Bavarian Motor Works

[simmode1]

Nevermind about the 328i... Finding a manual, hardtop coupe seems impossible. M3's cheap enough to not even bother looking for an inferior unicorn...

[vanish1]

Originally Posted by simmode1

Crazy! I keep reading that the 328i M52's stock internals should be solid up to around 550hp or so. Nice little step up from KA-Ts, but the M3's S52 seems like a 2JZ rivaling monster. The e36 328i is making me forget the S2000 & it's 600hp capable, forged internal F20/22C. Those cars just aren't coming down in price enough for my tastes, especially in comparison to the 350Z.

yea 90s bmws are pretty cheap atm. e34 is another cool rig to mod.

quite a few were produced and they have their quirks and older looks that would make ppl wanna get rid of them which is a good thing for someone trying to pick something for real cheap. (sub par interior quality, door handles breaking, window regulators, suspension you have to maintain)

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...q-Dyno-Results)

Nevermind about the 328i... Finding a manual, hardtop coupe seems impossible. M3's cheap enough to not even bother looking for an inferior unicorn...

varying keywords are important if youre searching around, all diff kind of folks own e36s and bmws you would be surprised what ppl post as their headline for clist ads for ex.

there are quite a lot of differences and benefits between a standard 3 series and m3 to warrant paying extra for the ///M you just have to understand what youre getting into

such as the ever so real, '$10k rule' w/ e36 m3s

[turbronegro]

Originally Posted by drift freaq

Woah woah lol , you know exactly who I am great. It still does not mean you know me as a person. No worries man, fact is ya sarcasm is hard to convey on the Internet. A lol or a J/k or some kind of smiley emoji would have indicated better you were being sarcastic. my second car in high school and first sporty car was a 510 and my next car after was a 240z. Yet I don't call myself a fanboy nor have I ever been. Reason is though I have liked Nissan a lot through the years I have criticized there decisions since the 70's . They have defied logic for a long time. They have routinely built cars I felt were ugly or not anything I would buy. Every so often bringing out cars I can really appreciate.
If I was a fan boy like you are calling yourself I would not own a E36 M3 and looking at buying a second one possibly. That is surely not most Nissan fanboys would do. Perhaps when I owned my 510 I was as I wanted a license plate that read 1EATBMW. lol
Do I have a love for some Nissan's, yes. Am I married to the brand no.
You choose to focus on me calling out the fanboy comment. What I was more. Focusing on is how you misinterpreted the original post starting this thread. At this point it's been coverd. So let's just move along.
I have no hard feelings towards you or your comments I was and am merely responding for clarifications sake.

I think we have two different meanings to the word fanboy.

You're right about the sarcasm thing, 2nd thought on the emoji or lol would've worked out.

I've had just about everything under the sun as far as cars. I wish i could stick to a brand but im just too crazy. I'm currently trying to put together a S52 swap Starion ^_^ but I have two 79 Mercedes in the way. I'm still a huge fan of the 510 though.

But, understood!

[simmode1]

Originally Posted by vanish1

such as the ever so real, '$10k rule' w/ e36 m3s

Care to elborate on this rule? Is it: either plan to buy to $10k car with all the maintenance done or buy a cheap one & plan to spend $10k taking care if it's maintenance issues?

[gearhead55]

Now I am looking at B5 S4 audis. these things are making 400+ hp on "stage 3" upgraded K04 turbos.

I swear I have automotive ADD.

[S14DB]

Originally Posted by gearhead55

Now I am looking at B5 S4 audis. these things are making 400+ hp on "stage 3" upgraded K04 turbos.

I swear I have automotive ADD.

And still popping turbos. Best thing is to get rid off the KKK's.
http://www.atpturbo.com/mm5/merchant...ory_Code=VVWTK


But, this thread was to move the BMW talk out of other threads. Let's not clutter this one up with other make talk.

[vanish1]

Originally Posted by simmode1

Care to elborate on this rule? Is it: either plan to buy to $10k car with all the maintenance done or buy a cheap one & plan to spend $10k taking care if it's maintenance issues?

bingo. Expect to spend $10k on a e36 m3, whether its a 4k car that needs 6k in work or a 10k car thats been cared for. The cooling system and suspension has to be routinely maintained.

[silviasandbeer]

@GEARHEAD make sure its a 6 speed... you dont want the TCM issues that come with the auto. 2000$ fix

ON TOPIC!

why is the e46 disliked by so many in the BMW world
i think its BMW's finest M3 design to date. dont get me wrong, i love the e36 and want one some day, i just dont get it haha

e90s make a great DD. the 325i seems so well built and the 6cyl is buttery smooth
its pretty silly that BMW didnt give it a dip stick so your pretty much putting your eggs in one basket by trusting the oil level sensor
engine temp on the cluster would be nice too

[vanish1]

Originally Posted by silviasandbeer

why is the e46 disliked by so many in the BMW world
i think its BMW's finest M3 design to date. dont get me wrong, i love the e36 and want one some day, i just dont get it haha

e90s make a great DD. the 325i seems so well built and the 6cyl is buttery smooth
its pretty silly that BMW didnt give it a dip stick so your pretty much putting your eggs in one basket by trusting the oil level sensor
engine temp on the cluster would be nice too

E46 gets a lot of love it has its fair share of pros and cons. Much more refined than the E36, better interior, ewsIII can be a con, increased electronics over the E36

E46 M3 is classic, theyve been holding their value pretty well just recently has the lower end of that market dipped below $10k for the ones that need work, smg model, or rebuilt title.

S54 is a great motor, a lot of people have swapped that into their E36 over the euro S50B32

[simmode1]

Originally Posted by vanish1

bingo. Expect to spend $10k on a e36 m3, whether its a 4k car that needs 6k in work or a 10k car thats been cared for. The cooling system and suspension has to be routinely maintained.

That certainly is something to consider. One could find an E36 M3 at roughly the same price as a cared for S14. Gotta weigh out which you'd be happier with after pouring another $6k into it... Hmmm. For a total of $10k, you could pretty easily have an S14 with a BPU SR20 on coils & replica wheels (if you're into that) or a relatively stock, but reliable E36 M3. It's tough to beat the 240 in a battle of which is the better bang for your buck.

[Goofs]

New to the chassis as well. Picked up an E90 sedan in the spring.

Buying this guys wheels as soon as payday comes around.

[gearhead55]

Originally Posted by silviasandbeer

@GEARHEAD make sure its a 6 speed... you dont want the TCM issues that come with the auto. 2000$ fix

Yea i was reading that. I'd only want a 6 spd anyway.

Originally Posted by S14DB

And still popping turbos. Best thing is to get rid off the KKK's.
http://www.atpturbo.com/mm5/merchant...ory_Code=VVWTK


But, this thread was to move the BMW talk out of other threads. Let's not clutter this one up with other make talk.

Too much turbo lag for my tastes

I'll keep it on topic now, my bad!

Originally Posted by Goofs

New to the chassis as well. Picked up an E90 sedan in the spring.

Buying this guys wheels as soon as payday comes around.

Looks good man. What is that color called?

[vanish1]

Originally Posted by simmode1

That certainly is something to consider. One could find an E36 M3 at roughly the same price as a cared for S14. Gotta weigh out which you'd be happier with after pouring another $6k into it... Hmmm. For a total of $10k, you could pretty easily have an S14 with a BPU SR20 on coils & replica wheels (if you're into that) or a relatively stock, but reliable E36 M3. It's tough to beat the 240 in a battle of which is the better bang for your buck.

Ive owned a s13 and s14 in the past. At the time I thought they were great, I still think they are.

now owning the e36 even with how outdated the car is to me in my opinion its still ahead of 240s in regards to refinement.

idk if I would ever own a 240 again if only for nostalgic reasons, I want a s30 first, its my fav car from datsun/nissan I have always dreamed of owning one.

moving on from 240s I really havent looked back, all the different rwd platforms bmw has to offer makes my mind race w/ the diff possibilities.

I would also say in regards to money youre gonna see a better return on your investment w/ the ///M than the S14. Thats just speculation on my part idk what the futures market looks like w/ s14s in regards to their production #s vs the amount lost over the years.

pic of the leather restoration I did on my seats bc I felt like a jabroney having bobo vaders.

[Jsal32]

Are those vader seats recovered/re-dyed/re-worked the same leather?

If its the original leather it looks pretty awesome in pictures. Is it as good in person?.....and if so, how the hell did you get them that way?

Btw, I own an e36 328i 4/5 and it's great.

RWD - check
Manual - check
A/C - check
Decent power for dd - check
4 doors (if you have a family, which I do) - check
Even decent mpg - check


My only pet peeve is that it doesn't have tilt steering wheel and it's high mileage so the interior is kind of beat. Other than that, awesome ride.

-Jose

[vanish1]

I used the leather dye kit from furniture clinic, comes w/ paint and a clear coat, the clear ended up being slightly shinier than the stock matte.

eventually I want to swap out my vaders for some bride eurosters

what color is your e36, ever thought about sourcing a clean interior from a vendor?

pull the headliner, purchase a few yards of real alacantra from gulf fabrics and make it purdy

[kingkilburn]

Doing it wrong.

[simmode1]

So I showed my wife a pic of the nicest red S14 Zenki I could find quickly & then I asked her which she liked better: S14's or this:


Sooo Yeah... Reasonably certain an E36 M3 may be in my future soon. Hmmm...

[vanish1]

lol @ the velvet purple e36, pimpin aint ez, rhd so could be deuce bigalow 2 europe

you got a bmw part # for that hat btw?


@simmode1, which one did your wife like better?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a57t...Uc7VTiCJsXVKcw
bmw hillclimb vid

[simmode1]

The E36 naturally. Her response really surprised me though because she hates old looking boxy cars & and S14 is curvier. The only reason I asked her is because I pointed out an old E30 this past week & she thought it was cute. I was like "WTF you make no sense." Hates old JDM boxy cars, but is ok with german boxy cars.

[vanish1]

[vanish1]

Originally Posted by simmode1

The E36 naturally. Her response really surprised me though because she hates old looking boxy cars & and S14 is curvier. The only reason I asked her is because I pointed out an old E30 this past week & she thought it was cute. I was like "WTF you make no sense." Hates old JDM boxy cars, but is ok with german boxy cars.

e30 w/ m technic kit is the bizzz

next car I want to own is an e30 325ix, rare lil awd sleeper.

[simmode1]

Hmmm... I guess I'm feeling these a little more.

[vanish1]

http://propergarage.com/press/street...man-soul-e36s/

[KA24DESOneThree]

My daily is a '96 M3. I bought it for $3250 and it needed a lot of love, so I replaced the whole suspension. Nothing off the shelf works for the E36 M3, damper-wise, so I'm probably going to redo the suspension next year with custom-valved Bilsteins and a slightly higher spring rate.

They don't like being low. Being low makes them handle poorly and ride like a buckboard wagon. Potential buyers on this website are probably coming from an S13/S14, so they're used to both. Stock steering rack is ludicrously slow- replace with Z3 and be a winner.

E36 M3s are geared low. It makes them seem like they have more power than they actually do, but also makes them lousy highway cruisers. My god do they pull well from about 85, though.

My BMW before this one was an E36 325iS with S50 cams, lightweight flywheel and what I'd suspect was some head work. When it came on VANOS, it was awesome. Could get 33mpg driving sedately. Was on Bilstein Sport/H&R Race, what a crap setup that was.

My first BMW was a one-owner 325i 2-door 5-speed. So clean. I rolled it. Replaced the windshield with no bodywork required, installed the quarter window with no bodywork required, only the passenger door needed a little love to get to close. Best build quality of the bunch, but semi-trailing-arm rear suspension was being done by Son of Dat... in '68.

I kinda want a 2002. Or a Bavaria. Or a euro'd E28. I really want an E39 M5- I drove a 3k mile example in '12 and thought I had scored the holy grail; that car sold for ridiculous money.

[vanish1]

Originally Posted by KA24DESOneThree

My daily is a '96 M3. I bought it for $3250 and it needed a lot of love, so I replaced the whole suspension. Nothing off the shelf works for the E36 M3, damper-wise, so I'm probably going to redo the suspension next year with custom-valved Bilsteins and a slightly higher spring rate.

???? There are aftermarket suspension options available but for a dd street car nothing beats the oem sachs setup. Tckline, dinan, koni, bilsteins and pss9s, raceland, ground control, bimmerworld, h&r, kw, tms

They don't like being low. Being low makes them handle poorly and ride like a buckboard wagon. Potential buyers on this website are probably coming from an S13/S14, so they're used to both. Stock steering rack is ludicrously slow- replace with Z3 and be a winner.

I wouldnt say they dont like being low, I think the case is there are more bmw owners who understand the role of ride height in regards to application, not just slamming it to the floor and calling it a day. Roll center, suspension geometry, center of gravity these concepts arent chassis specific. Steering rack is fine and feels great also unless you want something a lil snappier which the z3 rack does well.

E36 M3s are geared low. It makes them seem like they have more power than they actually do, but also makes them lousy highway cruisers. My god do they pull well from about 85, though.

the lower the # the taller the gear gets, higher # are short. A 3.23 gearing is about as tall as you would want for a 5 speed on a car that was designed for autobahn cruising, the 6 speed getrag that came on the euro e36 and e46 is an option if youre looking for a nice cruising gear.

I kinda want a 2002. Or a Bavaria. Or a euro'd E28. I really want an E39 M5- I drove a 3k mile example in '12 and thought I had scored the holy grail; that car sold for ridiculous money.

all those would be great choices, bavaria is such a rarity I have never seen one on the road. 5 series are great cars as well, I love me some e28 535is' and m5, e34 540i's and m5, and e39 m5s and 540i's, even the 525i's are great platforms.

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by simmode1

The E36 naturally. Her response really surprised me though because she hates old looking boxy cars & and S14 is curvier. The only reason I asked her is because I pointed out an old E30 this past week & she thought it was cute. I was like "WTF you make no sense." Hates old JDM boxy cars, but is ok with german boxy cars.

Because girls love the Euros.

I see ya'llz bargain Bimmers and raise you the $4k Boxster.

[vanish1]

^not bad esp for how cheap theyre becoming.

intrigued to see how far cayman prices will drop, with the way 911s are appreciating I dont think Ill get the chance to own one unless my professional career takes off.

but idk about the boxster havent done enough reading on them, if I was going for a cheap euro roadster the z3 is an interesting choice, mainly bc a zillion parts are interchangeable between them and e36s



EDIT: lemme bridge the gap between 240s and bmws. E28 w/ s13 front suspension
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...E28-with-angle

[Corbic]

Originally Posted by vanish1

^not bad esp for how cheap theyre becoming.

intrigued to see how far cayman prices will drop, with the way 911s are appreciating I dont think Ill get the chance to own one unless my professional career takes off.

Vintage 911s are now bottoming out at $20k and climbing. Everything on them is very affordable except engine internals.

I also own '85 3.2 and because of the recent spike used parts have become stupid expensive.


The 981 Cayman is insanely good. The 987 is still prone to IMS failures and the styling was done half assed. You can pick them up for around $20k as beaters and they will continue to drop. The 996 will also continue to plummet but you'll reach an uncomfortable point where a $10k 996 is just not worth the trouble.

IMS failures and quirky styling is what killed the resale on these cars.

Originally Posted by vanish1

but idk about the boxster havent done enough reading on them,

Boxsters are beast. They do have a laundry list of issue, but so does any European performance car. IMS failure is the big one on a Boxster as it will take out the engine for good. Used engines are $2,500 - $3,000 for a 2.5l.

IMS failure prevention is to install the LME bearing ($670) which requires a tool ($350) or splitting the case.

Like 80% of the 986 Boxster is 996. The interior, while quirky is extremely well built (think B5 A4). The power from the 2.5 and 2.7 is minimal with not big difference. But that 207hp pulls hard from 2k-7k and make sickeningly sweet sounds. Top down, zero wind noise not intrusion. Black magic!!!

Massive Brembos stock with even bigger ones on the S cars. Both transmissions are common VW/Audi units. Just replaced mine for $225.

Lots of parts are commons with VW/Audi.

The car will run circles around a FRS/BRZ and feels tork'ier than a S2k.

Originally Posted by vanish1

if I was going for a cheap euro roadster the z3 is an interesting choice, mainly bc a zillion parts are interchangeable between them and e36s

I'm sure they are cheaper to maintain then a Boxster but boy do I hate the Z3. Fugly car.

I recall the I4 is a complete turd of an engine. M-coupes and Roadsters still go for big money. The interior is also made of spray paint, cardboard and elmer's glue.

[vanish1]

the m44 is good to go, for the z3 its not the appropriate engine but in terms of reliabilty 300,000 miles + is ez for the motor.

gotta factor in that you can pick up a m52 or m44 for a few hundred bucks as well.

[simmode1]

The 986 just looks ugly as hell to me. Can you show some examples of common fixes for that butterface?