I think service records are more important than mileage - I'd rather have a higher mileage car that had been well maintained over a low mileage one that had been neglected. However, if it was a choice between two cars that were otherwise identical besides mileage I'd take the one with lower miles.
It's always best to buy the best one you can afford...if you buy a beater you'll almost certainly spend more on fixing it up when compared to a car that's ready to go.
kreb wrote: I've been scanning for one. Good deals move fast, and most of the coupes that are for sale seem to be the rich kid's version of ricer cars and were treated acordingly. Thus I'm paying particular attention to 4-doors, as they seem to be owned by adults.
Quoted for truth. By far the biggest problem I had when shopping for one of these cars was finding one that wasn't riced out. Completely stock ones are virtually nonexistent, though mine only has a set of springs, it came with the stock ones, as well. Which are going back on.
Though I will say that I found my share of riced 4-doors, as well. I went with the coupe because I do find it to be slightly better looking, and this is a toy, so practicality isn't a major factor.
The sedans actually had folding rear seats as well. It's hit or miss though. Some sedans have it, some don't.
'98 M3/4/5 with 248k miles, asking $6k, at a small indy dealer in Redford MI. Black on black, looks good in pics. I can go check it out if you'd like.
http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/ctd/2103628586.html
Most of the sedans don't have the folding rear seats. It was a $500 option on the sedans that wasn't ordered very much.
The folding seats were standard on the coupes...
AngryCorvair wrote: '98 M3/4/5 with 248k miles, asking $6k, at a small indy dealer in Redford MI. Black on black, looks good in pics. I can go check it out if you'd like. http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/ctd/2103628586.html
I think that's one of the cars Tom looked at before buying his. Summary from what he told me 'completly ragged out piece of E36 M3" So yeas an E36 M3 that's a pile of E36 M3!
Adrian_Thompson wrote:AngryCorvair wrote: '98 M3/4/5 with 248k miles, asking $6k, at a small indy dealer in Redford MI. Black on black, looks good in pics. I can go check it out if you'd like. http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/ctd/2103628586.htmlI think that's one of the cars Tom looked at before buying his. Summary from what he told me 'completly ragged out piece of E36 M3" So yeas an E36 M3 that's a pile of E36 M3!
Oh, yeah, I looked at that one. RUN AWAY! The clutch was absolutely fried, the interior was nasty, there was bubbling paint in multiple places and evidence of poor rust repair in others, the OBC didn't work. Typical of the kind of car you find on beater lots in the 'hood, which is exactly what this car is.
hah! i never checked Tom's location before. truly a piece of E36 M3 E36 M3
AngryCorvair wrote: '98 M3/4/5 with 248k miles, asking $6k, at a small indy dealer in Redford MI. Black on black, looks good in pics. I can go check it out if you'd like. http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/ctd/2103628586.html
It looks like one side has the wider (rear) wheel on the front, while the other side doesn't.
As for when I was looking for my E36 M3 (oh E36 M3, this is going to be hard to write) one of my criteria was to get one without the pimptastic dove grey interior---hard to do. I eventually found one with magma interior, in great shape and could care less that it had 130K on it. Like others have said, I'd be more concerned that it has been taken care-of because regardless of the miles, you're looking at an old German car.
Mine has been fantastically reliable in the 4K miles that I've driven it 
I've been tempted to go and look at this one:
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/2038580782.html
I just have to wonder how he blew a strut. The biggest problem in this area is finding a clean one that isn't a convertible.
dj wrote:Ian F wrote: No matter how cheap E36 M3's get, there are still similar priced cars I'd rather have.If you're going to E36 M3 on a E36 M3 then at least actually recommend some better E36 M3.
I didn't say 'better', I said 'cars I'd rather have.' ...which would be pretty much anything... once bitten, twice shy... and after buying an E30... thrice shy...
I feel totally the opposite. After owning three E30 325is (one stock, two modded), I prefer the E36 M3 I have now and can't see myself going back to E30's unless it was for another LeMons event.
Ian F wrote:dj wrote:I didn't say 'better', I said 'cars I'd rather have.' ...which would be pretty much anything... once bitten, twice shy... and after buying an E30... thrice shy...Ian F wrote: No matter how cheap E36 M3's get, there are still similar priced cars I'd rather have.If you're going to E36 M3 on a E36 M3 then at least actually recommend some better E36 M3.
You are in the minority.
Brett_Murphy wrote: I've been tempted to go and look at this one: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/2038580782.html I just have to wonder how he blew a strut. The biggest problem in this area is finding a clean one that isn't a convertible.
Wow that's a really low price!
Stock struts in E36s are known to last about 70k miles, so this could be the second set of stock struts. They are OK but a great upgrade is Bilsteins or Konis (what I went with).
miatame wrote: You are in the minority.
Trust me, I know... I did not buy my E30 expecting to be so dissappointed with it. 
Whenever I miss the M3, I just remember my nickname for it: The Christmas Tree... because it was green and the dash code lights (CEL, SRS, OBC)were constantly coming on... When we got a CEL for something that wasn't an EVAP code and turned out to be the cam position sensor, we literally got excited that it was something I could easily fix. And when she had to force herself to drive the car to work once every couple of weeks, that's when she knew it was time to sell.
In reply to Ian F:
My E36 was a fan of displaying check codes on the display under the climate control. The last M3 I looked at seemed perfect until I pressed the check button and it said the functions had been disabled (presumably because it had problem(s) that could not be rectified). Then on the test drive the engine and everything else just went completely dead. After I sat around for 20 minutes on the side of the road, everything magically went back to normal.
Apparently I am an idiot because I am currently shopping for an E46 convertible.
Ian - You've commented many times about chasing CEL's on your girlfriend's old M3, and I've never understood why you kept trying to resolve them all.
My Miata, E39 and E36 all have CEL's which come and go at random (as did my old TDi, and other cars before that). I'll break out the scan tool if the light persists more than a week or so, but otherwise I ignore them. My cars are all over a decade old, and I expect them to have little issues - it's not worth my time to try resolving a CEL unless the issue is something which could leave me stranded.
My search was about 6-8 months. I ended up with a just what I wanted:
It was a one owner car - he leased a year and bought it off lease CPO. He did all the maintenance for the 7 years and when the warranty was up...
~He sold it to buy a Prius~
I'm in DC and went to the Philly suburbs for it. Looked and drove, went to his bank where they verified my check, went to a title and tag service place, called in coverage, wife followed me home in the S/C '02 ep3.
It was $14.3k and is the best money I've ever spent on a car.
nderwater wrote: Ian - You've commented many times about chasing CEL's on your girlfriend's old M3, and I've never understood why you kept trying to resolve them all.
Bear in mind, this was back in 2002-4 and the car wasn't that old (you could still get them CPO at the dealer). Plus - it was her car. Warning lights on the dash were simply not acceptable. Add that to her general distrust of dealers and mechanics and that's what I got. If it were my car - you're right. I probably would have ignored them until inspection time. Hell - I drove the TDI around with the glow-plug CEL (harness) for months before it was time to do the timing belt and I had half the car apart anyway.
Trust me - this is all HER fault. Before we started dating, I had pretty much given up working on cars and was racing mtn bikes; happy tootling around in my bone-stock '91 Integra and '90 E150... Her and that car dragged me back into wrenching. Next thing I knew, I was doing an Insp II service on the car and replacing the shocks & struts. Now I feel like I've invested far too much money and time in tools and experience to quit now.
In reply to nderwater:
Maybe it is OCD. I have to fix lights that come on. If it comes on once and never again, fine then. But if is stays on or comes on intermittently, I have to fix it.
And if it is the wife's car, she is probably going straight to a dealer to trade it in once a couple warning lights show up.
Gotcha. Not to knock my wife, but I'm lucky if she notices the temp gauge or oil light.
Mine already had a Peake reset tool when I met her. She could reset the CEL in seconds flat...
Her other 'winter beater' car was a '93 Passat GLX wagon. That car haunted much more than the M3 ever could...
canoe
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