W.O.T. I jst bought a 1995 M3, from a salvage auction Options

[rick 918-S]

This car is a land rocket! I couldn't resist buying it. Anyone ever own or driven one of these things?

[campbellcj]

Yep...I had a 97 (from 97-99) which was essentially the same car, but 3.2L OBD-II vs 3.0L OBD-I and minor suspension & wheel diffs.

It was a very nice driving car. Not "omigod" fast but it could certainly get out of its own way and get you into plenty of trouble with the law if you were too much of a leadfoot. The E36 inline sixes are very smooth, tractable, and reliable powerplants -- "best of breed" definitely.

Had I kept the car longer, I would have done some modest suspension mods as the car felt a bit soft/floaty for my taste. I would have also swapped to an exhaust like the AA (Active Autowerks) one - not a lot of power to be gained, but weight savings and WAY better sound.

I contemplated a Dinan supercharger but couldn't justify $7+ K in mods on a car I hadn't finished paying for yet...

Best mods I did were the factory M-Coupe shifter, which gets you a short shifter with all factory parts, and the factory X-brace from the M3 Lightweight and convertible, which stiffens up the lower chassis structure noticably.

The 95's are usually considered better for hot-rodding/racing because you can get away with a lot more w/o the OBD-II big-brother computer to wrangle with.