does anyone know the different models and spec of M3's particularly the E36.Are they all evolutions and what is the difference.

Is there a good website about??
ta

 

I know a good forum - it's called other marques

 

cheeky

 

Ben, try bmwcarclubgb.co.uk


karl.

 

cheers. how you getting on with the car? did you find the wheel nuts in the end?

 

Ben, all e46 m3's are basically the same in terms of performance with exception to the bonkers csl version, only variation will be standard gearbox or smg (sequential manual gearbox).
The evo's were only on the e36 version which is nothing like the newer e46.
Some people say the handling is better with the standard 18 inch wheels as opposed to the optional 19 inch, can't say that I have driven them hard enough to notice any difference myself.
Best source of info would be another forum or one of the many mags available.

Hope this helps Deano.

 

Do the liners still wear out at about 80,000 miles ?

 

Cars good Ben i'm enjoying it, yes i found everything.
i bought a new oz wheel today from scoobyclinic to use as a spare
instead of the spacesaver.

karl.

 

On M3 engines, think you are mistaken or its an isolated case ????

Deano.

 

The early E36 M3's were 3.0 litre and the EVO's which came out a couple of years later were 3.2 litre. I believe the Evo variants came with clear indicators and were also available as a 4 door. Not too sure of any other differences.

Andy

 

I think the e36 3.0 had 5 speed box and about 286? bhp, e36 m3 evo was 6 speed and 320? bhp. Can suffer problems with VANOS (variable timing) unit which can be expensive to fix. I don't know if they suffer from the bore wear problem that afflicted other BMW 6 cylinder engines from the same period.Hope this is of some assistance.

 

E36 standard has about 270, i had a scorpion exhaust and an induction kit at it was RR'd at 286, evos are quoted at 320 but not many make that figure, usually aroun the 300-305 area.

Good cars though, main reason i sold mine was although they are nice they dont really look much different from a normal coupe, only people who know there cars know what an m3 is.

 

E36 M3 286bhp has more midrange than the 321bhp Evo model and performance wise there is not much in it.
the only performance benefit if you thrash the t*ts off an Evo
also heard has vanos issues.

 

Try http://www.bm3w.co.uk

 

www.e36coupe.com If someone there can't help no-one can

The bore wear issue is only on 323 and 328's. As mentioned the VANOS issue is something to be careful of on E36 M3's though, and info can be found on the above forum.

 

WTF would you know? Anyone would think you worked with them!

 

Not sure, but I work with an ex-bmw mechanic from Batemans BMW, they had quite a few of the first generation 6 pots which apparently needed a bit of work around 80K.

I remember that at about that time a lot of M3's for sale seemed to get suddenly cheaper at around 80K.

Maybe a myth.

Ah, found the answer

It was the liners being erroded by high sulphur petrol. Once the hard Nikasil liner had been erroded, the pistons then ran on the soft aluminium and rapidly wore the bore away !

Got this from a web site

How do I tell whether the car I am looking at might be affected?

Only the M60 and the European M52 are affected.

The M60 is easy – it was fitted to all the E34 530i and 540i V8 cars. It was not fitted to the earlier E28 5-series or the later E39 5-series. Also the early E34 3.0 cars (pre-1991) were M30 6-cylinder cars and were not affected.

The M52 is not as easy. The E36s (3-series), E34s (5-series) and E39 (5-series) are affected. E30s, E46s, E28s are not. But not all the 6-cylinder cars are affected either. The early ones had the M50 (no VANOS) engine, and late ones had the M54 (double VANOS) motor. It is only the single VANOS M52 units that were affected (and then not even all of them). The effect of VANOS is to lower the revs at which peak torque is produced. On the M50, peak torque is produced at 4,700 rpm (2.0 and 2.5 litre). On the M52, maximum torque is produced at 4,200 rpm (2.0 litre) or 3,950 rpm (2.5 and 2.8 litre). On the M54, peak torque is produced at 3,500 rpm (2.0, 2.5 and 2.8 litre). Look at the peak torque figures in the Owner’s Handbook and your question is answered.

Once one has established that the engine is an M52, the next stage is to work out whether it has Nikasil liners or not. Steel liners were introduced into production at Week 10 in 1998, i.e. March 1998. Cars built before then will have Nikasil liners; but that is not the same thing as saying that cars sold after then will have steel liners - cars can sit around for a while, and it is the build date that is critical, not the date on which the vehicle is put into service. Contrary to certain information, the engine code change from "S6 3" to "S6 4" did not coincide with the move to steel liners and therefore not all "S6 3" cars are Nikasil. Whilst it is probably safe to assume that any car sold during 1999 or later is safe from the Nikasil issue, my advice (to be on the safe side) has to be to be very wary of any M52 and check the block material with BMW before buying it.

Also affected are the 7-series with the M52 and M60 engines, and the 8-series with the M60 engine. The Z8 with the M52 engine is not affected as all these cars received the "American" iron block (because they were built in the USA).

 

I guess a compression test may indicate any duff piston chambers, but I could be totally in-correct.
Kam

 

The M3s were unaffected by the nikasil problem listed above. The engines on both 3L and Evos were iron block and aluminium DOHC 24V cylinder head-nikasil liners not used.

The E36s suffer on a load of parts having about an 80k lifespan so at this sort of mileage you'll be nearing the time for rear bushes,suspension changes, CATs nearing the end of their life etc. Bushes, suspension mounts etc aint expensive but CATs are over £1k-the 3L models can get great gains by decatting at this stage.

3L engine reckoned to be stronger and more tuneable than the Evo. Most 3Ls that've been looked after show 280-ish on RR whereas Evos vary widely from 260-300 bhp. BMW quoted Evo output at 321 with tongue in cheek to break the 100bhp a litre mark.

No difference really between 3L and Evo on the road. Power band on the Evo tends to be more all-or-nothing than the 3L.Evo has better brakes and quicker steering rack.3L has slightly lower suspension and single vanos (dual vanos on Evos cost about £1,500 to replace and tend to fail). 6 gears on the Evo and 5 on the 3L. Both available as coups, cabs and saloons.

Evos also seen on E30 M3 which had Evo 1,2 and sport evolution models.

Interim limited quantity model between the 3L and the Evo of the M3 GT-uprated engine with 295bhp, all in non-metallic green and has a few body mods-diff interior and 2 tier spoiler.

End of the Evo run saw limited edition called M3 GT2-uprated styling as earlier GT model, only available in Red but no engine differences this time.

 

The GT is the one to go for. 295 bhp (guarranteed - BMW used saved the best performing engines for) from the 3L therefore bulletproof as regards to VANOS. Also has the same susp. setup as the Evo.

check out BM3W.co.uk - theres a guy on there called Tooney, he has both 3.0 and Evo i believe and has written afew comparisons