Jack and Mark review one of the more controversial BMWs: the North American spec E36 M3. The car nearly didnt make it to North America after the sales disaster of the E30 M3, and when it did, it made it with a different engine (a hopped up version of the M50 instead of the euro S50). They discuss the costs and issues of owning one today and whether it’s worth the money.

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/u/SavageGooseJack what is going on with the front control arm/roll bar setup starting around 7:00? I’ve never seen that on an E36 before.

Make them look bad, sure.

But damn maintaining those +25yo cars is starting to get very hard :(
You are at the point were a engine out operation is probable at one point

tbh cost wise Im more concerned about my funeral costs when I get hit by a distracted driver in an F250 in such an old car.

The E36 was a lowpoint for the "luxury" aspect, though.

Yeah indeed, it's paper thin metal

I had one of these about 8 years ago. It broke me, emotionally. I haven’t had a project car since. It was fun to drive, though

My M52 has been bulletproof. The more annoying maintenance hassle by far is the amount of plastic touch points that turn brittle which just shouldn't have been made of plastic to begin with. Like door handle fixture points, the friggin dead pedal, seatbelt guides, seat bushings, mechanical components in the soft top. Stuff that just very clearly should've been made of metal and is an absolute ballache on labor or literally impossible to find replacement parts for.

E30 was peak for looks and e46 for being a BMW.

E30 was peak for looks and e46 for being a BMW.

E36 was a nice car but even the proper one wasn't special enough. Not quick enough, not light enough, and if you can find an e36 today with an interior that isn't in an advanced stage of leprosy you'd be doing well. Probably the worst bmw interior quality of all time.

I was in a sudden panic stop situation on a highway with a super duty in front of me and a super duty behind me while I was driving a Z4. I stayed close to the front truck's rear bumper to give the truck behind as much braking room as possible and not smash me into an accordion like Wile E Coyote but looking in the rear view mirror my animal brain knew I was possibly in deep shit. The Z4 isn't that old but between two trucks like that it would've been toast.

30+ year old car is the point where the hassle of keeping it running becomes untenable for me. There are better classic sports cars to be had for what you pay.