Buyng and concerned

[m3f_ak_]

Hello! :]



I have finally found the M3 that i wanted and am wondering the essential Questions i should ask the seller besides the ones i have already asked.

It is a 1997 Coupe.



So far this is everything i have asked and went over with HER.

- 116k miles.

- Under her name.

- clean title.

- 3rd or 4th owner <-- :&#91; ?

- AC/Heater work properly

- no accidents ever! (supposably)

- no mods, ALL OEM.

- power everything works, all airbags intact and such.

- Needs Free-on

- Runs/Drives perfectly, "as good as it looks"..



The car looks super clean from the pictures.

I would like to know what else i can ask and make sure before considering buying!

If any of the e36 enthusiasts on here can help me out it will be much appreciated!

you can directly add onto here or Instant Message me on AIM = hassanka

i dont mind



ill put pictures if you'd all like



thank you!

[m3f_quinntendopower]

ask about suspension maintenance first and foremost.

[m3f_slickfast]

Definitely post pics, let's get a look at her! Oh and the car too.



Umm well go here and watch ALL of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Z7WrN-tSE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7foKc...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4s-1...eature=related

These are put up by a member of our community, fiveightandten, and they pretty much outline everything you need to know about the e36 buying experience.



Also now that I've helped you, I have to say I got a chuckle out of your misspellings (Free-on, supposably). It's actually Freon and supposedly, just so you know! I am a huge nerd, so I do things like this.



Finally, welcome to the forum! There's a huge amount of knowledge on here. PICS PLS! kthnxbai

[m3f_ak_]

haha here are some pics ;&#93;



and your right, my mistake, but it was because i was typing off an email that she sent me exaplaining what is needed for the car hahah. and she wrote "free-on"



i appreciate all the help though, thank you!

[m3f_slickfast]

haha i gotcha, its fine!


Also, you might want to just copy the url, then hit the little yellow button with mountains on it thats directly above the box where you type in, so that you can imbed the picture properly

[m3f_slickfast]

UM, any reason that theres a PHOTOSHOPPED California license plate over a european plate?! I am VERY suspicious.


Additionally, looks like its been modified a bit... it is a luxury package m3 but it has the black lip on the front spoiler; those aren't usually there with a lux package car. Also, and this is NO biggie really, but it looks like it needs an exhaust hangar. This is a frequent problem for these cars. On top of that, I think 97's were supposed to come with DSII wheels, so these may have been swapped. I'll let someone else chime in though on that.

[m3f_ak_]

oh man, are you saying that you didnt see the pics :&#91; ?

[m3f_slickfast]

no the pics worked this time around, thanks

[m3f_fiveightandten]

Hello! :&#93;


I have finally found the M3 that i wanted and am wondering the essential Questions i should ask the seller besides the ones i have already asked.

It is a 1997 Coupe.


So far this is everything i have asked and went over with HER.

- 116k miles.

- Under her name.

- clean title.

- 3rd or 4th owner <-- :&#91; ?

- AC/Heater work properly

- no accidents ever! (supposably)

- no mods, ALL OEM.

- power everything works, all airbags intact and such.

- Needs Free-on

- Runs/Drives perfectly, "as good as it looks"..


The car looks super clean from the pictures.

I would like to know what else i can ask and make sure before considering buying!

If any of the e36 enthusiasts on here can help me out it will be much appreciated!

you can directly add onto here or Instant Message me on AIM = hassanka

i dont mind


ill put pictures if you'd all like


thank you!

Welcome to the forum. Hopefully we can help you out a bit and you'll wind up with a car that you're happy with.


There are 2 schools of M3 owners in this world. Those that are hardcore enthusiasts and demand near perfection out of the car, and upkeep it to very high standards...and those that are happy to have a car that runs ok, looks ok, ect.


You need to decide what kind of owner you want to buy from (buying from a dealer doesn't leave you much info about this). Enthusiast owned cars will, on the upside, be meticulously maintained and very very well cared for. On the downside, we pretty much drive the hell out of our cars, so you buy it knowing it's been driven damn hard. As far as buying a car from everyone else...well, there's a high chance that it hasn't had a high degree of attention to maintenance, and hasn't been up-kept as well as an enthusiast owned car. The upside is that there's a possibility it was actually driven by a woman who commuted to work with it and never brought it to redline or kicked the tail out around a corner. Aka, not driven hard. IMO, i'd much rather have an enthusiast-owned M3.


That car is part of the latter group. The information you have about it is helpful if you are part of that group as well. But if you're the type of person that's looking for a car that will (after some time in your hands) be a few notches up from average...that information is nearly useless to you.


Get out there and crawl around the car yourself and take a good long look at everything. I did my best to outline major areas of concern in those videos Colin posted above. That may help you out a bit.


That being said, about that car specifically...


Looks super sketchy to me. The car has a euro plate on it, but is a US car.


E36 M3's don't take Freon. They don't take R12. They take R-134. I'm not sure how the "heat and AC work properly" if it "needs Free-on".


Colin mentioned the wheels not matching the year. Those are off a '95 M3. Check the spare tire to see what's back there. Check the VIN and decode it to get the year (google this). It should start with WBS is it's an M car. Colin's right, the plate thing looks super sketchy. I'm not even sure those pictures are of the car supposedly for sale. Proceed with caution. Oh, and the car in the pictures needs new exhaust hangers.


Good luck in your search, keep us updated.

[m3f_asaid87]

hey are you Lebanese? jw? lol

[Obioban]

I'd be fairly concerned that they added a license plate with photoshop...

[m3f_Holysokz]

double check all the information that she gives you. In my momment of getting a M3 i almost made the mistake of getting dooped. IF you aren't able to drive and look at it or get a Private party inspection then walk away.