1994 E36 BMW 320i barnfind

1994 E36 BMW 320i (low mileage 'barnfind')

After purchasing the E46 Touring, and while restoring the E21 318i, I decided to look for a really good E30 or E36 BMW to fit between the two. My preference was for a 6-cylinder, rather than a 4 pot 318i, with particular preference for the smallest version, the 2-litre 320i

On Saturday 18th November 2023 I saw exactly what I was looking for while scrolling through my Facebook Marketplace over breakfast. A 2 owner, genuine 82,900km barnfind, which came to light when an 1880s house with a stone barn was sold. The buyer of the house (which he purchased in 2021 and is now restoring) also purchased much of the original furniture, and this timewarp BMW which was stored in the barn (along with some amazing old local red wines!), which he intended to recommission and drive.

The car was put on a tilt tray and taken to Melbourne, where it was cleaned (but not detailed) and put in a garage. Fresh fuel and a battery were put in, and the car fired straight up, but the automatic gearbox does not select any gears.

Some time later the owner realised he was too busy with other commitments, and the lease on the rented garage storage was about to come to an end, so he decided to sell the car.

Hours after responding to the Facebook link I was viewing the car, and purchased it on the spot. In a few days I'll return with the trusty Isuzu beavertail truck to bring it to its new home in central Victoria.

Looking up the car's VIN on https://www.mdecoder.com/decode/wbacb220x0fa18678, I was able to see the car was produced 25th May 1994, with the following options;

S401 Lift-Up-And-Slide-Back Sunroof, Electric
S411 Window Lifts,Electric,Front/Rear
S465 Through-Loading System
S481 Sports Seat
S687 Radio Preparation
S530 Air Conditioning
S240 Steering Wheel, Leather
S246 Manually Adjust. Steering Column
S354 Windscreen, Green-Tinted Upper Strip
S806 Third Stoplamp
S810 National Version Australia
S900 Electronic Immobilizer

↑As found in a stone shed/barn in the yard of an 1880s Bendigo house by the person who onsold the car to me.

↑The car was pulled out onto the street, and then put on a tilt-tray to Melbourne, where it was given a basic clean.

↑This is the car after a basic clean. It had no drive, which was diagnosed as a faulty pump in the automatic transmission by a mechanic. (see below for developments on that front)

Some days later, we drove to Melbourne to transport it to its new home...

↑The car safely arrives at its new home, ironically only 100km from its long-term 2nd owner in Bendigo.

↑The car was not able to be driven at all, as the automatic gearbox didn't respond at all to the shift lever, other than come out of Park to enable it to be rolled. The diagnosis according to a mechanic was that the pump had failed in the gearbox, but at only 82,000km I was pretty sure it was going to be something much simpler.

Putting the car on a hoist, and dropping the automatic transmission sump pan, the issue was instantly obvious. The manual valve had seized in the valve body, due to years of inactivity, and when someone forced it out of Park to move the vehicle, it simply snapped the manual valve shaft. Just $34 saw a genuine replacement part ordered from overseas, which arrived just over a week later. About 45 minutes work in total, including fitting a new filter and pan gasket, and completely replacing the transmission fluid (which was amazingly clean when drained anyhow), saw the problem fixed. The car instantly selects Drive and Reverse, without the slightest hesitation.

While it was on the hoist, I gave the car a good pressure wash underneath, and the following 4 photos shows just how nice it is!