Who's had an E36. M3 preferred

[AuburnRyan]

Had quite a few s13 240sx's, the latest is my best and I'm pretty happy, not planning further mods :) :love:

Last year I sold my last s13, and "got out of the game" with an AUDI A4 3.0 quattro 6spd. Long story short, I hated $400 car payments, but liked the car. When I got another s13, after a long search paying top dallar for one in excellent shape, it was immdiately more fun to drive and had the tossability the AUDI lacked, so I sold the AUDI :) and promply threw in SR and all the BPU's from another less clean chassis.

Another love affair with cars have been e36 M3's...who's had one and what do you think, would it keep me satisfied?

I think Brain Langson only lasted 2 months with his e36 M3 before trying to sell it an get another 240...why?

Power seems adequete, maybe equal to 10psi on the t25, handling is good, and you get some luxury the 240 doesn't have.

Could an e36 M3 satisfy a SR 240 owner, who keeps coming back?

[TheSquidd]

http://www.squidd.org/Automotive/Squidds%20E36/Image-021.jpg

:cry:

I Miss her!

I used to have a 1995 E36 325is, I know it's not an M3 but I can tell you about stuff (other than the engine). These are FANTASTIC cars, just a dream to own. You can just feel the engineering that went into the chassis with every turn you make. Stunningly solid cars. They are relatively lightweight for something so big and luxorious (about 3400lbs~ IIRC). The 325is handled like a japanese sport compact, with a bit of understeer from worn out shocks.

The interiors are plush, extremely plush. You can tell the people that designed these cars are hardcore drivers. There are just tons of little features you wont even notice unless you really pay attention that make the whole experience of driving safer, easier and funner. Everything inside is well within reach, all the materials that make up the interior is TOP NOTCH. Cloth or leather, both are fantastic. The power steering is weak, so that you feel the road better, the cabins are dead quiet with the windows rolled up, the coupes are roomy, the shifter is good old German solid. You can see why every company tries to rip off BMW.

The bodylines are the BEST of all the BMW series' IMHO. The e30 was cool for it's era, but the E36 is TIMELESS. It's so low, wide and solid looking. The m3 requires no modification to the body at all to be absoulutely stunning.

Problems I had:

BMW used shitty clear coats on the 3 series. Rock chips are common, and if not taken care of you will get oxidation. Owning a black BMW e36 is a difficult task as it requires washing every couple days and waxing about 2 - 3 times a year.

Parts are expensive. Period. Tons of companies make knock off parts you want to avoid. You really get what you pay for with these.

Maintaining the car is easy, if you do it often. The inline-6 is a bulletproof engine that will almost never give you problems, just take really good care of it. They love to be revved, and mine actually drove better the harder I pushed it. Oil changed CAN be done every 7000 miles, but I did 3000 anyway.

Getting power out of the engine is very difficult. I'm not 100% familiar with the M3 motor but from my impressions on the forum, it's not easy. If you have a fat wad of cash, get an Active Autowerk turbo system and you'll be smoking Corvettes in no time. Test drive an M3, if you're not pleased with the power stock, (and you don't have 7,000$ to drop on a turbo system) you won't be satisfied for a very long time. They are VERY fast cars, but the motors are so overly-engineered they are hard to improve upon.

Suspension for m3's are great. Stock. Upgrading is typically done with springs and shocks, when I was an owner there wasn't a whole lot of options for Coilover systems, and the ones that were available were mighty expensive. (325is though).

Anyway, like I said, test drive one, get it checked throughly by a BMW specific mechanic before purchasing. Low miles are KEY, you do not wan't to rebuild these motors. You'll probably spend close to 20k$ for a really choice M3. Owning a nice E36 is just amazing. They are just such a joy to drive and so easy to own.

[atom]

Go out and test drive one? I mean, nobody can predict your own opinions and preferences so you'll never fully be satisfied with what somebody tells you on the internet.

But my 2 cents, my friend drives an E36 with M3 Evo swap, bilstein pss9's, etc. It's pretty beastly, but if the tossability is what you like about the 240 then the E36 M3 might not be the car for you.

[TheSquidd]

Oh and to answer your question:

You will like an e36 if:
-sick of working on your car everyday
-want to take out a girl
-love having the nicest car in town
-don't mind being percieved as a snobby, rich guy (people think these cars are worth tons of money, I even got questions like "is this a 2006?" when it was a 95'.)
-don't want to goto the track and beat the hell out of a car
-really want to enjoy driving
-can appreciate fine engineering and will take the time, effort, and money to maintain a beautiful machine like the M3.

You will hate an e36 if:
-You LOVE wrenching on an engine
-You want to have a car you can beat up
-You want to own a car that is "different"
-You love Aero
-You love turbos
-You want a 12 second car
-You like not having car payments and full coverage insurance

Like the old Porsche adage :

Take out a 100$ bill, and burn it, if you didn't flinch you're ready to own one.

You will need to spend a lot of money on a car like this and won't get to really SEE your investment. Oil changes, paint, detailing, washing, washing, washing.

[S13Eye]

I drove an E36 M3. It feels the way it looks - well made, but still heavy. The power output was lacking, and on acceleration it felt like a quick hot hatch, not an expensive German driving machine.

The E36 M3 is something i would buy and live with on a daily basis. You will look civilized when you need to, and still have some fun when the opportunity comes. In a 240SX, you look like a madman and the car only wants to have serious fun.

[Gnnr]

Awww, no E46? =(

http://www.racingdynamics.com/Images/E46_M3/E46-M3-Front-700.jpg

[TheSquidd]

Blah. My mom and sister have E46's, to be honest they just don't feel as nice as the E36's. It's like BMW started trying to be Mercedes Benz, everythings just lux and not the "Driver's Car" the E36 and E30 were.

[Daniel.]

As a previous owner of an e35 325i there is not much else to add on to squidd's excellent post.

I don't regret selling my e36 to get my coupe, as I absolutely love my car. I do miss the daily drivability of the e36 though. As a car just to own and drive on a daily basis, it's was an absolute pleasure. I didn't have to mod it to be happy with it.

My old bimmer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/spidermansro/Bimmer/IMG_1818.jpg

[lowviscosity]

Why not an E46 3 ? althoug slightly more expensive they are great cars and man I want mine back... it was just a 323i but I loved it a lot more than the 240... Just for daily driving and all out luxury... leather, auto climate control, so forth and so on.

[CylonFrakker]

had an 95 E36 M3 with the luxury package. that means I had no vader seats and I had no manual tranny :( I liked it alot. Be careful of the water pumps. They are known to cavitate in high mileage cars because they are plastic. An easy fix is an 96 water pump which is metal. Nice cars plenty fast if you like stock performing cars. If you want turbo for it just wait for boostlogic to release their turbo kit for the car. It'll be a screamer and at 10psi you are sitting pretty at about 400whp. The active autowerke turbo kit is nice but its plenty pricey.

[slider2828]

Well based on what a lotta people say about the E46, the engine is really good, very torquey and high output, but engines DO blow on those things. There has been few cases of E46 M3's blowing up motors, at least early on, bit more recently it seems they have made some minor changes and the things have been rock solid.

I drove my friends M3 with full bilstein coilovers, ST sways front and rear, BBS rims and a swapped later generation 3.2 litre M3 E36 motor. He also has a m5 lightened 8lb flywheel and a m5 clutch on it. Short shifter and the works. Based on the feel of torquey, that F!#$#!$ SH!T pulls very hard, at the low end, much more than anything you would feel on a S13 low end. Car is a little slow on the turn in, but mid corner stability is unparallel, the car just plain sticks... Overall a track proven car as seen in AutoX where the TOP car in the US is a decked out E36, at least end of last year right? (Correct me if I am wrong).

Love the car and everything about it, but MODs are bookoo bux. Cams are almost 800 bux a piece, headers and exhaust is about 1500, ECU and all is very expensive. ANY part you get is BMW so it is gonna be expensive. An engine mount will cost you probably 4-500 a piece and a LOT of engine parts is specially made by BMW and in order to work on it, BMW specific tools ONLY. Take out a CAM, you will need a 300 dollar tool to do it. Try ghetto rig it, you will FOR SURE snap a cam because BMW cams are hollow inside. Trust me, you can't just wrench on the thing as you want. Oh last but not least, E36's are getting old, a lotta non common parts must come from the mother land, so be prepared to wait 2 months for a non common part....

All in all, get an S2000, cheaper faster on the track, more fun to drive and get a lower mileage car for the same price. Sorry but S2000's rule, if you want a video from option, a s2000 was able to compete past a M3 E46 on the track and almost keep up with a 350z, all cares stock trim of course. Lemme know if you have any more questions...

[TheSquidd]

S2000? Sure if you want to get around the track the fastest, but most people that buy BMW's aren't taking them to the track. Like I said it's a great car if you're not planning on making it a race car. It's got insane amounts of class, excellent build quality and can carve up a canyon with the best of them.

An S2000 is still a Honda, and a convertable to boot. (tacky IMHO)

But an M3, well, now that's just a different beast. It's not something I can describe. But it's an experience to own these things, I just don't see a cheap (but excellent performing) Honda bringing you that feeling. It's like you can sense the heritage of the car, you can feel the engineers exhaustive work. Sounds sappy, but it's freaking true. Drive one, and find out yourself, if not, don't buy it!

Oh and that was a BMI video, which I have never, ever liked. They pit these cars against eachother, with drivers on completely different skill levels, and then the Japanese car wins everytime. Blah. And like I said, you might get around a track faster in a Honda, but a BMW can do oh-so-many more things.

[smellslikecurry]

go e30...youll never want to drive another car again

[TheSquidd]

go e30...youll never want to drive another car again


Hahah I had 2, and they both made me want to drive another car ^_^

(It should be noted that the two I had were bad examples. An E30 M3 is a pretty choice vehicle.)

[Ghettokracker71]

You live in NOVA and want a bmw? No surprise there...I got to ride/drive in a freind of a friends old E36 coupe(he lived in NOVA too...hmm..)...wasn't an M3 though. I don't know what brands/actual specs,but I do remeber it had I/H/E,chipped ECU,sparco seats,sparco shift knob,sparco steering wheel,carbon fiber hood and carbon fiber wing...

After that exprerience I really wasn't impressed at all. I got to run it wide open,it seemed fairly quick(I would assume faster > my Dc4 and S13) and handled nicely too,but just wasn't a car for me.

I just never have liked them,honestly.

[alexchanman]

S2000? Sure if you want to get around the track the fastest, but most people that buy BMW's aren't taking them to the track. Like I said it's a great car if you're not planning on making it a race car. It's got insane amounts of class, excellent build quality and can carve up a canyon with the best of them.

An S2000 is still a Honda, and a convertable to boot. (tacky IMHO)

But an M3, well, now that's just a different beast. It's not something I can describe. But it's an experience to own these things, I just don't see a cheap (but excellent performing) Honda bringing you that feeling. It's like you can sense the heritage of the car, you can feel the engineers exhaustive work. Sounds sappy, but it's freaking true. Drive one, and find out yourself, if not, don't buy it!

Oh and that was a BMI video, which I have never, ever liked. They pit these cars against eachother, with drivers on completely different skill levels, and then the Japanese car wins everytime. Blah. And like I said, you might get around a track faster in a Honda, but a BMW can do oh-so-many more things.


like gettting girls, i found that out the hard way.

[AuburnRyan]

Thanks for the input- I should've noted that I've driven M3's before...I like luxury and a nice daily, but performace is important...Didn't anyone read I sold my $35k AUDI for another 240sx :naughty: I wasn't happy without modding it, but still forking over $400/mo. That car had class over the e46 IMO, solid aluminum door handles, heated rear seats, countless other details. I also know the capability of the modded BMWs, though I'd want to keep an E36 near stock. I know that where my car is now at 14psi on the t25, is faster than the e36 will ever be without forced induction.

This was kind of a pointless post I guess, as I'm fully capable of developing my own opinions...I was just curious if former owners we "missing their car", or "happy to get rid of it"...the feeling you don't get on a few test drives.

That said- If I got one, it would be seeing road course for sure. My biggesst regret after getting on track in the 240sx, was not taking the AUDI when I had it....to see where the limit of AWD really was...I bet it was more tossable than I thought, even though I thought it wasn't enough fun on the street.

I'd like to add that the M3 brakes are delicious....you get scared the first time they catch you unaware when you tap the pedal...very nice.

[trsilvias13]

I had a e36 m3.. not worth it... well the one i had. I try to get out and move on but got ripped off . It is expensive. If you do start off with one, start off with a nice one. The power is there already, but it going to be low 14's in the 1/4 miles. ANything performance, you will have to shell out a tons of cash. But i came back to the 240sx scene. I like it better.

[lagvoid21]

Had a e36 m3 over a year ago. It was fun until my 240 became quicker. I ended up keeping my 240 and selling the m3 for a camry to commute to/back from work!

+ nice interior esp with vadars
+ nice ext condition (newer and normally better taken care of)
+ more torque makes it fun for city driving
+ handles very well

- can't adjust the freaking steering wheel...
- can't increase power much without going FI
- parts are generally more $
- electrical problems (mine had more problems then my brothers or fathers). Sunroof died, check engines (o2 sensor...4 in obd2), airbag light, and other minor things.

I would have gave more thought to keeping it if I didn't run into the electrical problems that I had. Loved the look even just stock. Mechanically the car was very healthy. My dad's car has 285K miles and is still running from regular maintenance.

To me it came down to the decision of what I like more, speed or looks. I choose speed since the m3 would have cost way too much money at the time to get anywhere near the power level of the 240. Since you went back to a 240 and stuck an SR in, I would stay away from the m3. Unless your budget allows you to go FI the m3 will feel very slow after a short time driving. Compare the options with your budget, because my brother did mention there are many more options available now.