M3 Purchase and Reference Materials

jrl · 10-19-2006, 11:25 AM

On Monday I bought a '99 M3 coupe, Dakar Yellow, 47 kmiles, all the Dinan mods except supercharger and brake package. Excellent, well-balanced performance: Like 911's, more horsepower and gadgets (aka E46) don't necessarily enhance the driving experience.

I've not been able to find M3 forums of the same quality as the 911 forums on this site and others; hopefully the Pelican's BMW effort is a start. Any others worth looking at?

I bought an '86 930 last year, and books like Peter Morgan's, Zimmermann's, and Porsche magazines were a big help. Naturally, after the purchase I bought Wayne's books and the Bentley manual.

As well as doing the same here, what, if any, are good history/references for the E36 M3? What I like about Morgan's 911 book is that it's concise but pretty darn comprehensive.

Thanks,
John

Jeron · Jeron's Garage

Most of the other forums require you to dig through a lot of junk to find the good stuff.

The biggest E36 board is bimmerforums. Also, try Realoem, Roadfly and bimmerdiy. You can also buy a copy of the BMW ETK, TIS etc on ebay.

There is not a lot of printed material but there are a a lot of internet resources.

jrl · 10-19-2006, 12:10 PM

Thanks Jeron. Noticed you have a 330i. I have an '02 5 spd sport pkg coupe. Have to say that in street driving (for me) the engine is impressively torquey, better than the M3; runs a bit out of steam at the high end. Brakes feel as good or better, shifter is slicker. A tighter suspension would (for me) make it almost a spiritual successor to the E36 M3. Why buy the M3, then? a) Nothing beats a direct mechanical feeling. b) Kind of wonder if E36 M3's won't be semi-classics someday. c) Always wanted a yellow car.

BTW, what color is Byzanz/Magma?

Jeron · Jeron's Garage

It's mostly that the 330 feels quite a bit heavier than the M3. The brakes should be about the same if you were running the same pads. Sway bars make a big difference on the 330 with little downside.

The E36M3 has limited slip and shorter gearing.

Byzanz is brownish/orange paint depending on the light. Magma is brown leather.

jrl · 10-19-2006, 12:37 PM

Always thought sways would help, too. Would've been cheaper than a new car, but still not yellow.

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

Nice color on that car - I like it in silver, blue and your yellow.

Look at the front part of my book - the best BMW books in my library are featured there. There really isn't much else besides what I have listed there. Here's a photo:

-Wayne

jrl · 10-26-2006, 06:10 AM

Wayne,

Thanks for the picture of the references. I'll be ordering your projects book and the Bentley manual. I also heard about a Road and Track publication of reprints on M-cars, available on their site for about $20. It'll be nice to have original reviews.

Here's a shot of the car. The previous owner added the wheels, 18" forged modular from Speedline (I think). Are these clones of BMW aftermarket wheels that were available? I've seen something like them in the BMW E46 accessories catalog.

John

Wayne 962 · Wayne 962's Garage

There are literally thousands of aftermarket wheels available - those look like pretty cool aftermarket ones to me (they don't look like an OEM style I'm familiar with -check the wheels page in the 101 book).

-Wayne