Wynn's BMW E36..The Progression
Photography & Words By Wynn
1998 BMW 328is
It's been a while since I last had my car on the site. I would like to be writing this feature with a whole list of additions to talk about and how they've vastly improved the car...the truth is I've been a bit lax on my E36. With the creation of the site I've been able to meet various local bimmer owners. Owners that have had cars that have blown my mind and made me think things over with my own car. I wonder if theres a middle ground between the "Showcar" and "Daily Driver"? If so thats probably where my E36 would stand. Not so long ago this was my only car and therefore was driven day to day. Driving it to and from, through the snow and rain without a care in the world definitely took it's toll on the body. Luckily below my car isn't too bad, in fact it's thankfully in very good condition. As for the exterior it could use a little work but thankfully not too much. This is where that middle ground between "show car" and a "daily" comes in. I recently bought an older Jeep for the winter months and those rough weather days, leaving my E36 to not really be driven every day anymore and by no means is my E36 as clean as some of these cars I've seen at the local shows. With all that being said though I have made a few changes since it's last been on the site. Firstly, as I'm sure you can already see, I was fortunate enough to receive a LTW spoiler as a gift. At first I was a bit skeptical on putting the spoiler on cause I've always been a believer in keeping things simple. The E36 is a very simple design and I felt that adding a large spoiler would ruin that.
So being pretty satisfied with the current set up, the plan now is to just fix up the little things. The exterior could go for a little paint correction, a new windshield and even some new emblems. In many ways I sort of like the wear and tear of the car. It reminds me of how much this car and I have been through. War wounds sort of. Which to me is sometimes nicer then these spotless trailer queens that are breathtaking at shows but in many ways have no gritty story behind them.
Regardless, I decided to go through with it and I couldn't be happier with my decision. Before that decision was made though, I had to swap the tragic Automatic transmission to a proper manual. After that was settled and after a few different set of wheels, I decided to try and find a set I would stick with for a while. I've always loved the way the monoblock style wheels looked on the E36 body style. So the search began and as luck would have it I was able to track down a set of Starform Type D's. Being exactly what I was looking for, my setup was now pretty much complete. Inside, I would like to replace my M steering wheel with something different. I was thinking a Renown or even a Project Feint. I am also planning on changing out my sport seats with a couple of racing ones. Lastly I still need to do some exhaust work, whether it be a full cat-back set up or a custom set up, the jury's still out on that one.
Under the hood I've still got a few little treats to add but I'll bring those up once their done. Having recently completed the "must" M50 Intake swap and having many of the little things changed over to brand new parts it's running much better then ever. It's crazy to think how a car can grow with you. I've had this car in my life for a few years now and I've seen it go through various stages. In many ways I've gone through those stages as well. It being my first car, it's lead to me educating myself to learn how to wrench on it myself. It's introduced me into the whole automotive realm in which I've been able to further educate myself, meet other bimmer locals and even helped me create this little site to display some of those locals. All in all, it's been a pretty crazy ride, a ride that's left me at the side of the road replacing parts, being pulled over for suspension work, speeding tickets and car shows. It's something I wouldn't change for the world.
