Quite officially: fuck BMW

"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228) 08/02/2014 at 13:55 • Filed to: Bimmerfix

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Ah, it's not that bad, but it turns out that there are two different shapes of kidney grilles fitted to the E36 3-series. I don't know if it's a 6-cyl vs 4-cyl thing, or an early-model vs late-model thing, but all I know is that the kidney grilles I've got won't fit the factory-silver (as opposed to my rattle-can resprayed) front clip I've finally managed to track down. Why they couldn't have just been happy with the one stamping throughout production I do not know.

On the positive side, that's the last thing I need to find and put in place now! Then it's just replacing the coolant, an oil change and cleaning a very mouldy interior and it's good to go :)

DasWauto > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 08/02/2014 at 14:01

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BMW tend to do do a mid-life refresh for each model that generally includes a mild facelift. I'm not too knowledgeable on the e36 but I imagine it got the same treatment. Unfortunate mistake but an appropriate set of kidneys shouldn't be terribly difficult or expensive to acquire.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 08/02/2014 at 14:03

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Could be pre versus post 1996 or different country thing.

153624 - Straight Six > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 08/02/2014 at 14:40

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It is an early-late model thing. Post 1996 cars have a redesigned grille.

dmcspeedy > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 08/02/2014 at 14:49

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Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > 153624 - Straight Six 08/02/2014 at 14:59

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That's what I thought. 1996 brought a lot of changes to the E36.

153624 - Straight Six > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 08/02/2014 at 15:04

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It did. I'd much rather have a post '96 e36. It's all just slightly better thought out.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > 153624 - Straight Six 08/02/2014 at 15:14

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I have a 1996.

Textured Soy Protein > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 08/02/2014 at 15:20

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BMW calls a mid-cycle refresh, LCI. Fuck if I know what it stands for though.

Early E36:

E36 LCI:

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Textured Soy Protein 08/02/2014 at 18:00

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I prefer the early one which is a shame as the only Arktissilber front clip I could find is from a late-model.

Ah well, if it gets it back on the road :)