e36 m3 - where would you put it on the cool wall?

[mdowning]

Are clean ones of these getting cooler? It strikes me that they've largely (not entirely) now moved past their Chav stage. Albeit, there are still a handful of, imo, ruined/modified examples in the classifieds. Perhaps I biased, as this is one of those childhood idol cars, but nice examples look so good in my eyes - and they're rare.

Presumably, if you can find a clean, unmodified, example (pref manual/coupe) you're can't go too far wrong.

Out of curiosity, how do the 3.0 / 3.2 compare? (I used to own a 3.0, but have no experience of the 3.2 Evo)

[Leins]

Not quite Alpina B8 cool, but not far off, these have really come back to the fore recently. Ideally a LHD GT for me please, but a clean Evo saloon would be very nice too

[cozmcrae]

I think they would be right in the middle of the "cool" section. They are only cool to people who know what they are and to those who don't (whom I assume the cool wall would be aimed at) would just assume its a nice retroish 90s family car. I do love the unassuming look of them hence why I now daily one

[E30M3SE]

Very cool, if it's one of these,

[NelsonR32]

E30M3SE said:

Very cool, if it's one of these,

As long as it's original they are cool. But then I am biased

[bennyboysvuk]

I love them, but I'm totally biased. However, if I asked my wife, she would say that they look old and rather chavvy.

I would hope that anyone with an interest in motoring would see the car's true colours and still appreciate them for what they are.

[Neil_M]

A proper Euro GT would be up there with the E46 CSL IMO.

Are they cool, hmmm, I'm going to say they are changing, just as someone has mentioned, their image is rapidly heading away from the chav image.

I'd say its now viewed as an old BMW by most people now. Especially in non modified trim.

I guess the E36 M3s subtlety makes it cool IMO. Part of its downside for some people too.

Being biased I'd say yes its cool. If its a good one, thats clean and shiny .

[NiceCupOfTea]

Personally I would be tempted to fit normal e36 door mirrors and the 328 Sport BBS wheels just so it looked a bit more subtle.

The green 3-series above looks mint but I couldn't live with the splitter or the spoiler.

[Johnb850]

Sub-zero

With all the belly-aching about "real drivers cars" and modern ///M cars being polluted with turbo-charging, driver/nanny aids, electric steering, paddle shift gear boxes - you would think people would be bellowing about the E36 M3 from the roof tops. (my own personal opinion is that the new modern tech is excellent btw)

Modern day performance in an old school blazer. No traction control, 6-speed manual gear bag, 321 donkeys, weighs 14-1500kg, hydraulic steering - what part of this is not cool???

[Neil_M]

Johnb850 said:

Sub-zero

With all the belly-aching about "real drivers cars" and modern ///M cars being polluted with turbo-charging, driver/nanny aids, electric steering, paddle shift gear boxes - you would think people would be bellowing about the E36 M3 from the roof tops. (my own personal opinion is that the new modern tech is excellent btw)

Modern day performance in an old school blazer. No traction control, 6-speed manual gear bag, 321 donkeys, weighs 14-1500kg, hydraulic steering - what part of this is not cool???

Good point sir.

[quavey]

I liked my 97 Evo very much. It was a fantastic car although it had one draw back, at the time (much as I am now) I was driving 40/50k a year for work and because the M3 was such a great car it didn't feel much more special than the 323i I'd had a few years earlier. Sure it was faster but you do need to work that straight 6 to get the real performance from it.

My other beef with it was that it was an old car even by that time (5/6 years ago) and the Astravan I was in during the week was streets head of it in terms of technology (Cruise, Satnav and PDC etc) so I went back to a 300zx for twin turbo childishness. It was a pantomime for the 1 day a week I used my own car.

I then went to an E39 M5 and it was everything the M3 Evo ever was and everything I wished it could be. A pantomime without much effort, bit of tech/still feels quite modern and feels really special on every drive.

Having said all that, when I could be bothered to wind the Evo up with the Dave F induction kit what an exhilaration and very fast!

[pidsy]

as i grew up, all i ever wanted was an e36 coupe in Dakar yellow.

[Amirhussain]

E30M3SE said:

Very cool, if it's one of these,

Which one is that?

I think the E36 M3 is very cool, I don't know why, but I find the shape of the car very pleasing, only thing I don't like, I can't tell the difference between a standard E36 3 series and an E36 M3! But I understand the subtlety is appealing to some people, I admit I kinda like the subtleness too at times.

[E30M3SE]

E36 M3 GT.

[Amirhussain]

E30M3SE said:

E36 M3 GT.

Thanks , didn't know about them, know of the Evo versions, looks quite cool, and pretty I reckon.
I think this is quite cool as well, the super rare E36 M3 Lightweight;

[jbaddeley]

Slightly biased. Getting cooler in my view.

[mazm3]

This is my GT. Cool as cool could be

[carreauchompeur]

Cool., undoubtedly.



But maybe not as cool as

[161BMW]

These are definitely a lot cooler now the chavs have moved to E46 M3s and E92 M3s!

[eliotrw]

The thing about the E36 is it also gets a negative review online mainly because the US was fobbed off with a car that was in now way as good as any of the ones we had here.