e36 m3 questions

[JC1989]

im after an e36 m3 next but not sure wether to go for the evo or not
obvisly the evo has more bhp , but i hear it has two vanos units compared the the m3 that only has one, and i hear it is common for these to go? (and expensive?)
also is there any other things to look out for on these cars
cheers
Jack

[Jhonno]

Rust and more rust. Buy on condition.

[capri_rob]

The youngest of these turds has now seen 13 winters.

M Tax on consumable items which will be past their best by now - suspension, exhausts etc - as well as potential rust issues.

Epic cars though - I still want one

[harry_p]

vanos is yet another issue made up to sound worse than it is by specialists trying to earn money. yes, they do sometimes go wrong, and yes they can be expensive to fix, it doesnt mean theyre all ticking time bombs though.

in other countries the vanos 'issue' barely gets a mention.

apparently the earlier rollsroyce made units are stronger though.

my vanos grumbles a bit, and has done for the past 50,000 miles, you can still feel the swell in the torque curve as it swings into action, and the car still feels properly quick so it's not getting touched.

yes, there is an 'm tax' on some parts, but there are a lot of breakers out there with bits (far more than there ever were for e30 m3 parts for example) and if you do some research before hand a lot of parts are shared with normal e36s.

exahsuts are stainless steel as standard so shouldnt need replacing (although manifolds and flexis can crack) most bushes are shared with the normal e36 range, oe spec sachs rear dampers are around £70 each, fronts more like £150 a corner, front balljoints can be pressed out and e30 ones used.

yes, parts from bmw are expensive, and yes some parts are m3 specific with a pricetag to match. i.e evo front disks are £350+ a pair, and only available from a few suppliers (so give them a good look and use as a potential bargaining point if they either need replacing soon, or it's had cheaper one piece disks fitted)

i still think mine is a superb car, it hasnt got the e30 magic, but it makes up for it by being a lot more grownup, a lot more useable day to day, and massively faster (and more economical) too!

[penton08]

I would buy the best car i could find regardless of it being a evo or a 3.0l, In the real world there is not much difference between the two engines and a good 3.0l will keep up with a rough evo!! There are some slight chassis tweeks on the evo that do seem to sharpen it up a little and make it feel more planted.

Finding a good one will be your biggest issue as there are plenty of clocked/crashed/rung/rotten turds about. There are also some genuine bargains

[JC1989]

cheers, i think ill keep a look out then ,

[mabz]

are you after a coupe or a vert,ive had a few if you need any advice?harryp pretty much nailed it on the head but usual rust issues are:
rear arches
front wings behind arch liners
cills
passenger side bonnet seam near the bonnet struts
bootlid underneath removable trim/numberplate light surrounds.
thats all i have come across and ive had 5.
current one has only just clocked 70k so its rust free which is good.

[Tay]

the vanos problem isn't that bad as it is just the unit that goes, and it is unusual for the timing cups to get chewed, so you can do a diy job and remove and replace the unit yourself with out having to lift the cams to get the cups out!

3.0l had issues with chewing the big ends but i'm sure few people who still run them haven't had any trouble,

all the parts are availible from ecp so you won't be paying over the odds at bmw,

as above a good place to check first is that it's got the jacking point rubbers are there as the 36's without them fill up with water and rot the sills out usually around the rear ones,

the rear arches and wings start to go,

aircon condensers are expensive for the m3 too so worth a check!

all the above thats been mentioned is repairable,

possibly the worst thing other that the big ends going is the diff's front mounting bush, with hard use they crack and break the mounting on the sub frame, worth a good check and possible weld a re inforcing plate on there to prevent it, as if it breaks you'll either be charged for a new/second hand sub frame or you maybe able to find someone to weld it up for you!!!

if your looking for an evo pop the bonnet and when idleing flick the throttle, you should be able to hear the engine suddenly crack into life as if it just slowly revs the vanos isn't doing it's job properly, but a rattle will give that away anyway!