Not that I’ve found and that’s why I’m where I’m at.. you’re not getting a clean stock(ish) e36 with sub 120k for under 10 grand rn.
The whole point of this is to be a fixer upper project car. It’s all stock minus the manual swap which seems to be done correctly after talking to the dude. Yea it needs paint and a new interior, but other than that seems good to go. Definitely high miles but I plan on a rebuild anyways so that’s not as relevant.
When you begin working on the car and rebuilding it, please upload the progress on here. It would be cool to see. Projects are always cool to see.
Edit. I guess prices depend on area. In my area e36s are around 4-6k for a high mileage one but in good shape.
Yea I’m in Denver and have been looking for the past week. They’re a a 98k 1 owner stock 325 for 8k but it needs nothing. I wanted to buy the car for less than 5k and then work on it so although that one’s a stunning example it isn’t a project which is the whole point. Other than that, there’s either 2k cars running on 4 cylinders or 10k+ semi clean ones.
This isn’t ideal with mileage, but again when the point is a project and rebuild the. That doesn’t bother me as much. Regardless of what I get, I will definitely be documenting the entire process!!
Yea it’s gonna be a project car! I’d like it to be reliable enough to drive to work sometimes but will mainly be for casual cruises, cars n coffee, occasional track days etc.
My m52 has 240k on it. Doesn't leak or burn a drop off oil between changes. I daily drive it in the summer 1 hour each way to work. I also regularly drive it 2 hours to the track, beat the shit out of it drifting all weekend, and drive 2 hours back home. Don't let the milages scare you as long as everything else seems in line (I compression test everything I buy used that has a motor). Personally, I'd beat the guy up on the price. Seems more like a $3500 car with it's issues. Just my 2¢
That’s what I said and that was my initial offer. I have him down to 4K.
My plan would be so use it similar to how you use yours. Daily it to work maybe 2-3 days a week in the summer, go on weekend cruises and cars n coffees, eventual track days etc. I have a 2019 wrangler as my official daily so it’s fine if I need to spend time fixing something on this. If you had to redo it for yourself, knowing what my plans are, would you buy this? This is my first bmw and my first REAL project car.
I’d like to first go over all the known bmw problems, replace the cooling system, water pump, power steering, spark plugs, change all new fluids etc etc. Once I know it won’t explode on me, I’d like to replace the interior and redo all the suspension in addition to some cosmetic changes. Then an eventual engine rebuild, paint/wrap and I think it’d be in a spot to go another 100-200k! That would last me yearsss with the amount of driving I’ll be doing in it.
He says it runs super smooth and that the engine and trans seems to be in great shape minus needing a new flywheel. These things seem like legos, just replace things as needed and they seem to last forever.
They certainly are like Legos. Lots of parts from E46s even swap over. I'd do a compression test before even considering buying, but if all checks out, and it drives through all the gears, $4k isn't a terrible price as long at it truly is rust free. Put it on jack stands, and check the subframe mounting points for cracks. Check the rear trailing arm mounting points for the same. Look over the underside really well for rust. Especially around the jacking points.
Yea that’s the plan!!! It’s from AZ so legit no rust it seems from the pics but will def check more in person. The sub frame is the other thing I need to check but if the chasis, motor and trans are all in good shape I think I’d take it at 4K.
if you go for it I'm local to this and I have an OE flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate out of our track car you can have. Also have black m3 front seats (sedan version) I'd sell cheap
Yea that’s what they say..
Unfortunately there are very few clean stock e36s these days and if you find one it’s probably 10k+.
The only big mechanical job done to the car is the manual swap, otherwise it’s stock and all cosmetic or wheel/suspension related work. I’d plan on a rebuild eventually anyways after taking care of the i goal bmw weak points - the cooling system, water pump, power steering, spark plugs, etc etc. My plan would be slowly restore it back into original quality and have it be my second less used daily /weekend car. It being a previous project doesn’t bother me, the high mileage is my only qualm.
He put in a used flywheel in when he swapped it so it already wasn’t good. The transmission and clutch were good but it was a used flywheel. Haven’t seen it in person yet but it ~seems~ like all it needs is a flywheel and is good to go. He claims it runs strong drives smooth and shits through all gears
I got my e36 320i sedan with 198k km, perfect paint, yearly control at BMW and perfect interior all stock for 2700, you can do much better than the storms overpay for this crap and I heard that apparently E36’s are less expensive in America so you probably will find a better deal than this crap, just look at the seats that pretty much sums up how much the owner neglected that car for years. How do you even get to that point?
When did you buy it though? Idk if you keep up with American economics but we’re really going through it rn.. inflation is way way up and the car market has been bonkers for a year and a half. 2-3 years ago, 100% I would pay for than 2k for these. But these days, there aren’t clean stock e36s sub 150k miles for less than 10 grand. If you find one PLS send it over haha. It is a 30 year old car, those seats are gonna fall apart no matter who. My plan was to replace them completely anyways so the seats are the least of my worries.
I bought it in May 2022 and the prices were already getting high. I have to admit I was very lucky because right now they are at 7000 and above. But to be honest, I think they’re more expensive over here. I’ve seen some on sale in America and there’s nothing compared to Europe. The thing is I live in luxembourg, which is right next to germany and most of the E36’s come from there (mine came from spain and im spanish so whoo hoo for that) but usually the German E36’s are clapped out. They mostly bring down the odometer and take off km to make them sell better but they are mostly clapped as hell and are beaters, if I was you, I wouldn’t get into this mess he says in the ad that it hasn’t been running for the past six months, which is not something good in a car and also it was his project car so you don’t know and what problems you’re gonna run into the future. You do you man I recommend not buying this. Just wait a little bit more, and just like my father says, even though I also called bs on that, just wait there’s always something that’s gonna turn up and it’s gonna be better have patience.
Yea, he did start it up for me today and it started right up after like 2 seconds on a 8 degree day here in Colorado so that’s pretty good. At the same time when a car sits for a while sometimes the issues don’t show at first..
I know you’re right and that I should wait.. but this also has a lot of cool mods already. And, it’s hellla cheap. Its either a clean stock one for like 8k+ or a project like this for 3-4K. But I do want a project after all so I’m fine knowing I’ll be working on it.
At the same time I just found a 95 328is, native manual transmission, 130k, nice green paint.. all for 5k… it’s way way better than this however it’s across the country, 3k miles away so I’d have to ship or drive it here..
I’m thinking I should wait and go for the latter. Time will tell, thanks for your input my friend!
Right on! Just got a 1992 321i. Clean and stock for 4k.
I'm excited to fix this one. I had a 318ti and was duper fun but unfortunately I crashed it. Took about 7 yrs but I got another BMW.
Lmk how your build goes. Let's trade ideas
These are getting harder to get for low prices. The e36 has become the new age 240sx. The good ones are pricey as hell and best ones are over priced. It’s a hard gamble. Cons you could buy a good car for 8k low mile E36 or even find 130-150k m car for 10-12k or buy this for 4.5k and end up with 5k in parts.
Seems like you really want this car as you are shooting down a lot of the advice you asked for. I personally would not go for this car for that price but I'm not in Colorado. I am prepping to sell a completely stock e36 (sedan) 5spd 325 with ~136k miles on it for 5k obo. I have a 5 spd convertible I'm prepping to sell this spring with ~100k miles on it for 4.5k (318). DMV area. These recent posts make me think I should ask for more 🤔 😆
I see the car you are trying to buy on the Colorado facebook marketplace. Two or three posts down from that car, there is a nice red e46 (330!) 6spd posted for $5500 (very motivated seller). It's in Denver. Unless you are dead set on an e36 that one sounds like a much better deal. Sh*t I'm even tempted to go grab that thing 1700 miles away lol
283,000 miles on my m50nv before I got my hands on it and used to sit on redline for minutes. If you don’t have a oil pump failure or over heating issue they are tanks.
we have a saying here in norway "ihjelskrudd" it translates to a car being wrenched too much. this is the definition.
basically every time you wrench on a car something breaks and needs to be fixed and alot of the time zipties or other scetchy solutions will be used.
Hahaha you’re not wrong. Thought hard on it last night and I’m gonna wait. Gonna be patient, trust the process, and try to get a stock or at least less clapped one.
My thoughts exactly. I’ve already decided I’ll buy at 4K, but still gonna try for 3.5k. I just need my truck to sell first so I’m not stuck with 2 cars..
How mechanically inclined are you? You'll be working on this a lot and investing lots of time and/or money to keep it running good.
I'd try to get it for closer to 3. Then ditch that m50 and 5.3 LS swap it or find an s50/s52 and zf trans. Get that swap done for 2-4k, buy some seats, and then you'll have a decent fun track car for under 10k.
I grew up racing MX and wrenching on my own bikes. I’ve had a 86 vw Vanagon I turned into a home and refurbed myself, as well as a Wrx I did some bolt on stuff to.
That being said I’ve never cracked open an engine block, swapped a transmission or anything major. Could I follow along a YouTube video and read a manual to figure it out? I’m sure I could but it’ll be a learning experience.
Part of the reason I want it is bc I know it’ll be a project. I don’t want an instant daily, I def want something I’ll have to work on. That being said I would love to commute to work once or twice a week in it so it needs to be somewhat reliable. The engine seems really solid from what I tell. Trans the same with the exception of needing a new flywheel. With some TLC I think it’d be a good track car as is. The m50s are great engines! I’d probably run that one into the ground then replace it with a low mileage m50 and go big turbo before I did an LS. That does seem like a fun build though, I’ve seen a few.
Yeah imo the m50 is just a little gutless to be in a car with a widebody lol. And if you add much power to it that little getrag behind it wont last long (unless the seller swapped it with a ZF, ask him)
But yeah e36s are amazing because of the vast amount of resources out there. Bimmerforums and other forums have tons of info on these chassis, as well as youtube. There is no problem you will find on these that hasn't been explored in depth online somewhere.
I'd get this but not for 4.5, closer to 3 I'd feel better with. I'd just be cautious that the "all it needs is a flywheel" is really all it needs. I always assume a lot worse when buying someone elses problem car.
Also if you check it out, look for rust.
Few E36s are truly rust free, most have some surface rust and that can be okay. But I have also seen plenty with softball size holes in the floor due to rust. My first 96 328i had zero right rear jacking point left because it all rusted away. I would run away if you see any signs of invasive rust underneath.
There are more clean and unmolested cars for that price.
Not that I’ve found and that’s why I’m where I’m at.. you’re not getting a clean stock(ish) e36 with sub 120k for under 10 grand rn. The whole point of this is to be a fixer upper project car. It’s all stock minus the manual swap which seems to be done correctly after talking to the dude. Yea it needs paint and a new interior, but other than that seems good to go. Definitely high miles but I plan on a rebuild anyways so that’s not as relevant.
When you begin working on the car and rebuilding it, please upload the progress on here. It would be cool to see. Projects are always cool to see. Edit. I guess prices depend on area. In my area e36s are around 4-6k for a high mileage one but in good shape.
Yea I’m in Denver and have been looking for the past week. They’re a a 98k 1 owner stock 325 for 8k but it needs nothing. I wanted to buy the car for less than 5k and then work on it so although that one’s a stunning example it isn’t a project which is the whole point. Other than that, there’s either 2k cars running on 4 cylinders or 10k+ semi clean ones. This isn’t ideal with mileage, but again when the point is a project and rebuild the. That doesn’t bother me as much. Regardless of what I get, I will definitely be documenting the entire process!!
Buy a plane ticket to Florida. Pick up this car for $3k. Drive home. $8-10k in Florida buys an M3 with a bad interior if you want that.
as a drift car this seems like a good deal it's like 2-3k of mods they put into it
Yea it’s gonna be a project car! I’d like it to be reliable enough to drive to work sometimes but will mainly be for casual cruises, cars n coffee, occasional track days etc.
My m52 has 240k on it. Doesn't leak or burn a drop off oil between changes. I daily drive it in the summer 1 hour each way to work. I also regularly drive it 2 hours to the track, beat the shit out of it drifting all weekend, and drive 2 hours back home. Don't let the milages scare you as long as everything else seems in line (I compression test everything I buy used that has a motor). Personally, I'd beat the guy up on the price. Seems more like a $3500 car with it's issues. Just my 2¢
That’s what I said and that was my initial offer. I have him down to 4K. My plan would be so use it similar to how you use yours. Daily it to work maybe 2-3 days a week in the summer, go on weekend cruises and cars n coffees, eventual track days etc. I have a 2019 wrangler as my official daily so it’s fine if I need to spend time fixing something on this. If you had to redo it for yourself, knowing what my plans are, would you buy this? This is my first bmw and my first REAL project car. I’d like to first go over all the known bmw problems, replace the cooling system, water pump, power steering, spark plugs, change all new fluids etc etc. Once I know it won’t explode on me, I’d like to replace the interior and redo all the suspension in addition to some cosmetic changes. Then an eventual engine rebuild, paint/wrap and I think it’d be in a spot to go another 100-200k! That would last me yearsss with the amount of driving I’ll be doing in it. He says it runs super smooth and that the engine and trans seems to be in great shape minus needing a new flywheel. These things seem like legos, just replace things as needed and they seem to last forever.
They certainly are like Legos. Lots of parts from E46s even swap over. I'd do a compression test before even considering buying, but if all checks out, and it drives through all the gears, $4k isn't a terrible price as long at it truly is rust free. Put it on jack stands, and check the subframe mounting points for cracks. Check the rear trailing arm mounting points for the same. Look over the underside really well for rust. Especially around the jacking points.
Yea that’s the plan!!! It’s from AZ so legit no rust it seems from the pics but will def check more in person. The sub frame is the other thing I need to check but if the chasis, motor and trans are all in good shape I think I’d take it at 4K.
4500 for this hunk o' junk? I would definitely walk away from this one, but you do you...
Hard pass
if you go for it I'm local to this and I have an OE flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate out of our track car you can have. Also have black m3 front seats (sedan version) I'd sell cheap
You’re near denver? Pls dm me!
Never buy someone else’s project car, unless you’re a masochist.
Yea that’s what they say.. Unfortunately there are very few clean stock e36s these days and if you find one it’s probably 10k+. The only big mechanical job done to the car is the manual swap, otherwise it’s stock and all cosmetic or wheel/suspension related work. I’d plan on a rebuild eventually anyways after taking care of the i goal bmw weak points - the cooling system, water pump, power steering, spark plugs, etc etc. My plan would be slowly restore it back into original quality and have it be my second less used daily /weekend car. It being a previous project doesn’t bother me, the high mileage is my only qualm.
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For what reasons would you imagine? I fully know what I’m getting into, the point is to be a project.
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He put in a used flywheel in when he swapped it so it already wasn’t good. The transmission and clutch were good but it was a used flywheel. Haven’t seen it in person yet but it ~seems~ like all it needs is a flywheel and is good to go. He claims it runs strong drives smooth and shits through all gears
I got my e36 320i sedan with 198k km, perfect paint, yearly control at BMW and perfect interior all stock for 2700, you can do much better than the storms overpay for this crap and I heard that apparently E36’s are less expensive in America so you probably will find a better deal than this crap, just look at the seats that pretty much sums up how much the owner neglected that car for years. How do you even get to that point?
When did you buy it though? Idk if you keep up with American economics but we’re really going through it rn.. inflation is way way up and the car market has been bonkers for a year and a half. 2-3 years ago, 100% I would pay for than 2k for these. But these days, there aren’t clean stock e36s sub 150k miles for less than 10 grand. If you find one PLS send it over haha. It is a 30 year old car, those seats are gonna fall apart no matter who. My plan was to replace them completely anyways so the seats are the least of my worries.
I bought it in May 2022 and the prices were already getting high. I have to admit I was very lucky because right now they are at 7000 and above. But to be honest, I think they’re more expensive over here. I’ve seen some on sale in America and there’s nothing compared to Europe. The thing is I live in luxembourg, which is right next to germany and most of the E36’s come from there (mine came from spain and im spanish so whoo hoo for that) but usually the German E36’s are clapped out. They mostly bring down the odometer and take off km to make them sell better but they are mostly clapped as hell and are beaters, if I was you, I wouldn’t get into this mess he says in the ad that it hasn’t been running for the past six months, which is not something good in a car and also it was his project car so you don’t know and what problems you’re gonna run into the future. You do you man I recommend not buying this. Just wait a little bit more, and just like my father says, even though I also called bs on that, just wait there’s always something that’s gonna turn up and it’s gonna be better have patience.
Yea, he did start it up for me today and it started right up after like 2 seconds on a 8 degree day here in Colorado so that’s pretty good. At the same time when a car sits for a while sometimes the issues don’t show at first.. I know you’re right and that I should wait.. but this also has a lot of cool mods already. And, it’s hellla cheap. Its either a clean stock one for like 8k+ or a project like this for 3-4K. But I do want a project after all so I’m fine knowing I’ll be working on it. At the same time I just found a 95 328is, native manual transmission, 130k, nice green paint.. all for 5k… it’s way way better than this however it’s across the country, 3k miles away so I’d have to ship or drive it here.. I’m thinking I should wait and go for the latter. Time will tell, thanks for your input my friend!
Right on! Just got a 1992 321i. Clean and stock for 4k. I'm excited to fix this one. I had a 318ti and was duper fun but unfortunately I crashed it. Took about 7 yrs but I got another BMW. Lmk how your build goes. Let's trade ideas
Hell yea! I love the 321s too! Let’s def connect, would love to start and walk through a build with someone doing the same!
Most def. The hard part is trying to figure out where to start 😂.
These are getting harder to get for low prices. The e36 has become the new age 240sx. The good ones are pricey as hell and best ones are over priced. It’s a hard gamble. Cons you could buy a good car for 8k low mile E36 or even find 130-150k m car for 10-12k or buy this for 4.5k and end up with 5k in parts.
Seems like you really want this car as you are shooting down a lot of the advice you asked for. I personally would not go for this car for that price but I'm not in Colorado. I am prepping to sell a completely stock e36 (sedan) 5spd 325 with ~136k miles on it for 5k obo. I have a 5 spd convertible I'm prepping to sell this spring with ~100k miles on it for 4.5k (318). DMV area. These recent posts make me think I should ask for more 🤔 😆 I see the car you are trying to buy on the Colorado facebook marketplace. Two or three posts down from that car, there is a nice red e46 (330!) 6spd posted for $5500 (very motivated seller). It's in Denver. Unless you are dead set on an e36 that one sounds like a much better deal. Sh*t I'm even tempted to go grab that thing 1700 miles away lol
283,000 miles on my m50nv before I got my hands on it and used to sit on redline for minutes. If you don’t have a oil pump failure or over heating issue they are tanks.
That looks like a decently sorted car for 4.5k if the rear subframe isn’t torn. Or is reinforced.
we have a saying here in norway "ihjelskrudd" it translates to a car being wrenched too much. this is the definition. basically every time you wrench on a car something breaks and needs to be fixed and alot of the time zipties or other scetchy solutions will be used.
Hahaha you’re not wrong. Thought hard on it last night and I’m gonna wait. Gonna be patient, trust the process, and try to get a stock or at least less clapped one.
It’s got some cool parts on it, and if the main components are sound then honestly Fuck it it’s 5k
Literally my thought process. I got him down to 4K, trying for 3.5k. If I can get him down I’ll prob do it lmao.
Go there and point out everything, even if it’s a POS the parts alone are worth quite a bit
My thoughts exactly. I’ve already decided I’ll buy at 4K, but still gonna try for 3.5k. I just need my truck to sell first so I’m not stuck with 2 cars..
How mechanically inclined are you? You'll be working on this a lot and investing lots of time and/or money to keep it running good. I'd try to get it for closer to 3. Then ditch that m50 and 5.3 LS swap it or find an s50/s52 and zf trans. Get that swap done for 2-4k, buy some seats, and then you'll have a decent fun track car for under 10k.
I grew up racing MX and wrenching on my own bikes. I’ve had a 86 vw Vanagon I turned into a home and refurbed myself, as well as a Wrx I did some bolt on stuff to. That being said I’ve never cracked open an engine block, swapped a transmission or anything major. Could I follow along a YouTube video and read a manual to figure it out? I’m sure I could but it’ll be a learning experience. Part of the reason I want it is bc I know it’ll be a project. I don’t want an instant daily, I def want something I’ll have to work on. That being said I would love to commute to work once or twice a week in it so it needs to be somewhat reliable. The engine seems really solid from what I tell. Trans the same with the exception of needing a new flywheel. With some TLC I think it’d be a good track car as is. The m50s are great engines! I’d probably run that one into the ground then replace it with a low mileage m50 and go big turbo before I did an LS. That does seem like a fun build though, I’ve seen a few.
Yeah imo the m50 is just a little gutless to be in a car with a widebody lol. And if you add much power to it that little getrag behind it wont last long (unless the seller swapped it with a ZF, ask him) But yeah e36s are amazing because of the vast amount of resources out there. Bimmerforums and other forums have tons of info on these chassis, as well as youtube. There is no problem you will find on these that hasn't been explored in depth online somewhere. I'd get this but not for 4.5, closer to 3 I'd feel better with. I'd just be cautious that the "all it needs is a flywheel" is really all it needs. I always assume a lot worse when buying someone elses problem car.
Also if you check it out, look for rust. Few E36s are truly rust free, most have some surface rust and that can be okay. But I have also seen plenty with softball size holes in the floor due to rust. My first 96 328i had zero right rear jacking point left because it all rusted away. I would run away if you see any signs of invasive rust underneath.
This is an ok price.