Thursday 12th December 2013

BMW M3 Imola: Spotted

The 6-cyl M3 is making a comeback, so how about revisiting the E36?

---

With the return of a straight six to the M3, we needed no excuse to rummage through the classifieds for an E36 or 46 to compare and contrast with the new F80. Having featured a temptingly cheap E46 just a little while back, our search led to the pre-99 second-gen cars.

You may have seen this car previously...

The E36, whether as a saloon, coupe, convertible or estate (see here!) was never and will never be as revered as the original E30. The lure of being an homologation special meant the four-cylinder car has become ever more covetable in recent years. That the cheapest E30 M3 on PH is £15K and the priciest E36 £12K says it all

The contemporary criticisms levelled at the E36 will sound awfully familiar in a modern context also when judging most new cars. It's too big, heavy and complicated they said, take it back to the raw and simple driver's tool it used to be.

But that was twenty years ago now, so the E36 M3's perceived complexity and luxury is perhaps no longer so unacceptable. It's rare to find an SMG car and the infotainment looks almost rudimentary by 21st century standards. Of course, that's not to say it's basic, or that there's nothing to potentially fail, but it's fascinating to see how attitudes change.

It says something about the weight loss of the new car that it's actually a similar weight to the E36. Kerb weights for the old car were between 1,460kg and 1,535kg.

PHer Gavin has cared for his Imola

Our featured M3 actually has some previous with PH. This E36 Imola starred in a Carpool earlier this year, where owner Gavin told us he loved everything about the car. There were just 50 Imolas in Britain, identifiable by the paint and interior combo, plus the spoiler. Mechanically, it was identical to the 3.2 Evo.

Even without the Carpool, the ad shows this M3 has been cherished. The ad is detailed and properly spelt (it's amazing how often they're not!), and the pics are good too. Amazingly, there is in fact another Imola on PH currently, offered at £9,250 with a few less miles.

Furthermore, though they are older cars now, it shouldn't be forgotten that the E36 M3 was excellent to drive. It's the reason so many are used now for track projects now! It will take some looking after, and the appeal of a later E46 shouldn't be discounted, but perhaps now is the time for the E36 to take a share of the M3 limelight. Maybe.

---

BMW M3 IMOLA
Engine: 3,201cc straight-six
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 321@7,400rpm
Torque (lb ft): 258@3,250rpm
MPG: 25.7
CO2: 275g/km
Recorded mileage: 129,000
First registered: 1998
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £6,995

See the original advert here

[j_s14a]

The E36 is a beautiful car to drive, I'd much rather an E36 M3 than an E46.

[BeirutTaxi]

The M3 has never been 'raw and simple' as stated. The E30 was the heaviest in the three series range and came with a whole load of options.

The M3 has always been a top of range 3 Series - not an Elise/Caterham rival.

I haven't driven an E36 but I've heard plenty of owners say the steering is a bit of a let down. Engine is always described as amazing, mind.

[JDMDrifter]

Wibble

E36 M3 has been a dream car of mine for many years, such a good looking car and with an epic engine.

[jdw1234]

BMW M3 Evolution in Estoril blue.

Excluding supercars, the above formed part of my 1990s "holy trinity" along with the Ferrari F355 and Porsche 993.

[soad]

Lovely!

[DeanHelix]

I see your "properly spelt" and raise you:

"The car has just this week past its MOT"
"along with new bushes and ARB bushes/brakets"

Otherwise, nice car, mileage a bit high, but very shiny

[James B]

I see this particular car in Aberdeen quite a lot and it never fails to turn my head. I'm pretty certain it's the same one that has been here for years and years as there was always an Imola here that my fellow car geeks and I commented on whenever we saw it.

Best of luck to the seller for the sale. Lovely car that deserves a good home.

[Crackie]

BeirutTaxi said:

've heard plenty of owners say the steering is a bit of a let down. Engine is always described as amazing, mind.

I would agree that the steering is probably the weakest part of the car but it can be improved a lot by fitting either a E46 sport rack or Z3 rack. It made a big difference to mine. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... Still miss that car, a lot.

Edited by Crackie on Thursday 12th December 13:19

[GranCab]

Don't forget the shoddy build quality on early E36s

[leedsutd1]

DeanHelix said:

I see your "properly spelt" and raise you:

"The car has just this week past its MOT"
"along with new bushes and ARB bushes/brakets"

Otherwise, nice car, mileage a bit high, but very shiny

mileage is a bit high ? what mileage would you be expecting on a 15 year old car ?
I think the price is high ,

[405dogvan]

I spent a week using an E36 M3 Evo Cabrio and my feelings were mixed tbh

1 - amazing engine - really amazing engine - I'd not encountered anything so tractable and outright mad
2 - steering not so great but not as bad as people say (steering has generally gotten worse since then)
3 - the car feels heavy and needs a bit of work to make it move as you might expect (but it will move if you're firm with it)
4 - lots of nasty gimmicks such as fkING USELESS WINGMIRRORS etc.
5 - scuttle shake that you can see from a mile away

I don't understand the desire to make track toys out of these cars - they feel front-heavy at the best of times and heavy all the time - I guess they only make good track toys because of that engine, the RWD, the fact there's a tonne of crap you can remove and - most importantly - the fact that there aren't enough E30s left to make track toys out of ??

[Dave Hedgehog]

deeply dislike these, my least fav of the M cars to drive

[DeanHelix]

leedsutd1 said:

mileage is a bit high ? what mileage would you be expecting on a 15 year old car ?
I think the price is high ,

Well, yeah, kinda my point. The price is high for a 15yr old M3 with that mileage. Or the mileage is high for an 7k E36 M3.

[Escy]

405dogvan said:

4 - lots of nasty gimmicks such as fkING USELESS WINGMIRRORS etc.

The mirrors were a great piece of design?!

[truck71]

BeirutTaxi said:

The M3 has never been 'raw and simple' as stated. The E30 was the heaviest in the three series range and came with a whole load of options.

The M3 has always been a top of range 3 Series - not an Elise/Caterham rival.

I haven't driven an E36 but I've heard plenty of owners say the steering is a bit of a let down. Engine is always described as amazing, mind.

I think if you drive an E30 M3 you might adjust the first comment. It is absolutely raw and simple.

[monthefish]

Surely the E36 M3 GT is far more worthy of a 'Spotted' feature that a just a 'paint and trim' special?


p.s. What do the switches behind the window switches do? (I thought the coupes only had front window switches there)

[Gurbinder]

monthefish said:

Surely the E36 M3 GT is far more worthy of a 'Spotted' feature that a just a 'paint and trim' special?


p.s. What do the switches behind the window switches do? (I thought the coupes only had front window switches there)

Those buttons are for the pop out rear windows.

[Baz Tench]

Dave Hedgehog said:

deeply dislike these, my least fav of the M cars to drive

Why is that? What exactly disappointed you about them?

Not trolling, I'm genuinely interested.

[Alfa159Ti]

The styling has aged REALLY badly to my eye.

I wonder if having the black strip running down the flanks and the black door handles coded to the body colour would give it a lift?

[Alfa159Ti]

Also always thought the side skirts on these look nasty and aftermarket...