Gallery
Running a GT
- I picked the car up in February 2006. BMW Finance offered the best insurance deal much to my surprise - only condition being the fitment of a Tracker Monitor at a highly competitive price by local folk Car Hi-Fi Services in Longcroft. Work so far has been to get the windscreen washer pump replaced under the AUC warranty which runs until Jan 2007. Fuel economy has been a pleasantly surprising 30mpg... I fear this will decrease as I get to know the car better and begin to stretch its legs. The roundels we tired, so they've been replaced by Carbon Fibre effect ones from the USA and the rear window seals are knackered as usual (part nos B51.36.8.119.961, B51.36.8.119.962, B51.36.8.119.963 and B51.36.8.119.964 were sourced from Henry Brothers Glasgow for ~£30). I'm very impressed with the paint condition on the car at almost 11 years old. I've debadged the car and removed the shiny dust caps - the fewer reasons nasty wee thieving types have to be near the car, the better!
- Replaced 2 missing items from the BMW Toolkit via eBay.
- Special Ordered Part No B51.91.0.301.922 from Germany - 312 BRG STK (touch up paint to you and me) for the princely sum of £8.
- Discovered my car is actually 13/50 and not 35 as previously thought. Big thanks to Paul Adams of BMW UK Customer Services for helping out!
- Got 4 235/40/17 Yokohama A539 tyres fitted at Drivers in Glasgow. Tyres were source from www.mytyres.co.uk at around £63 a corner. Bargain!
- Changed the insurance over from BMW to Direct Line - they were offering a mega deal on 2 car insurance policies - duplicating my NCB onto the second car!
- Rolling Road day at Falkland Performance saw the car make a respectable 292.4bhp on the rollers.
- 2 off p/n 51.71.2.268.786 arrived today... will post up pictures when they're fitted.
- Uploaded details to the M Registry
- Removed the bumper and extended the splitter. Cheers for the help Rory!
- Got the MoT sorted at Henry Brothers BMW in Glasgow. Just shy of 94,500 miles. The driver side front brake was binding. So that, in addition to my asking them to sort my electric windows totted up to a scary £1100 bill. Thankfully BMW AUC paid for most of it for 2 new front discs and pads, pretty much rebuilding the innards of my electric windows from scratch with new parts, adjusting the rear brakes, bleeding the brakes, the MoT itself and the dreaded VAT.
- Massive well done to the good folk of Dent Central for popping along to the BMWCC Scotland September meet for a spot of al fresco dent removal. The boys were scarily efficient at dismantling my car; very good at getting rid of the dents and careful to put it all back together again. Recommended!
- Rear strut brace fitted
- Fitted Storm Motorwerks gearknob
- Booked Oil Service at Henry Brothers BMW in Glasgow - the last service to be carried out under warranty.
- MoT at 99,000 miles. Rear spring cracked - otherwise a clear bill of health.
- Tracked down and finally won an auction on eBay for Class II spoiler riser blocks (p/n BMW2265740R & BMW2265739L). Painted and fitted by Menzies BMW (the bolts holding the spoiler together were very stiff so needed specialist tools to extract them - all replaced with stainless steel numbers from FASCO now so I can take the blocks on/off whenever I want).
- Made it down to the BMWCC National at Gaydon. In attendance were GT Individuals 13 & 17 and GT Coupes 142 & 205. I picked up some CF wheel centres to go with the CF roundels from SSDD Motorsport too.
- It was only a matter of time before the UUC shortshift I had fitted to my 328i coupe made its way onto the GT. With the dollar/pound rate as it is I got a new one and a DSSR direct from UUC and MMV Performance fitted it as they were familiar with the process from fitting my last one. Gear shift is much shorter and feels more accurate. Since I was importing the SSK and DSSR already I decided just to add the uprated clutch line too - this fitted by Newmarket Engineering in Stirling as they had done the same job on a friend's car.
- PartsAuction had a rare Motorsport International door sill trim at a great price so I snapped it up and, somewhat randomly, Parks of Hamilton also had a matching sill trim in stock!
- My glovebox was sagging (a common E36 fault) so I sorted it out with a new part (again from PartsAuction). p/n 64228183040. Bargain @ £20.
- It was also MoT and service time again. With the car at 104000miles it was time for an Inspection I, MoT and brake fluid change. This was all sorted at a highly competitive price (some £200 less that the BMW Dealer quote for an Insp I alone) by Newmarket Engineering in Stirling. Passed the MoT with no problems - just some advice to keep an eye on a bush, rear brake lines and new tyres in the not-too-distant future at the rear.
- BMWs are sometimes not at their best in the winter so I decided to try out some winter tyres. Toyo Snoprox S952 215/45/17 on 17x8 Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2s in Matt Black with a Yellow pinstripe. A big improvement to winter weather grip, especially when it snowed. Plus it helps look after the OEM alloys while the roads are covered in salt, grit and who knows what else...
- Motivated by the BMWCC Scotland 2009 Show 'n' Shine, some tlc was administered. New rear tyres - 245/40/17 Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas - supplied/fitted by Prestige Tyres in Busby. I was finding it very hard to source my preferred 235/40/17 size in a tyre which I wanted to try for a sensible price... I got my aircon re-gassed at Kwik Fit for a reasonable £45 just in time for the weekend's mini heat wave and then spent the rest of the day cleaning.
- Also remembered to snap another mileage milestone.
- And a pleasant surprise from
. I won their competition and now have replacement front indicators, spare bulbs and spare foglights. Thanks Andre!
- Time for an Oil Service and MoT. Decided to take advantage of my new found proximity to RW Weaver in Cathcart; and was not disappointed - friendly service, near a train station and good communication while they had my car. Neither the MoT nor the Oil Service threw up any bad news other than the growing need for some fresh shocks which I had known about anyway. Now... to get down to some serious shopping.
- I had a good shop around and looked at OEM shocks, uprated shocks and coilovers. Comparing prices and weighing up some other options, the car now sits on KW v2 Adjustable coilovers, full Powerflex polybushes and Eibach adjustable top mounts and runs -1.5° camber at the front. All fitted by Drivers in Glasgow. The ride quality remains excellent and turn in is much improved. Will be keeping an eye on tyre wear. Hopefully all this will last another 113500 miles!
- Since I got the car it's been suffering from E36 boot disease - cracks around the locking mechanism (often thought to be worse on E36s with spoilers, especially the GT Class II) and creeping rust under the roundel, at the number plate lights and on the left hand corners. Rather than repair this, I decided to replace the boot... and while I was at it, the rear panel. And respray the front bumper and nose cone. And replace the splitter and lip. So big thanks to Menzies BMW bodyshop and the manager there - Alan Walters - for their great price and service. See Gallery 2 for the results!
Sold to new owner May 2011
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