Readers' Rides: Jeff's Immaculate E36 M3

The BMW E36 M3 was the first M3 to be powered by a straight-six engine after the venerable four-cylinder E30 M3. Its 3.0-litre S50 engine originally produced 282hp, but this was uprated to a healthier 316hp with the introduction of the 3.2-litre S50B32 engine in '95.

Of the 72k E36 M3s that were built worldwide, just 12,600 of those were in 'more-door' saloon form. CT reader Jeff is one such owner. In his own words, here is why Jeff loves his E36 M3 so much and the work he's done to it. Over to you, Jeff...

My pride and joy is this 1998 BMW M3, which I've owned and loved for just over two years now. My BMW obsession began when my father became one of the lucky few to own and love a 2002tii (with the round taillights, of course). He had to sell it after several years, but during my childhood he acquired three 2002 shells that he had hoped we could one day assimilate into a fully functioning 2002, which could have been my first car.

A 2002tii like this would have been my first ride. Image source: maydaygarage.com

After an unfortunate turn of familial events, we had to sell the house and move, and it wasn't viable to drag four tons of steel with us. The 2002s had to be left behind. However, when I got a BMWCCA membership for my 12th birthday as a present from my dad, the fire was rekindled.

After tearing through each issue, month after month, lurking on forums, and perusing Craigslist and eBay ads, I found what I wanted to be my first car: the E36 M3. It had everything I wanted: four doors, a manual tranny, good power, and it was called the best handling car of all time when it was released. But best of all, it only set me back $7000 (£4350). And all that for a car that cost the equivalent of $60,000 new.

I eventually found one that suited my criteria, and we had the pre-purchase inspection done at a local BMW shop. It checked out good, and we had it shipped 4000 miles home.

In two years of ownership I've managed to get her looking almost new. I polished the paint and refinished the wheels (which have been replaced in favor of wider ones), re-coated the interior leather with furniture clinic leather restoration kit (a project that took over 20 hours, but turned out phenomenally), replaced the entire suspension with new parts and bushings, and maintained everything else. All of which I did myself, learning as I went along.

The E36 may not be a 2002tii, but it has to be the next best thing. It handles like nothing else I've driven, it tears up the autocross track, and it looks beautiful sitting in the driveway after a good wash and coat of Zaino (which is just about every weekend).

Since I bought the car, I've done the aforementioned projects, as well as one other big one: a cruise control retrofit. The car had cruise as an option, but it wasn't fitted to the car. I sourced all the parts from eBay and the forums, and bought the wiring harness for it from BMW, and installed it myself in about eight hours. It was a bear of a project, with about 20 individual wires to route and connect, but it all came out functioning properly.

I autocross the car a few times a year, and I hope to get it out to the track soon, but track days are much more expensive than autocross (they eat tires a lot quicker), and I live on a college budget, so it's not feasible at the moment.

As for future plans, once I get done with school and have the income, I'd like to supercharge the car via a Vortech kit, and fit some coilovers to allow for more adjustability than the Koni shocks I have installed (dampening only, no ride height adjustment). I hope you guys like her as much as I do.

If you want your car featured on Readers' Rides, email alex.kersten@carthrottle.com with a pic and a few words explaining why you love it so much. If we like it, we'll feature it!