[racer]

Where are the E36 M3 owners? Looking for some "local feedback" on ownership and useage. Mileage (overall) and per tank I'm considering getting one but I have no idea how good/bad the local BMW support is (dealers, independents, wrenchers etc). I've read that Waterpumps, radiators and rear trailing arms bushings can be an issue... what else should I look out for? How are they as Daily drivers (given their 10+ years age)

They seem to share the SC/Carrera value to performance ratio.. what do you think?

[BlackTalon]

Originally Posted by racer

Where are the E36 M3 owners? Looking for some "local feedback" on ownership and useage. Mileage (overall) and per tank I'm considering getting one but I have no idea how good/bad the local BMW support is (dealers, independents, wrenchers etc). I've read that Waterpumps, radiators and rear trailing arms bushings can be an issue... what else should I look out for? How are they as Daily drivers (given their 10+ years age)

They seem to share the SC/Carrera value to performance ratio.. what do you think?

Dammit Dave, just buy another Carrera! You know you want to!

[Mike W]

Originally Posted by BlackTalon

Dammit Dave, just buy another Carrera! You know you want to!

x2.


A former housemate of mine (I actually just saw him and his wife and his new daughter this past weekend) has a '97 M3. GREAT car! His was black on black and of course was the last M3 that was a sleeper. The car handled great. My housemate and I both thought that it was just ever so slightly slower than my 911, but of course you could use that car comfortably every day of the week (ie. the 911 is my choice but only b/c I have another car to drive every day).

Get one, you won't regret it. His may actually be for sale at some point. Not sure when or what he would be asking for it, but he said he may need to trade it in now that he is a single income provider married father for a more economical car with lower cost of repairs.

[rs911t]

I had a '98 M3 4-door before getting into the Porsche rathole. Great car. Should have kept it.

[magnetic1]

Great car.. but use this checklist if youre buying used:

http://edgemotorworks.com/index.php?...d=24&Itemid=55

and you have an AWESOME shop literally like 10 min from you:

http://www.rrtservice.com

[aubreym]

Originally Posted by racer

Where are the E36 M3 owners? Looking for some "local feedback" on ownership and useage. Mileage (overall) and per tank I'm considering getting one but I have no idea how good/bad the local BMW support is (dealers, independents, wrenchers etc). I've read that Waterpumps, radiators and rear trailing arms bushings can be an issue... what else should I look out for? How are they as Daily drivers (given their 10+ years age)

They seem to share the SC/Carrera value to performance ratio.. what do you think?

My 1995 E36 M3 has 129,000 miles on it. It's my daily driver and a great car. At about 85K miles I had a water pump go bad outside of Gainesville, FL and the plastic radiator melted. Radiator, water pump and labor was a little over $800 in Florida. About two years later the head went bad, cracked, and no one can figure out if it was a very delayed failure due to the overheating when the water pump failed. The head was MUCH more expensive. The head alone cost $3,000 plus a bunch of labor. But it's very unusual for an M3 head to fail. I have a friend that has the same model and year and she's got over 250,000 of hers.

I average around 20 mpg in town and 25 on the highway.

There's plenty of BMW support in the area. BMW of Fairfax, BMW in Arlington, Tischer (Tom Vahle is the service manager and a PCA member) in MD plus lots of independent shops. Charlie Murphy at Intersport works on all of my cars, the M3, 944S and even my wife's minivan.

Don't test drive one unless you're ready to buy it. The car is a lot of fun to drive.

[BrianP]

Dave isn't the 914 slow enough so you don't embarrass people too bad?

[VaSteve]

Aubrey, is yours yellow? Someone in the club had a yellow one at the HPDC, I fell in love with that car.

[magnetic1]

Originally Posted by aubreym

The head was MUCH more expensive. The head alone cost $3,000 plus a bunch of labor.

Must have been new through the dealer? That's nuts!

[Parenn911]

Personally...I would go for an E30, the E36's just don't do it for me like the E30's!

YMMV