I am not sure how well you know the history of these wonderful cars, but perhaps I can be of some service.

The M3's were primarily built as race cars a few decades ago. The M stands for Motorsport, which is BMW's racing division. Since then, they have evolved into much more luxurious cars, but have not lost that race car bred performance (They still race; and win today). I can say all this with complete confidence, as I have been racing cars since I was 14 years old.

First of all, the car is not your typical sedan/coupe. It WILL ride a little rougher than a 323i for example. This is due to its beefed up chassis and suspension causing the overall stiffness of the car to be higher. Now, more stiffness might mean a louder/rougher ride, but you reap the benefits in handling tenfold. The last car I drove like this was my GT2 race car. The M3's handling is near telepathic. It forms and grips the road with unreal ease and will let you break the rear tires loose for a little slide whenever you feel necessary. I have been driving this car for over a year now and have yet to feel out of control. It was, in fact, dubbed 'The best handling car in the world' in 1997. While this car is one of the best handling cars on the road today, easily in the top ten (handling better even than its newer sibling, the E46 M3), but it is also extremely quick.

Those of you looking for straightline performance will be pleased, but this is no dragster. This is, in the truest sense, a finesse car and is better suited for powering out of corners and braking into the next. Its extremely high torque will be appreciated as you bomb down that curvy country road with effortless handling and power.

This car stock, is better than 99% of other passenger/sports cars out there. It is easily modifiable to become an even more amazing car, but stock (if you can call an M3 stock) will still blow your socks off. With this car comes luxury one would only presume to find in a mid size sedan and performance one would expect to find in a $100,000 car.

My M3 is a four (4) door making it extremely practical. The added doors cause the car's chassis to be a little stiffer making the sedan's handling noticably better than the coupe's as well. This stiffness also causes the sedan to be slightly quicker, but only on paper, as the two feel identical in straightline performance.

The E36 M3's make up the model years from 1995-1999. In this period the 1997-1999 come with a bigger bore engine. The 95's and 96's have a 3.0 Liter engine while the 97's on, have the slightly larger 3.2 liter engine. This added displacement did not change the horsepower, but did in fact raise the torque which is very noticable. MY advice is, if you can afford to, go with a 1997 M3 or later so that you have the 3.2 liter engine.

Obviously I could go on and on about this car, but I think I have covered the basics of it. If you are even considering this car as one of your potential purchases, odds are that the M3 is the right one for you. Its amazing speed, quickness, handling, braking, and lightness are unmatched; especially for this model year. Feel free to email me with questions about price, purchasing, or misc technical questions; I will be happy to help. nlondy@hotmail.com

As you drive off with that seemingly endless powerband giving off that beautiful exhaust note, you'll be glad you bought a BMW M3.
Amount Paid (US$): 29,000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1997
Model and Options: Loaded - PS: BMW Onboard Computer is a great gadget and helps resale!