help for new bmw owner :D?

[pointillistic_practitioner]

Hey everyone I am the proud owner of an e36 (1998) 323is base model black on tan, approx 81000 miles!!! Compared to my previous car (1997 Honda accord LX...)the difference is night and day! I've always been a car enthusiast but have never been too exposed to the mechanical side of things or done any real repairs aside from detailing and radio installation. Guess you could call me a mechanical noob. I'd appreciate any diagnoses and/or repair how-to guides/suggestions. I appreciate any help I can get! I already posted this on the bimmerfest forums but I trust all of you too so I figured I'd also post here!

I should probably let you know the precious owner was twenty something, supposedly got the car from a female doctor who garaged it, and did most basic maintenance himself. He said he replaced brakes relatively recently (60% worn), tires a year ago, and said he did fan belts relatively recently.

Now for the problems I have noticed with the car ...

- Drivers door handle (both inside and outside) is loose until the very end of pulling it when it kind of "catches" and opens the door... you can see that both the inside and outside handles are not tight...they are loose...would that be some sort of cable? I don't want to neglect this only to not be able to open my car one day.

- driver's seat does not move back/forward... recline and the other up/down features work though. These are manual (not electronic) seats. I can lift up the seat adjustment tool until I hear sort of a click but nothing happens.

- Here's what worries me most.... when I engage the gears (whether I'm in drive or reverse but never park) I can sometimes, but not always hear a faint screechy noise. when I reverse quickly it gets quite loud. At idle in drive I heard it faintly again today, but it went away later. The noise seems to dissappear after I reach a certain speed but also increases as I drive faster until it disappears...whether it's after first gear or maybe just that I don't hear it with wind noise or whatever or if it actually does in fact stop I'm not sure. Could it be a wheel bearing? center support bearing or flex (gumbo) for the transmission? driveshaft? belts? These were all possible (and I use that term loosely) diagnoses I found while doing some googling... BY THE WAY I was told I need new front brake hoses when I got my prepurchase inspection done....could that have anything to do with it?

- the right part of the kidney grille is loose in the left corner...how would you suggest fixing that...are there clips?

- the right hand mirror (the glass) pops out of its housing easily, and the mirror adjustment fails to move the mirror (it does move it slightly but not the way it's supposed to go haha)

- My odo lights are very dim as are a few center cluster lights. If you look at the odo reading in daytime you can hardly see it at ALL but at night with lights turned up you can see the front numbers pretty well and the rear numbers hardly at all. The radio light is also dim as are a few center cluster lights. Did some googling and for odo lights found out maybe re-soldering would help??

- Radio says Code after I uninstalled it to install a new radio... but did not install radio b/c I was given the WRONG PARTS for installation! As I said just before the radio light is dim... does this mean my new radio light will be dim too? Also will the code be a problem when I put my aftermarket JVC radio in?

That's the major stuff! There are some rubber seals cracked (drivers door bottom, rear vent windows) and most seals are starting to corrode but seem okay for the time being. She needs a detailing too but that is easy...the above stuff are my main concerns. Thanks for the help in advance and have a good day! shoutout to any Bimmerfest forum members!

[poweraid]

and why did u buy that again ? dream car ? collectors ? fixer upper ? demo derby ?

[Rmd]

Bimmerfest forums is a great community and source of info. Also Bavarian autosport website has some very good videos.
You will get a lot of hands on experience fixing things. Not to rain on your parade, but I am a Bimmer owner and enthusiast, and an older 3 will absolutely require a fair amount of maintenance to keep running, but if done properly most will run well past 200k miles.
Figure $1500 or so per year to keep it running well and properly maintained.

[pointillistic_practitioner]

and why did u buy that again ? dream car ? collectors ? fixer upper ? demo derby ?

dream car haha xD

Bimmerfest forums is a great community and source of info. Also Bavarian autosport website has some very good videos.
You will get a lot of hands on experience fixing things. Not to rain on your parade, but I am a Bimmer owner and enthusiast, and an older 3 will absolutely require a fair amount of maintenance to keep running, but if done properly most will run well past 200k miles.
Figure $1500 or so per year to keep it running well and properly maintained.

yay! the fun begins xD. Well the car checked out fine at the mechanic and I didn't notice anything upon first drive except for the odo light.

[pointillistic_practitioner]

update: had someone get in the car and depress brake while in reverse...the screachy noise *seems* to be coming from the center of the engine under the engine cover and is cyclical sounding...like a belt of some sort.

[pointillistic_practitioner]

Bimmerfest forums is a great community and source of info. Also Bavarian autosport website has some very good videos.
You will get a lot of hands on experience fixing things. Not to rain on your parade, but I am a Bimmer owner and enthusiast, and an older 3 will absolutely require a fair amount of maintenance to keep running, but if done properly most will run well past 200k miles.
Figure $1500 or so per year to keep it running well and properly maintained.

What kind of maintenance do you think she will require? Does it usually come in $1500 chunks for you or bits and pieces haha?

[pointillistic_practitioner]

also this may be a temporary car that may eventually become a garage queen...I'm not sure... I know that I have the opportunity to get a car in a year. We'll see how it goes, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[BKM3]

bimmerforums.com is a great resource for e36 models as well as others but they seem to have the bulk of e36 followers, AG is also a sponsor.

Another very good e36 resource is m3forum.net, they also seem to have a bit more mature/serious follower and it's sometimes easier to search through. Keep in mind that pretty much all of the body parts on your car and the e36 M3's are the same so you might find more activity in the M3 sections.

Also here is another couple sites you might find some diy info from

BMW E36 DIY (Do It Yourself)

101 Projects for Your BMW 3 Series

BK

[pointillistic_practitioner]

bimmerforums.com is a great resource for e36 models as well as others but they seem to have the bulk of e36 followers, AG is also a sponsor.

Another very good e36 resource is m3forum.net, they also seem to have a bit more mature/serious follower and it's sometimes easier to search through. Keep in mind that pretty much all of the body parts on your car and the e36 M3's are the same so you might find more activity in the M3 sections.

Also here is another couple sites you might find some diy info from

BMW E36 DIY (Do It Yourself)

101 Projects for Your BMW 3 Series

BK

Thank you!

[pointillistic_practitioner]

UPDATE for anyone who cares.


Well, it's a few months later and I have in fact had to do some repairs but I'm absolutely loving the car!

As far as detailing goes I did a complete interior detail, washed, clayed, polished with ssr3 (someone mustve taken a brillo pad to this car, thats literally what it looks like...and the scratches are still there but I dont have time right now to polish them out or attempt wet sanding). Then temporarily used cg ez creme to fill swirls and opti-sealed... wheels look like clear is starting to fail, esp. passenger front. Oh well, its a 15 yo car.

Long story short, I had a prepurchase inspection done and they said nothing was wrong...how wrong they were...

it needed a new transmission so I had it rebuilt and had the torque converter done too....all in all I only wound up paying a bit over bluebook value since I did get a good price initially

My right front wheel bearing will probably need replacing soon and I am going to have that done in the next week or so... would do them all but I'm going to take it on a bearing by bearing basis since I've just spent money on other repairs

My serpentine belt tensioner needed to be replaced.

Front brake hoses done

Just replaced my brake light switch b/c it was giving me "brake light circuit failure" on the onboard cpu ($15 part, did it myself in 1/2 hr)

Just replaced my odometer bulbs (cracked the eyelet ring that the screw goes into but I think it will hold fine anyway)
(bulbs and switch obtained from bavauto.com.... wow they shipped those items quickly!)

Also ordered fog light covers from bavauto b/c the car had 2 holes where they should've been. Plan on painting those to match the finish but for now they're okay matte black.

Will be purchasing snow tires for the winter in a bit too...probably will go for General altimax artics...nothing too crazy, just something to do the job...

Projects for the more long term: 1) attempt to refinish wheels (that is if I get a 2nd pair so my car isn't resting on blocks while I refinish the current ones haha) 2) repair leather drivers seat bolster with a kit (any kit suggestions?) 3)

Overall, I'm very happy with the car. I've spent more than it is worth but for the amount I spent (probably $6500 total so far) I would've gotten something else used that I didn't like 1/2 as much anyway so I'm pretty happy

Sorry for the rant and excessive detail, we're all auto geeks so I think you can understand.