pillar after the repair 96% there again :)

Parked next to my work mates - master class in spot the difference in early and late spec cars and extras. (his is just out the body shop hence the missing bumper trims)

Edited 5 May, 201313 yr by genesisGT

Great thread mate - you have PM!! cheers