e34 m5 vs e36 m3

[320ise]

as on the trader web site you could get either for 5k (i know it aint gonna be the best example at that money) but what would be the more reliable choice at this age and price taking into consideration the fun factor of both cars what would you choose? i am personally a bit torn but think the e34 would win as ive only driven a 320i coupe e36 and didnt rate it that much! let me know either way its a scooby killer for pennys!

[Ziggy]

... but won't cost pennies to run. As long as you can afford that, I'd prefer an e34.

[casper8r]

I haven't driven any M-cars but they definitely require a lot of maintenance and are expensive to fix when they break. I wouldn't consider 5K pennies and you could probably buy a lot of scooby for that money which would have at least the same performance and probably cheaper parts too, so the price/performance argument doesn't stand. IMHO it's not a head purchase, it's all heart. How about a test drive? I'd probably go for an M5 if I'd have to choose, it's more of a classic and doesn't remind me of max-power cars as much as an e36 does.

[Trise30rally]

E36 m3 evo is quicker, i know, i own one! i wouldn't buy a cheap one, my mate just bought a cheap 4 door for 3.5k and he has spent more than that putting it right! there was nothing much wrong with it, it just needed new controll arms, bit of paint work, new bushes brake disks etc etc!

I just serviced my m3, nothing special, oil change, gearbox oil, diff oil, new disks and pads etc etc, quick £800

If you are buying an m3 or m5 you need one that is well looked after and had the maintainance kept up to date because otherwise you will spend what you have saved putting it right.

[ric325i]

the e34 m5 is a great car and has been considered a better drivers car even though its bigger. but its not that much bigger.

the e36 is exciting me more and more but it is considered as the worst M-car ever made. but thats in standard form, some suspension mods and anti roll bars would save the car and make it more focused. imo.


def drive them both and choose. and if your thinking of a scooby killer then crack on but 5k on a scooby with slight work would distroy those M-cars. buy a subaru legacy....thats a good car bit of a sleeper until you hear the sound track


either of the M-cars will be sweet with some work but i would (after a long time thinking) take the m3 with plenty of handling mods just because it would be more nimble. actually.............tough choice

[BIGJO]

E36's are way too common these days. However, an Estoril Blue Evo would be very lush!

With these M power cars you need to be able to afford the maintenance...beware!

[low325icab]

E36's are way too common these days. However, an Estoril Blue Evo would be very lush!

With these M power cars you need to be able to afford the maintenance...beware!

like this you mean?


i had this a year now and just cant keep out of it! amazing car with great
performance. they can be expensive to run/repair if taken to bmw, i have a good mate who works at bmw so parts and repair bills thankfully dont cost me much at all. the worse thing to go wrong so far is a broken diff bracket i broke at santa pod lol. 20 quid for the part an 20 quid to put on. but you do have to keep on top of things otherwise it can get costly.

[maxfield]

I would go for the E34. As much as the E36 is a great car, it's owned by too many council types and is very common.

E34 M5 is an awesome machine!

[fuzzy]

id personally prefer the e34 m5 just to be that little bit different. especially in rare touring form. id consider the e34 to have been owned by the sort of person who is more likely to have treated their car well over the years compared to the more common younger drivered e36 m3.id probably also go for the cheaper available as long as its basically sound purely because if i then do work to get it up to scratch i then know whats definately been done and not having to take the word of the seller who have been known to tell the odd fib when selling cars.

[tlee]

I would go for the E36 since I was going to get one back at Christmas but that fell through. As for Scooby killer - there really isn't anything to touch a £4000 STi - I used to have one. Round the track and especially on the road nothing could keep with it. However, the drive was a bit boring and safe hence the change to an E36 (I bought a 328 as a track car a few weeks ago)

[jaistanley]

I used to think of the E36 M3 as a bit of a brage but a friend bought a fairly low mileage 3.0 GT recently.. Poor sod had to replace the dampers so went out and put a full set of new rubber bushes on it, a set of bilstein inverted shocks and a new set of conti sports tyres and it totally changed my mind about them.. It's a fantastic car to drive now. I would personally still ditch the wierd steering rack and possibly add a set of adjustable antiroll bars.

The only trouble is the chavs that pay it attention.

Jai