Lets talk about this shizzz

[CrusherCurtis]

A beat to hell e36 will be a far worst experience than a beat to hell e30.

[R3Z3N]

Nick, I think you hit the nail on the head.

[clarkkey594]

Other than Bimmerman's post this thread blows my mind.

[ak-]

My good friend has a turbo'd s50 one.

I don't like one thing about the interior.
I don't like working on it.
I'm not a huge fan of the body lines.

I do, however, like 4 door M3's.
Coupes can be made to look good also, but I'm super picky. Meh.

A beat to hell e36 will be a far worst experience than a beat to hell e30.

This statement sums it up for me.

[Butler]

I have one of each because they are both awesome cars just different.

The E30 is way easier to work on. Cheaper parts and cheaper to own.
The E36 is way faster. More expensive. Newer (duh) and more expensive to own.

I love them both and have long term plans of turbo'ing the E36. blah blah blah...

[750]

My first BMW, 1997 328IS. (should have saved up and got the M)I put well over 100,000 miles on the car. E36 is a great platform. Very well known list of things to fix. Will not go into that here. Cleans up well and looks nice with few mods.

[drutt23]

I really believe most of the e36 hate stems from people only driving CRAP e36s. How can you drive a crappy beat to hell car and expect it to be the greatest thing on earth? I personally prefer my 318 over my dads 97 m3 everyday. But his car is superbly clean, and doesn't really display any of the issues a lot of people complain about with e36s.

Bottom line, before you go hating on them, find a clean, well maintained one to drive and then decide.

I agree with this completely. Mine is definitely not in it's prime. The reason I dislike it is because it's hard to work on in my opinion. I have no problems with getting something that needs to be fixed up. This E36 is a salvage due to the last kid hydroplaning on the highway and snapped an axle, bent the control arm, and kinda tweaked the whole body more or less.

I definitely feel that the E36 generation has potential to be great, but from my perspective the maintenance is a just a bitch really....

[M3TROY]

my e36 m3 was far from crappy and still there's was nothing i could do to keep the interior from falling apart.
like the glove box, no matter what you do it will still never align correctly as it gets older and begins to warp like the door panels.
and don't get me started on the headliners
find me an e36 without ANY interior defects and ill show you 100000k diamond.....exactly they don't exist ;)

[xwill112x]

My dad has a 1997 328 auto, & His interior only has 1 flaw, and thats the OBC...everything else is minty. and its fun to drive even all stock with open diff it slides easily and controllable. Never really understand the hate on them, they make great dailys and are still fun to drive. Definitly no e30 , but I dont expect it to be, I expect it to be a e36.

[M3TROY]

My dad has a 1997 328 auto, & His interior only has 1 flaw, and thats the OBC...everything else is minty. and its fun to drive even all stock with open diff it slides easily and controllable. Never really understand the hate on them, they make great dailys and are still fun to drive. Definitly no e30 , but I dont expect it to be, I expect it to be a e36.

dont get me wrong i don't hate the e36 its just not an E30. it has no where near the reliable or build quality of and e30 but that can be said about most cars compared to an e30 IMO...

[BoxDriver86]

Had a 98 M3/4/5 and I miss it dearly. I sold it to my father who uses it as a beater now. It's got nearly 250K on it and hasn't given him any problems other than regular maintenance.

Despite the fact it's significantly slower, I love my e30 far more than I did my e36. It was just too "refined" for me.

[slammin.e28]

find me an e36 without ANY interior defects and ill show you 100000k diamond.....exactly they don't exist ;)

Just drove one breh. 1997 328, 58k on it. Glove box wasn't even drooping. Door panels were still together. Headliner was still headlining.

There was nary a rattle as I drove it. Quiet, smooth, just, nice.

I was astounded. There is hope for mine.

[Kershaw]

e36 suspension work is fuck ton easier.

e30 suspension is a goddamn nightmare to work on.

the only thing i really hate about e36s is the cheapness of the interior. other than that, they are great DDs.

[5ickride]

I just picked up a 97 M3 coupe. I love it. The S52 motor is awesome and its really a nice piece of work all together. I also love it because of the interior room it has (im 6'2 250pds). My interior in general is pretty clean and nothing is sagging/flopping/drooping, etc...I think most people who drive e36s today are young kids with no money and a rice mentality, therefore, giving the e36 a bad rap. On the flipside, most e30s owners, IMO, actually care and try to restore their cars. I love both platforms and will hopefully one day buy another E30 (M3?) but it will not be in replacement of my E36.

[Butler]

Well said^ E36s are cheap as hell these days. I see M3s sell for less than 5 grand! Of course high school kids are going to buy them.

I've never known why people hate the interior so much -like I mean really hate it! :) Its not the most glamourous thing in the world but its better than anything that ever comes from Japan.