E36 M3....are they still fast?

[e21Mark]

If anyone is looking for a genuinely mint Evo in estoril blue, drop me a line. It belongs to a friend of mine and is one of the best examples I have seen in a long time.

[VinceFox]

e21Mark said:

If anyone is looking for a genuinely mint Evo in estoril blue, drop me a line. It belongs to a friend of mine and is one of the best examples I have seen in a long time.

• checks car is still outside

[NiceCupOfTea]

Think I'm going to have to put the TVR up for sale before long - just not using it enough with the addition to the family, and wondering what can give me roof down thrills on my own and also 3 up. Have first refusal on a lovely e36 323 cab but would love a decent M3 cab if I could find one for 4-5k. Is that a realistic price?

Carreauchompeur, if you ever decide to sell please pm me!

[varsas]

NiceCupOfTea said:

Think I'm going to have to put the TVR up for sale before long - just not using it enough with the addition to the family, and wondering what can give me roof down thrills on my own and also 3 up. Have first refusal on a lovely e36 323 cab but would love a decent M3 cab if I could find one for 4-5k. Is that a realistic price?

Carreauchompeur, if you ever decide to sell please pm me!

323 won't be anything like a TVR I'm afraid, I expect you'll find it very dull and under powered, especially 4 up. M3 will be closer but it's still a large, refined car. They handle well and have a great engine but it's not a sharp, responsive sports car.

Maybe something classic would be more like your S2? I would say a Stag but even if that were right £5k won't get you one.

[V8RX7]

varsas said:

it's not a sharp, responsive sports car.

Nor is an S2 !

[HustleRussell]

328i asthmatic? What are you comparing it to? That's a fastish car by modern standards.

[NiceCupOfTea]

V8RX7 said:

varsas said:

it's not a sharp, responsive sports car.

Nor is an S2 !

Oi! It may be a tad agricultural but a well set up S is a pretty good package given its origins.

I appreciate it's going to be a compromise but the bottom line is that a 2 seater just isn't going to get driven - rush hour commute through south London isn't its forte. Hence the need for a 4 seater. I fancy an e36, my dad has offered me his very nice 323 which is reasonably brisk And makes the right noise. I know nothing will tick the rawness and sense of occasion boxes like the TVR, but something RWD and dynamically respectable will mean at least I can enjoy myself a bit. M3 cab would seem to be the perfect compromise...

[carreauchompeur]

NiceCupOfTea said:

Think I'm going to have to put the TVR up for sale before long - just not using it enough with the addition to the family, and wondering what can give me roof down thrills on my own and also 3 up. Have first refusal on a lovely e36 323 cab but would love a decent M3 cab if I could find one for 4-5k. Is that a realistic price?

Carreauchompeur, if you ever decide to sell please pm me!

Noted, thanks Next big expenditure coming soon I reckon in the form of a new set of suspension however which will undoubtedly commit me to owning it for a while more yet to recoup the 'investment'...

A decent one for £4-5k is definitely doable. Market seems to be becoming increasingly polarised however between the minsters at silly money and the 'other end' of chavved tat.

[Skyedriver]

e21Mark said:

If anyone is looking for a genuinely mint Evo in estoril blue, drop me a line. It belongs to a friend of mine and is one of the best examples I have seen in a long time.

Saloon/Coupe or Cab please?

[e21Mark]

Skyedriver said:

e21Mark said:

If anyone is looking for a genuinely mint Evo in estoril blue, drop me a line. It belongs to a friend of mine and is one of the best examples I have seen in a long time.

Saloon/Coupe or Cab please?

Coupe I think? The owner is away till next week, but soon as he's home I'll post a few pics.

[anonymous-user]

aka_kerrly said:

Face for Radio said:

Not a cheap car to run by any means, but I think they've gone beyond the chav stage and are becoming cool again, with all the knobends buying up E46 M3s.
.

WTF is this CHAV stage - I have never seen a chav in a genuine M3 of any shape.

They all drive E46 M3 convertibles (never a coupe). Keep an eye out

[Captainawesome]

St John Smythe said:

aka_kerrly said:

Face for Radio said:

Not a cheap car to run by any means, but I think they've gone beyond the chav stage and are becoming cool again, with all the knobends buying up E46 M3s.
.

WTF is this CHAV stage - I have never seen a chav in a genuine M3 of any shape.

They all drive E46 M3 convertibles (never a coupe). Keep an eye out

As an owner of 2 E46 M3's this pisses me off (Neither are convertibles). I live near Banbury and see a LOT of chavved up 330's, 328's and the like but all the genuine M3's I see seem to be driven by the slightly older gentlemen and apart from once I have never seen one being thrashed about town. The chavved up ones I see get the tits revved off them all the time.

This applies to the E39 M5 and the E36 M3's I see about too.

I reckon that the E46 M3's are still just out of reach of the true barry boy brigade unlike the lesser non-M models.

[anonymous-user]

Captainawesome said:

St John Smythe said:

aka_kerrly said:

Face for Radio said:

Not a cheap car to run by any means, but I think they've gone beyond the chav stage and are becoming cool again, with all the knobends buying up E46 M3s.
.

WTF is this CHAV stage - I have never seen a chav in a genuine M3 of any shape.

They all drive E46 M3 convertibles (never a coupe). Keep an eye out

As an owner of 2 E46 M3's this pisses me off (Neither are convertibles). I live near Banbury and see a LOT of chavved up 330's, 328's and the like but all the genuine M3's I see seem to be driven by the slightly older gentlemen and apart from once I have never seen one being thrashed about town. The chavved up ones I see get the tits revved off them all the time.

This applies to the E39 M5 and the E36 M3's I see about too.

I reckon that the E46 M3's are still just out of reach of the true barry boy brigade unlike the lesser non-M models.

Once the value of any desirable car falls below the 10k threshold then it becomes attainable to pretty much anyone.

[aka_kerrly]

I we confusing chavs with people who can afford to buy a car but not maintain it and those who have dubious tastes when it comes to modifying these cars?

[NelsonR32]

NiceCupOfTea said:

Think I'm going to have to put the TVR up for sale before long - just not using it enough with the addition to the family, and wondering what can give me roof down thrills on my own and also 3 up. Have first refusal on a lovely e36 323 cab but would love a decent M3 cab if I could find one for 4-5k. Is that a realistic price?

Carreauchompeur, if you ever decide to sell please pm me!

The cab seems to be the easiest to buy as there are always loads available. £5k should buy you a decent one but I'd still budget £1000 for any horrors.

[161BMW]

E46 M3s are owned by chavs
Just visit London
Or look on M3 Cutters and see how many are stanced, lowered, tinted, depos, remapped, CSL replica wheels, CSL replica airbox etc

[vinnie83]

The problem with the E36 M3 is that any 3 series could be made to look like one with the bodykit.

They had no actual body modifications like all other M3s have.

The number of chavvy E36s around and the terrible image they were getting made me sell mine ~8 years ago.

[Output Flange]

vinnie83 said:

The problem with the E36 M3 is that any 3 series could be made to look like one with the bodykit.

And therein lies the brilliance - once debadged, mine could've been a 328i with the bodykit.

For me, the E36 shape is having something of a rennaissance. A nice SE spec 328i cabriolet would be a lovely thing, or another M3 coupe sans boot spoiler.

>off to classifieds<

[NicholasLawrence]

Personally I would choose the 3.0 M3 if you can find a decent one!


The problem with E36 is that most are old and abused, but I would definitely want the 3.0 Litre with Bosch ECU and Medium LSD over the gay Siemens (sorry if I can't say 'gay') ECU which does my thingybob in.


BMW E36 were very good cars, all 6-cylinders. Then they got cheap and fitted stupid ECUs which sometimes forget to give me the power I'm requesting. E36 323/328 very good example of this. I have no idea why, other than the ECU being stupid.


Bosch has never let me down.


3.2 is okay, but boring until 5000-5500RPM where it pulls. Other than that its no different to a 325/328 of the same era. Not impressed with the M3 EVO... gotta be the 3.0 litre



Also I'd take straight to BMW and have the valve/lifters or whatever serviced by them. They'll know what to do as soon as you get there

[LukeR94]

NicholasLawrence said:

BMW E36 were very good cars, all 6-cylinders.

They were not all 6 cylinders Shirley, I assume you mean all the 6 Cylinder ones were very good cars?