951and944S

LOL, that's what I tell people when they ask my opinion on the new XXXX model they are thinking seriously about because "They like it"....

Yeah, you and 200 other people at a 1000 parking spot shopping mall.

How are you gonna find yours when you are ready to leave.....?

T

EVOMMM

Lol I forgot the race pedigree 4 seater 2 door with trunk space makes a car a sports car
but which one????
hmmmm

Voith

The best handling car of america.

BeerBurner

I love the E30 M3. That's the car that made me love BMWs and I got to spend a lot of time playing with them in college. I even considered them 15 years ago when they were only $12-15k cars but opted against it because, even then, the engine costs were a concern and I tend to hold onto cars for a few decades so that could be a problem. Instead, I bought my 944 and never looked back.

I'd still love to have one and, all things being equal, I'd probably buy one over a 951 simply because of my college memories (which may or may not come back to haunt me). Unfortunately, living in the real world with finite resources, that's probably not going to happen.

That all said, I came close to buying a slushbox, 4-door E36 M3 for my disabled wife (she deserves a fun car, too!) but she decided that she's having enough fun with her regular E36. I'd love to get her a nice E30 but her disability is the result of a bad car accident so I get why she wants airbags and those other safety features.

I still periodically check out those E36 M3s, tho...

BB.

Voith

Popular e30 mod here is to swap s54 engine in it. Wild stuff.

StoogeMoe

I was just talking with some E30 guys yesterday and they all know others or have them with engine swaps. They said the ones with the original M20B25 get all the attention now. Funny how what's cool changes.

Poor BeerBurner, if you would have gone with the M3E30 it would be worth four times that now.

BeerBurner

It's what it is.

I also passed up on taking on my dad's '86 Carrera after he died which would have been a 12K investment. Of course, that would have been a much harder car to flip.

BB.

SamGrant951

E30 M3 with original engine would be a snooze fest, however they are cool cars..mainly due to race history / rarity. My fav BMW is the (Z3)M Coupe, much rarer than the E30 M3 and S54 available in 01-02 (~700 made).

I have had 2 M Coupes and 3 E36 M3's, they are great cars and a joy to work on and drive. The S54 is a perfect drop in - especially bringing the US based E36 M3 to where it should have been. My current E36 M3 has an S54 with 325rwhp and just screams. Ill always have an older BMW of some sort in the garage, don't care much for the new ones.

MM951

I've also had 2 E36 M3's.. Replaced with a Cayenne Turbo. I didn't miss them as they were (stock) at least compared to a modded 951 where everything is working properly (hvac, door handles, etc etc) but I can imagine being VERY happy with a S54 powering it. Parts prices and the simplicity is almost Toyota like when one is used to turbo Porsches.. Off to bimmerforums I go..

V2Rocket

lol funny you mention that, i actually bought a set of E30 door handles seeing if they might be adaptable to the 944 and was wondering why they were so cheap new still...must be a "scheduled maintenance" part?

333pg333

Because cars are so cheap in the US and many parts of Europe, you guys can buy these what we would consider 'exotics', too easily. We would view an E30 M3 as a special car. Wonder what these things revved out to? Seem to remember them screaming around the tracks back in the day. Still, I'm sure it would be easier to buy a non M3 and just wack a huffer off the side and have some serious hp.

333pg333

ps...just had a quick look at 2nd hand prices. These are selling for over $100,000 in Oz. That's about $70k US.

ried

As an enthusiast who's owned several 944 Turbos and several M cars, I've asked myself the same question. Personally, I would almost always take an '88 951S or an '89 951 over an E30 M3. Both from the qualitative (style, emotional) and quantitative (acceleration, roadholding) perspective, the 951S appears a superior machine.

I'd love to see well-driven examples of each go head-to-head on a track!

For what it's worth, I now own an '89 951 and a '17 M2. Spoiled rotten, for sure. Best of both worlds.

ian

We need to petition Road and Track to bring older cars to do the lightning lap at VIR. Maybe they could do a series on the most loved sports cars of different decades.

I would guess the gulf between the two cars would be in the 6 second a lap range.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...at-vir-feature

V2Rocket

an M3 is one thing because of the cult following, but around here a regular E30 is just a worn-out ****box...