Don't know what to buy next - help needed

[rev-erend]

All,

I've had my current 6 cylinder car for a year and am thinking of changing.

My short list is :

330 ci 2 door Petrol (max budget of about 12K)

M3 - budget of around 7K.. not sure of the E number : you lot confuse the heck out of me with more E numbers than most food contains.

What I what is a nice daily driver - so it's does not have to have 320 bhp and be 1 inch from the floor..

Any pitfalls in either of the 2 models to watch out for - which would you go for ?

Servicing costs etc..

[colinrob]

Why the different budget depending on what you buy?

But with the differing budget I would go for a 330i

[rev-erend]

Just seems the price some M3's are going for..

The 330 Ci is much newer guess...

[colinrob]

If I had £12 000 to spend I would go for a M3 because you would get a very good low moleage example for that money, spending £7 000 you will get a high miler.

[Wolff]

i've jus bought an 02 325ci for a whisker under 10k....

no idea if it was a good price, but its a lovely drive!!

[JamieG]

Afternoon Alan - your're not getting rid of the T350 are you? I've had a number of E36 M3s - 4 Evos,1 non-Evo. I was always told to be on the look out for oil leaks + check that the Vanos unit is behaving itself (£1,000 part). I had a financially-painful experience with a so called "Specialst" half way through ownership.. - Email me off line if you need more details. They were great cars - only moved onto wedges after writing one off on ice on my way to work.Jamie

[rev-erend]

JamieG said:

Afternoon Alan - your're not getting rid of the T350 are you? I've had a number of E36 M3s - 4 Evos,1 non-Evo. I was always told to be on the look out for oil leaks + check that the Vanos unit is behaving itself (£1,000 part). I had a financially-painful experience with a so called "Specialst" half way through ownership.. - Email me off line if you need more details. They were great cars - only moved onto wedges after writing one off on ice on my way to work.Jamie

Yes - I will have had it for a year and it's been fantastic but I'm need to start thinging of what to replace it with.

Think I need at least one practicle car.

So - thought the 330 Ci might fit the bill or an earlier M3 without
the complicated vanos system.

What is the servicing costs like for BMW's..?

[JamieG]

When I had mine - labour rate was £95 an hour at local main dealer. I bought my last one from Sytners so came with a 1 year warranty - Unfortunatly, had my "off" 9 mnths into ownership. I did recieve a letter a few months later asking me if I wished to renew the warranty despite the car sitting in a breaker's yard!
I think all E36 had the Vanos (with the Evos having a double unit), I'm not sure about the earlier E30.

[douglasr]

What about an E36 Alpina B3 if you can find one.

www.thealpinaregister.com/

[whiterj]

JamieG said:

I think all E36 had the Vanos (with the Evos having a double unit), I'm not sure about the earlier E30.

The 3.0 cars did only have a single VANOS that wasn't particulary problematic. I've heard the other weakness with the EVO can be the 6 speed 'box.
Swings and roundabouts though because you do get 321 brake and the option of Estoril blue!

[karlos02uk]

Hello there,

I saw your post the other week but couldn't reply....(was at work)
I've got an E36 M3 evo with the estoril blue option

I'm also work near to the bmw warranty team (same building) if you want to have a chat about the car good/bad etc then give me a shout.

I will warn you the up keep of the car is expensive for instance one front brake disk is £100 ( I just had to change the pads along with the front disks.) the service indicator lets you do about 8/10 k miles before the service is needed. all this is of course complete rubbish and you will find that out once you put your foot down, there is very little that will keep up with you and the fact that no standard german car will do more than 155 means they wont get away from you (that is a gentlemans agreement, there are people who remove that and this car will do 170.)

I've recently had 3 boy racers come racing up one in a escort rs turbo needless to say he was no challenge, there was a saphire cosworth that was a little more tougher but still wasn't able to keep up past 70.....and the new 350z thats quick but still no match. When you get this car the only question you will have to answer is, Can the new M3 be better than this?

This is not a town car and the clutch is quite heavy and it doesn't like traffic....if thats your normal driving conditions then go for the 330 ci auto smoother nicer noise and much easier to drive. If you want something that will have to grinning from ear to ear all the time then get the M3.

my e-mail is [e-mail] if anyone needs/wants to know about this car.

[cavey]

Bought an '88 Evo saloon a month ago and very pleased - amazing car for the money.

Apparently there's a clutch mod: change the slave cylinder for a 328 one, and fit a braided hose. Apparently makes the clutch much more friendly for town driving.

Tracked mine twice now - great fun and keeps up with loads of more 'exotic' kit. Heavy wear on outer edges of NS tyres though!!

Clutch is on the way so having a lightweight flywheel fitted at the same time, and also got talked into a short shift kit by my garage.

Would recommend them overall, but as with anything, keep some £ back for those unexpected specialist jobs!!