e36 M3
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e36 M3
Looking at these as a possible daily driver and making the s2k the garage queen, ive read a little on them and aside from the cooling system are they a reliable dd? Anyone have any experience with them or own one? and if so what are the common problems/are they reliable enough for a dd. Thanks
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I owned a E36 328is and in general E36's are pretty reliable. The cons that I can think of that are pretty common are that radiators fail at about 100k due to being plastic and the rubber seals around the windows rot. Another thing you may want to think about is that they are super expensive to fix for their age so make sure the car is in very good shape.
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You will probably need a radiator, change the plastic water pump impeller, rear trailing arm bushings, rear sub frame mounts, guibo, shocks, VANOS unit. Those are the common wear/failure items. I had a 97 M3 sedan in college, good cheap all around car if you want a daily that's still sporty.
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From: Harvest, AL
I've got a 98 M3 Sedan that I daily. It has a couple of small things I have replaced but nothing over $100. As long as you inspect it and make sure all the subframe connections are good, along with what others have said, you should be ok. PM me if you need anymore info.
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From: fairfield county
i cannot stress enough to you, do not buy an M3 that has no maintenance records! i recently (March) bought a 99' Estoril Blue M3, i always wanted one and decided i had to have one before they were all gone. Car had 104k miles and i paid $8k for it. Since then i have spent well over $4k on fixes/Maintenance, and that is considered "Normal" for a 100k mile M3. Here is a list of what i have fixed:
Radiator (previous Owner)
Water Pump (previous Owner)
Thermostat (previous Owner)
Clutch (previous Owner)
Coil Packs
Tune up (spark plugs, oil change, fluids, etc)
Rear Trailing arm Bushings
Guibo
Center Support bearing
Window Regulator (these are riveted into the door and a real PITA)
Seat Belt sensors (these are common to go bad and cause your airbag light to be on, will not pass inspection without them fixed, expensive for what they are $350)
Heater/AC relay
Climate Control unit needs to be rebuilt (Every E36 has this issue, guy online rebuilds them for $50 with a lifetime warranty, i had to replace mine because a resitor leaked on the board)
Rear strut tower (these weaken over time, factory parts are only $10 but it requires a very experienced Welder to replace them as the old ones need to be cut from the car)
Rear Strut Mount (replace with Aluminum or better aftermarket piece)
Struts
Car has spent more time being worked on than on the road, If you want a daily driver i would skip the M3 unless you find one that has all these things done. Some sound trivial, but if your Climate control unit goes in the summer no A/C. if your strut tower rips out while driving, bye bye rear end. if your Water pump or Radiator fails, could overheat the motor.
As a car, it is a blast to drive (when i get to), i certainly regret buying my specific car, but if i found a really clean low mileage M3 with records, i would love to have it in my stable, just not as a daily IMHO. It's too risky and you will spend $5-$10k on the car and $3-$6k in Maintnance, you can buy a much better car for $16k without the headaches.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Radiator (previous Owner)
Water Pump (previous Owner)
Thermostat (previous Owner)
Clutch (previous Owner)
Coil Packs
Tune up (spark plugs, oil change, fluids, etc)
Rear Trailing arm Bushings
Guibo
Center Support bearing
Window Regulator (these are riveted into the door and a real PITA)
Seat Belt sensors (these are common to go bad and cause your airbag light to be on, will not pass inspection without them fixed, expensive for what they are $350)
Heater/AC relay
Climate Control unit needs to be rebuilt (Every E36 has this issue, guy online rebuilds them for $50 with a lifetime warranty, i had to replace mine because a resitor leaked on the board)
Rear strut tower (these weaken over time, factory parts are only $10 but it requires a very experienced Welder to replace them as the old ones need to be cut from the car)
Rear Strut Mount (replace with Aluminum or better aftermarket piece)
Struts
Car has spent more time being worked on than on the road, If you want a daily driver i would skip the M3 unless you find one that has all these things done. Some sound trivial, but if your Climate control unit goes in the summer no A/C. if your strut tower rips out while driving, bye bye rear end. if your Water pump or Radiator fails, could overheat the motor.
As a car, it is a blast to drive (when i get to), i certainly regret buying my specific car, but if i found a really clean low mileage M3 with records, i would love to have it in my stable, just not as a daily IMHO. It's too risky and you will spend $5-$10k on the car and $3-$6k in Maintnance, you can buy a much better car for $16k without the headaches.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
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i cannot stress enough to you, do not buy an M3 that has no maintenance records! i recently (March) bought a 99' Estoril Blue M3, i always wanted one and decided i had to have one before they were all gone. Car had 104k miles and i paid $8k for it. Since then i have spent well over $4k on fixes/Maintenance, and that is considered "Normal" for a 100k mile M3. Here is a list of what i have fixed:
Radiator (previous Owner)
Water Pump (previous Owner)
Thermostat (previous Owner)
Clutch (previous Owner)
Coil Packs
Tune up (spark plugs, oil change, fluids, etc)
Rear Trailing arm Bushings
Guibo
Center Support bearing
Window Regulator (these are riveted into the door and a real PITA)
Seat Belt sensors (these are common to go bad and cause your airbag light to be on, will not pass inspection without them fixed, expensive for what they are $350)
Heater/AC relay
Climate Control unit needs to be rebuilt (Every E36 has this issue, guy online rebuilds them for $50 with a lifetime warranty, i had to replace mine because a resitor leaked on the board)
Rear strut tower (these weaken over time, factory parts are only $10 but it requires a very experienced Welder to replace them as the old ones need to be cut from the car)
Rear Strut Mount (replace with Aluminum or better aftermarket piece)
Struts
Car has spent more time being worked on than on the road, If you want a daily driver i would skip the M3 unless you find one that has all these things done. Some sound trivial, but if your Climate control unit goes in the summer no A/C. if your strut tower rips out while driving, bye bye rear end. if your Water pump or Radiator fails, could overheat the motor.
As a car, it is a blast to drive (when i get to), i certainly regret buying my specific car, but if i found a really clean low mileage M3 with records, i would love to have it in my stable, just not as a daily IMHO. It's too risky and you will spend $5-$10k on the car and $3-$6k in Maintnance, you can buy a much better car for $16k without the headaches.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Radiator (previous Owner)
Water Pump (previous Owner)
Thermostat (previous Owner)
Clutch (previous Owner)
Coil Packs
Tune up (spark plugs, oil change, fluids, etc)
Rear Trailing arm Bushings
Guibo
Center Support bearing
Window Regulator (these are riveted into the door and a real PITA)
Seat Belt sensors (these are common to go bad and cause your airbag light to be on, will not pass inspection without them fixed, expensive for what they are $350)
Heater/AC relay
Climate Control unit needs to be rebuilt (Every E36 has this issue, guy online rebuilds them for $50 with a lifetime warranty, i had to replace mine because a resitor leaked on the board)
Rear strut tower (these weaken over time, factory parts are only $10 but it requires a very experienced Welder to replace them as the old ones need to be cut from the car)
Rear Strut Mount (replace with Aluminum or better aftermarket piece)
Struts
Car has spent more time being worked on than on the road, If you want a daily driver i would skip the M3 unless you find one that has all these things done. Some sound trivial, but if your Climate control unit goes in the summer no A/C. if your strut tower rips out while driving, bye bye rear end. if your Water pump or Radiator fails, could overheat the motor.
As a car, it is a blast to drive (when i get to), i certainly regret buying my specific car, but if i found a really clean low mileage M3 with records, i would love to have it in my stable, just not as a daily IMHO. It's too risky and you will spend $5-$10k on the car and $3-$6k in Maintnance, you can buy a much better car for $16k without the headaches.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Is that 4k including labor?
If yes, wouldnt the clutch alone take up ~1.5k of that - which at 100k is reasonable?
PS: OP, get a PPI for peace of mind. Almost as important as records IMO.
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Joined: Jul 2003
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From: fairfield county
Originally Posted by dav9515' timestamp='1321904586' post='21174975
i cannot stress enough to you, do not buy an M3 that has no maintenance records! i recently (March) bought a 99' Estoril Blue M3, i always wanted one and decided i had to have one before they were all gone. Car had 104k miles and i paid $8k for it. Since then i have spent well over $4k on fixes/Maintenance, and that is considered "Normal" for a 100k mile M3. Here is a list of what i have fixed:
Radiator (previous Owner)
Water Pump (previous Owner)
Thermostat (previous Owner)
Clutch (previous Owner)
Coil Packs
Tune up (spark plugs, oil change, fluids, etc)
Rear Trailing arm Bushings
Guibo
Center Support bearing
Window Regulator (these are riveted into the door and a real PITA)
Seat Belt sensors (these are common to go bad and cause your airbag light to be on, will not pass inspection without them fixed, expensive for what they are $350)
Heater/AC relay
Climate Control unit needs to be rebuilt (Every E36 has this issue, guy online rebuilds them for $50 with a lifetime warranty, i had to replace mine because a resitor leaked on the board)
Rear strut tower (these weaken over time, factory parts are only $10 but it requires a very experienced Welder to replace them as the old ones need to be cut from the car)
Rear Strut Mount (replace with Aluminum or better aftermarket piece)
Struts
Car has spent more time being worked on than on the road, If you want a daily driver i would skip the M3 unless you find one that has all these things done. Some sound trivial, but if your Climate control unit goes in the summer no A/C. if your strut tower rips out while driving, bye bye rear end. if your Water pump or Radiator fails, could overheat the motor.
As a car, it is a blast to drive (when i get to), i certainly regret buying my specific car, but if i found a really clean low mileage M3 with records, i would love to have it in my stable, just not as a daily IMHO. It's too risky and you will spend $5-$10k on the car and $3-$6k in Maintnance, you can buy a much better car for $16k without the headaches.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Radiator (previous Owner)
Water Pump (previous Owner)
Thermostat (previous Owner)
Clutch (previous Owner)
Coil Packs
Tune up (spark plugs, oil change, fluids, etc)
Rear Trailing arm Bushings
Guibo
Center Support bearing
Window Regulator (these are riveted into the door and a real PITA)
Seat Belt sensors (these are common to go bad and cause your airbag light to be on, will not pass inspection without them fixed, expensive for what they are $350)
Heater/AC relay
Climate Control unit needs to be rebuilt (Every E36 has this issue, guy online rebuilds them for $50 with a lifetime warranty, i had to replace mine because a resitor leaked on the board)
Rear strut tower (these weaken over time, factory parts are only $10 but it requires a very experienced Welder to replace them as the old ones need to be cut from the car)
Rear Strut Mount (replace with Aluminum or better aftermarket piece)
Struts
Car has spent more time being worked on than on the road, If you want a daily driver i would skip the M3 unless you find one that has all these things done. Some sound trivial, but if your Climate control unit goes in the summer no A/C. if your strut tower rips out while driving, bye bye rear end. if your Water pump or Radiator fails, could overheat the motor.
As a car, it is a blast to drive (when i get to), i certainly regret buying my specific car, but if i found a really clean low mileage M3 with records, i would love to have it in my stable, just not as a daily IMHO. It's too risky and you will spend $5-$10k on the car and $3-$6k in Maintnance, you can buy a much better car for $16k without the headaches.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Is that 4k including labor?
If yes, wouldnt the clutch alone take up ~1.5k of that - which at 100k is reasonable?
PS: OP, get a PPI for peace of mind. Almost as important as records IMO.
Anything that i say was done by Previous owner was bought and paid for by them. I have spent an ADDITIONAL $4k to the Clutch and Coolant system that was done by the previous owner. My cost is parts and some labor as there were somethings i couldnt do without a lift, i.e. the Rear Trailing arm Bushings and the Guibo. Also the Rear strut tower required a professional welder.
Good Luck!
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