Interesting E36 Facts - are these true?

[waseem50]

i think i gonna wait on the wash a bit since its still raining here in shj. i always wondered thhough why cant da rain make our cars cleaner???

[SewerSideUp]

I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight until I read SewerSideUp's post, thank you! But coming from a Nissan/Mitsubishi, a guy like me won't understand a list this long, as I've never owned a car this complicated, with so many moving parts and electrical bits, but it's still less than the cars these days.

Let me find some more gems to share with the club during my pre-purchase research :D

About the hot climate bit, are there any fixes for that, such as a better radiator, or twin fans, etc. for the E36 M3? I had a WJ too, US spec, and almost went for such upgrades until I sold it a couple of months ago. The E36 I'm interested in is the Euro spec, not the US-spec btw ;)

I didn't type my post properly in the beginning regarding the Infiniti bit. Infiniti is re-badged Nissan. There was a list of all the noises you could hear inside the cabin of the G35 Sedan, long list that very simply tells you how these cars are built.

As far the E36's overheating problem. It is related to, like most other cars, bad service. Old radiator pipes, using water instead of coolant, bad seals, bad t-stat, bad electric fan, fan/clutch, fan switch. Things like a clogged exhaust system will cause the engine to overheat sometimes and they are the last suspects. I've had my 318iS for about two years now. I used to keep it running for more than three continuous hours, PARKED, in the summer with the temp gauge never moving, at all!! The electric fan only switches on according to it's temp switch. Which brings me to your question on solutions.

If there is a problem to begin with that is. If not, my advice for buying a used car is refresh all the consumables and potential points of failure in the cooling system. Start with the hoses and t-stat and ofcourse a new radiator cap. A potential point of failure on the E36 M5X/S5X cars is the water pump. The factory unit utilizes a plastic impeller, it's prone to fail without warning and can cause some damage other than the fact that you're risking overheating the engine. Replacing it with an aftermarket unit that has a steel impeller solves that one. If you want to be even safer, get a t-stat that opens up and lets water through at a lower temperature and a lower set temp switch so your fans spin earlier. Usually, the temp switch is pre-set to 88*C factory. You can find 80*C on the market instead. These are all factory solutions right now.

After market mods. Spal or other high CFM puller fan, RedLine WaterWetter additive, drill a big hole in your hood ? Not necessary unless you're producing more power and/or using the car harder, thus more heat.

I had my 4.7L WJ in Dubai and shipped it to Lebanon for a whole year then back. One thing I can say about these things, indistructable! I used to bash it around literally everything! Mud, rain, snow, rocks, desert, a 4-day 3,000KM road trip from Dubai to Lebanon with 415KG of cargo, not counting 4 passengers. The exceptionally horrific gasoline quality in Lebanon and even worse roads. I used to take it drifting, I'm serious! It's raced most cars on the road and has killed alot of unsuspecting noobs with the big block Mopar V8 :D. An honest to God SUV that will take you where you want. Take care of it and it'll take care of you. The one I had was a 2001, hydrostatic drive cooling fan. No electric fan, no clutch fan. It took pressure from the PS pump. Never ever overheated. Great truck, would love owning another one in the future.