What to look out for in a E36 M3

If I can work out the details of meeting up with this guy, I may be looking at a 98 M3 Convertible.

What should I be looking out for? It has 186k miles. Here is all the info from the ad:

Sporty BMW M3 Convertible - Black car w/ black top and camel interior. Heated seats are great on a cool Chicago morning when cruising with the top down. Two-zone Auto Climate Control. AC blows cold. New top. Bilstein Shocks. Remus Exhaust and high-performance headers. 5 speed manual with Z3 Short Shift conversion (and all new shift bushings - shifts like new). Powerful DOHC 3.2 liter BMW S52 M Engine. BMW CCA Club Member maintained - 5000 mile Full Synthetic oil changes. Recent brakes. Runs great. Only 10,000 miles per year on this beauty since new. Great fun weekend car - and reliable for every-day use. Still turns heads!

Any thoughts? Looks clean enough in pictures.

Based on the thread title and how the word filters work, blood, corn, and peanuts.

You want strong, even compression and good leakdown numbers above all else on the 3.2 motor. One good overheat in it's lifetime and it's a head gasket time bomb - otherwise it's bullet proof. (HG is $750 DIY minimum if head only needs decking) No hesitation when the VANOS goes on/off and no clunky shifts or difficulty/grind getting into first when cold and the LSD works without excessive driveline slop pretty much vets it.

It's a '98 vert so the rear subframe is already reinforced and unlikely to have issues beyond maybe worn bushings.

Everything else is just bushings, bearings, cooling system and brake refreshers. Check each over carefully and offer accordingly. It's in the territory where rear wheel bearings could be ready - def every bit of rubber that has not already been replaced once, some twice even... so really poke and prod.

Appleseed wrote: Based on the thread title and how the word filters work, blood, corn, and peanuts.

A +1 was not enough here. I had to reply with a hearty LOL!

Find out when the cooling system was last replaced. (radiator, water pump, expansion tank) They need replacement every 70-100K miles. Rear shock bushings wear. (clunking from rear) Subframe mounts should be checked--- but its a rare failure in E36 cars. All bushings should be inspected, as it's an older car and rubber wears out.

Engines are pretty bulletproof, but check oil for head-gasket failure. (milkshake looking oil)

I'm sure others will comment--- but these are the things that come to mind.

Get under the car--- it lived in Chicago-- some corrosion is inevitable.

You're looking for a cooling system overhaul (mainly radiator and water pump - they have a plastic impeller), and a suspension bushing overhaul. Every bushing should have been replaced by now, if it hasn't been, you'll likely be doing it during your ownership. Check that all body panels have the car's VIN on it (not a DOT-R label).

It sounds like a good one from the description.

Lived in Michigan, but still the same concern.

Based on the installed mods, I think there's a better-than-average chance this car has been treated well by knowledgeable owners. Folks above have listed all the big maintenance checklist items. VANOS is mentioned but I'll just note specifically they tend to fail eventually and you need to put in a rebuilt unit. The VANOS starts making a knocking sound when they're getting flaky; you can find audio samples on the internet.

I have bought these with head gasket failures so bad, the radiator fluid looked like glitter glue. The stock radiator and water pump are a menace because of the plastic, but car-conscious E36 owners have all known that for a long time and get proactive about replacing them every 100K miles.

The heater core and coolant exchanger are somewhat prone to leakage and a really, really long job to extricate. If that needs to be taken care of, get a quote from your shop before you decide to buy. It could easily be a four-figure number.

Used S52 motors with 100K-ish miles on them are available for $2500 if you wind up getting surprised in the future with stealthy fatal flaws.

In reply to Appleseed:

I found a dime once.

Uh, I just found out that broken rear coil springs are an E36 thing. They may or may not break far enough away from the ends to throw off the ride height, and according to the Internet many people drive them around busted for years. Weird. For the one I just broke, it's OBVIOUS.