BMW 3-Series E36 Compact (1994 - 2001) - E36 M3 - worth buying? (Done 100k miles)

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Sun 4 Nov 2007 23:34
E36 M3 - worth buying? (Done 100k+ miles) - silverhawk
Is it worth buying a e36 m3 with 100000 plus miles on her,even though it has a full service history?Are these strong motors? Sure many of them have been abused.

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 05/11/2007 at 00:32

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Mon 5 Nov 2007 09:27
E36 M3 - worth buying? (Done 100k+ miles) - DP
Buy this kind of car on condition and history rather than miles. A cherished 100,000 mile example with evidence of "cost no object" maintenance will be a far better buy than a 50,000 miler which has been run on the cheap and not cared for. Hard use is no problem on a properly maintained BMW.
The same advice applies to all cars really, but particularly with sophisticated motors like this, where timely and correct maintenance is absolutely essential.
To put this mileage into context, my old boss had a 1986 M5 which had 220,000 miles on the clock, and was not only as reliable as clockwork, but still showed 282 bhp on the dyno (against a new, claimed 286!). The only mechanical problem it had was a rattling timing chain at about 150k, which wasn't cheap to put right. Other than that, it worked perfectly.

Cheers
DP



--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX

Edited by DP on 05/11/2007 at 09:28

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