[tbouchard991]

Few days ago, I purchased this very clean 2000 323Ci as a new daily! I wanted to conserve a bit of my 323i Wagon, so this will do! The second owner bought it in 2003 with 23k miles, and its been dealer maintained its entire life. Bunch of great maintenance was done as-well -> (Clutch 20k miles ago, belts/tensioner (10k miles ago) and cooling system (100 miles ago), suspension bits too).

Wagon Thread -> Link

Specs:
133k Miles (Zero Rust)
5 Speed - Manual
Fern Green - Tan Interior
Non-Sport Package
Harmon Kardon
Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror w/ Homelink

Plans:

• Clear Corners / LED Tails
• AVIN Avant 4 (w/ ibus)
• Cold/Hot Air Intake? - Injen SP1110WB (Have this in my wagon and love it) - (I love the intake sound, not really looking for performance gains lol..)
• Fix driver side batwing (replace the top in the future - has seen some better days)
• Try to source Tan Sport Seats
• Retrofit to Bi-Xenon w/ AEG.
• Power-Fold Mirrors
• KONI Yellows w/ Eibach Springs (have this setup on my wagon and love it)
• M3 Steering Wheel
• Shifter Overhaul (E60 545i Shifter w/ ZHP Shift Knob)

Excited to get this vert sorted and have it as a daily driver! Its rather intriguing how different it drives to my wagon.

 

[Inlajnsiksbenzin]

Very clean one, indeed. Not a lot of 323ci verts out there. Atleast here in ol' Europe. What's the color? Is it green? It's hard to see on the screen.

 

[Inlajnsiksbenzin]

Very clean one, indeed. Not a lot of 323ci verts out there. Atleast here in ol' Europe. What's the color? Is it green? It's hard to see on the screen.

Nevermind, didn't see that you stated it.

 

[tbouchard991]

Very clean one, indeed. Not a lot of 323ci verts out there. Atleast here in ol' Europe. What's the color? Is it green? It's hard to see on the screen.

Nevermind, didn't see that you stated it.

Thank you! Haha, no worries. Fern Green is a rather intriguing color depending what angle you look at it.

 

[russcoop]

don t blame you for finding a daily to take wear off the wagon, I m doing the same, my 540ti triple black M sport I try to keep in good shape as well as the ZHP, so my daily just acquired is a 325ci coupe 5 speed, great car to drive, no rust but spent a lot of time on NYC streets so has dings.

 

[Bali]

You cannot have too many BMWs.
Q. How many do ya want?
A. moar!

 

[tbouchard991]

You cannot have too many BMWs.
Q. How many do ya want?
A. moar!

You cant just have one!

 

[tbouchard991]

First fill-up since ownership!

• deleted amber all around and went with Eagle Eye LED Tail Lights
• fixed broken driver side c-pillar (batwing)
• Installed my old EONON Headunit. Had it laying around after I upgraded to a AVIN AVANT 4 in wagon. Eventually I'll upgrade to AVIN unit in Vert.

There’s still a bunch of preventative maintenance to do.

• VCG / CCV
• OFG / VANOS Line
• Power Steering Lines & Reservoir
• Guibo & CSB
• Possibly Oil-Pan Gasket? Will literally need to brake clean the entire underside to clean it up (Its pretty gross).

As-well sort out my reverse lights that blew a fuse, time to trace the wiring for the reverse lights and see what’s causing the issue? I'm just going to temporarily put a 5amp fuse since it doesn't blow that one, so I can pass inspection lol.

Other then that she’s mint!

Secretly inside I want to put headers and borla, same as my wagon. Then I stop myself, it’s a daily.

Driverside Batwing looked like it got mangled pretty badly. Fixed it, and now it closes properly with the top up.

 

[russcoop]

there is a writeup on using a late model LCM auto lights an reprogram LCM to cancel dash lights for the LED tail lights

 

[tbouchard991]

there is a writeup on using a late model LCM auto lights an reprogram LCM to cancel dash lights for the LED tail lights

There's no bulb error lights on the dash! But, thank you!

 

[Kostyan]

Few days ago, I purchased this very clean 2000 323Ci as a new daily! I wanted to conserve a bit of my 323i Wagon, so this will do! The second owner bought it in 2003 with 23k miles, and its been dealer maintained its entire life. Bunch of great maintenance was done as-well -> (Clutch 20k miles ago, belts/tensioner (10k miles ago) and cooling system (100 miles ago), suspension bits too).

Wagon Thread -> Link

Specs:
133k Miles (Zero Rust)
5 Speed - Manual
Fern Green - Tan Interior
Non-Sport Package
Harmon Kardon
Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror w/ Homelink

Plans:

• Clear Corners / LED Tails
• AVIN Avant 4 (w/ ibus)
• Borla Catback (Have this setup on my wagon, and it sounds incredible! Might do headers too - like my wagon)
• Cold/Hot Air Intake? - Injen SP1110WB (Have this in my wagon and love it) - (I love the intake sound, not really looking for performance gains lol..)
• Fix driver side batwing (replace the top in the future - has seen some better days)
• Try to source Tan Sport Seats
• Retrofit to Bi-Xenon w/ AEG.
• M56 Valve Cover
• Style 44's (Have a set sitting in storage)
• Power-Fold Mirrors
• KONI Yellows w/ Eibach Springs (have this setup on my wagon and love it)
• M3 Steering Wheel
• Shifter Overhaul (E60 545i Shifter w/ ZHP Shift Knob)

Excited to get this vert sorted and have it as a daily driver! Its rather intriguing how different it drives to my wagon.

View attachment 948750
View attachment 948751

Very clean, i would say mint condition. How can a 22 yr old historic car look that nice?

 

[tbouchard991]

Figured out why my reverse lights weren't working... Seems like there was an attempt to repair it at some point in time with some metal butt connectors? (don't do this.. pls). I resoldered majority of the harness, and yes I did cut off those horrible metal - butt connectors! To finish off, I used some fabric tape to clean up the harness. In conclusion.. I have working reverse lights again!

--

 

[tbouchard991]

Ended up snagging a SW3.6 LCM from a M3 on eBay! One big reason of purchasing this was the ability to keep fog lights on w/ high beams. Which earlier LCM's you don't have the ability to do so.

 

[tbouchard991]

Update?

• Swapped the Borla Cat Back from Wagon to Vert (Sounds absolutely lovely)
• Oil Change + replaced drain plug / washer
  • Was seeping oil from drain plug, seemed like it was overtightened? cause the washer was not even round, it was an oval. Haha.
• Upper + Lower Intake Boot Replaced and Throttle Body Gasket
• CCV System replaced
• Valve Cover + Vanos Unit Refresh

Next on the list:

Suspension Refresh (Struts Blow & 1 broken spring rear left)

• KONI Yellows w/ Eibach Springs (Same as wagon)
• Lemforder Control Arms
• Tie Rods + Endlinks
• RTABS

Future Plans?

• Refresh Shifter
• Guibo + CSB (Need to do this soon)
• Bi-Xenon Retrofit + AEG's
• Get tires for Style 44's
• ZHP 5-Speed Knob

--

 

[tbouchard991]

Update Part.. I lost count..

But here we go!

• KONI Yellows w/ Eibach Springs
• Rogue Engineering E30/E36/E46 Rear Shock Mount - Link (Highly... Highly recommend these makes removing of struts 10x easier)
• Lemforder ZHP Control Arms (Standard Control Arms use a ball joint with plastic or rubber liner, compared to ZHP which use all metal ball joins which have less slop and last much longer)
• Z4M FCABs (These add positive caster which increase high speed stability, they are solid rubber too)
• Tie Rods + Endlinks
• E46 M3 RTABS (Was going to do w/ limiters, but honestly sort of forgot to order them. oh well)

In my humble opinion this is a perfect OEM+ setup, It's a super comfy ride, and the adjustable dampening is a big plus! Very nimble on backroads. Lowers it a tasteful amount too.

Note: I will replace the original 5mm spring pad in the rear w/ XI 15mm spring pads. It'll bring the rear up a bit and give it a slight rake which is perfect. Its what im running on my Touring, and it gives a perfect ride height.

I also did retrofit Morimoto Bi-Xenon's w/ AEG's. (I can actually see something at night.)

I think last part is gearbox refresh w/ guibo and CSB and call it a day..

Probably nex thing would be a full MTech 2 Body Kit w/ a hardtop for winter and a nicer set of wheels. Maybe Ill put my Apex Wheels from my wagon on and get something nicer for wagon.

Rear Struts were toast!

 

[Inlajnsiksbenzin]

I want your car bad

 

[amancuso]

Nice one. Love fern greens and love 323s. (I have one too, but mine's just an M52b25).

 

[TheRiddle]

Ended up snagging a SW3.6 LCM from a M3 on eBay! Did I need this? Not really, but brake force display is a rather nice addition!

View attachment 949498

BFD needs also a proper Kombi (323 ones are too old and can't manage the stage3 fast blinking on ABS intervention)

keep it as much stock as possible, 323Cic are becoming really rare and due to the fact that they've been produced for only 6 months, makes them really interesting for the youngtimer market.

 

[tbouchard991]

BFD needs also a proper Kombi (323 ones are too old and can't manage the stage3 fast blinking on ABS intervention)

keep it as much stock as possible, 323Cic are becoming really rare and due to the fact that they've been produced for only 6 months, makes them really interesting for the youngtimer market.

I am aware you need an updated IKE for BFD, or a M3 Cluster. However, the biggest thing for me on the 3.6LCM was fog light staying on w/ high beams (which I coded in). Which I somehow forgot to mention on my post above. (I edited the post to correct it.) Once I replace my headunit that I currently have with AVIN AVANT w/ iBUS, it'll have proper functioning BFD without an updated cluster.

as for rarity? I am aware.

It's an OEM+ build.

If I ever want to sell it? I think I'd get decent amount of money for it considering it has zero rust and all the maintenance is basically done. I did as-well some upgrades which make it so much more a pleasurable driving experience. (KONI Yellows, Eibach Springs, ZHP Control Arms, Z4M FCABs, M3 RTABs, Borla Catback, INJEN Intake) Honestly, You could drive it across United States with zero issue.

Once I rebuild the shifter with all new bushings and a E60 540i Shift Lever (Factory Short Shifter) it will be one fun car to drive!

Will I get rid of it? Absolutely not.

Considering I have a 323iT, and a 323Cic which are both rare as they are.. Unless I find something else rare.

Nice one. Love fern greens and love 323s. (I have one too, but mine's just an M52b25). View attachment 958303

Ugh... wanna trade? I'd love a 323i E36 wagon one day.

 

[TheRiddle]

I am aware you need an updated IKE for BFD, or a M3 Cluster. However, the biggest thing for me on the 3.6LCM was fog light staying on w/ high beams (which I coded in). Which I somehow forgot to mention on my post above. (I edited the post to correct it.) Once I replace my headunit that I currently have with AVIN AVANT w/ iBUS, it'll have proper functioning BFD without an updated cluster.

I have an Avin4 with Ibus App and NO, full BFD is not available without updating the kombi