[bmwf1360]

HI everyone,

I'm looking to buy a E36 M3 with around 70-80k miles

I have never owned an M car before therefore i don't really have any knowledge on how reliable this cars are,
so far i have heard mixed reviews.

any information would be very helpful to me

Thanks in advance

[Sunny]

I have exactly that, E36 M3 with 74K miles on it .

I am very happy with the reliability and never had any major issues besides regular service - which I think is the key. If the car was maintained well with regular oil services, it should be good to go for a long time. The only issue I had worth mentioning is the driver side window stopped working. Anyway gl in your search.

[coolraoul]

Originally Posted by Sunny

I have exactly that, E36 M3 with 74K miles on it .

I am very happy with the reliability and never had any major issues besides regular service - which I think is the key. If the car was maintained well with regular oil services, it should be good to go for a long time. The only issue I had worth mentioning is the driver side window stopped working. Anyway gl in your search.

Yo, congrats Sunny...My bro had one, he changed it against an e46 330D because of petrol cost...But he is not happy at all with his diesel, he dreams of his M3...He had so much pleasure with it, so much more than with the 330...

So, Sunny's right, an e36 M3 is a very reliable car.

The biggest problem is the VANOS, little piece in front of the motor. You have a VANOS filter to change regularly (when then car is beeing revised) but a lot of people don't do that. Even at BMW they don't know it, sometimes... It is a cheap little pice, but it can lead to massive troubles.



If there is a lot of oil near this piece, you better search another one.

If the motor (when it is at the right temperature of course) makes a kind of "diesel" noise, you see, some clatter coming from the front of the engine, you VANOS is dead and it is not good at all.

The only other major flaw I know, is the rear drivetrain that can have some troubles on certain cars.

Other than that, yes the window motor is fragile, and if it has a passenger airbag you often see the light because of a sensor.

The key is really a regular maintain. never buy one without proof of the services.

The e36 with a good service book, and a good Vanos, is very reliable.
So my advise would be to search one, even a bit more expensive, that is very well maintained.

Like I said my bro had an e36 M3 3.2 Coupe (teckno violine, white leather, around 50,000kms) and he just loved it. Only had to change the window motor (the window did not close properly) and the airbag sensor, that's all, in 30,000kms he did with it. And he used it really like an M3...

[BMW Power]

As sunny mentioned the previous owners service history will basically determine the future. Over here, almost every E36 M3 has been brutalised in serious ways. However it is usually very easy to see a car that has been well looked after. Unfortunately Im not much a technical person, so im not quite sure what to look out for mechanically.

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[bmwf1360]

thanks a lot everyone

that was very helpful