Finally found one!
 

A few of you were generously helping me sort through some options a few weeks ago. I finally found a 97 I've pinned my name on. It was tough getting the color and options I wanted here in so cal at least. I was searching craigslist several times a day - watching decent Ti's that weren't the right color, or some other option I wasn't interested in come and go within the same day. I saw two original owner Blue/Manual/Sport models come and go within a couple days of each other and were both gone very quickly.

So the one I settled one had a few more miles than I wanted at 175k, and has a little sun wear showing in the paint and the leather in the seats. Southwest cars can be in great shape in terms of rust, but the sun can wreak havoc if they aren't put in the shade regularly. It was also on a dealer lot, so that meant it was marked up, and no fudging the sale price paperwork, so the state got to tax the car yet one more time, this time at 3800. However, the autocheck report came back with great standing, and had a couple upgrades, had the core features I wanted so I drove it home.

The most serious thing it needs is a clutch, and has a couple other more minor seeps going on, but overall is clean and dry. The interior is starting to smell less like baked leather as I drive it and get air flow through it. I'm pretty happy with the Meguiars Natural Shine interior protectant by the way. The dealer greased up the dash pretty good, so after I simple green'd that out, the Meguiars stuff coaxed a new look from the dash top (the pics below are after simple green, but before the Meguiars).

The bushings are all intact amazingly, but most starting to crack a little. The shifter is terribly stiff, which a BMW shop that inspected the car told me is due to the worn clutch. The lever is sloppy at the pivot ball as well. It has old Monroe Sensatrack (sp?) shocks around it and is soft in the corners. The 480 treadwear, all season tires grip terrible. My stock civic with nice tires handled better (only for now). The real ass-kicker though is the terrible shifting and weak clutch clamping. I think I've decided to tackle the clutch myself though as much as I dread it after reading that Pelican article about the difficult bolts. The money to pay a shop to do it and replace the seals and bushings is too high. Hopefully I can do it in a couple of days.

Anyway, I thought I'd share! I have over the last month or so been through a lot of Pelican articles and threads from all of you on here! Thank you for that! The internet and information age has done as much to enable humanity as modern medicine. ;) This is my second e36 I've owned (previous was a 95 325is with sport. I'm very happy with this sweet little car! :) BMW's are such fun cars.

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I do have one question specific to my car. The shift knob is faded and I want to replace it but the style with the two stripes doesn't show in realoem for my year at least. Is it for a different car possibly? What is the correct knob for this car possibly?

Here are some pics, and thanks again!

I think you did alright. At least she's not sitting on a lot anymore rotting away. She looks pretty clean and intact.

Once you sort out the issues and maint she'll be a blast to drive. Congrats!

I believe the shift knob with that style pattern on it is discontinued, you could get a ZHP knob though

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...catalogid=4462

Thanks guys,
That's too bad about the knob... The car has a couple minor modifications so I thought maybe that was one of them. I did a quick search on zhp, and I gather they made optional knobs for bmw? The striped one is definitely harder to find. The closest I've found is an illuminated e36 knob with the shift boot @ $240 (no)... http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-38...hift-boot.aspx

On another note, not having service records I changed the rear diff and trans fluids. There was the standard ATF in the trans which came out a normal color, but adding manual trans fluid helped the shifting considerably. It's almost what I would call "normal", but it's still a bit bound. It felt like you were stirring honey with a spoon, but has been relived quite a bit. It's still not quite right though, not to mention the sloppiness of the shifter itself... I've done some reading on adding a 6speed trans to make it more freeway friendly and retain a lower 1st, but wow, the cost. The z4 trans weighs double the ti trans too at about 100lbs. The only thing I can think is to piece that build together over time, bargain hunting the parts. Would be nice.

I had a quote done for an upholstery guy with a good reputation who could make the "nickle" stitching for @1200 front and rear in leather, and $1000 in vinyl. The interior though doesn't seem to have that cooked smell anymore, so I'm less inclined to drop that chunk of cash just for a more supple feel. The outside bolsters I've learned have already been replaced with vinyl and black stitching (bummer)... The headliner is a mess though. That with a-pillars is $250 not including the sunroof. I may schedule that appointment after ultraviolet screening/window tinting on Monday.

zhp was basically a bmw performance package for the E46

Mechanical problems aside, you bought a very nice looking car.

Thought I'd update. The part number for the older M badge is: 25111221612. If you cross reference that part at real oem, it came on some now deprecated cars, so if you want one, you may want to buy one sooner than later. Here is a pic stuck to a new shift knob, which by the way has a different feel than my older one. I thought maybe mind was getting old but I suspect the leather is different on the newer ones. It's a softer feel - nicer.

Does that knob have a stock height, or is it shorter like the ZHP knob? (do you have a picture of the side profile?)

It's the replacement knob for the 318ti. The knob comes without a plaque where you can stick what you want in there that fits. It happens to be that the shape fits several different cars including the ones that had the older M stripes versus the newer "M" letter. So again, it's a 318ti knob (and several other cars too).