Looks like E36 M3 but actually just 328is - Teenager build edition

My son and I  picked up his first car, 1997 328is manual for $2,000 with a blown head gasket.

we have been working on it together and he has been learning how to turn wrenches. It is an interesting experience for me in patience. It is hard not to grab the wrench and take over. 

I am letting him do most of the modifications he wants to do (except a giant turbo)  some of some of which are tastefully questionable. Overall it has been a really rewarding time for both of us. He learned pretty quick that driving around with the coilovers in the lowest setting didn't work so well.

It is funny to think that this car is way older then the cars I messed around with in high school. A 1969 Camaro in 1986 is way newer than a 1997 BMW in 2024, yet the Camaro felt like it was from a magical old generation.  Maybe the BMW feels old and analogue to my son? 

day we brought it home

tearing it apart

Anyone for some BlueDevil?

Direct bolt on e46 330i calipers and FB score new $150 stoptech rotors

Fresh Head

Amazon seats

We are into it for around $3500 at this point.  We are going to paint only the peeling sections of the car with single stage black. I might try the Summit Racing paint. 

The thing runs great and is actually very fun to rip around in. 

That is very cool. Such great cars and relatively easy to work on.

That rear diffuser is interesting! 

OjaiM5 said:

...some of some of which are tastefully questionable.

LOL! Yeah, I'm not a fan of the front lighting treatment myself. But hey, it's his car, not mine. Cool that he's interested. My son did not inherit the car-crazy gene from me. Although, he did learn to prefer manual transmissions...

I did the same for my daughter, it's a great car since they are really bulletproof once you right side them. This was my parts car before we started on it.

Pretty cool first car either way!

chandler said:

I did the same for my daughter, it's a great car since they are really bulletproof once you right side them. This was my parts car before we started on it.

Pretty cool first car either way!

That is so cool! 

Out of curiosity what seats are those? I'm sure they're not recaro quality but I love the design and fabric

In reply to Evanuel9 :

Thanks,

They are from ikon motorsports. We are hoping they will last a few years until he can afford nice replacements. They are amazingly inexpensive. 

https://ikonmotorsports.com/products/universal-black-blue-plaid-racing-seat-dual-sliders-pu-carbon-leather

@OjaiM5, very cool father/son project!  there's a pretty clean E36 manual 325 ragtop here that says "possible rod knock" in the ad, asking $2000.  i'm quite tempted.  it would be a nice little sunny day driver.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

@OjaiM5, very cool father/son project!  there's a pretty clean E36 manual 325 ragtop here that says "possible rod knock" in the ad, asking $2000.  i'm quite tempted.  it would be a nice little sunny day driver.

You should totally grab that. They'd probably take $1k. There's a handful of BMW inline 6s that should bolt in. 

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

If you can pick it up on the cheap do it. I find them pretty easy to work on, parts are not too expensive. They are becoming trendy with the YouTubers because they are great drift cars. The next s13 s14 trend car. 

The e46 330i brake upgrade is a huge want now. I feel my v8 swapped coupe would benefit greatly from this. Aside from calipers, pads and rotors, anything else needed for the swap?

In reply to dyintorace and OjaiM5:

apparently i suck at reading.  ad clearly says "Automatic".  so i checked the pix and confirmed lack of magical third pedal.

I'm in on this madness, first and second/third kid cars are manual transmission BMWs.  An odd close ratio box in an E34 and currently an X5 manual.

Keep up the good work, love to see some more old BMWs saved from the crusher.

Kid car update. Basically stuck to the $4,000 total budget of the car. 

We did a headliner with some amazing faux alcantera from amazon I believe it was $20. So easy to work with.

Had a few months of trying to get it to smog. Kept throwing a fuel mixture code. Car has new injectors, 02 sensors, no vacuum leaks. It turns out the new Bremi MAF was the problem - the fix? A $450 Bosch. Shoot, nothing like expensive OEM

Painted the problem areas. First try was with rust-oleum turbo cans. No Bueno

Second pass was with rust-oleum 5 way can in black set on the large fan. We cut and polished it and it is plenty good for a teenager.

Got him an Alpine headunit from crutchfield. Wanted him to have bluetooth and hands free talking.

Thing is quick and super fun to drive. He is already over the "angle eye" mod and is saving for German glass headlights. He also has his eye on a M3 limited slip complete rear-end at a local shop. That's on his wallet 

Parked next to my beater lifted Cayenne