BMW E36 M3...where to get?

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imported_grease

New member
Hey, Im looking for a 1994 E36 M3. I know they are very rare, and Ive looked around a bit, but havent found anyone selling 1. Does anyone know of any private sales or any dealership just looking for the right price/customer? :)



Id also be willing to look at any E36 M3, if the price is good and/or the condition of the car is great (no salvage, etc )



Thanks!
 
I didn't know they made a 94 M3...they definitely did not in the USA. There are plenty of E36 M3's to be had 95-99 that are decently priced (Low teens) in good condition but then again this is in the USA. Sorry but I can't really help with Newfoundland...
 
1994 E36 M3 = Euro Spec. They can be pretty costly. There was one listed on http:maxbimmer.org a couple of days ago. Have a look there.
 
I got mine (gee, I'll be selling it this year too...'97 Byzanz metallic sedan. Automatic though..) from Enthusiast Auto: Main. They sorta specialize in BMWs of that vintage and they often have a good selection.

Last time I spoke with him their phone was 513.257.7515. THey are honest guys and I have no problem recommending them. They're located in Cincinnati, OH but buy/sell/ship all over.
 
Awahl Yea, the 1994 M3 only came to Canada as a Euro-spec, 285 hp. All the E36 M3's that came to the US, plus the 1997+ M3's in Canada had the 240 hp version. There were other differences as well...



Holden Quite expensive compared to other years, yes, but worth it imho. :) Arguably the best M3 to ever come to N.America. Thanks for the help!



Accumulator Ive allready assumed that to get a good version of any E36 M3, I may have to take a trip to California, so a shop in OH would only be closer than what I expected. Thanks for the #, Ill see what I can find.
 
JustinDetail- Yikes, you've had *five* of 'em?!? You're as bad as I am about certain cars :o Yeah, if you're that into e36's I'm not surprised you've spoken with Eric.



I'm *probably* just gonna sell mine back to him..I wouldn't mind letting him make a bit off this car (for the second time :D ).
 
grease- Sorry, no pics of mine...it's trimless, covered with towels and masking tape, and about 1/3 corrected anyhow; I got distracted in the middle of a major reconditioning and haven't gotten back to it :o



When I finally get it pic-worthy you'll probably see it on EnthusiastAuto's website under "current inventory" :D
 
^^^When you finally do sell it back to Kellers, let me know? While it is an auto, theres something to be said for knowing that an older sports sedan has been well taken care of. Maybe instead of a M3, a project E36 could be more fun :)
 
Yeah, Accumulator, I've had (5) E36's, but only 2 of them ///M cars. A 95 Avus blue and a 98 Dakar. The others were a 97 328i, 92 325i, and 92 325is, oh wait, and my first car, a 95 318is. Shoot, that's SIX! hehe. Had one other model, a 91 318is E30. Cool little car. I don't like current BMW's for the money, hence my driving a 2007 350Z.
 
Grease & JustinDetail- Heh heh, I thought it'd make for a cool project too..but the more I worked on it the more I realized that it really needs a paintjob to make me happy (maybe a supercharger too ;) ). Parts of it were previously repainted (and not very well to put it politely) and the rest of it, well, needs paint IMO and I have too much money in it already. I'm rotarying it to death trying to get the marring out :o



Not sure how well-treated it was before I got it, but I do think I've sorted out all the mechanical issues. The undercarriage cleaned up pretty well, though I didn't do the rear anti-swaybar and IMO it needs refinished.



I'll post some heads-up when (?"if"? :nixweiss ) I decide to give it to Eric, it'll probably be on consignment rather than a straight (wholesale price) disposal.



It oughta be a great car for somebody, especially at the price (I'm gonna lose a fortune on it)...IIRC they only made 100 of 'em in that color and this one has a weird factory mix of Euro/US-market stuff as it was sold in Germany but as a US-spec car (German businessman who knew he was being transferred to US, or at least that's the story I heard).



I gotta say that the automatic really isn't my cup of tea on that car though...and I'm not a slushbox-basher as a rule. Some cars just aren't right without a stickshift and IMO the M3 is one of 'em. Funny as I specifically *wanted* an auto for this application (spare runabout car). But I'm probably influenced by my previous experiences with manual shift ones (including driving them at Skip Barber back in the early '90s); I had a few M3s before, but all of those were sticks.
 
Wonder how the 6-speed would work in US-traffic use :think: I never felt the 5-speeds were lacking myself, it was always easy to stay in the powerband and the spacing seemed good. A lot of the 6-speeds I've driven seemed to have the extra ratio for reasons I didn't appreciate, but I haven't driven all that many of 'em.
 
The ratios in the Euro 6 speed are nearly the same 1-5 as the 5 speed box, it just has that extra gear for lower rpm highway cruising. So, a lot of guys swap out the stock 3.15/3.23 for something more aggressive like a 3.64 or 3.73. Then the 6 th gear is about the same rpm as stock gearing and a 5 speed.



But I do hear ya on the crazy close gearing in cars like the RSX Type S, or Subaru STi. Neither of those hit even 60 in 2nd gear. Crazy close gearing.
 
Yeah, I couldn't use 6th in the Mallett 'vette until I got 3.73s and even then I hardly ever wanted it.



I bet some lower gears would really wake my M3 up, but if I were gonna spend more I'd consider paintwork...or storage space! I oughta spend more time compounding and less time posting so I can get that thing to Eric :o I hope the next owner doesn't park it in the sun too often..I shudder to think what my ETG would say about the amount of clear that's left :nervous:
 
One of you has had 6 E36's, and the other has a Mallet Vette and an S8 among others...You guys are doing a great job of making me jealous. :)



JustinDetail, didn't the E36 M3 over here come with a 6 speed at one point? I've seen one in a E36 M3 before, and I could have sworn the owner said it was OEM.



Accumulator, how much has your vette been "mallett'ed" ? :) 427?
 
grease said:
JustinDetail, didn't the E36 M3 over here come with a 6 speed at one point? I've seen one in a E36 M3 before, and I could have sworn the owner said it was OEM.
Click to expand...



The 6 speed manual was OE in the European M3's with the 3.2 (96-99) for sure, not sure on the 3.0 liter (93-95), 286hp one. I think that came with the 5 speed std, not sure. But to answer, your question, the first 3 series model to ever come with a 6 speed manual in the US market was with the introduction of the E46 M3 in 2001. Follwed by the 2003 330i performance package (zhp).
 
Strange. You guys are right...the 6 speed ratios are virtually the same as the 5 speed ratios for 1-5. 6th is a 0.85, so basically just an economy gear.



The strange part is that I could have sworn that US M3s had posted better 0-60mph times than the earlier euro spec model with more hp and torque. I had always chalked that up to the fact that the 6 speed might not have been geared for 60mph until 3rd, thus requiring an additional shift. But if the ratios are basically the same, that probably wouldn't be it.



So it would seem I've either remembered it incorrectly, been misinformed or there's some other culprit (500 lbs of ballast in the trunk?). :)
 
grease said:
Accumulator, how much has your vette been "mallett'ed" ? :) 427?
Click to expand...



Nah, I had a "396-plus". There's an old thread somewhere in the Car and Driver Forum where I discussed why I traded it towards the S8. Short version: Sold my Porsche 'cause I couldn't fit with a helmet, had the Mallett built...but my life changed and I quit doing track stuff for the most part. Even with the smaller displacement engine, the Mallett was simply frustrating to drive on the street...you know, the old "it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow" thing; the car was boring at public-road speeds (and for me those are some fairly high speeds ;) ). I simply wasn't gonna spend enough time on tracks to appreciate it and I actually cover ground faster in the (less conspicuous) S8- cops who'd pull the 'vette over in a second let me off with dirty looks in the Audi.



That was sorta the same thinking when I bought the e36 M3...I knew I like driving them and it's just "imperfect" enough that I can enjoy it on the street. A "better" one wouldn't take any real driver involvement until "go directly to jail" speeds. Ditto for my '84 RX-7 GSL-SE ...it's not *fast* but it's *fun* to drive well.
 
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