Anything I need to know before buying a E34 M3?

[Tuna]

At least I think it's an E34 (i'm not too up on my BMW speak, please forgive me).

Are there any chronic problems? Are there options that I'd need to be aware of and may want to have (I think they all come loaded with the same options)? Only option that is obvious is 2 or 4 door.

I'm actually asking on behalf of a co-worker of mine who is currently looking.

Any help is appreciated!

[James]

Re: Anything I need to know before buying a E34 M3?

92-98 (and some 99s i think) are e36s..no e34 as far as I know

and I dont know TOO much about BMWs but I have a bunch of friends who want to be ballers and have bought older (92-93) e36's and have had a ton of problems, but most of them are just related to buying a car that wasnt properly cared for

id imagine if you can pay on the high end of what they are demanding (which will probably still be low-mid 20s) you'd get a reliable ride

[Tuna]

Re: Anything I need to know before buying a E34 M3?

crap I couldn't remember if it was 34 or 36, ah well.

[100%VAGitarian]

Re: Anything I need to know before buying a E34 M3?

e34 is a 5 series within those years mentioned. poorly maintained e36's include bad ball joints, rear suspension mounts, e-brake system. they also have plastic water pump impellors (which break) like the mk4 vw's. multi function display craps out too. their power windows have a really nice plastic clip which likes to break. cheap fix but pain in the ass. their central locking system looks for the windows to be fully closed to arm itself. o2 sensors too. they have 4 of them. a well maintained example should have these thing attended too.

as the years progress, the include a vanos on the intake cam and then later on both cams. m3 motor has individual throttle bodys, and is different from other e36 motors. hope that helps a bit.

[liquid]

Re: Anything I need to know before buying a E34 M3?

What year is it? If it's between a 92 and 99 then it would be an e36. If it's before that, then I'm going to need a ride, because that is basically my dream car (e30).

I haven't been involved in the BMW scene for a while, but I think they switched from OBDI to OBDII in 96. The OBDII's are somewhat tougher to tune, however the grill on the 97 and newer e36's are nicer IMHO. Not to many chronic problems that I know of, and the seats in those things are killer!

[R_Ethug]

Re: Anything I need to know before buying a E34 M3?

yes the vadar seats are swell