I'm new and need advice on M3 purchase
Discussion
Hi great to have joined. Great forum. I had real trouble trying to find a decent M3 forum and this looks like it.
My quandry is this. Want to buy an M3 - E36. But am stuck on a few things.
1. Not fussed between coupe or saloon. Only thing is all the saloons have wood trim which isnt my most favourite. besides that they seem pretty much the same. Am i way out on this?
2. How much different is the Cabrio to the Coupe?
again not stuck on either.
3. There is a dealer near reading called Independent MC that appears to offer a lot of variants. Does anyone have any experience with them or any views on them?
4. Most other people who have never been in one or driven a BMW hate 3 series and think the E-36 is too common to be that good. I love them to absolute bits, but wondered exactly how fast they are in real life compared to other cars? 0-60 and 0-100 is all good but whats it really like?
Many thanks for your help and look forward to posting many more.
My quandry is this. Want to buy an M3 - E36. But am stuck on a few things.
1. Not fussed between coupe or saloon. Only thing is all the saloons have wood trim which isnt my most favourite. besides that they seem pretty much the same. Am i way out on this?
2. How much different is the Cabrio to the Coupe?
again not stuck on either.
3. There is a dealer near reading called Independent MC that appears to offer a lot of variants. Does anyone have any experience with them or any views on them?
4. Most other people who have never been in one or driven a BMW hate 3 series and think the E-36 is too common to be that good. I love them to absolute bits, but wondered exactly how fast they are in real life compared to other cars? 0-60 and 0-100 is all good but whats it really like?
Many thanks for your help and look forward to posting many more.
Shamone Hee Hee said:
Hi great to have joined. Great forum. I had real trouble trying to find a decent M3 forum and this looks like it.
My quandry is this. Want to buy an M3 - E36. But am stuck on a few things.
1. Not fussed between coupe or saloon. Only thing is all the saloons have wood trim which isnt my most favourite. besides that they seem pretty much the same. Am i way out on this?
2. How much different is the Cabrio to the Coupe?
again not stuck on either.
3. There is a dealer near reading called Independent MC that appears to offer a lot of variants. Does anyone have any experience with them or any views on them?
4. Most other people who have never been in one or driven a BMW hate 3 series and think the E-36 is too common to be that good. I love them to absolute bits, but wondered exactly how fast they are in real life compared to other cars? 0-60 and 0-100 is all good but whats it really like?
Many thanks for your help and look forward to posting many more.
1) Saloon's handleing is just as good as the coupes, some say its better
2)The cabrio is heavier, handles much worse..
3)They have a good rep, have visted them before and they have been great
4)They are fast, but you really need to rev the nuts off the evo to make it go fast, its not lazy power.
Beware of the LSD in the wet as well, its fairly viscous
Have very recently bought a M3 Evo coupe from IMC, its a 98 model with all the bells and whistles and a pretty good car, no probs at all with IMC (they have just forked out for a replacement VANOS unit for it as it had a bit of a rattle, so cant complain) they are at the top end price wise (arent all dealers?) but their cars are generally in quite good order, just check it very thoroughly and dont be afraid to get it inspected (BMW main dealer will do it for you for £60) and get them to deal with anything you dont like or negotiate the price accordingly. the bigest problems on Evos ( I presume you are looking at an evo, not a non-evo E36?) is the dreaded Double-VANOS, which seem to rattle like hell on most cars, can occasionally fail and cost lots to replace (£1400 from an independent to £2500-3000 from a main dealer) its a known fault but one that BMW will be unlikely to deal with now as has been the case recently, so get one with the BMW extended warranty or keep a few quid back just in case.
As for how common they are, I dont think you see as many around these days as you used to (apart from copycat chavmobiles) and they are pretty quick and very smooth with a nice driver-orientated interior. I agree that the wood-interior looks a bit naff, but that seemes to be mostly fitted to the saloons, which fetch a bit less than coupes, have a different front spoiler and slightly softer suspension, they also dont have the motorsport seats fitted, usefull if you need 4 doors though...
So to summarise as a new owner, I reckon they are a very cheap means to what is quite a powerful car, just be carefull about which one you choose as there are some VERY ropey ones about now!
As for how common they are, I dont think you see as many around these days as you used to (apart from copycat chavmobiles) and they are pretty quick and very smooth with a nice driver-orientated interior. I agree that the wood-interior looks a bit naff, but that seemes to be mostly fitted to the saloons, which fetch a bit less than coupes, have a different front spoiler and slightly softer suspension, they also dont have the motorsport seats fitted, usefull if you need 4 doors though...
So to summarise as a new owner, I reckon they are a very cheap means to what is quite a powerful car, just be carefull about which one you choose as there are some VERY ropey ones about now!
Shamone Hee Hee said:
2. How much different is the Cabrio to the Coupe?
again not stuck on either.
Having bought a 'Vert I would recommend getting a coupe. I've spent a fortune of my roof from new motors to stopping a water leak. It was fine when I bought it but after 6 months use.... Different story!
We swapped a saloon for a 'vert a few months ago and it was honestly the worse decision I've made in some time!
The saloon was a lovely cruiser when you wanted it to be, or a you could rev the nuts off it and was an animal!
The 'vert, in comparison (its still a quick car) is slow, heavy, rattly, squeaky and just no fun!
Wanna buy it! LOL
The saloon was a lovely cruiser when you wanted it to be, or a you could rev the nuts off it and was an animal!
The 'vert, in comparison (its still a quick car) is slow, heavy, rattly, squeaky and just no fun!
Wanna buy it! LOL
"wondered exactly how fast they are in real life compared to other cars? 0-60 and 0-100 is all good but whats it really like?"
Well this may sound like an odd question but what car do you drive now? Because everyones perception of speed is always relative to what the drive and what they have been driven in. For example when I took a friend out for a test drive in my 325 (with 3.0 M3 engine) he thought it was awsomely quick and way too fast for anyone to drive as a road car.
However having owned a 944 turbo I have to say that for a 300hp N/A car I'm not overly impressed with the speed. It's a beautifully smooth engine and the 'any gear' torque all the way through the rev range is fantastic, but perhaps because of its weight or just the conservative nature of the engine, a 944 with 300hp is going to be considerably quicker. Especially once you get over 100.
For example on one particular section of road my old oil burning 944 220hp model comfortably hit 140 with three people in the car. I have since tried numorous times to achieve that in the BMW which only has 50,000 miles on the engine and is in much better condition with just me in the car and I cannot get over 125?! This may not make sence on paper but as you say its a real world test of speed.
Well this may sound like an odd question but what car do you drive now? Because everyones perception of speed is always relative to what the drive and what they have been driven in. For example when I took a friend out for a test drive in my 325 (with 3.0 M3 engine) he thought it was awsomely quick and way too fast for anyone to drive as a road car.
However having owned a 944 turbo I have to say that for a 300hp N/A car I'm not overly impressed with the speed. It's a beautifully smooth engine and the 'any gear' torque all the way through the rev range is fantastic, but perhaps because of its weight or just the conservative nature of the engine, a 944 with 300hp is going to be considerably quicker. Especially once you get over 100.
For example on one particular section of road my old oil burning 944 220hp model comfortably hit 140 with three people in the car. I have since tried numorous times to achieve that in the BMW which only has 50,000 miles on the engine and is in much better condition with just me in the car and I cannot get over 125?! This may not make sence on paper but as you say its a real world test of speed.
I've been the very proud owner of a '98 M3 evo for about a year now and it still impresses me every time I drive it, more than fast enough, very comfortable and much cheaper to run than I'd expected ( although still not cheap ). If you think you'd like one you probable will, do look a a few though i looked at 14 when I bought mine, and I'm glad I did some were real dogs.
After that glowing review, I should admit thatI'm replacing mine with a TVR. Reason - fast/great as they are they are not raw enough for me.
It's up for £9250 by the way.
After that glowing review, I should admit thatI'm replacing mine with a TVR. Reason - fast/great as they are they are not raw enough for me.
It's up for £9250 by the way.
Gazboy said:
4)They are fast, but you really need to rev the nuts off the evo to make it go fast, its not lazy power.niffty951 said:
'any gear' torque all the way through the rev range
So which is it chaps???
It's really both ! The torque curve is very flat, much more so than other similar vintage BMW 6 cyls, but it doesn't feel as torquey at low revs as a V8 or a turbo engine.
Between 5K and 7.5K it revs like a b*st*rd, and that's when it really takes off.
So, to make the most of the performance, you definitely need to be above 5K RPM, so 3rd and 4th are the gears for "spirited" driving.
Look, here's one vixpy1 measured earlier (rear wheel figures):
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