Should I buy an E36 M3?

#21

ctbimmer wrote:

[quote]Patton wrote:

[quote]Any e36 is a rolling piece of plastic crap.
[/quote]
Don’t rain on Ranger’s parade…I’m thinking the same thing for me someday. Gotta have at least one M-car before I get too much older.[/quote]

Seriously, I don’t have any love for the e36. Lousy window controls almost cost me a cut-off finger tip. Vanos, who needs complicated vanos stuff. Too much plastic…

Who needs a nice street car? Can’t drive it to its potential. Get a used vette and show the time trials dudes how to drive. Then sell the vette and go back to racing.

By the way, when is the next race?

RP

#22

Fahgedaboudit, Ranger!
If you do sell the fancy SAV, get a pickup, and put some money in the bank for the racin’ budget (or maybe even get a spare street-legal SpecE30 for occasional use and in case you have another goat calamity). If you wait and delay long enough, the impulse will eventually pass.

#23

jlucas wrote:

[quote]I still miss mine on occasion, especially since Kyle picked up a sedan last year. :frowning:
I’m going to have to settle for the 325iT I agreed to purchase yesterday. :)[/quote]

Jeremy’s “new” wagon should be pretty sweet! I can’t wait to see it.

As for the e36. There’s a bunch of good deals out there. I love my 98 M3 Sedan. Though I still miss my 89 e30 4-door. Every model change BMW’s seem to become slightly more isolated and a heck of a lot heavier. Still, I’d like to have an e46 next.

I’m with Ranger in his desire to have a decent DD and a nice tow vehicle. One can dream.

#24

ctbimmer wrote:

[quote]Patton wrote:

[quote]Any e36 is a rolling piece of plastic crap.
[/quote]
Don’t rain on Ranger’s parade…I’m thinking the same thing for me someday. Gotta have at least one M-car before I get too much older.[/quote]

Hey Chuck,
Very nice Korman Built E30 M3 (the only one worth having!) for sale in Greensboro (http://greensboro.craigslist.org/cto/1078827138.html). I started to buy it but have a totally stock one already!

This is fast nice and an E30 (that will make RP happy!).

#25

Beware of good deals on e36 M3’s. My brother just fell in love with one and put in a deposit. A nice silver sedan. Then he pulled the carfax and found that it had not one, but two…salvage titles. May have been a nice car, but very tough to resell. He walked away.

#26

I am all for the E36 M3. I now get to drive mine daily and love it. I used to drive a company truck that I also towed with. Went through too many diffs in the 1/2 ton truck towing the enclosed trailer and found a 1 ton E350 van with V10. I have about $6K in my tow van after the upgrades in shocks and sway bars. I opted for the truck allowance and get to drive the M3 now. Compaired to the newer BMW’s the E36 is old. We got rid of my wife’s E39 528i and got a E60 530i. I have yet found a good seating position in the E60 and hate the i-drive. When I get back into my M3 I feel like I went back in time to simpler ways. i miss the E39 a lot. The E39 is my favorite car for doing everything well so far. I would love to have a touring with 6 speed. I would keep away from the 540 as it require a lot of maintinence but is very quick.

SO, yet get a M3 and find a cheap tow vehicle and never look back.

Michael
#36
Great Lakes Region

#27

I did get the tow vehicle. A '99 Dodge RAM with 130k mi. for $3800. The BMW X5 is going on the market this weekend.

It looks like on Sat I’ll be picking up a high mileage '97 black/black M3 manual 4-door for <$8k. Has had everything worth replacing, replaced, AC system recently rebuilt, new tires and $2500 adj suspension.

At endstate I’ll get $18k and have spent <$12k.

Now the truck and the M3 just need to hold together and not cause me a bunch of grief.

#28

Congrats! great price on both M3 and the truck.

Now, fix up the Spec E30 and show up for the next race.

Some new people don’t believe you exist.

#29

Ok, I did it. I drove to Atlanta today to buy a black 4 door '97 M3. 175k mi, adj suspension and everything important replaced. $7900. But when I saw it, the interior just struck me as ragged out. So I passed it up.

Since I was now in Atlanta, I figured I’d call the other 2 guys who had cars on the shortlist. First I went to a kid’s house that had a white 4 door '98 M3. 175k mi and everything important replaced. Stock suspension. The interior was in good shape, except for the front seats. I got the guy down to $7k which is damn good for a 4 door M3 in nice shape and good maint.

But I just couldn’t see myself in a white car.

So I went to look at the last guy’s car. By now it’s past 9PM. This guy is selling a '96 328 that is dressed up as an M3 close. 4 door black, 140k mi. Good maintenance. It turns out to be in nice shape, with the seats being particularly nice because they’d just been redone. $4800. The only flaw that bugged me was a sloppy shifter. I’ll be looking to fix that withe a short shift kit because the 328 is now sitting in front of my house.

#30

#31

Well, you got the right color IMHO!

#32

Yes, love that Doge Ram in black. Got your parts at Geno’s Garage. The cup holder is the best thing that we sell.

Regards, RP

#33

Congrats on the purchases, Ranger!

What are the particulars on the X5? I have a friend who has been looking.

Steve D.

#34

I’m glad you got something. I kept searching the auctions for a mid-late 90’s M3 and there were literally only a few. You would think that out of the 10’s of thousands of cars Manhiem Auctions runs through monthly there would have been several M3’s to choose from. There was a boatload of post 2000 models, and all the other models.

John

#35

Steve D wrote:

[quote]Congrats on the purchases, Ranger!

What are the particulars on the X5? I have a friend who has been looking.

Steve D.[/quote]

2003 X5 w/ 46k mi. Dark metallic green w/ tan leather interior. 4.4, Sport Package, Premium Package, Cold Wx Package, Tow package, Adj ride height, Rear side air bags, Xenon headlights, Park distance sensor.

Condition is very close to flawless. A couple scratches on rear bumper, and a 3/4" ding on a fender (no paint damage) that a dent dude could pop out in seconds. There’s a tiny star in the front windsheild that no one but me would find.

I took it to the dealer this morning to have them replace a front strut that wasn’t holding air.