Are E36 M3 surpassing the E46 values?

[GreyM340i]

E36 values are really closely correlated with condition - lots of hi-mile shitboxes out there. Clean ones in good color-combos with low miles are just like E46 - very hard to find, next to impossible to find cheap.
Late 90's and early 2000's BMWs are some of the absolute best cars that humanity ever created, and prices are starting to reflect that - for pretty much all of them.

Lots of them around 100k miles in the mid 20’s. Lower mileage ones have gone for 30-55k. Looks like they are matching E46 pricing if not surpassing them now.

[jet_dogg]

I've always said 2001 was peak bmw lineup.

Except for the Zs 😎

[TexaZ3]

E36 values are really closely correlated with condition - lots of hi-mile shitboxes out there. Clean ones in good color-combos with low miles are just like E46 - very hard to find, next to impossible to find cheap.
Late 90's and early 2000's BMWs are some of the absolute best cars that humanity ever created, and prices are starting to reflect that - for pretty much all of them.

[Nate047]

Beautiful car dude. Hellrot E36 is pretty epic.

Thank you sir. I got lucky with my E36 and found a really unique spec with zero options and a rare interior, and it was super clean to start with, so I just brought it up to date and tinkered with it a little.

I had… A different experience with my particular E46 lol. Call it a learning experience, or stubbornness, or both, but for me, E46 M3 ownership has been less of a pleasant endeavor.

BUT… I still have it, and that says something. It says a lot actually. We all put up with a lot in order to enjoy these cars. I love the E46 platform in general even if I don’t always love *my* E46. Which one of the two chassis is “better” is all going to come down to personal preference. They’re both better at some things and worse at others.

[Casa de Mesa]

An E36 M3 is what made me a BMW fanboy. I drove my buddy's E36 M3 on Konis and semi-race brake pads (and that's it) on track and then bought it from him when he unloaded it. I had a racecar and was blown away by how capable the car was nearly bone stock.

It's such a capable chassis, so much so that Dan Unkefer (chief instructor for many a club, RIP) used to warn instructors that had never driven or ridden in one, "be very careful with your students who are driving E36 M3s". It's one of the first cars that could take a newer track driver well past their talent level...

[maw1124]

When I shopped E36M I stopped looking when I saw that automatic gear selector. It was so bad back then, Autotrader ads wouldn’t even specify a transmission because it was an automatic $5k deduct or no sale. For those and the 850s. Sound familiar?

maw

[Obioban]

Yeah… most people aren’t as astute, nor have they driven both. I mean, the number of people who can actually appreciate what you’ve said from experience is pretty small I’d bet.

Not to mention (flamesuit on), the SMG is a MUCH better automatic transmission. We can argue about SMG. An automatic E36M doesn’t even exist, and people aren’t bothering to convert them.

maw

What?

US e36 M3’s got torque converter automatics (optionally), and euro e36 M3’s got SMG (1).

My s50b32 e36 M3 started off life as an SMG car 😜

[maw1124]

Yeah… most people aren’t as astute, nor have they driven both. I mean, the number of people who can actually appreciate what you’ve said from experience is pretty small I’d bet.

Not to mention (flamesuit on), the SMG is a MUCH better automatic transmission. We can argue about SMG. An automatic E36M doesn’t even exist, and people aren’t bothering to convert them.

maw

[01SG]

I doubt the E36M will keep up, for reasons we all know (“non-M engine” will be all anyone remembers, unfortunately).

maw

I beg to differ. Cheaper to own as you said, rarer to find a good one, and just as good if not better as a driver's car are all reasons the e36 ought to stay close in value. I think it has largely, and rightly, shed the non-m engine stigma. And now the euro e36s are here too anyway.

I like both about the same. E46 is more car overall, but on the street the e36 is probably more fun. Smaller, more intimate, cable throttle, and better feeling.

[Obioban]

Keep in mind that all these young classics jump in price generally at the 20y, 25y, 30y, 35y marks. The E36M is seeing its 25y jump now, whereas the E46M hasn’t even reached 20y and to jett dogg’s point, it has already jumped, arguably too much.

I saw this with my 500E, which I bought just before it turned 20y — it damned near doubled the next few months and jumped in plateau steps generally every 5y thereafter. All the articles heralded the 30y mark, and on and on. Meanwhile better examples went higher and higher, worse examples not so much, etc., etc.

If we think E46M jumped the last few years, wait until it starts to hit these hallmarks. I doubt the E36M will keep up, for reasons we all know (“non-M engine” will be all anyone remembers, unfortunately).

maw

Non m engine, no wide body, interior that falls apart, annoying on the highway because no 6th gear…

[maw1124]

Keep in mind that all these young classics jump in price generally at the 20y, 25y, 30y, 35y marks. The E36M is seeing its 25y jump now, whereas the E46M hasn’t even reached 20y and to jett dogg’s point, it has already jumped, arguably too much.

I saw this with my 500E, which I bought just before it turned 20y — it damned near doubled the next few months and jumped in plateau steps generally every 5y thereafter. All the articles heralded the 30y mark, and on and on. Meanwhile better examples went higher and higher, worse examples not so much, etc., etc.

If we think E46M jumped the last few years, wait until it starts to hit these hallmarks. I doubt the E36M will keep up, for reasons we all know (“non-M engine” will be all anyone remembers, unfortunately).

maw

[jet_dogg]

I don't keep up with e36 prices but what you're seeing is inflated e46 prices correcting since they were overvalued the past three years and other classics rising in price as people turn their attention to substitutes. Enthusiasts are looking at other, older cars that were under-appreciated and underpriced to bring them a similar utility quotient.

Also consider recessionary pressures, rising prices due to inflated money supply and shitty economy in general causing people to seek more value for their dollar.

E46 m3 is still the greatest iteration as well as the most covetable and I wouldn't ever bet on that not being the case. Regardless, all E-chassis cars are nice to look at and that is one of the driving factors period.

[bigjae46]

The E36 is small, you almost rub shoulders with a passenger...or at least that's what it feels like. Part of it was no one really thought an M3 would ever be a collectible in the E36 era and were treated accordingly.

Most S52s aren't far off in price from an S54 nowadays so I'm sure E36s are getting closer to E46 prices. A low mileage mint E36 M3 is a unicorn unlike an E46.

[R1pilot]

I had a '97. There is definitely some magic in that chassis.

They definitely punch above their weight class and will keep up with higher hp cars at the track.

[Casa de Mesa]

If we're doing an E36 M3 appreciation thread, I'm definitely on board. I love mine, and unlike my E46, I haven't spent my entire ownership time trying to un-fuck the car from previous owners' neglect.

I don't know if I'd call it a $30K+ drive experience, but maybe it is. People pay boat loads of cash for air cooled 911s, and some of those drive like total garbage. When cars get old enough, it becomes more about the vibe, and less about the actual drive.

Beautiful car dude. Hellrot E36 is pretty epic.