97 m3 sedan for $3500 worth it?

[mr.vang]

I'm in the market of an e36 m3 sedan and this 97 m3 auto 4 door with 240,000 pop up for $3500. The driver door window and sunroof doesn't work. Blower work off and on. The headliner is sagging and no m3 stock wheels. Couple dings here and there. Can I do better or is this a good deal?

[getouth]

Walk away!! $$$$pit deep one!

[UlrichFennec]

[zig553]

Could be a money pit, could be a good deal. Hard to say without pics. Also an auto with no M wheels? Do you have a vin to confirm if its a real M3? I've seen people make faux-M3s on kijiji/craigslist before.

[BobombETA]

Check the vin, should start with WBS.

The mileage is pretty high, but if it's had a fair amount of service it's not out of the question for it to have a good bit of life left in it. Shame it's an automatic, but that's for you to decide.

I personally think the e36 m3 sedan is one of the best cars available for under 10k.

Oh, the 10k rule. But many people will say that to have a decent e36 m3 it will cost you 10k. Purchase price + parts and repair to make it decent.

Factor that into your decision.

[varg]

E36 M3

No

auto

No

240,000mi

No

Driver window, sunroof, blower, sagging headliner, non-stock wheels

Icing on the cake.

Do not do.

[TobyB]

The transmission MIGHT make it from his house to yours.

Price one.

Then price a manual swap.

t

[series88]

Is it that black auto in sf? If it is, it has been on the list for a long time. Theres probably a lot of issues. E36s are not bad cars. If taken cared of well, I wouldnt hesitate to get another one Ive onwned a few and still own one.

[phreshkid]

I have a 97 with 252k miles. m3/4/5. Paid $3k for it. Drives like a champ, looks like a champ, interior is 8/10. I'm happy.


I think I got lucky.

[Javier h]

Depends

If you really want it, offer 2k. Not a dime more.

If anything goes wrong, between the parts, bumpers, seats, engine....you should re-coop most of your loss. Maybe use it for a S52 Swap in an E30 down the line, if you can afford it.

That being said, if you are seriously thinking of getting an E36, ditch the 97 and go for the 98. Less production bugs.

You will have repairs on that car aside from the ones you think you need.

Here is a 98 auto with half the miles in Dove but clean. No affiliations!! He should bite at $4500. There is just a small market for automatic sedans, I'd wait for a 5 speed.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/5063510492.html

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv...063510492.html

[J.Rizo]

my experience has taught me to just be patient and spend 1-2K more. less money in the long run, less headache, less time on jack stands and more time on the road.

[PeteD]

The market is soft on these cars. I would wait for something else.

[jalopi]

it might be worth it if it wasn't an auto

[fiveightandten]

I'm in the market of an e36 m3 sedan and this 97 m3 auto 4 door with 240,000 pop up for $3500. The driver door window and sunroof doesn't work. Blower work off and on. The headliner is sagging and no m3 stock wheels. Couple dings here and there. Can I do better or is this a good deal?

Driver's door window is a relatively cheap and easy fix. The sunroof is a pain in the ass. Headliner sag is a cheap but time consuming fix (you can get at the sunroof while that's down). The intermittent blower motor is probably the climate control unit. Google "E36 climate control capacitor". Easy fix. It could be the blower itself, but it's usually the CC unit.

If the interior is decent, the car is worth $3500 in parts, depending on the color and condition of the paint. But the car does sound like a bit if a turd in need of some TLC.

It cracks me up how much hate E36's get on R3v. I've owned my E36 M3 sedan since 2006. It blows my E30 out of the water in every conceivable way. E30's can be amazing, but people forget that they mod the shit out of them (often with E36 parts) to get them that way. If we're putting E36 engines, steering racks, suspension, window switches, seats, brakes, etc into our E30s, E36's can't be that bad, can they? No. They're amazing cars.

[jrossowvue30]

I bought a 96 M3/2/5 with 210k on the clock for $3k back in 2011. It nearly killed me when a RTAB pocket collapsed while I was driving on the interstate. I then let it sit for approx 3 years before I addressed anything and by that point it basically needed everything. In the last year I've replaced every suspension component (shocks, springs, front control arms + bushings and ball joints, rear control arm bushings, reinforced weak mounting points (thanks AKG), VCG, power steering hoses, total cooling system overhaul and a bunch of other random maintenance. I've spent probably $5k in parts and labor in the last year on that car but I still love it. All it needs is a quality respray and it will be a very nice car.

E36 M3s can be great cars if they've been treated well by previous owners. I'm pretty sure the guy I got mine from wasn't very good to the car but it is obvious from the binder of receipts dating back to new that someone else took great care of the car and for that I am thankful. Having owned many BMW's over the years including other E36's, an E30 and also currently own an E60 that the E36 M3 is still the best of all of them and I trust that car to take me cross-country and back if I needed it to. If you want an M3 I say go for it, they're a lot of fun.

With all that said unless you just really want an auto I would pass no matter how cheap it was. I just couldn't bring myself to own an automatic M3. I disagree that the market is soft on these car though. I am seeing less for sale recently and the ones that are for sale seem to be commanding higher prices than they did about 2 years ago. I think the E36 M3 is slowly starting to rise in value, for a good one at least.