Speeder, I always thought you and I thought along similar lines, I cannot believe I am seeing this post; I just bought one after a 5 month search. A 95 Daytona Violet over black nappa, 120k miles.
2 things leap out going in; do you buy a OBDI or OBD II. In CA OBDI have better chances with smog if you mod the car at all although there are advocates on the BMW forums for both. Then, do you get low mileage garage queen or a well maintained car over 100k miles. The BAT cars for big bucks are all lower mileage cars but as is the case with a 911, they like to be driven and many of the issues come up between 60 and 80k miles: See long winded guide below. Often getting a higher mileage car with all the service is a better deal.
Anything with a dove grey interior is going to look like crap, now, or in a few months after you get it. Dove amongst the cognoscenti is often ignored, or changed. Most of them were delivered with Dove. As with 911s, silver/red/black paint is least desirable. Estoril (blue) Dakar (yellow) or Violet all a premium.
But for a 90s car that came stock with a 5 speed, LSD, leather, killer brakes and a motor that lasts over 250k miles for under $15k, you can't go wrong. Not to get into a debate here (plenty of that on
BMW M3 Forum.com (E30 M3 | E36 M3 | E46 M3 | E92 M3 | F80/X) ) but the e36 is a more visceral and analogue drive than the e46, which is basically a modern day car.
Plenty of trash cars out there, as stated above; teenagers and The Stance crowd chopping and thrashing them to death. I looked everywhere and kissed plenty of frogs, finally as a giggle I checked the BMW owners club site and found a gem.
