Rear Wheel Drive or Bust
Petrolheads all know rear wheel drive = best wheel drive, there’s no two ways around it if you want to have maximum (oversteer-ey) fun. Most normal cars however are that of the front wheel driven variety, with rear wheel drive being increasingly rare on the roads. Even brands that were built on the reputation of the Ultimate Driving Machine now have a few front wheel driven cars among their lineup. Rear wheel drive however still holds an appeal for most petrolheads and some will specifically choose their chariot just because of it, like Meng Suan and his 1994 BMW E36 325i.
Meng Suan was not your typical petrolhead as he was never really into cars in the first place, but was it was his first car, which was an IAFM (or as he affectionately calls it the ‘taxi spec’) Proton Persona caused pandora’s box opened itself unto him and initiated him into the realm of the petrolhead. He was also bitten by the modification bug caused the Persona to end up with a turbo.
After his first car, his love of cars then grew further, eventually trading up to an R3 edition Proton Preve. The Preve was pretty nippy and quick, but the front wheel drive Protons he was used to at that point just weren’t thrill seeking enough anymore for Meng Suan. Lurking at the back of his mind, there was always an urge to step up to something more challenging, more fun, more rear wheel drive. And to to top it all off, he desired a car with little to no driving aids, just to bring the thrill factor to 11.
Going down the JDM route with a GT86 was considered but RM2000 monthly instalments did sting a bit. And unlike some car guys who have no common sense at all, Meng Suan readily knew the fact that having never driven a rear wheel drive car before, any minor mishap while out honing his driving skills could possibly mean that the largest asset he owns could quickly turn into his largest liability. So ideally he wanted something worn and used so it doesn't hurt so much, if something did go wrong.
Getting a driver and not a garage queen also means that he could fulfil his other motive, and that is to take the car to the occasional track day or autocross (Yes Malaysia has these things too). In one of those moments of fate, a random office discussion with a colleague about taking his Preve to the MSF track day quickly devolved into a search on Mudah for a cheap banger to take to the track so that even if the cheap banger dies on him on track he can still get to work the next day with the Preve. It was also that fateful discussion that lead him down the route of procuring an Ultimate Driving Machine.
Mention the phrase Ultimate Driving Machine to any petrolhead (of the more mature/old variety), and the first car that comes into their minds will be the BMW E46 3 series. This is the era widely regarded as the pinnacle of the Bavarian brand with the E46 M3 and the E39 M5 being hailed as the world’s best driving machines and are still in high regard till this day. This also was the era where modern tech meets old school simplicity, with just enough driver aids to keep you on the black stuff while still being able to get one in the proper (manual) transmission, so with that in mind the search was on for an E46 to be the car that would take him down the route of rear wheel drive bliss.
The initial search for a slice of Bavarian driving pleasure was rather successful too, and soon a clean E46 330i with manual conversion was on his radar, but due to procrastination on the handiwork of the manual conversion and the eye-watering road tax, he lost out on that. Then by complete chance, a listing for this E36 popped up.
The E36 generation of 3 series is not as highly regarded as it’s E46 successor, partly due to the poor job BMW did with the American spec E36 M3 and mainly because the E46 was pretty much a sorted E36, but for all its faults, it is still a BMW and that meant rear wheel drive was the law of the land. Also another plus point on the E36 for Meng Suan was that being a generation older than the E46, this meant that the E36 had mechanically simpler with no electronic nannies whatsoever, perfect!
Listed at RM15k for this 1994 BMW E36 325i, it was priced above the normal selling price for an E36 of this vintage and condition (more than 300k km on the clock). The reason for this higher price tag however was due to the factory 5 speed manual gearbox. This BMW E36 325i (apparently) was one of only a hundred plus E36 3 series sold new in Malaysia by Auto Bavaria with a stick shift back in the day.
Still undecided, Meng Suan went to see the car. The seller took him for a nice cruise round the block and that was it, Meng Suan was hooked. Being a sensible man, he told the seller that he was going home to sleep on it (a ploy to resist the urge to spend money) but for the next few nights the buttery smooth straight six resonated in his dreams. He tried to resist but alas, the straight six temptress got the better of him and the car was now his.
As with his previous cars, the modifying bug was soon onto him again, but as this is an old BMW — maintenance before modifying. One thing to mention is that Meng Suan is also an aspiring Malaysian automotive YouTuber (as seen in the video above), and his current project is documenting his journey with this car and is trying to dispel the myth that old BMWs aren’t really the high maintenance horrors everyone else perceives.
However over the course of ownership, this silver machine did find itself on the back of a flatbed…
… twice.
The first time the BMW needed to be towed was due to complete clutch failure. This occurred after a spirited launch from the lights on a rainy day just after he got the car. Launching a rear wheel driven, stick shift car off the lights, in the wet is fun, that is until the clutch lining decides at that very moment to just separate.
Used Car Ownership Pro Tip: Always tick the free towing rider box in your insurance. You never know when it’s going to be worth it.
Another time this Ultimate Driving Machine needed to be loaded onto the back of a flatbed was due to an overheating issue which stemmed from the complete loss of coolant from the radiator. This was also during the early days when Meng Suan just got the car. The on-board computer (OBC) was throwing a code saying to check the coolant level, but Meng Suan thought it was a false positive and decided to only check it over the weekend. This thought proved wrong however when the BMW languished at the side of the road with an empty rad after ignoring the warning for four straight days, just two days shy of the weekend.
The whole leaky radiator debacle was actually a pivotal moment for Meng Suan’s relationship with the Beemer as it took him down the road to be a DIY mechanic. When the mechanics he went too were reluctant to replace the radiator due to the clutch fan, Meng Suan just rolled up his sleeves and whipped the thing out himself. Amateur DIY mechanic status achieved, his next task was fitting new adjustable GAB shocks which lowered the ride height, and improved the stance.
While on the subject of stance, the way this particular E36 sits is just perfect. Especially with those 15 inch BBS Style 5s. Those wheels really do make the look of the car, a touch of retro without being too overboard. Tires, I am told, are also surprisingly cheap, especially if you go for a used set (aka hoonage spec) set. The wheels combined with the silver paint, while not being concourse condition, helps the E36 blend into the background thereby earning it the reputation of a sleek retro silver sleeper.
Still on the subject of how the car looks, the interior is also suitably retro with the thin rimmed steering wheel and a suitably 90s era dash with that one giant central air-con vent. The interior is also more lively than when it rolled out of the factory curtesy of recently reupholstered seats and door panels in blue. They’re blue because the original owner of this car wanted to paint the exterior Yas Marina Blue (aka the new M3 blue) but sold it before it went to paint. So it’s now a car with a silver sedate interior and a lively blue-black combination interior.
Back to the driving, now as you may recall from above, Meng Suan initially wanted this BMW to be his hoon machine to hone his driving skills, but as time progressed and the niggles fixed, this BMW slowly became his (nearly) daily driver. With a cushy interior and good enough reliability (after all the main problems have been dealt with), it has encroached on his Preve’s daily driver dominance. Although the BMW is not the most fuel efficient of cars (a straight six under the hood does hurt fuel economy), the smiles per gallon is almost worth it. Amazingly it also has better ground clearance than the Proton, being able to clear most speed bumps and parking lot ramps with ease, even with the lowered ride height, whereas the stock R3 bodykit on the Preve does tend to scrape a bit even on the gentlest of ramps.
I was informed that this BMW is a total Jekyll and Hyde car. Reliable and comfortable enough to be daily driven even two decades on, but still analog and fun enough to be hooned around when the mood takes you. The exhaust rumble is subdued enough for daily use, but give it a boot full and that single VANOS straight six will sing all the way up to 200kmh.
More on the subject of hooning, the whole premise of buying this car was to hone Meng Suan’s driving skills and on that front the analog BMW delivered. Being a rear wheel drive car with enough torque to light the rear wheels and with no electronic driving aids whatsoever, the E36 does bite if you’re not careful. The driver has admitted to having spun out twice before. Both times on a left hand turn before an incline, but luckily both times on empty roads.
Over time however, the BMW has become the sensei, gently guiding the driver to not fear the oversteer, but instead embrace it. The manual gearbox also aids in honing the driver’s skill. Heel-and-toe, rev matching, left foot braking etc. All these driving skills were once just theories in Meng Suan’s head but now he uses it nearly every day. The E36 has already been to its first autocross and it performed admirably.
During these periods of honing one’s driving skills however, another common E36 fault decided to rear its head. See, BMWs of this period (E36, Z3, E46) don’t really have the strongest of subframes (the metal cage that holds all the rear suspension together), and on one rainy night while out honing his driving skills, the E36 developed a clacking noise from the rear after a spin.
What was initially thought of to be the rear shock absorber mounting, actually turned out to be rust on the rear strut mount. Further investigation yielded that the strut mount had cracked before and the previous owner just did a quick weld to band-aid over the problem. Over time the unpainted weld just rusted out and thus the clacking noise. This was remedied by sandwiching the strut with thicker metal and while this was happening; in for a penny, in for a pound the rear chassis was reinforced further. So now clutch kicks can be done without any worry.
The journey of owning this sleek silver retro sleeper isn’t as easy as Meng Suan might have liked, but it was indeed a rewarding journey. Having not only learnt how to master the art of driving a rear wheel drive car, but also learning how to live with a retro continental car.
The modifying bug is still strong within him, with his next mod being a helical limited slip differential from a Z3M that is currently sitting in a shoebox at home. Imported directly from Oz, once its fitted to the 325, one wheel peels should be a thing of the past and this Beemer should easily be able to controllably slide to Meng Suan’s heart’s content.
Hope you enjoyed this Common Car Story on Meng Suan’s 1994 E36 325i. Many thanks to Meng Suan for this amazing story. Please do click on this link to check out his channel. Don’t forget to like, subscribe and share his amazing videos!
If you have made it this far, please also do consider checking this fledgling Malaysian automotive site and sharing this story to everyone who will appreciate it.
One more thing, if anyone has a car story to share feel free to drop me an email at thecommoncar.driveeveryday@gmail.com. Please include the details of the car that you wish to share the story of. Preferably looking for cars and car stories from Malaysia from the KL and JB area, but anyone is welcome to drop me an email regardless of location barring probably Antartica (It’s a bit cold there. )