:roflmao:

track/race

Hey Phil, it's probably not as problematic as the e46M, but if you google e36 subframe, you will find hundreds of threads of people either asking how to secure their subframe or how to fix it.

If I was in the market for another e36/46M, I would try to negotiate the $2k subframe fix in the price if it wasn't done. BMW did a huge mis-service to all of the customers that got called in for the subframe check a few years ago. They did their inspection without dropping the subframe which does nothing, but give the customer some false relief that their subframe is not cracked. Unless it is cracked substantially, a visual inspection does nothing. Now, many owners neglect the subframe fix because the dealer said theirs was fine.

Mr. Wolfe

Guys thanks for the information- MBH sorry to crash your thread. Good luck finding the right car

Phil

No worries at all, no crash, we are all musing here about cars and frankly, it is a real help to me in looking. Looking at a 95 e36 M at this point, have one in mind and if I can buy it, will post photos. BMW on the 964 thread. The Horror.

Well, if it's any correlation, I belong to a BMW forum (m3) and all we talk about is Porsche (in a good way).

Mr. Wolfe

So true, I hang out there too and half the for sale ads are because "I have my eyes on a 996".

Well, I think half of us in the "Off Topic" forum are Porsche owners.

Mr. Wolfe

^^^ probably looking for a more balanced view than the hardcore right wingers we have on PARF here; anyone with a different opinion gets censored, suspended or banned for life; the moderator here makes Steve Bannon look like Lady Gaga.

I think there are plenty of guys here would be thrilled with a Bimmer, space considerations apart, especially a e36 which is from almost the same time period as a 964 and in its own way, as much fun to drive. Certainly, the guys on the M3 forum are just as crazy about their cars as we are here, must be something to it.

A Techno Violet e36M has caught my eye but it has a non Dinan supercharger, tons of fun but not CARB approved. Anyone know how you go about smogging one of those in CA?

Well, for me personally, I am a big fan of late 80's to early 2000's sports cars. That seems to be my wheel-house. M3's, Porsches, NSX's, etc. Just analog enough, but still usable...

Mr. Wolfe

Just a quick update. Came close on a few e36 ms, remarkable just how trashed some of the cars (and sellers) are. The Violet one won't pass smog, the Dakar car turns out to be a salvage (not volunteered up front) and several others have a deposit or seller is taking off the market. Feels like 964 time about 6 years ago; heating up, and a lot of mutton dressed as lamb.

Also, in casting the net, have looked at photos of cars from the east coast and mid west. I guess "surface rust "means different things to different people. As does "mint". which I always assumed meant very clean, but apparently it means that is the flavor of the pine tree air freshener.

It has become clear to me that while I can often spot the lipstick a seller might put on a Porsche, I am at sea looking at a BMW. And the Jap cars are things from an alternative dimension; no offence to those here who have been helpful in suggesting a S2k, but mods the sellers are so proud of, seem like stuff that would help shave a few parsecs off the Kessel run. Honestly looking inside the engine bay, you could tell me that the car is Gerbil powered, but you have replaced several of them recently.

And as I have been told often, you need to add water to a device that circulates around the motor, which leaks and breaks frequently.......

^^^ Thank you, that is very kind.
I left out the part about the dealer in Eau Claire (WI?) who called me every day until I asked if he would cooperate with a PPI. He said there was no reason to get the Feds involved and hung up..

Nice glass of Syrah and dinner on the way, thought I would share the lastest, in case some of you can't sleep.
So the search has yielded some pretty diverse members of the BMW car club. I think we tend to forget, members of the Porsche club also include the owner of a 1975 Targa with a 993 widebody kit, gold rims and sheepskins. Hey its a Porsh.

BMW has its own brand of Hey its a beemer. At least in the 20 plus year old division, I am not sure I can relate to the 2018 M3 crowd any better than I can to the 991 owner. (son, do you know your baseball hat is on backwards?) But the older models, you would think are more appreciated for what they were; and yet, the search for horsepower crosses all marques, causes all the same cutting and dicing of a car the factory spent a fair amount of time testing and perfecting.

So I checked a few BMW car clubs, found a mature owner of a stock M3 (ok it has a chip) in Daytona Violet/black. No accidents and well maintained. The photos of the engine bay compare exactly with stock photos from R&T; no added flux capacitor or nitrous bottle (no really, it is a thing) just mechanic's fingerprints.

PPI to follow, CarFax is clean, owner is 68 years old; today's version of the little old lady from Pasadena.