pblakeway

Hi,
I am looking at the above and if anyone has owned both, how do they compare ?

cheers
Paul

rik1471

Apparantly the Evo has some reliability problems.

pblakeway

Ive heard about the Vanos unit one, are there other problems with the EVO ?

mozzaITA

My cousin used to own a M3 non evo 3.0l and it was faultless, in 2 years only routine servicing and changed one light bulb!!....

They are amazingly fast cars, much faster than a fiat coupe 20 v turbo for example as ive been in both and driven both.

Cheers

Moz

Writer/Researcher and Sales
www.rapidcarsltd.co.uk

stone-islandM3

Hardly any diff in performance in real world. I've got a 3L M3 and bought it over the Evo because a) I couldnt find as good an example for the £ and b)a bill for £1700 to replace the vanos if I didn't have the BMW warranty scared the bejaysus out of me.

I have had a coupl of tussles with Evos and certainly up to 100ish and just over there is no difference.

The Evos used a lot of lightened 3L parts so sometimes quoted power figures can be misleading. At a recent rolling road session a 3L M3 with k&n panel filter and decat exhaust came in at 298 bhp while a standard evo gave out 292bhp.

Both are excellent cars.

Other differences are brakes, suspension (Evo sits slightly higher) and body bits. Don't forget theres also the GT1 and 2 as special editions.

davyboy

If you can afford the GT version get it!

Phil M

evo is 6 speed, 3.0 isn't

DaveMiddleton

I eventually sold my M3 Evo with 96K on the clock about 2 years ago. It is now "living" just down the road from me and the bodywork is still in great condition. Stone chips do not penetrate to bare metal nearly as easily as with a previous subaru. The M3 was totally bombproof and build quality was brilliant. I still look back at the car with fond memories (even after subsequently owning Skyline R34, Carrera 4 and now a 430 bhp Twin Turbo)

st/EVO

if the car has a full bmwsh the vanos is usually replaced either free or heavily subsidised by bmw it should have been recalled but werent, i think the later ones are a safer bet,
i have a 98 evo which is lowered and braced, soon to have an induction kit and a new exhaust,
not much else you can do to them but you dont really need to, i have owened an s2000, accord type r, my dad has a 996 carrera 4 but i have never had so much fun with a car as i have with the evo.
servicing is the only downside bmw will quote upto about £900 to do an inspection 2,
i will post some pics of my car when i get home see what you think

stone-islandM3

How much are you looking at spending. Lower mileage mint 3Ls tend to be fetching around the same as higher mileage early Evos. Under 13k I'd go 3L or GT1, anything over 14k go Evo or GT2

Tractor

The general feeling in the press at the time was that the 3.0 was dissappointing, and the Evo a much-improved solution to that criticism, although still not as great as the original M3 (mainly due to weight...).

There are quite a few spec differences, but specifically, a 6 speed box on the Evo, as stated, 5 spd on 3.0, a bigger more powerful engine in the Evo (obviously) and better steering on the Evo. I am sure that the Evo only really has more power in the last 2k of the rev range than the 3.0. Both are seriously quick through the whole range anyway, and the Evo gets a little scary-quick above 6k rpm.....

They are very reliable, but DO NOT buy an Evo car which has not had a VANOS change unless it is a. very cheap, or b. under BMW warranty.

Mine has just had it done, and as said above, since it had full BMW service history, BMW paid for the parts, and I the labour (the car is out of warranty). However, I have heard that BMW only does this for cars with less than 60k miles.

*Free plug* My Evo is for sale, has 58k miles, and is cheap, so drop me a line if you are interested...

mike16v

tractor - mail the details to mike.robbie at btopenworld.com please

I was looking for an M3 earlier in the year but was made redundant. I am now back in work which is why my VR6 is up for sale now!!

pblakeway

tractor,
you Have PM

Cheers

gatty

great car in a srtraight line scoob are more user freindly for the corners. I had some great times in the m3 i spent around 2k on it and pulled like a train, i had a dyno'ed at 330 bhp at the fly wheel. For the money you get a lot of reliable car and class.

mozzaITA

Never heard of GT1 or GT2 m3!!! please tell more. I did think on the M3 that the diff locked up too easy and wasnt it once the most crashed car????

Cheers

Moz

Writer/Researcher and Sales
www.rapidcarsltd.co.uk

st/EVO

how do you post pics?

scoobysnacks

I was in a similar dilema a few months ago and decided on the EVO because of all the advantages mentioned already. The only downside was the double VANOS problems which seem quite common, but having said that I have heard from some owners who have had no problems to high mileage (90k +) and most of the problems I have read about have been on 96 models so get a 97 or above if you can...

Have a look here for some info on the M3 GT1 (the GT2 is the EVO version of the same theme).

Steve Whitehorn

iTrader: (13)

As a note.
Saw this in a BMW magazine about tuning M3s

'3.0 is the best starting point for tuners.' Aparently you can do more with it than the Evo.

However the Evo seems to be the best out of the box, as it were.

Steve

RB5Caterham

The first M3 E36 (286bhp) had a GT version with different spoiler and a splitter.

I think they made another GT version for the Evo (321bhp) as well.

That maybe what they are referring to when they say GT1 and GT2.

Had an Evo myself and it could pull in any gear at any speed, really miss that in my scoob. Such is life

davyboy

A E36M3GT last Saturday, with R rated tyres, and my handprint firmly embossed on the door handle! It has firmer suspension, some nice interior trim, and different front and rear spoliers. The driver of this car has done over 300 laps of the 'ring in this!

moses

m3 evo is slower than the normal m3

but rather go for the new shape if u can its awesome

st/EVO

the evo is faster

tiggers

Yeah, but how do they stack up against a Scoob?

Sorry, it's just we haven't debated this in the last two days so I thought we ought to start again now

stone-islandM3

Any diff in M3s is marginal, fractions of a second, anything up to around 100 then the Evos extra kick comes in but again its marginal on real roads. The 3L tends to kinder tuned and minor tweeks will have it matching the Evo.

The quotes about Evos being slower is the slower 0-60 times obtained by Autocar that was put down to the gearing.

The GT1 was an uprated version of the 3L giving 296bhp and diff spoilers, leather/alcantera interior and only done in BRG, matt. The Evo 2 was an individual Evo but no engine mods.

Do as most do, drive both and see which you prefer.

scoobysnacks

To answer Tiggers:

An M3 EVO is faster in a straight line than 'most' scoobs once moving, with figures of 0-60 mph in about 5.4 secs and 0-100 mph in about 12.8 and a standing quarter in about 13.6. (taken from figures I've seen in Performance Car Magazine).
Above 100 mph, the advantage over most scoobs tends to increase because of better aerodynamics and the higher power becoming more of a factor, as well as the fact that only two wheels are being drive. The top speed would be about 170+ mph if delimited.
In the twisties and on rougher surfaces a scoob definitely has the edge, being lighter and more chuckable with better damping, but I think the M3 would be better in longer sweeping curves mainly due more grip from it's wider tyres. Obviously when it's wet the 4wd of the Impreza gives it much better traction and safer on the limit handling.

tiggers

Errr.... It was meant as a joke... sorry!

scoobysnacks

Doh, I misread and thought you said you HAD been debating it in the last two days. Lol, I'll shut up now...

tiggers

No worries mate!

CraigH

Sod all this new comfy M3 lark, what you want is one of these:

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=4034599&outx=600&oq=0

Godspeed Brakes

iTrader: (259)

I bought an Evo yesterday , had a bit of a dabble with an L reg M3 and mine was quite a lot faster , in a 2 mile dual carriage way from 2nd gear pulled about 10 car lengths on him , it pulls really hard from 6k , its a cracking car , the vanos has been done on a recall so thats a worry out the way , just at the moment I'm too busy working and cant go out driving it in the glorious sunshine were having , I'm working away on my lathe drooling at it through the window , so if any of the customers in the group buy have wobbly brakes you know why