E36 M3

[Big E]

Hey folks, I want your opinion on this E36 M3 I am going to look at this weekend. It is a 1995 5-speed coupe in Dakar Yellow with 57K on the clock. I also checked CARFAX and it was clear (Thanks John Chapin). I was planning on going home to NOVA and taking a drive out to Manassas to check it out.

link

Some points I have been thinking about:
Bad:
1. Higher insurance rate
2. The Dakar Yellow will be screaming to the cops
3. Premium gas, not such a big deal in H'burg since the fuel is cheap
4. Cost of repair when necessary
5. RWD, i am not used to this, and i am unsure about this in inclement weather

Good:
1. Faster than CL
2. Not Automatic like CL
3. MUCH better handling than CL

#1-3 + Big E = FUN

I wanna hear your feedback about this M3.
Thanks.

[G.Irish]

Sounds like a great deal! Some of the BMW guys might weigh in on what things you should look for maintenance/wear wise. Chan will probably know on that front.

As for the other issues the only one that stands out to me is the inclement weather one. If you positively HAVE to be out in bad weather with the M3 I'd say it might not be a good idea but you can mitigate the risk with snow tires. Even then it'd be somewhat treacherous.

The replacement parts for the M3 will be expensive but from what I hear you shouldn't start running into anything expensive for at least another 30k miles. Again there are some things you might wanna check for before you buy it though.

Good luck with the purchase, its good to see not everyone has succumb to the b00st.

[bostongreen]

dakar yellow is one of the best colors you could get. BMW's six cylinder (their bread and butter) from those years have one thing that goes bad on them. The water pumps are made of plastic, and unfortunately for you, they fail around 60k miles.

Ask the owner/dealer if it has been upgraded to a metal impellar. If they say no then the first thing you should do if you buy it is to go ahead a fix that.

The E36 in general is one of the best cars around. The E36 M3 is still used as a benchmark for modern day "sport cars"

There is a humoungous aftermarket for E36's too. One of the most common replacements is the headlights. US spec e36s came with the plastic lensed headlights while almost every other country got ZKWs which are elipsoid projectors instead of reflectors. The ZKWs are really a lot better headlights, but the covers are made of glass so they wouldn't be allowed by the DOT.

As with any car, it is important that you get it checked out by a mechanic who knows the make. And its especially true with bmws so you don't pay out a lot of money down the road. Full service records are a big plus.

With only 57k miles on the clock and the car being 10 years old, it was probably someones weekend car so it hasn't seen much use. Also keep in mind there is probably an inspection 2 at 60k miles, and change your oil often to get a lot of life out of the engine.


edited to include insurance + rwd:

RWD is soooo much better i think. read these to influence you

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://slate.msn.com/id/2081194/">http://slate.msn.com/id/2081194/</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rearwheeldrive.org/rwd/">http://www.rearwheeldrive.org/rwd/</a><!-- m --> (The picture top left here is a bmw e36)

Insurance on an m3 will rape you if you are under 25. especially if you have tickets. Insurance companies count all bmws in the sports car company(even my 318ia). However, my 1994 318 insurance is about $200 more per year than my brothers 1998 honda accord. In my opinion, this is far in my favor. Its just so much more of a car.

Where i'm going with that, is you could get a 318 for a lot less than an m3. Then, spend the money you saved on a DASC(downing atlanta supercharger) and a few other mods and like magic you're putting down about 220 rwhp(95 m3 is 240 at the crank i think). I guess that means you are succombing to this boost thing though, the dasc as a lot of R&D in it though. they cost about $3150. Talk about a sleeper.

[bostongreen]

More stuff:

e36 buyers guide:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.dtmpower.net/forum/showthread.php?t=87596">http://www.dtmpower.net/forum/showthread.php?t=87596</a><!-- m -->

e36 diy library (updated by bimmerforums)

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.geocities.com/e36rulz/DIY.html">http://www.geocities.com/e36rulz/DIY.html</a><!-- m --> -there is tons of good info here, take a look at what interests you

[.RJ]

Parts arent that much more than OEM honda parts, there were a ton of them made, the E36 M shares most parts with the 3-series, and all the common issues are well known and easy to deal with.

[bostongreen]

For a lot of stuff, parts are the same throughout the 3 series. Some other things though arn't. A lot of modders will upgrade to m3 suspension components. Sway bars are thicker. M3s come with the x-brace, other three series don't (except i think some newer e36 convertibles did to inscrease torisional stability). Also bigger brakes. Interiors on the other hand are pretty much across the board. With the m3 you get some extras like 3 point steering wheel (with faster ratio) and hopefully this m3 will have vaders(really nice sports seats).

[Feersty]

Damn Big E.

[Dave]

i think it sounds like a wonderful idea Ian.
RWD ownz. It is pretty easy to adjust to and a hell of a lot more fun once you do get used to it. I've been drifting through turns all week since the rains came and I am having a blast.
The repairs may be expensive, but good maintenance can keep a lot of those away and I belive that motor is known to be pretty stout, so if you take care of it, it will take care of you.


Summary: Buy it, you won't regret it.
Plus we need to keep the b00st balanced through the club, we're quickly approaching an imbalance, which could be treacherous to the livelihood of us all :twisted:

[JackoliciousLegs]

that is an amazing deal. if it's in good shape, i say go for it..

[Big E]

Thanks for the feedback so far guys. I will look for some maintenance records, hopefully in the glovebox, when I go this weekend. Thanks bostongreen for the E36 DIY list, I had already seen that buyer's list. I have been doing some research since I got interested in it. And I will definitely check out the water pump.
The fun part will start when I talk to my State Farm agent and find out how much more it will be, even though I have no tickets or accidents.
Thanks again.

[G.Irish]

RWD is soooo much better i think. read these to influence you

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://slate.msn.com/id/2081194/">http://slate.msn.com/id/2081194/</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rearwheeldrive.org/rwd/">http://www.rearwheeldrive.org/rwd/</a><!-- m --> (The picture top left here is a bmw e36)

Funny that you found that Slate article. I kind of disliked his kind of simple-minded and somewhat erroneous analysis but in the end the general premise is correct. On the second link I wouldn't take advice from someone who can't spell drivetrains but his points are a more eloquent.

[BLINGMW]

yeah, looks like a great deal to me! Super low miles too. And don't worry about the color, cops love to pull over nice BMW's no matter what the color. :wink: Almost too good of a price, so just make sure you check it out completely. Keep in mind it's probably been driven hard, but we can probably give you a list of things to check out if you don't already have one. I would DEFINATLY do a compression test (maybe DIY depending on how cool owner is) to see if valves have been zinged, and cooling system pressure test (easy) to point to any other problems. Certianly worth the $100 to get a shop to check it out and do those things for you if you don't have the equipment and/or the owner isn't cool with you futzing with it.

Like others have said, most of it is regular 3-series stuff, so repairs aren't that much higher, and if the engine is in good shape, you shouldn't be looking at any $$$$ repair bills anytime soon. And speaking of winter driving, make sure you look underneath it a bit for rust, my '95 325 looked great outside, drove great, but was a mess underneath. It might be smarter to find a winter beater to keep the value up on the car, it would be a shame to drive such a cherry car in snow and salt! But good luck, I hope it's as good of a deal as it looks. And the '95 is much better/moddable than the later M3's...... 8)

[bostongreen]

And the '95 is much better/moddable than the later M3's...... 8)

this is true. its obd 1. it will respond much better to mods than newer m3s.

don't just look in the glove box for service records, ask the owner. and if he dosn't have a complete set try and get an oral history and a feel for the owners pride in taking care of the car.

If it dosn't work out, keep the sleeper idea in mind. that would be really awesome

[Andy]

the first link talked about profile gaskets going bad. what the hell are those?

[.RJ]

Intake manifold - i thought this was a 318 problem though? I could be wrong.

[BLINGMW]

RJ's right. Just a 318 thing. I'm sure Ben knows about it! :mrgreen:

[WideAssBimmaaa]

Great info in this thread thus far. The best thing you can possibly do is schedule a BMW pre-purchase inspection at a dealership. It's $100, they read all of the fault codes and they do a whatever point inspection. Best $100 I've ever spent.

Another common problem is the VANOS system going, so this is why the inspection is this much more important as this thing is pricey to replace. It's hard to judge by sound (these units start to sound horrible after a while, working perfectly or completely busted).

It's no SUV in the snow, that's for sure. But you'll be fine if you can get out of the parking spots over the mounds of snow that the plows leave.

Good luck, the link was broken but this sounds like a find.

[ButtDyno]

This link made me wish I had considered it more seriously:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=7915">http://corner-carvers.com/forums/showth ... eadid=7915</a><!-- m -->

My favorite E36 M3 related link however is this one:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.dsm.org/~today/overrev/bmwdigest.htm">http://www.dsm.org/~today/overrev/bmwdigest.htm</a><!-- m -->