I have a '98 E36 M3, and can tell you a few things to look for.
One, rear shock mounts do fail on a regular basis. Mine last about 25,000
miles, and that is mostly freeway driving, but on very poor California
roads. Ignore the failing mounts, and the supporting sheet metal can be
beat up, which would be costly to fix. The water pump impeller was plastic
in 1995, and would fail in time, but metal impellers were used in later
years. The clutch squeak is in the mechanism under the dash. Aftermarket
bushings are available to fix this, but it is a real pain to change the
bushings. The bushings are around $20, but the labor would be much more.
Mine squeaks in hot weather. I have not heard of the transmission jumping
out of gear, but people do shift into a lower gear than anticipated under
very hard driving sometimes, because the entire transmission will twist on
its mount, altering the position of the gear gates. People sometimes will
grab second, when they meant fourth, and this overspeeds the engine, which
by the way is intolerant of that. Valve train damage and/or bottom end
failure results. The engine can not be over revved on acceleration as it
has a rev limiter. More troubling with '98 and '99 cars is a tendency for
the gear lever to stay over to the far right when the transmission is cold.
Apparently a change was made to the ZF gearbox in late '97 or so, that
results in this. The result is that the 3rd and 4th gear gates seem to
disappear. Annoying, and my car does this, but so far, not a big problem.
The fix is replacing the transmission. In California, at my shop, the
transmission, rebuilt, from BMW is $1,705. With labor and tax, the cost
nears $2,500.
My M3 has been quite reliable, more so than either of the two Hondas I have.
The M3 does eat rear tires, even with easy driving. With a light foot,
figure 35k at the most. My neighbor had an M3 and he burned through a set
of Michelin Pilots in 10,000 miles. The Goodyear F1 GS-D3 tires on my M3
are very good, seem to last, and have incredible wet weather performance.
AND, they are quiet! The clutch last well enough, but if it begins to slip,
STOP driving. Burning the clutch can require a very expensive flywheel.
This car is geared short, which means you should be prepared for some engine
hum at high cruising speeds. The car uses a 3.23 axle and 5th is 1 to 1, 60
mph is about 2700 rpm. 80 mph has the engine buzzing along at 3600 revs,
which if the radio is off, can get a bit tiring. On the other hand, top
gear passing power is strong.
Never leave the gas cap loose or off. The "check engine" light will come
on. The car uses synthetic 5W-30 oil, and BMW synthetic is actually priced
very competitively. Surprisingly, my M3 uses virtually no oil at all with
the BMW oil, but will use oil when I go to Mobil 1. Mobil 1 consumption is
quite low however.
If draining the oil, get a big container. The 7 quarts fills to the brim
most oil catch pans. Brake dust is a major annoyance. The dust buildup is
rapid and heavy. Make sure you have the radio code card! Most vehicles
require you enter this code to make the radio work again if power (battery)
is disconnected. Spare tire should be a full size front wheel. Squeaks
sometimes come from the leather. I use a product from <a rel="nofollow" style='text-decoration: none;' href="http://www.leatherique.com" target="_blank">www.leatherique.com</a>
to maintain the leather. However, the gray leather in my car is not very
durable, cracking easily and the dye wearing off on the outside seat
bolster. I have heard of this problem before.
Seats in the sedan, like mine, are not comfy on long trips. Heard this
before as well. Lower back hurts. No adjustment helps. Coupe seats are
different, but not sure about '97 models.
My car has 68,000 miles with no unusual repairs or problems. Tons of
aftermarket stuff for the car, but I like my car just fine the way it is, so
no experience with this equipment.
Hope this helps.
- Phil
"SP" wrote in message
> I am looking to buy a '97 E36 M3, it has 60k miles on it. What should
> I look for? What are the things that will need attention? I have a '94
> 325is that has needed new shocks and VANOS work around that mileage.
>
> I will appreciate any advice on the aftermarket
> components/applications with this car 
>
> Thanks! >> Stay informed about: Buying an E36 M3 
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