Looking to buy 2nd 3 series.. need some advice !

[shepo1]

HI.. Looking for some advice from the experts. I am a new BMW enthusiast. 2 years ago I picked up a 97 328i with the idea of making it into a drift car, but fell in love with it. So now its my DD. But looking for a bit more power and fun. SO, been reading and learning about e36 E46 3 series.. Right now i have 4 cars I am looking at.

1) 1997 M3 4 door. 157,000 miles. looks like ok shape, needs paint and restore for sure, $2300.00 ( Not sure about what else has been done to it as far as any upgrades or correction of known E36 issues)

2) 1998 M3 4 door. 191.000 miles. $4900.00 Not sure if is in any better shape then car 1 ( car was cali..so no rust, but dipped)

3) 2005 325ci 88,000 with lots of mods $6500.00 Paint and body 9 out of 10 (Mods: Vortec V3 supercharger, slotted rotors ,brakes,aftermarket exhaust with header Flowmaster muffler,diamonds racing clutch,short shifter ,car has a tune, Snow performance water-methanol injection,lowered 1 1/2 inches all around lowering springs and suspension strut bar MSD coils spark plug . Should be making about 400 Hp.. )

4) 1998 M3 2 door 143,000 miles. $7500.00 Condition is excellent No or very limited rust Stored winters. Upgrades :
-Eibach Pro springs, Bilstein sports shocks in the front and Koni yellow adjustables in the rear
-ECU remap from Turner Motorsports to only burn premium fuel, 20mm front spacers, Lower cross-brace, Ireland engineering strut brace, Reiger front lip, AFE cold air intake, Euro radiator cover, New OEM radiator and water pump, Mateo motorsports rear diffuser, MagnaFlow muffler-has a nice deep rumble but doesn't drone at highway speeds, The roof lining was redone with alcantara


Which would you go for ??
Here is my take
Car 1) Seems like good price, will need work
Car 2) Price seems high, also will need work
Car 3) Sounds like a monster ( 400HP) but concerned about reliability with Super charger and methonal injection and tune.
Car 4) Minimal work needed, price seems fair. ( but a bit out of my range at the moment, but could come up with it if i had to)

Thanks for any input .. car 1.jpgcar 2.jpgcar 3.jpgCar 4.jpg

[TostitoBandito]

It mostly depends on what you want to do with it. Do you want someone else's DIY project, or do you want a blank canvas you can mod yourself?

My opinions:
#1 - That's dirt cheap, must be stuff wrong with it. From the pic, it looks like they painted the molding and door handles, and it's got aftermarket wheels of some sort. If the engine, drivetrain, and suspension are all reasonable and the interior meets whatever your standards are, the price seems right. As I said though, there must be stuff wrong with this.

#2 - This only makes sense if the paint is in good shape under all that. If there's damage, it's too much $.

#3 - Sounds like this person put a relatively cheap supercharger kit and some other mods on, but it's only on lowering springs. Doesn't look like they really beefed up the suspension at all, just lowered it. You're right to worry about the reliability of someone else's FI project, especially at this price point. Use extreme caution here.

#4 - Seems reasonable. Not a fan of all those mods, but there's some decent stuff on there and everything could fairly easily be changed if you want. Weird that he has different shocks front/rear. Probably the best of your options in terms of a ready-to-drive car, IMO.

[pbonsalb]

I like #4. #3 does not make 400 hp. The 2.5L M54 makes about 170. The Vortech blower might add 50% or 85 hp to that. Raise the boost further without detonation thanks to the water meth injection for another 45 hp. Call it 300 hp. And that's at the crank, not the rear wheels. Id buy an E36M3 or E46 330i over #3.

[ChuckDizzle]

If it were my choice, I'd lean towards option number 4.

[shepo1]

Thanks for the input.. #4 looks like a nice well taken car of ride.. unfortunately, it is 3+ hours away.. lol. figures..

[Mr Estoril]

3 hours is nothing for the right car.

[pizzaman09]

Skip the supercharged 325. I drove one, same setup as described, it just wasn't great. It was quick but it wasn't M car quick. The way the power came on wasn't particularly fascinating either, my e36 328is was a much more fun car to drive than the supercharged 325ix I drove.

[iSeeiTake]

#4. By the time you get 1 and 2 to where 4 is you will have spent more than if you bought 4 in the first place. Also 1 and 2 looks like nothing but trouble.


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