Finally back!

[SS Ball3r]

It's been 6-7 years and I am finally back and looking for another bimmer. I am finally in a financial position where I can finally put some money down on a project and actually see it through. I have had 1 e30, 2 e36's, and an e46 in the past, and always find myself coming back.

I am no Stranger to BMW's, and I used to lurk this forum all the time. I ended up leaving the scene after having a really bad experience with an e46 with a catastrophically failed subframe. After that i swore off bummers and bought a mustang gt. Great car, handled ok with aftermarket mods and had the power and sound. After that I bought another bimmer which had a number of issues and due to the job i have and the situation i was in family wise I traded it in for a 2013 FR-S. The FR-s is a really fun car, but i am tired of dealing with a glass like transmission, high cost of mods, and the lack of real power potential.

I am changing jobs the first of the year and am getting a company vehicle to drive. To me, this means I can find a good project and finally fix all of the issues and really build it form the ground up. I guess m question in all of tis is, what's changed since 2007? Are the e36's finally starting to show more subframe issues due to age? are the e46's becoming a better track option as prices are coming down? Where would you start your search if you had a clean slat at this point?

I am really excited to get back into a bummer again, ditch my car payment, and finally have a project to work on again.

[pbonsalb]

E36, E46 or E92 depending on what you want. $500 tune and a 335i really moves and prices are in the teens and it is a modern car. E46 M3 is great and it seems you know the issues. E36 M3 is 20 years old. How much of a project do you want? What is your budget to buy the car? And the project?

[SS Ball3r]

I would love a 335 coupe, but there is no way I can afford one unfortunately. It would be the same as me owning the FR-S and making payments on it still. Same with the e46 M3. I'm really looking for a budget buy that can be built into a track oriented street driven car for weekend drives, occasional track duty, road trips to the mountain roads, etc.

I am highly mechanically inclined and want a project, especially since its not going to be a DD like all of my previous cars have always been hence me never bringing a project to completion. I always wanted to build a turbo e36, and it looks more anymore that the tuning has gotten much easier then when I was last in the game. I am definitely set on either ran e36 or e46, more towards the e36 since I know the chases appears to be stronger and I had a bad experience in the past. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe the e46 has begun proving itself as a good tuner platform? Thats kinda what I'm trying to decide on.

[pbonsalb]

Turbo E36 is easy and fun. Can cost anywhere from a few thousand to several times that, depending on how much power you want, the quality of parts you use and how nicely you want to do it. The more power the more supporting mods and expense. Check out the FI subforum; turbo E36 owners like me contribute regularly.

[RCL]

It seems like you'd spend a lot of money maintaining and modding an older bmw where as you could just pay more initially for a newer car. There is something to be said for newer chassis, tech, engines etc...

I'm selling my 2011 328i for 14,800. I'm sure you could find an 08 for around 10k if you looked, maybe cheaper? A little more would get you into a 335.

[pbonsalb]

In 2005 I bought my 99 M3. Supercharged it in 2006. Turbocharged it in 2010. Today I would buy a 2008 335i and mod that.