E36 M3....are they still fast?
Discussion
Frances The Mute said:
The vanos issue is very over-subscribed as an issue.
They're still decently quick cars. Sub-6 seconds and a very responsive throttle (save for the Evo which tends to be quite stiff in the pedal) certainly adds to the feel of the car.
The Evo obviously has the legs but the 3.0 is a lovely engine. The trademark I6 howl with a rev-happy nature certainly makes it involving.
Both cars have a tendency to understeer a little but this can be tweaked out. They're worth next to nothing now so can represent a good buy - providing you have the patience to find a decent, unmolested example.
Apologies for the thread hijack.They're still decently quick cars. Sub-6 seconds and a very responsive throttle (save for the Evo which tends to be quite stiff in the pedal) certainly adds to the feel of the car.
The Evo obviously has the legs but the 3.0 is a lovely engine. The trademark I6 howl with a rev-happy nature certainly makes it involving.
Both cars have a tendency to understeer a little but this can be tweaked out. They're worth next to nothing now so can represent a good buy - providing you have the patience to find a decent, unmolested example.
Frances - I sent you a PM through e36coupe last night about an e39 you might be interested in. would text you but I had to reboot my phone and lost all the numbers.
Rich (profile pic will tell you which one)
Only thing that prevented me getting an E36 M3 about 2 years ago was the insurance! At 22 I thought it would be 'expensive' but unfortunately I wasn't prepared for the £3,000+ quotation!! I was only buying the car for £4,500.
I would love one. The boxy looks make them a much more attractive car over the E46 that replaced them, in my opinion. One passed me just last week on the A10 in the rain. Clearly frustrated that he couldn't go even faster than the car in front which was blocking its' path, the driver floored it and the rear of the car squirmed left. The sound was immense!
I do wonder if you automatically feel like driving the car like a t
t though. My old Celica was similar in that if you wanted to drive it fast, you did need to drive like a tt to extract the performance...
I would love one. The boxy looks make them a much more attractive car over the E46 that replaced them, in my opinion. One passed me just last week on the A10 in the rain. Clearly frustrated that he couldn't go even faster than the car in front which was blocking its' path, the driver floored it and the rear of the car squirmed left. The sound was immense!
I do wonder if you automatically feel like driving the car like a t
t though. My old Celica was similar in that if you wanted to drive it fast, you did need to drive like a tt to extract the performance...doogz said:
StottyZr said:
Should be ~275, needs a rolling road to certify and it does seem a little optimisitc to me.
Just a bit!
Would be interesting to hear what it actually makes though! Torque at max power is about 245lbft as standard, your car would need to be making more like 330lbft at 4400rpm!
Impressive if it's correct.
I'll post a readers cars once I've been on Santa Pod and had a RR.
But yes, the point I was trying to make is the M3 is still quick, but something a lightly modified hatch will most likely keep with it. Saying that, a 53 plate Cupra R with 290hp will probably cost more than the M3
Which shows the M3 is great value for money! Go for it OP.
C.A.R. said:
One passed me just last week on the A10 in the rain. Clearly frustrated that he couldn't go even faster than the car in front which was blocking its' path, the driver floored it and the rear of the car squirmed left. The sound was immense!
If the rear went sideways when he booted it i suspect his rear trailing arm bushes might have been shot. Personally i thought the sound of a standard E36 M3 was one of it's biggest letdowns, never sounded as fast as it actually was.RemyMartin said:
Well that was the dilemma, get a E46 330ci..... I see that as a more modern, slightly more powerful version of what I already have. More of a sidestep than a step forward, although you could argue the fact its newer makes it better..... Running costs of 50% higher not really an issue tbh.
The 330i has a better engine than the 328i but is a slightly less involving drive IMHO. It is quicker and the cabin is more modern but i'd agree more of a side step.
pat_y said:
If the rear went sideways when he booted it i suspect his rear trailing arm bushes might have been shot. Personally i thought the sound of a standard E36 M3 was one of it's biggest letdowns, never sounded as fast as it actually was.
sounds lovely herehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KPGWO9EKos
Those who say that the E36 M3 is not a prope M-car are the usual armchair racers... Granted, it may not be in the same league as the E30 M3 out of the box in terms of purity, BUT... Standard, it is quicker by a long country mile and when modified for racing, the E30 M3 driver would need binocs to see the E36. At the price point, and if not doing mega miles, the E36 M3 is hard to beat.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E36-M3-RED-Convertib...
Is it me, or is that very cheap indeed?
(The headlights would have to go though!)
Is it me, or is that very cheap indeed?
(The headlights would have to go though!)
Around 4 years ago I was looking to change my modded E36 328 coupe, choice came down to a 944 turbo or a E36 M3, I found a late mint 40k mile M3 3 miles from home,vanos was fine, 2 mature owners the 2nd one a bodyshop owner but it just didn't feel fast unless it was revving over 5k, in the end the mid range torque and the steering of the turbo suited me better.
I've always wondered about these. I read that they can be ruinous if they go wrong, but for an example that will be doing low mileage, with the occasional hoon, how much would you need to put to one side every month to make sure you could run it?
Would it be possible after fuel and insurance, to run one with around £400 a month in disposable income?
Would it be possible after fuel and insurance, to run one with around £400 a month in disposable income?
I often wonder if most people actually have any idea what a 14second 1/4 of a mile actually means and how 0-60 is largely irrelevant.
In the REAL WORLD where 95% of drivers only wish to get from A-B an E36 M3 of any variety is still going to be in the top 10% of the fastest cars you will see on a daily basis.
Anyone who thinks they are slow must have to have driven some pretty special machinery which would need literally hundred or more hp to make such a significant difference.
In the REAL WORLD where 95% of drivers only wish to get from A-B an E36 M3 of any variety is still going to be in the top 10% of the fastest cars you will see on a daily basis.
Anyone who thinks they are slow must have to have driven some pretty special machinery which would need literally hundred or more hp to make such a significant difference.
markCSC said:
To OP
Just read a tuning guide on the E36 in PPC Magazine. They said for the 328 you can get a gain of 30bhp by fitting the 325 inlet manifold and a remap. Might be a cheap stop gap solution
I've looked into the S50 manifold upgrade before, IIRC some mods need to be done to the Throttle body as well, can't remember. Not sure on how much a remap will cost, I know if your patient you can get all the parts on eBay though hmmm... Just read a tuning guide on the E36 in PPC Magazine. They said for the 328 you can get a gain of 30bhp by fitting the 325 inlet manifold and a remap. Might be a cheap stop gap solution
CampDavid said:
They did, all the way through, no one seemed to order one though, conclusively proving that that M3 buyers are morons 
If I won a lot of money I'd force BMW to make me a one off Hellrot 1M love that colourYes they steel feel quite fast but it can be hard work in the Evo model as they need lots of revs to really get going (a bit lazy low down) combined with a terrible baulky/notchy gearboxes and heavy clutch not fun to drive in traffic all the time (I've had two).
They can be expensive to run but find a decent small garage and buy the bits from German and Swedish or ECP and no reason to be overly expensive to run.
The pre Evo model is nicer to drive as the gearbox in the evo is awfull, the 5 speed in the 3.0 is much nicer to use. Avoid the smg evo it is even worse to use than the clumsy 6 speed manual (and may soon blow up if driven hard).
They can be expensive to run but find a decent small garage and buy the bits from German and Swedish or ECP and no reason to be overly expensive to run.
The pre Evo model is nicer to drive as the gearbox in the evo is awfull, the 5 speed in the 3.0 is much nicer to use. Avoid the smg evo it is even worse to use than the clumsy 6 speed manual (and may soon blow up if driven hard).
markCSC said:
To OP
Just read a tuning guide on the E36 in PPC Magazine. They said for the 328 you can get a gain of 30bhp by fitting the 325 inlet manifold and a remap. Might be a cheap stop gap solution
I did the manifold conversion on my 328, where the standard engine used to run out of puff around 5k, with the 2.5 manifold it pulled to the limiter easily, cant remember exactly but I think that was around 7k, and a 525 manifold works too.Just read a tuning guide on the E36 in PPC Magazine. They said for the 328 you can get a gain of 30bhp by fitting the 325 inlet manifold and a remap. Might be a cheap stop gap solution
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