Surprise Surprise

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Surprise Surprise…

Words – Jeff Heywood ~ Photos – Jeff Heywood & Sam Newman

No, we’re not talking about an evening with ‘r Cilla here, the surprise would arise at a big birthday. The car central to this story was a tatty-looking example of an E36 that was desperate to shake off years of dubious accessories and modifications, which were slowly smothering this poor car to death. Plus, it was facing a hard life being used as a drift car. The knight in shining armour in this story is Darryl Curran, proprietor of Swades Car Detailing and long-time club member. Darryl had the gumption to realise that underneath the cheap add-ons, this E36 Sport had potential, but the path was a convoluted one before it eventually came into his possession. Confused? I was. Read on to find out how this molested E36 was finally saved from the big crusher in the sky.

Wind back the clock to June 2017. Busy with his detailing work, Darryl took a call from a good friend. The conversation went something like this: “I’ve bought an E36 Coupe for £400 and I want you to give it a once over and turn it into a drift car for me.” It turns out that the car in question had been in storage for at least three years and wasn’t in the best of condition. Darryl was reluctant to take on the work as he was busy with his detailing company and helping his partner Sam set up a transportation business. But, because the request had come from a good mate, he reluctantly agreed to take it on.

When the car arrived on Darryl’s driveway it was worse than he thought. Although the car purported to be painted Avus Blue, it looked decidedly green as it was smothered in moss. A quick jet wash gave the car an instant lift, although closer inspection showed that all the windscreen rubbers had started to deteriorate and the moss had almost eaten into the rubber. So on first acquaintances things

weren’t looking good. The car sat on copy E92 M3 wheels and had Angel Eye headlights fitted, but as they were from a saloon they didn’t fit correctly. Darryl’s friend had asked him to change the lights and wheels, so he set about that task. In preparation for his mate taking the car drifting, on went a new pair of BMW OEM headlight units and a set of Racing Dynamic wheels that Darryl had purchased for another project. With the wheels and headlights replaced, Darryl started to think that this car had promise and was surely too good to face a life of drifting. A visit to an MoT station confirmed his theory.

He asked his friend, in passing, had he realised what 328i Sports were now selling for now? Once Darryl told him the going prices, he asked if Darryl would place it on Facebook MarketPlace for him to see what price it would achieve. Darryl also informed another friend and a fellow North West Region Car Club member OJ about the car. OJ had been looking for a solid E36 Coupé so that he could exchange all the running gear and roll cage from his E36 M3 track car into the donor and then use the donor car as his trackday motor while the M3 would be returned back to a standard road car because prices of E36s were on the rise.

OJ agreed a price with Darryl’s mate and then asked Darryl if he could get the 328i through an MoT. Darryl agreed to the request and took the car to his local MoT station. It only required two wiper blades and three bulbs and the car sailed through the test. But what was interesting was the MoT tester said to Darryl that the car was a cracker, adding that “underneath it was the cleanest, rust free E36 Coupé he’d had through the station in a long time. All of them are usually corroded, but this car is rust free”.

MoT completed, Darryl gave OJ a call and said that the E36 had passed its MoT with flying colours and was ready for collection. It was agreed with OJ that the car would be collected or he would bring his M3 track car over and swap over the parts onto the 328 donor car. The months passed and Darryl didn’t see or hear from OJ, although at a club meet or two he agreed that he’d sort out the collection, but needed to let his wife know that he’d purchased another car. He hadn’t told her yet.

This situation continued for another few months, the 328 still sitting on Darryl’s drive. As a year passed, he telephoned OJ to ask when he was picking the car up and to also warn him that the MoT was again due. OJ asked Darryl if he would get the car MoTd again and promised that he’d sort out the collection of the car.

The 328i Sport as it arrived back in 2017. The acres of moss have already been power washed off in this photo, but the car still looks tatty with its copy E92 M3 wheels and headlights that didn’t fit properly. But underneath, a gem was lurking

The bodywork needed attention, with corrosion in places, plus damage like this where a previous owner had dinged the rear panel and then let surface rust form. This dent was quickly knocked out and the rust removed prior to the repaint

Leaving the bodyshop. The paint looks good, the car less so riding on spacesaver wheels and with no windscreen and door glass

Unknown to Darryl, his partner Sam now got in on the act. She had heard Darryl saying that the 328 was a great basis for a light restoration and what a solid car it was. Knowing that Darryl had a big birthday coming up she contacted OJ and asked if she could buy the car off him as she wanted to give it to Darryl for his birthday. OJ initially turned her down and they agreed that Darryl would continue to put the car through another MoT. But the seed had been sown…

In the meantime, the car went through its MoT again. It passed and it was returned back to its parking spot on Darryl’s driveway. The MoT tester had, again, mentioned how clean the car was underneath.

Behind the scenes a fortnight or so had passed and Sam received the call she was hoping to get from OJ, who said he was willing to let the car go if they could agree on a price. After some haggling, a deal was done and that allowed Sam to present the keys to the

Darryl arrives at Castlefield for the photo shoot, and boy does it look well, even in the Manchester rain

E36 328i Sport on Darryl’s birthday. Darryl was obviously taken aback, but also overjoyed with what Sam had pulled off. He had grown fond of the car and it was now his to take on as a project.

The car drove very well, so Darryl used the car as his daily driver for the first six months-or-so while he assessed what he wanted to do with it. With the 328 being finished in the lovely colour of Avus Blue (genuine from new), Darryl decided to give the Sport the M3 look, minus the badges. It isn’t something that hasn’t been done before, but he loves the understated look of the E36 M3, so that was going to be the theme. He had started picking up genuine E36 M3 parts from eBay and elsewhere, which included genuine M3 door mirrors and front and rear bumpers. Darryl was enjoying driving the Sport and that gorgeous M52B28 straight-six zinging away was music to

The Sport looks good from all angles; the Victorian cast iron columns supporting the railway bridge are the Grecian columns of the Industrial Revolution

his ears. He then spotted a nice set of Mk1 Sunflower E36 M3 Style 22 wheels. They were in decent condition, but Darryl wanted the finished car to be perfect, so he powder coated them himself so they look like new.

It was impossible not to notice that the headlining was starting to sag a little, until one day when driving along, it dropped down completely. He couldn’t see a thing but managed to pull over to the side of the road and reattach it back in place. Only for it to fall down again. Darryl made another temporary fix so he could make the journey home, but this was the impetus to starting the build.

Although the underneath of the car was in excellent, rust-free condition, the same couldn’t be said about the body, even if it wasn’t as bad as some E36s you see. There were one or two scratches on the Avus paintwork, plus a couple of supermarket trolley dings to the passenger side door and drivers side rear panel. These would all be taken care of when the car went in for paint. Corrosion wise, a new front wing was acquired for the passenger side. There were some rust scabs appearing on the edge of the wheel arch, so Darryl decided that it wasn’t worth trying to repair the panel when new wings can be had for a good price. He then fixed rust bubbles that had appeared in a couple of places around the windscreen, probably from when someone had replaced the screen at some point. So the screen was removed,

Good looker, the E36 Coupe has matured into a handsome beast and the Avus Blue paint enhances those sharp looks. Apologies for the paintwork being covered in raindrops, we tried to towel dry the car more than once, but had to give in to the Manchester weather in the end. It showed us who’s boss

The M3 seating gives the Sport a real M feel inside

the rust was fixed and the screen went back in. Carefully this time so as not to take the paint off any panel edges. A couple of spots on the rear panel were then attended to. All this work was being carried out in Darryl’s detailing workshop in between detailing work, in the evenings and at weekends. The next panel that needed attention was the boot lid. It was in fine condition except for three holes where a rear spoiler was held in place. The holes had been drilled through the flat part of the lid and obviously hadn’t been touched up before fitting the spoiler, which had resulted in serious corrosion forming over the following years. This annoyed Darryl greatly, as the boot lid was in fine fettle except for this avoidable damage. A new boot lid had to be sourced, which is more difficult than it sounds, as rust-free examples are very difficult to find, and new bootlids from BMW are exorbitantly priced. Eventually Darryl found a rust free example and quickly snapped it up. When it arrived, he was over the moon with his purchase as it really was in perfect condition. The new bootlid was fitted and the lock changed over and he was getting near the time when the car would be ready to go to the paint shop.

Darryl then scored two blinders. He had been looking for a rust free bonnet for ages, but none had come up for sale that were corrosion free. The bonnet on the Sport had rusted in a really strange area, right on the front leading edge. When closed it was hardly visible, but when opened you could see rust all along the front underside area and it was spreading alarmingly, and rightly needed replacing. Weeks turned into months, but eventually a rust-free bonnet came up for sale, and after being reassured by the vendor that the bonnet really was corrosion free, Daryl snapped it up and was delighted that it proved to be just as the vendor had described. The bonnet was fitted and, as Darryl was making arrangements to book the car in for its respray, a light-grey leather interior from an E36 M3 came up for sale, complete with the Vader front seats, all in excellent condition. Darryl snapped up the interior and to pay for this purchase he sold the Sport’s original black leather interior and the Racing Dynamics wheels.

The M52B28 straight six engine is so smooth. Although clean, Darryl said that the engine bay still has to be detailed, but he ran out of time before the photo shoot

The car was now ready for its paint and it was duly delivered to K.S Autobodies in Stockport. Darryl knows the guys there and they have an excellent reputation for their work. A keen price was agreed and the car was delivered on spacesaver wheels and tyres as the sunflowers were in the process of being powder coated. The guys at K.S Autobodies did an amazing job on Darryl’s Sport, as you can see from the photos, even though they were taken on a soggy wet day in Manchester.

When he received the call to pick the car up from the bodyshop, it was driven home on the space savers while the front screen was held in with masking tape. The price for painting the car was so keen that it was agreed Darryl would fit all the glass, along with new rubber seals all round, including, of course, the windscreen. Once all the new seals were in place and the Sunflowers were bolted on, complete with new rubber, the car was beginning to look the business. The mirrors, front and rear M bumpers set the car off a treat, as do the ‘M-Twist’ side skirts, which are standard fit on a 328i Sport. The car was now looking resplendent in the wonderful Avus Blue paintwork.

Darryl now turned his attention to the interior. In went the new leather interior and door cards. To fix the headlining, he had purchased a roll of the correct material to trim the area himself. He readily admits that he wasn’t looking forward to doing the job though, so the project ground to a halt for a couple of weeks as Darryl kept himself busy with his business. Unknown to Darryl, the ever resourceful Sam arranged for the guys at Auto Trim, Denton, to retrim the headlining and fit new side mouldings at the same time. With the remaining material left over from the headlining re-trim, Darryl also trimmed the rear shelf to factory standard. The interior was now looking as good as the outside.

Darryl’s attention then turned to the underside, which had all been power washed and detailed. To finish the build he then fitted HSD coilovers, new Brembo

The rear seats have hardly been used The 328i Sport catches the eye as it crests the Rochdale Canal bridge at Castlefield, Manchester

The E36 Coupé looks almost toy-like set against the heavy Victorian industrial backdrop at Castlefield, where the Industrial Revolution was born

discs and pads all round. The rear suspension was completely poly-bushed and the rear trailing arms were powder coated to give them that factory fresh look. Darryl has also acquired a purple tag E46 steering rack, but hasn’t had time to fit it yet.

The build finally finished, Darryl turned his attention back onto the new paintwork. Darryl had deliberately given the paint a couple of months to properly harden. Then, with the photo shoot just around the corner, he gave the paint a light machine polish followed by an application of Uno Protect, an all-in-one compound polish and protectant. Darryl tells me It is excellent for removing any light defects, leaving a high gloss finish. This was then protected using P&S Bead Maker. He admits that he hasn’t had the time to treat the Sport to a full on treatment, so I pressed him on what he plans to use on the car’s gorgeous Avus paintwork. “I’ll be applying a ceramic coating using Gtechniq’s Crystal Serum Light, which is guaranteed for 5 years. I’ll then top up the Crystal Serum Light with Gtechniq’s EXO V4, which is a hydrophobic ceramic coating that adds an even deeper shine that water and road grime just slides off.” Although Darryl ran out of time before the shoot and didn’t have time to ceramic coat his Sport nor detail the engine bay, the paintwork looked like blue glass on the day of the shoot. It has taken Darryl two years of blood, sweat and tears to finish, but he has finally crossed the finishing line. Now for some photos.

That’s where I come in. Knowing we’d need a nice day, not too sunny, but hopefully dry, I suggested the setting of Castlefield, Manchester, the heart of the Industrial Revolution. It provides some amazing, atmospheric backdrops for taking photos. And yes, it’s Manchester, so yes, it poured it down for most of the shoot. When it wasn’t chucking it down there was constant light rain, the sort that, as Peter Kay once said, ‘wet’s you through.’ Anyway, I think we managed to capture some decent pics. Enjoy.