posted 05-04-2001 05:47 PM            

I'm currently driving a 'vette. Nice car, peppy, handles like nothing else I've ever driven.. BUT after a year or so it gets tiring not being able to haul more than 1 person, or drive on rough roads without being beat to hell..

So I need a second car.. I'm not the kind of person that can drive a Chevy Cavalier, or hell, anything that isn't peppy and can't handle like a slot car.

Lo and behold, I remember the M3!

I'll probably look for a 92-95 M3.. How's the handling and power? I've only seen one run at a track, it only pulled a 14.8.. consistently.. I have not seen one at an autox course yet.

Ride comfort? I'm sure ride comfort and fit and finish are WAY better than my 'Vettes, but i'd still like to know?

What is a reasonable price range? Any year I should avoid? Are parts super expensive? How reliable is hte M3 with a person who likes to drive a little rough?

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[img]http://www.84to96.net/kalesig.jpg[/img]

posted 05-04-2001 07:37 PM            

I had a 99 C5...95 E36 M3 before that..and now drive the E46 M3. Not sure which vette you have but even compared to the C5, the E36 M3's quality is miles ahead...at least from my personal experience. I had 60k miles on the 95 M3 when I got the C5 and it still felt more solid than the vette.

I had the auto C5 compared to the 5 speed E36 M3, but even then the corvette is so much faster that when i used to go from one to the other the E36 M3 actually felt "slow".

The M3 has great directional stability at high speeds..much better than the vette in my opinion...but it can get tiresome because of the short gearing on the E36 M3. It really should have had one more gear.

The handling/feedback is much more pleasant in the M3. Plus perceived confidence is much greater so you can push the car closer to its limit. The vette was a great handler but it didnt do much in terms of letting you know what was going on between the car and the road. The E36 M3 won the Best Handling Car at ANY Price contest which included porsches, ferraris, etc.

I traded in my E36 M3 about a year ago and I got around $19K I think. I would think anything around $20K for a low mile E36 M3 is a good price...probably a 95..maybe 96?

Good luck hope this helps.

Frank

posted 05-04-2001 08:04 PM            

I have an 86 vette with the optional high performance handling package (They were hot stuff in the 80s' with skidpad numbers that scared Porsche's)

I agree with your assessment of the C5's handling, they just feel "disconnected!!"

I see the 95 M3 is only 240hp with not a lot of torque (less than 230ft-lbs).. I want something thats at least a bit faster than my 'vette..

posted 05-05-2001 01:04 PM            

Quality is NOT what I expected. No power seats, the steering wheel felt like plastic (as did the seats)

posted 05-12-2001 02:54 PM            

I didnt have power seats but the manual adjustments were very thorough.

I dont remember the steering wheel being that bad actually. It does have leather on the wheel though with the whiteish blue stitching I think.

Did you get a chance to drive it though???

Hope you didnt give up on the M3 cause of the interior.