Buying advice E36 M3

[robetr]

Hi i have a budget of 10k and im looking to buy a E36 M3. I have read loads about the engines in perticular the vanos/nikasil issue and im getting more confused by the minute. I dont mind spending 2k per year but i dont fancy massive engine bills so advice would be welcomed.
Should i buy a 3.0 or 3.2 Evo?
Would You buy a nikasil engine or look for the more modern alusil?
Did the 3.0 have a M52 engine or did it only come with the M50(no vanos) engine?
Did the E36 have a double vanos or was that the E46 only?
Thanks in advance.

[PieroW]

Hi Rob,

The best site by far for info is www.e36coupe.com, everything you need to know is on there + a great forum and bunch of members.

10k will buy you the very best and latest E36 M3 out there, pity you can't stretch to 15K as you are well into E46 M3 territory.

[oola]

robetr said:

Hi i have a budget of 10k and im looking to buy a E36 M3. I have read loads about the engines in perticular the vanos/nikasil issue and im getting more confused by the minute. I dont mind spending 2k per year but i dont fancy massive engine bills so advice would be welcomed.
Should i buy a 3.0 or 3.2 Evo?
Would You buy a nikasil engine or look for the more modern alusil?
Did the 3.0 have a M52 engine or did it only come with the M50(no vanos) engine?
Did the E36 have a double vanos or was that the E46 only?
Thanks in advance.

M3 not effected by Nikasil issue. £10k should get you a mint car, they are available for less if you want to spend on upgrades or replacing consumables which is a highky likely on a 10 year old + car.

Personally, I'd go for an Evo and they are newer and the 3.2 is more flexible ... the 3.0 needs revving. All Evo's had double Vanos ... make sure it been changed or its quiet! I've owned a 3.0 M3 in 97/98 and more recently a M3 GT and although both great cars, I think an Evo would be a little better where it counts.

[robetr]

Thanks very much gents that clears up a couple of questions. I will try e36coupe.com for more advice. Thanks Again Rob

[pat_y]

robetr said:

Should i buy a 3.0 or 3.2 Evo?

I would take a shot in the dark and say you'd be best off buying my M3 EVO in classifieds at the moment (estoril blue '97 coupe for £6250)
I'm now likley to get a severe telling of for advertising in the forum section...(but it was almost worth it)

[Paul_Dids]

robetr said:

Hi i have a budget of 10k and im looking to buy a E36 M3. I have read loads about the engines in perticular the vanos/nikasil issue and im getting more confused by the minute. I dont mind spending 2k per year but i dont fancy massive engine bills so advice would be welcomed.
Should i buy a 3.0 or 3.2 Evo?
Would You buy a nikasil engine or look for the more modern alusil?
Did the 3.0 have a M52 engine or did it only come with the M50(no vanos) engine?
Did the E36 have a double vanos or was that the E46 only?
Thanks in advance.

Hi Robetr,

It's been said but 10k will get you a minter 99 plate Evo with all the toys - very nice too Have a look at www.e36coupe.com as there are other differences between the two models - The evo has a 6 speed box for example

There loads of information out there on the Vanos units and it's really hit and miss as you can find cars which have had multiple units during there life and similar age cars on the original unit. I know using the correct oil and chaging the microfilter in the unit is a must though.

Lovely cars - sure you won't regret it

[ASBO]

robetr said:

Hi i have a budget of 10k and im looking to buy a E36 M3. I have read loads about the engines in perticular the vanos/nikasil issue and im getting more confused by the minute. I dont mind spending 2k per year but i dont fancy massive engine bills so advice would be welcomed.
Should i buy a 3.0 or 3.2 Evo?
Would You buy a nikasil engine or look for the more modern alusil?
Did the 3.0 have a M52 engine or did it only come with the M50(no vanos) engine?
Did the E36 have a double vanos or was that the E46 only?
Thanks in advance.

Rob,

I've sent you an email

[dan101smith]

For £10k it's got to be an Evo, plus coilovers, plus a brake upgrade. And then some trackdays.

[breezy]

I don't think you need to spend much more than £7k for a nice Evo. In fact I'd argue that spending much more would not be worth it.

E36 at £7k now and E46 a few years down the line?

[ASBO]

breezy said:

I don't think you need to spend much more than £7k for a nice Evo. In fact I'd argue that spending much more would not be worth it.

E36 at £7k now and E46 a few years down the line?

Define 'nice' though.

If by nice you mean a car that has plenty of life left in it then fair enough.

However, my definition of nice, would be a 9/10 year old E36 Evo that still looks and drives like a new car.

If you look at it like that, then 10k starts to look a bit of a bargain.

6/7k on an E36 is all very well, but it will drive like an old shed in comaprison, which in my opinion is a total waste of money. You pays your money and all that...

[breezy]

ASBO said:

breezy said:

I don't think you need to spend much more than £7k for a nice Evo. In fact I'd argue that spending much more would not be worth it.

E36 at £7k now and E46 a few years down the line?

Define 'nice' though.

If by nice you mean a car that has plenty of life left in it then fair enough.

However, my definition of nice, would be a 9/10 year old E36 Evo that still looks and drives like a new car.

If you look at it like that, then 10k starts to look a bit of a bargain.

6/7k on an E36 is all very well, but it will drive like an old shed in comaprison, which in my opinion is a total waste of money. You pays your money and all that...

Fair enough - I think it depends on what you want from a car.

One point I would make is that it is worth looking at the range of cars available to see what you can get for your money; my view is that there are cars priced at the top end of the spectrum (9/10k) that have very little to differentiate them from cars that are £3k less.

By way of example, a friend of mine bought an Evo last year. '98 Estoril Blue coupe with cream leather interior. Fully ramped and stamped by BMW and 68k on the clock. The car really was immaculately presented with a big wad of bills to back it up - new clutch, recent vanos, Insp II in the last 3k etc etc. It also had a few options from the factory including sunroof, headlight washers and such.

Car was advertised at £7.5k once but did not sell. Went up again for £7k and (from memory) my friend bought it for a little over £6k. Clearly a good price but at the time we agreed that similar could be had around the £7k mark. He ran it for a year and added 15k problem free miles to it before giving it to his brother.

Thinking back, my car was £12k back in 2004 from a dealer and it really was one of the best at the time.

Again, horses for courses - it really depends on what you want. Given a £10k budget I'd probably spend £6k on the car and the rest shopping with Schrick/AP/Pagid/KW/Recaro/Toyo etc...

For the record, I'd take £6/7k for my car and given how well it is pampered I'd say it was a long way from being a shed!!

[pat_y]

breezy said:

By way of example, a friend of mine bought an Evo last year. '98 Estoril Blue coupe with cream leather interior. Fully ramped and stamped by BMW and 68k on the clock. The car really was immaculately presented with a big wad of bills to back it up - new clutch, recent vanos, Insp II in the last 3k etc etc. It also had a few options from the factory including sunroof, headlight washers and such.

Car was advertised at £7.5k once but did not sell. Went up again for £7k and (from memory) my friend bought it for a little over £6k. Clearly a good price but at the time we agreed that similar could be had around the £7k mark. He ran it for a year and added 15k problem free miles to it before giving it to his brother.

Looking at the above deal your friend ended up with i am quite impressed to say the least, by my reckoning that car must have been worth 8K minmum, especially with that sort of mileage and history.
This would seem to me to be an exception rather than a rule.

[breezy]

pat_y said:

breezy said:

By way of example, a friend of mine bought an Evo last year. '98 Estoril Blue coupe with cream leather interior. Fully ramped and stamped by BMW and 68k on the clock. The car really was immaculately presented with a big wad of bills to back it up - new clutch, recent vanos, Insp II in the last 3k etc etc. It also had a few options from the factory including sunroof, headlight washers and such.

Car was advertised at £7.5k once but did not sell. Went up again for £7k and (from memory) my friend bought it for a little over £6k. Clearly a good price but at the time we agreed that similar could be had around the £7k mark. He ran it for a year and added 15k problem free miles to it before giving it to his brother.

Looking at the above deal your friend ended up with i am quite impressed to say the least, by my reckoning that car must have been worth 8K minmum, especially with that sort of mileage and history.
This would seem to me to be an exception rather than a rule.

Definitely a find - it was a good deal and a good car.

Over the years I have probably looked at 15 or so e36 M3s (first for myself then for two friends, one of which bought the Estoril car above). Finding a good car certainly takes patience and whilst there are a great many abused cars out there (I once drove London - Birmingham to view a car that had been painted in 3 different shades of Techno Violet...) there are also a great many good examples.

Edited by breezy on Monday 21st January 22:41

[ASBO]

breezy said:

For the record, I'd take £6/7k for my car and given how well it is pampered I'd say it was a long way from being a shed!!

Don't get me wrong, a higher mileage car can still drive exceptionally well (my M5 is now at 105k and is beautiful to drive). However, when you compare that to a low mileage or new car, the differences become very pronounced and can never truly be replicated.

Like I said, you pays your money.

[naetype]

breezy said:

...........(I once drove London - Birmingham to view a car that had been painted in 3 different shades of Techno Violet...) there are also a great many good examples.

Edited by breezy on Monday 21st January 22:41

I'll see you that and raise a Glasgow - Birmingham journey to see one with a Vanos you could here from the next street...

Admittedly the advert did say "not like your usual rubbish" which was, kind of, true. It was quite spectacularly rubbish.

Edited by naetype on Tuesday 22 January 13:58

[E36GUY]

Re. your original question, Nikasil doesn't apply to the M3. It only affected the 328 and again, was a problem over publicised.

M3s on the whole are pretty bulletproof. A few Evos have suffered vanos failures but that's over publicised too. Do your research and buy sensibly.

[M3John]

E36GUY said:

Re. your original question, Nikasil doesn't apply to the M3. It only affected the 328 and again, was a problem over publicised.

M3s on the whole are pretty bulletproof. A few Evos have suffered vanos failures but that's over publicised too. Do your research and buy sensibly.

What he said ^^