After selling 2 other classics .. a 1990 vw corrado with only 956km on the clock
and my beloved little but fast e30 2.7
I started looking for the needle in a haystack .. a well maintained e36 m3
First visit was looking at an original dutch 3 liter car .. but I already knew by seeing the car that they are often describes much better than they really are .. So I didn't buy that one
I left the most frequented selling sites for what they where and decided to look at the French market
Second contact was for a blue evolution 3.2 car in toulouse france .. but after my question to the seller to show me evidence of all the work that he said was done in the add .. it was very quite at his side .. left that car also
On a sunday mid august a red 3 liter car popped up on the net .. directly contacted the seller and het patiently awneserd all my questions .. I requested some more pictures of the car which he had no problem with .. I arranged an apointment for the next week to go look at the car in the south of france near bordaux (1150km from where I live)
The next day do I received an call from the seller to appologise but his wife was no longer ok with selling the car (they got married in this m3) so the sale was cancelled
Overlooked the french site again and saw a silver 3.2 m3 that had my intrest but all cars that came after the red one felt like second choice .. I was still dessapointed but had no other option that to contact the seller of the 3.2 car near paris .. arranged an appointment for thursday the 13th to go see the car
Cash in my pocket My ///M buddy and I left for Paris at 9 am in the morning to arrive 100km south of Paris to see how much pictures can be wrong .. this car was parked outside .. all window rubbers where gone .. the paint was not OK so another dissapointment
There you are then in France with cash in your pocket so I desided to look at the French site AGAIN .. you never know that by any change a new ad popped up in the neighbourhood of where we were.
I open the site and what cars pops up at the top of the page .. the red m3 that wasn't for sale any more .. my friend said that I had to contact the seller .. so I called him but he didn't awnser .. My friend again (he is kind of inpulisve)
desided whe would already start driving to bordeaux .. If the seller wouldn't recontact me within the next few hours we would turn back and drive home .. LUCKELY after an hour I got the seller on the phone .. It was his intention to call me anyway that evening .. so If I was still interested in the M3 I could come and see the car the day after .. I got the promise that I would be dissapointed in this m3 Next thing we did was stop in a highway shop to buy deodorant and tooth paste .. we had not forseen this extra day in France
.. With my cell phone I booked an hotel in Toulouse where we arrived at 10pm The next day we drove the last 130km to arrive at the guys place where we found an immaculate e36 m3 in the color Mugello rot .. This guy was a real M enthousiast and on top of that his job was mechanic at the M devision of BMW Bordeaux
Alot of maintenace was already done .. all proved by invoices .. tha car had a complete respray in 2009 for 5700€, a 3.2 sump and oil pump where already fitted .. cranckshaft bearings already renewed and much more .. the wheels can need a refurb and the airco doesn't work ans sometimes the starter failed but all that was told honestly by the seller
He spent 8 years to bring it back in this condition and sold it now togehter with all his other classics to get the budget for a Porsche 964
He very well thought over the upgrades that he has put on the car to make it corner and drive better
Engine wise
Tecnically completely stock .. Delage sport eprom, complete exaust with cat replacement dyno shows 304hp in stead of 286hp .. The car runs a shorter ratio LSD 3.63 in stead of the original 3.15 and due to all these changes its as fast as a standard 3.2 .. alot more torque in the low rev range
Handling setup
Bilstein eibach combination .. not to low and not to hard .. The perfect setup
Large eibach anti roll bars
Front and rear strut brace
X brace
Brakes
Front 330mm tarox discs with 6 pots calipers and ferrodo ds 3000 pads
At the back tarox discs and ferrodo ds2500 pads
all kinds of other stuff
extra vdo gauges
oilpressure
Gearbox oil temp
Volt meter
Tyres are continental sport contact 3 and they give me a good feeling so far in the dry and wet conditions.
Factory options:
Airco
Electric sunroof
Electric window
Central door locking
Large OBD
Alarm
Original bmw radio casette
The driving .. the testdrive was satisfying and no flaws where detected .. It drives like a new car .. no rattles or other sound .. stays streight when stopping hard with hands of the wheel .. Payment arranged and the drive home od 1150km could begin
The first 50km went through litte country roads and villages and I immediately felt that the setup of this car was sublime .. it steered sharp as a knive and I never felt the extra weight of the e36 comparing to the e30 .. the e36 is not known as the best handling M car .. This one is !!
Highway then .. after being stuck in traffic around Bordeaux for 2 hours speed went up to 140km/h and later on to 150km/h at 4500 rpm .. oil temp constantly at 95° and water temp always perfectly stable
Because of the shorter ratio of the LSD you never have to shift to 4th gear .. at the toll boots my friend tried more than ones to pull away with his repogrammed 535d .. he never succeeded
Conclusion .. this is the car for me .. it suites me like my favourite jacket .. it can always be quicker .. but at one moment in life you have to be happy with what you have .. I deliberatly chose the e36 above the e46 .. although the last one is a bit faster it is also alot more modern .. it doesn't give the real driving pleasure and feedback that this e36 gives .. I always prefer the cable driven accelerator which is much more direct than the later eletrical ones
Pictures how I bought it
The stickers on the side have to go
