I'm picking up a 99 C2 in a few weeks after coming from an E36 M3.

The E36 M3 was on race coilovers, camber plates, sparco evos, cross drilled rotors with hawk hp-10 pads, lightweight bbs wheels, ac removed, total weight reduction was down to 2800lbs from 3175. The only maintainence I had done was preventative.

Which included, water pump, radiator, t-stat, belts and hoses, which was $279 and took an afternoon to do.

I had the master cyclinder snap on me, which was $100 and took 2 days to change, and a lot of beer for my friend helping me.

And the guibo was $50 and an easy 1hr job.

Tires were the only real expense and would last 6-7k miles, and I knew the owner of a tire shop who got the tires for $50 a pop. Changed the brakes once in 103k miles of ownership.

The car I'm looking at has hr springs on stock struts (I can't imagine that handling well at all) But overall what can I expect? I figure $1/mile repair cost.

 

in a word - floaty (the HR will be OK much better than stock but on stock shocks with stock sways, its gonna feel too loose for you IMO)

another word.... more $ for basic stuff, an oil change is 11 qts (aka $100 at home!)

are you going to track the car?


rear tires wear out twice as fast as fronts - 5k of hard driving, 10k of pu$$y footing around

Easy to work on - seriously!

awe, some more thoughts later - Welcome and post some pics for the wh()res!

 

Not familier with the M3 vs 911, but if you are going to convet it into a track machine similar to your BMW, based on your listed pricing, I'd say you'll be paying more with the Porsche. Seems like luck of the draw regarding water pump, AOS, RMS, IMS, etc. You have a tire connection, but you'll most likely want to change out suspension, upgrade brake pads, lighten wheels w/aftermarket, and mix in some more track oriented sways, drop links.....Maybe some BMW/Porsche owners will chime in.

 

+1

My E36s were bomb-proof. Plus BMWs were/are produced in such vast quantities relative to Porsches that you can actually get great value for money on parts and mods.

 

e36 is a much cheaper platform to operate on the track, and to get the 996 set up right is going to be money. Buy a built car if you can.

 

Just look at it like you are driving an M3 in reverse since the engine is in the back. I think that feel for traction when cornering will keep you adjusting to the change for a little while.

 

Maintenance isn't hugely worse but when something goes wrong on the 996 it will be a bit more expensive. Modding the 996 is usually quite a bit more expensive than an E36 as are tires.

Handling/dynamics wise, you will find that the 996 is more communicative and engaging a car to drive. It's hard to believe as the E36's are a fantastic car to drive in terms of feed back and balance. The 996 is just a few levels better. Coming from an E36 (323is that was track/autocross built- PSS9 Coil-overs, camber plates, V710's, 3.15 Dif with LSD etc...) and campaigning several built E36, E46 M3's, a dialed in 996 is just more fun.

Getting used to the handling, the basic dynamics of the E36 and the 996 are quite different. The E36 is a very forgiving car even when you dial it in to be very neutral. Because of the weight balance the car allows you to get away with a lot more (mistakes) than you can with a 996 (especially a tuned 996). The 996 is responds to smoother, more delicate inputs and will bite you if you are abrupt with it. TTOS is the name of the game with this car and it is hugely fun when you master it as corner exit speeds are much better than the E36 comparatively. You can get on throttle sooner in the 996 as the rear weight bias makes the rear very stable on acceleration. The 996 is a more challenging car to drive fast but is hugely more rewarding when done right as I find many of the BMW's a little to easy to drive fast.

Hope this helps,

 

E36 seats are like sitting on a park bench....I owned two back in the day.
Your *** will thank you for giving it a Porsche to sit in.

 

his car had sparco evos, - I dont think the stock P-car seats will be an upgrade

 

please, the vaders in the e36 M3 are fantastic.

I loved my E36 M3 to death. Probably the most balanced car i've ever driven. I'd be hard pressed to sell one for a standard 996 C2. If only the interior weren't so poorly dated, I'd probably buy another.

 

I think he owes us some e36 pics (sounds nicely set up)

 

If you are building a track car from stock, you will need to adjust your budget.

 

I loved the '95 I owned.
At the time, it's 240 HP ruled the road as far as handling and all around fun
I loved watching it disintegrate around me
I bought a '97 or'98, ( there was a year they skipped) which I loved until the day I drove a 996
Loved the 996 until the day I drove a 997
Unless your *** comes with extra padding, the M36 seat bottom is a brick.

 

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That was my first one I had for 5 years, and then I bought this one for 6 months


By brianbader at 2010-02-28

 

They probably couldn't film The Transporter shoe driving a porsche because the car wouldn't stay in the film frame long enough . Well maybe a guy doing something like that would be better off with a bmw since he wouldn't stand out very much since m3's do kind of looks standardish. Not that they are but the body style is.

Here's a new one. Expect more tickets or worrying about them that's for sure.