M coupe to 87 911

3literpwr · 03:29 AM

I had been looking for a 964 when I stumbled upon a 2000 BMW m coupe for a great price and snapped it up. The M coupe has been fun, but im still super attracted to 911's and have been creeping around forums and craigslist looking for one. Well it turns out that one was right under my nose as a friends father has one that he is willing to sell me for a fair price. Car is a 87 with 80k or so and in great shape overall. Im looking at the car for some track day fun and maybe some ice racing in the winter. Having owned/built a 944 S2 race car and then two Mitsubishi rally cars, I have had my fair share of fun in a purpose built race car and while I want to go racing again, i'm not quite there now.

Any tips on what I should look out for on the 87? Also, who has went from a newer car to an older porsche and what was their take on the change?

Thanks

Storage Man · Storage Man's Garage

There are a ton of posts on this topic and posters here that can advise you as well on what different things to look for.
There is also a handy checklist in the P technical section that is very useful when doing due diligence on a air cooled new purchase.

Other than that, get a PPI from a good P shop that includes a leak down and head stud check. These are both motor pulling (Drop) issues that most like to avoid...

Although not an M, I went from a modified 2006 530xi to and 86 3.2 Targa and they can’t be compared. There was nothing left for me to do on the BMW and its value dropped daily. This car is a blast to drive, fun to learn about, work on and shine up as well! A great change.

Macroni · Macroni's Garage

87 Carrera is a desirable model w/ G50 trans and small HP upgrade. Low mileage car with known ownership..... you can't go wrong..... The most evolved G body n/a car...

89Coupe · 89Coupe's Garage

I have a supercharged 2.8 Z3 Coupe (315bhp) and a 89 G50 coupe (about 250-260bhp). Power output would be comparable to your 99 S52. The BMW is a better daily driver and that's what we use it for. It feels more civilized, but that's a pretty obvious difference considering the eras the cars are from. The clutch on my 911 is really heavy so that contributes to my daily driver comparisons.. The two cars are very different from each other. I will say that I enjoy driving the 911 much more; it has more room, more character,and handling is probably a little better as the BMW is a bit twitchy. ....but I drive the BMW more often because I don't mind putting the miles on it. I guess I can sum it up by saying the BMW is a fun/easy/convenient car to drive where the Porsche is a bit quirky but much more rewarding to drive. I grin more while driving the 911!!! If in good shape, your BMW coupe is starting to appreciate. There were not too many of those cars made and they are gaining notoriety among collectors and enthusiasts. The G50 911 is just at the cusp of appreciation. If I had to sell one, bye bye BMW!!

roblav · roblav's Garage

A 911 is not a purpose built race car!

probey · 07-22-2013, 12:17 PM

I went from exactly that.
99 Z3M coupe to 86 911 Carrera. The only reason I switched is because I wrecked the M coupe. Take nothing away from the 911, which is still one of my favorite car to drive, I really miss the M coupe because it is an everyday car. It is as much of a drivers car as the 911, but it has all the creature comfort stuff like cold AC, easy HVAC, power steering, better sound system for long trips, etc.
I miss the bimmer so much that I picked up a regular Z3 1.9 to drive around daily.
Your 87 will have the getrag transmission that feels similar to the bimmer. my 86 has the Porsche 915 transmission, which requires some getting use to.
You will love driving Porsche. I guess my point is that the Z3 is much more of a daily.

76_rookie · 76_rookie's Garage

Hahahaha...you just asked a bunch of Porsche guys to compared anything else to Porsche. That sucks!!! hehehehehe

Hnichols · Hnichols's Garage

Keep in mind that at 80K the '87 is going to need a clutch soon, an expensive proposition (2.5-3K) for a G-50 car. Not a deal-breaker, of course, but perhaps a bargaining point with the owner. Assume that it's on the original clutch (they can last forever) unless the owner has the paperwork proving otherwise.
Good luck!

3literpwr · 07-22-2013, 05:45 PM

Thanks for the help guys! I'm sure the 911 will be a great car and one that I will be interested in keeping around for some time. The M is a great car and I'm sure as fast or faster on track as the '87. I'm currently deciding if I should just keep the M too as it really is a cool car. As far as maintenance goes, the car has been owned by the same guy since the early 90's and he has all the records for the vehicle. Clutches, motors and gearboxes have always been built by myself so that's not an issue, but knowing if it needs one soon is.

3literpwr · 07-22-2013, 06:03 PM

The cars in question...

photo (5) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

image (3) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

ejp · 07-22-2013, 08:03 PM

I love the color on that '87 (disclaimer, mine is a simliar color). 80k miles on an '87 is quite low, too.

Going from a more modern car to an old 911? The main plus for me is that the 911 is a relatively raw feeling car. For me, this is fantastic, because it's what I wanted from a second car. I find it to be a good balance between a highly engaging yet comfortable sports car. If you dig around the forum a little, you will find that these cars are extremely customizable - you can turn these into whatever you want.

Minuses? There are plenty if you're going to do more than just track/autocross/ice race it. These are relative, so nobody beat me up over this:

It's a pretty raw feeling car. Nothing that I would drive with one arm on the wheel and the other out the window.

The air conditioning sucks - long story, but it sucked when it was new. 26 years later, expect it to suck even worse. You can throw a bunch of money at it and get decent results, but if you spend any time above 85 degrees - it's a real consideration.

It's noisy inside, even a nice late Carrera with lots of sound proofing will be noisier than a Bimmer.

Some people don't like how they handle...I was surprised by how much my '88 tends to understeer on turn-in.

Labor costs are high. If you do your own wrenching, you can get around some of this.

Parts costs are high, and some parts are difficult/impossible to find.

Not to talk you out of anything, though. I really like my Carrera, but I'm not under any illusions that my car is anything other than a labor of love.

Zhenya · 07-22-2013, 08:27 PM

Are you from Australia?

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3literpwr

87 3.2

3literpwr · 07-23-2013, 02:54 AM

I have no idea why those pics came in upside down? On the of the car being raw? Thats what I want! I came out of three prepped race cars with the last being a 350hp awd fully bearing mounted rally car that weight around 2800lbs... Most cars feel like crud after that, so I am assuming there will be some getting used to the thing.

photo (5) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

image (3) | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

3literpwr · 07-23-2013, 04:43 AM

I have no idea why that image came in upside down... Try this...

3literpwr · 07-23-2013, 05:33 AM

Here is the coupe....

Jdub · 07-23-2013, 07:11 AM

I have to say I would hold on to the coupe. If you can own both the M and the 911 that would be heaven. Both collector's cars and different in their own way.

Gus Berges · 07-23-2013, 08:13 AM

I used to own a 99 BMW M Z3 Coupe (Euro version, S50B32 engine, 321hp, individual throttle bodies) and I can safely say it has been the most fun to drive car that I have owned (996 C2 and 996 C4S included). I have driven quite a few G50 cars and SCs and the M Coupe is on an entirely different level (performance wise). I believe the M Coupe is as close as you can get to the SC/Carrera 3.2 cars with modern features (namely AC).

Spice is the variety of life, but pretty certain you will end up missing it after not too long. They are much more harder to find than Carreras, so keep that in mind...