E36 Content: 1995 M3 Convertible

[NC325iC]

thank you both for understanding the point

[Julien]

I am surprised at the amount of butt-hurt that this car is apparently causing you ladies.

what PHYSICALLY makes this car NOT an M3, other than the convertible-ness, and maybe lack of the subframe cross-bracing? No, and don't say "well the VIN says....", I want ACTUAL TANGIBLE reasons this is different than an M3, in ways that can be measured. (other than the two mentioned)

It's a little different with an E30. To convert a 325is to an M3, you would have to do a heck of alot of cutting, welding, and fabbing, considering the only common body parts on an E30 M3 is the hood and sunroof. On an E36, different story. The E36 M3 is a dumbed down M3, a consumer's M3, a user-friendly M3, therefore, the E36 base and the M3 aren't all that different, making a conversion easier. When the chassis is made in the factory (back in the '90s) were the M3 and base model chassis any different initially? some chassis just got M3 stuff, some didn't. I find it incredibly pedantic to care so much about what a VIN says.

That is all.

except that if you want to finance this car, you'll get a $4k loan and then if you get in a wreck the insurance company will give you $3000.. on a good day. getting more will be an uphill battle. This is a clone, and there are differences.

[iamsam]

^^ right, legal differences, yes; physical differences, not many.

[bimma360]

I just read 3 pages worth of opinions on a thread title. WTF.

Free bump for you. That is one clean car.

[Ryann]

There's an M3 badge on the trunk lid, why not complete the package with the proper set of o.e. wheels?

As some have already said, this IS a real e36 m3. glws.

[iamsam]

I agree w/ Ryan, get some M3 staggered contours on there, it would make it look a million times better imho.

[white-hot]

All the cry-babying aside, as an E36 M3 vert owner I do not find the OP to have done anything wrong. Seems like a whole lot of BS over nothing. He sets the record straight in the first sentence, for christ sake! If you feel let down about the title then oh well. You will survive.

Anyway, the fact about the loan and insurance, while true, could be said about nearly all of the cars owned by posters of this forum. My last E30 (may it rest in peace) was totaled after I dropped over $6k in it on top of purchase price, and insurance only gave me $3800. This is the chance we take with restoring and driving our awesome old cars around on streets filled with morons.

[e30rapidic]

I'm on board that the car is not an m3. At the end of the day a vin number is what makes the car.

does this count for people that cut the vin plates of shock towers, etc for classic cars and restore them under a totally different shell? Usually with a shit ton of replacement (read new) parts, engine swaps, conversions, mods etc.

[Julien]

does this count for people that cut the vin plates of shock towers, etc for classic cars and restore them under a totally different shell? Usually with a shit ton of replacement (read new) parts, engine swaps, conversions, mods etc.

That's completely illegal

I'm really not trying to dump on this thread nor am I attacking the thread title. Someone said this is not an m3 and there have been disagreements regarding that and I'm defending their position.

This car is a beautiful project someone put together and probably has 5x what most e36m3cab owners have in their car. That being said, it's still a clone. This will cause problems with insurance, finance, import/export etc.