looking for an E36 M3

[apache]

Well, my son is anyway. Anyone seen any unmolested examples for sale?

[M3John]

Seen any unmolested examples...Yes right here. Is it for sale, hummmmmmmm all depends .

Seriously, thats what a good one should be like mate, accept nothing less !


M3J.

[jimminy cricket]

i've been thinking about an e36 M3 too.

trying to read up and understand the "vanos" situation though?

it sounds like BMW's version of V-tec?

it also sounds bloody expensive to fix!!

if i was looking at 1994/5 M3's with 100K+ miles, what are the chances the vanos problem could occur?

more so the EVO models?

am i right in thinking the "nikasil" problems are minute?

advise would be greatly appreciated ( apologies for any hyjack )#


M3J, how much would your be up for sale?

[M3John]

jimminy cricket said:

i've been thinking about an e36 M3 too.

trying to read up and understand the "vanos" situation though?
it sounds like BMW's version of V-tec?
it also sounds bloody expensive to fix!!
if i was looking at 1994/5 M3's with 100K+ miles, what are the chances the vanos problem could occur?
more so the EVO models?
am i right in thinking the "nikasil" problems are minute?
advise would be greatly appreciated ( apologies for any hyjack )#

M3J, how much would your be up for sale?

Well let me try to answer that lot for you...

VANOS situation, although i don't doubt it happens, i think it may be a little over-hyped. My car has done `healthy milage` and yes it does grumble and rattle a bit after a blip on the throttle (i think they all do a bit....but i await to be corrected otherwise), but a recent trip to the Nurburgring saw the car puling like a train well past the magic 155 mark. VANOS issues don't seem to be as common on the 3.0ltr model ///M3's. Again i think that on the Evo's it's highlited even more as when they go wrong you've got to replace two of the buggers. In every day driving i doubt that you or i sir could ever tell the differance between the 3.0ltr and Evo models. It's only when your travelling at 10/10th's you'll get to use the extra 40bhp or so. ( Nurburgring )

Yes it is similar to Honda's V-tec system but if i'm honest not as good.

And yes it is bloody expensive to repair. In most cases you can help prevent this with regular VANOS filter changing as these can clog up pretty easily. I'm not too sure what the cost's of the parts/labour is as i've never had to do it yet in three years of ownership (...touches wood...).

"Nikasil" wasn't a problem with the ///M cars as the engines were prepaired and manufactured diffrently.

Is mine up for sale, the jury's still out on that one mate. If you ever wanted to view the car to look at what is a very good one, bearing in mind it's not a show car, your more than welcome. If i'm honest, if you wanted one as clean as mine i think that you'd have to part with close to £10k - I'll let the pictures do the talking for me.

Hope this is of any help for you Jim.

M3J.

[jimminy cricket]

yes it does.

i have had a couple of rovers and all i get from people is the HG failure so i can see where you're coming from. lol

i assume the vanos filter is a cheap part to replace?

i have intentions of using it on 4 or more track days per year and drag events too( hard lol )

would this be a concern for me as a daily driver and track weapon?

do the M3's have LSD's?

what other mods are available to the nasp engine to increase bhp figures and fuel economy?

Edited by jimminy cricket on Monday 21st May 18:47

[M5Dave]

jimminy cricket said:

yes it does.

i have had a couple of rovers and all i get from people is the HG failure so i can see where you're coming from. lol

i assume the vanos filter is a cheap part to replace?

i have intentions of using it on 4 or more track days per year and drag events too( hard lol )

would this be a concern for me as a daily driver and track weapon?

do the M3's have LSD's?

what other mods are available to the nasp engine to increase bhp figures and fuel economy?

Edited by jimminy cricket on Monday 21st May 18:47

Yes, the M3 has a limited slip diff

The vanos filter is about the size of a thimble, and costs pennies. I've never fitted one but apparantly it's straightforward.

The 3.0 M3 is generally regarded as being very robust mechanically, however the six speed gearbox on the Evo did get a reputation for being fragile, so I don't know how it would stand up to repeated drag strip runs.

I don't know that there is much you can do to get any significant performance gains on these, other than spending big money turbocharging or supercharging it, although you'll probably find it's more than quick enough as standard, and fuel consumption is also very reasonable.

[jimminy cricket]

cheers.

yeah i knew about the tubby or blower options.

figures around 5 grand are what i've heard?

i just wasn't sure if there were recommended filters or exhaust?

would the EVO bottom end and a 3 litre top end be a good comprimise for power and reliability?

[M3John]

jimminy cricket said:

cheers.

yeah i knew about the tubby or blower options.

figures around 5 grand are what i've heard?

i just wasn't sure if there were recommended filters or exhaust?

would the EVO bottom end and a 3 litre top end be a good comprimise for power and reliability?

Supercharging it is the easiest and most cost effictive way of getting any power gain from the car. I have looked into this myself and am still trying to decide if it's a route i want to go down as i'm a firm beliver on keeping things as they should be. I personally think that if your going to fit an induction kit/exaughst whilst on the look for more power you might as well take a bundle of cash on a windy day and throw it up in the air. I don't doubt that these items can increase power coupled with a blower kit but on their own, the jury's still out. In fact i can remember reading some moon's ago in BMWcar or Total BMW where they did a group test that some of the cars with these mod's produced less power than expected.

[apache]

Cue vid of that blown Danish or Finnish M5 absolutely demolishing stuff on the strip

[Father Ted]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flSbBkGMfiI


you rang ?

[tvrchim]

Father Ted said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flSbBkGMfiI


you rang ?

[apache]

Love that vid

[d11nc_r]

Hi,im currentlty selling my 3.0 m3 convertible individual.Its techno violet and complete with matching hardtop.It was the 18th m3 i viewed before i bought it as there are many raced and rallyed 1's out there and i found it near impossible to find 1 to my standard.
I also heard to many bad storys regarding vanos units and weak 6 speed box's so decided to take the safe option of a 3.0 manual.
Car has complete history and has covered 90000miles nw but never misses a beat.
Has many factory extras including leather dash and climate control,with the only non standard mods being xenon headlights and ebc race discs.
For pics or any further info pm me or contact me on 07731448453.
thanx, Duncan

[breezy]

M3John said:

Is mine up for sale, the jury's still out on that one mate. If you ever wanted to view the car to look at what is a very good one, bearing in mind it's not a show car, your more than welcome. If i'm honest, if you wanted one as clean as mine i think that you'd have to part with close to £10k - I'll let the pictures do the talking for me.

£10k is bordering on ridiculous for an e36 M3. GT, Imola spec 'GT2', individual spec Schnitzer optioned gift from god or not, that is way too much.

I would personally not spend more than £7k on an evo.

[breezy]

jimminy cricket said:

what other mods are available to the nasp engine to increase bhp figures and fuel economy?

Both S50 B30 and B32 engines are relatively highly tuned from the factory and you won't get major increases in performance without spending significant amounts of money. I would buy an evo, do induction and engine remapping and leave everything else as it is. Exhaust if you want to change the exhaust note but the difference won't hit you in the same way as boost tuning a Jap motor.

The best thing about either of the e36 M3s is the engine and if you appreciate these things you won't be dissapointed.

If you want big power or the ability to tune for it(and I'm not suggesting that you do), you could always look at Toyota/Nissan/Mitsubishi/Subaru.

Edited by breezy on Sunday 27th May 22:57

[apache]

breezy said:

M3John said:

Is mine up for sale, the jury's still out on that one mate. If you ever wanted to view the car to look at what is a very good one, bearing in mind it's not a show car, your more than welcome. If i'm honest, if you wanted one as clean as mine i think that you'd have to part with close to £10k - I'll let the pictures do the talking for me.

£10k is bordering on ridiculous for an e36 M3. GT, Imola spec 'GT2', individual spec Schnitzer optioned gift from god or not, that is way too much.

I would personally not spend more than £7k on an evo.

Ditto, there are some seriously overpriced cars in classifieds

[M3John]

apache said:

breezy said:

M3John said:

Is mine up for sale, the jury's still out on that one mate. If you ever wanted to view the car to look at what is a very good one, bearing in mind it's not a show car, your more than welcome. If i'm honest, if you wanted one as clean as mine i think that you'd have to part with close to £10k - I'll let the pictures do the talking for me.

£10k is bordering on ridiculous for an e36 M3. GT, Imola spec 'GT2', individual spec Schnitzer optioned gift from god or not, that is way too much.

I would personally not spend more than £7k on an evo.

Ditto, there are some seriously overpriced cars in classifieds

^^^^^ there most definatly are some silly overpriced cars out there.

After viewing a few (before i got mine and since i bought it) i personally think that for a turly fantastic car that has been well looked after, with a lot of history / reciepts and hasn't been abused by the boy racer brigade then you are probably looking between the two figures stated above. I've seen cars out there that are considerably worse than mine that are commanding close to the £6.5-7k mark. Which is why i said the figure previously. BUT on the flip side to that i've seen the odd car pop up in the car club thats as nice/better than mine for the £7-8k mark.
You could go out and spend £5k on an Evo, there are plenty out there, that has been thrashed within an inch of it's life and not had propper care taken of it. Then go and fork out another £2-3k putting it right. You have to think long and hard about buying one of these (not insulting anybodys intelligance here guys ) as they were an expensive car new and are now falling into the hands of some people that probably can't afford to give them the TLC that they warrent as they still are very expensive to keep in tip top condition.


Now i'll get my coat and run for the door


M3J.

Edited to add : Ras. Sir, that does look like a nice M3 on your web site.

Edited by M3John on Monday 28th May 16:30

[tvrchim]

I am currently looking at a couple of 98 Evo M3 convertables, both low mileage under 70k, and low owners, with plenty of factory options, inc hard tops, with full BMWSH at about the 10k mark, so you think its to much, and i should keep looking.

Steve.