Possibly buying a used E36 M3 (OBD I or OBD II?)

[Deutscher Konnt]

Due to very favorable unforeseen circumstances, I have found myself looking for a used E36 M3. Due to the horrible condition that the car market is in, now looks like an excellent time to buy and I have decided that I would like to buy either a 95 OBD I or 96-99 OBD II M3 (my current car is a 98 328i). However, its quite difficult to find a 95 M3 in excellent mechanical/ interior/exterior condition these days so the newer OBD II M3 looks like a better choice from the used condition standpoint. My question here is, exactly how restrictive is OBD II (I know that it brings the 3.2 liter down to the 240 hp of the 3.0 liter OBD I)? Furthermore, if I was to do the OBD II to OBD I conversion, would I gain any horsepower just by following through with it, or would it only help with hp gains on my third party modifying of the car? What other differences are there between these two E36 M3 models that I should know about (no matter how minor, I am only aware of the addition of automatic climate control on the newer 96-99 models)? Any help concerning this would be very much appreciated.

[Deutscher Konnt]

<>-Stoß-<>

[jblack]

I don't know if you know, but the conversion is illegal to do.... and you will fail if your city/county/state does emission testing that requires plugging into the OBD II port (as you would not have that). There are plenty of mods for the OBD II 3.2 - unless you are trying to squeeze the last ounce out of the car, just mod the 3.2.

[Deutscher Konnt]

Originally posted by jblack
I don't know if you know, but the conversion is illegal to do.... and you will fail if your city/county/state does emission testing that requires plugging into the OBD II port (as you would not have that). There are plenty of mods for the OBD II 3.2 - unless you are trying to squeeze the last ounce out of the car, just mod the 3.2.

Yes, I am well aware of that, however, I live in Florida. Active Autowerks does it on a regular basis here and due to the lack of emissions testing, no one pays attention. I know three people who have done it on their OBD II M3 engines and have had absolutely no problem using it as a daily driver.

[jblack]

No doubt you are the norm, not the exception on testing. With that problem solved, the last sentence still stands....There are plenty of mods for the OBD II 3.2 - unless you are trying to squeeze the last ounce out of the car, just mod the 3.2.

[Deutscher Konnt]

Originally posted by jblack
No doubt you are the norm, not the exception on testing. With that problem solved, the last sentence still stands....There are plenty of mods for the OBD II 3.2 - unless you are trying to squeeze the last ounce out of the car, just mod the 3.2.

Thanks for the help, I'm much more heavily banking on the OBD II M3. So, if I was to do the OBD II to OBD I conversion, would I gain any horsepower just by following through with it, or would it only help with hp gains on my third party modifying of the car? That question still perplexes me...

[96technoM3]

I beleive the answer is yes you will gain horsepower by just doing the OBDII to I coversion. I am not speaking from experience but I have read other posts on this and other forums with people making around 270 crank hp (30 over stock) with no other modifications. I think it also allows you to use a 540 or euro M3 hfm also because the OBD1 conversion uses the 3.0 intake manifold. Correct me if im wrong guys but I hope this was at least a start to your answer