Discussion
Somethings been niggling me recently.
It started as a bit of an itch at a recent trackday trackday, and it's getting worse having just read the M car test in this months evo.
I love my M3 - it's a very fast car, well made and a nice place to sit. I've had no major reliability problems in the 25,000 miles since I bought it and I like to think I keep it in top condition.
But...
I've always thought it was a bit stodgy at the helm, it's expensive to run (both servicing wise and fuel-wise) and there's always the worry that something really expenive will break. Vanos units, for example, are notoriously unreliable and the SMG gearbox can have it's problems too.
It's probably worth (at the most) £8,000 now, which is just about the same price as the car I'm half hankering after.
A BMW M3.
Oh, sorry - I should have said - an E30 M3.
On the plus side, if I bought an E30, I don't think I'd lose any money on it if I looked after it properly. My fuel bills would be smaller and I'd more than likely be able to do more minor jobs on it myself. They're a simpler machine with less things to go wrong, and there's something about their left-hand-drive homologation specialness that really appeals to me.
On the downside, the youngest ones are what? 16, 17 years old now? Do I want to drop to an older car with all it's associated problems (I mentioned my dilemma to Mrs Local and her snobbish side thought it was a very bad idea). It'll have to be my everyday car too, so how will it cope with the mileage? Parts could be more difficult to obtain and more expensive, and then there's the biggest downside - losing 100bhp. 300+bhp is fantastically addictive and once you've had that much under your right foot, it's difficult to imagine giving some of it up.
But then - E30 - chassis - responsiveness - light weight - homologation special.
Or - E36 Evo - engine - power - torque - comfortable - very fast.
Whadoo I do? Whaddo I do? Whaddoes a guy do?
Anyone North-West based with an E30 M3 who's willing to take me for a quick spin to help me make up my mind?
It started as a bit of an itch at a recent trackday trackday, and it's getting worse having just read the M car test in this months evo.
I love my M3 - it's a very fast car, well made and a nice place to sit. I've had no major reliability problems in the 25,000 miles since I bought it and I like to think I keep it in top condition.
But...
I've always thought it was a bit stodgy at the helm, it's expensive to run (both servicing wise and fuel-wise) and there's always the worry that something really expenive will break. Vanos units, for example, are notoriously unreliable and the SMG gearbox can have it's problems too.
It's probably worth (at the most) £8,000 now, which is just about the same price as the car I'm half hankering after.
A BMW M3.
Oh, sorry - I should have said - an E30 M3.
On the plus side, if I bought an E30, I don't think I'd lose any money on it if I looked after it properly. My fuel bills would be smaller and I'd more than likely be able to do more minor jobs on it myself. They're a simpler machine with less things to go wrong, and there's something about their left-hand-drive homologation specialness that really appeals to me.
On the downside, the youngest ones are what? 16, 17 years old now? Do I want to drop to an older car with all it's associated problems (I mentioned my dilemma to Mrs Local and her snobbish side thought it was a very bad idea). It'll have to be my everyday car too, so how will it cope with the mileage? Parts could be more difficult to obtain and more expensive, and then there's the biggest downside - losing 100bhp. 300+bhp is fantastically addictive and once you've had that much under your right foot, it's difficult to imagine giving some of it up.
But then - E30 - chassis - responsiveness - light weight - homologation special.
Or - E36 Evo - engine - power - torque - comfortable - very fast.
Whadoo I do? Whaddo I do? Whaddoes a guy do?
Anyone North-West based with an E30 M3 who's willing to take me for a quick spin to help me make up my mind?
Reg, I reckon you're going to struggle to find a decent e30 at that price. Servicing and running costs are likely to be similar except if your SMG box goes then that pretty much WILL be an arm and a leg. The vanos on the 3.0l is a non issue. There was a recent poll over at e36coupe which has pretty much buried the vanos.
A mod I'm looking at over the winter to sharpen up the steering is to swap out the standard rack for a Z3 1.9 rack. Why not try this and let us know how you get on. It's fairly cheap to do (about £200 from ECP) and even I'd break out my spanners and the mallet to swap them.
A mod I'm looking at over the winter to sharpen up the steering is to swap out the standard rack for a Z3 1.9 rack. Why not try this and let us know how you get on. It's fairly cheap to do (about £200 from ECP) and even I'd break out my spanners and the mallet to swap them.
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