Automotive Moral Dilemma - M3 Related

Bought an E36 M3 in November. Less than 75,000 miles. 100% stock. Clear title but has a front end collision on the vehicle history report. It was repaired by the place I bought it from and appears to be well done (they specialize in repairing damaged BMW's). You can see damage to the drivers side shock tower that was hammered out and the passenger side bumper frame support was broken and was welded back on. New body panels and pieces have been painted to match seamlessly with original paint. Replacement parts all OEM.

Bottom line, the car is beautiful and a relatively low mileage example for 21 years old. Runs great and everything works.

The question is, I bought it to be a weekend and track day car and I'm wondering if I should take the next steps to turn it into more of a track car and less of a street car? Purists might hang me by my toes, and while I'm not one of those, at times it does seem a shame to take apart and modify a nice example of a classic in the making.

My forever dream has been to have a mostly race car. If I had space and mo' money I'd for sure have a dedicated track car but a street car that leans hard in the direction of race car is the next best thing. And I really, REALLY want one.

Thoughts and opinions?

The purist doesn’t want a rebuilt wreck, sounds like the perfect start to a track car

Go for it. An E36 M3 seems like a great platform for exactly what you want to do, and while they're not infinite and I'm sure they'll appreciate, they cranked out an awful lot more of them than the E30s. Moreover, cars are meant to be enjoyed. Consider the prior damage your "out" in terms of it never being a pristine example intended to retire to a museum.

EDIT: Ha, Patrick beat me to a chunk of my thoughts...

I see no dilemma. This looks a lot more like "the perfect opportunity has fallen into my lap."

You have my blessing.

Patrick said:

The purist doesn’t want a rebuilt wreck, sounds like the perfect start to a track car

Pretty much exactly my thoughts. Well said.

With 75000 miles, it's probably good to go.  I'd catch up any deferred maintenance and start thinking about rod bearings and rear subframe reinforcement.  With those two areas addressed, E46 M3s are pretty bulletproof.

In reply to Tyler H :

But it's an E36 not an E46.

I'd be similarly torn, because if the interior bits are in good shape, you could probably pay for the car by selling off unbroken trim that you'd be removing anyway.

IMO the only moral dilemma with cars is "should I go kill / injure someone with this car?"  Otherwise, I don't care if it's 1 of 1 or 1 of 1 million.   Your car, your choices.   Good luck, have fun, and keep your build thread updated!

AngryCorvair said:

IMO the only moral dilemma with cars is "should I go kill / injure someone with this car?" 

Is this a question you've asked yourself? I'm a little scared of you now.

Yea. Y'all are right. I paid a good chunk of money for the car (not pristine, never wrecked 75,000 M3 money) but I knew what I wanted and what I was getting. Time for race car.

I had considered hanging on to all the OEM stuff (Vader seats, etc.) in case I ever wanted to return it to stock condition but that sounds tedious and I could certainly use the money for the build.

Is doing subframe reinforcement on the rear of an E36  sufficient or would it be wise to do the front too?

Never heard of an E36 needing reinforcement in the front. Also, I believe the rear subframe mounting points were reinforced from the factory on the M3. With mileage that low I would just go through the cooling system and drive it. 

Also, as someone who has been too afraid to ruin a “nice car” I would say do it anyway. You bought the car to enjoy, no sense in trying to keep it nice for the next guy. Make it into what you want!

SHAKESBEARD said:

AngryCorvair said:

IMO the only moral dilemma with cars is "should I go kill / injure someone with this car?" 

Is this a question you've asked yourself? I'm a little scared of you now.

Well, his username IS AngryCorvair...

In answer to your question, turn it in to what you want and sell off the pieces you don't need to finance the build. There were enough of these made that someone wanting a pristine garage queen can buy one without crash damage. I had similar thoughts when I got a C4 Corvette. It was in good shape but had been in a small front end crash and suffered from deferred maintenance. I put a lot of money into it fixing it up and trying to keep it original. I finally figured out that the car would always be worth less than what it would cost to restore correctly so I just cleaned it up, replaced some parts with what I wanted, and enjoyed it as a summer driver. 

Before tearing into the car, I'd ask yourself these questions:

"Realistically, how often will I drive this car on track"    

"How often will I drive this car on the street"

Once you have these answers, you can decide on how you'd like to modify it.   Keep in mind, the more you prepare it to do well on track, the less pleasant it will be on the road. (especially if you lower it, or get aggressive on the spring rates) 

With my E36 M3 I realized that although I love tracking the car, 90% of it's use is on the street, so I modified it accordingly.  It's now a wonderful "Jack of all Trades" car.   It is a pleasure to drive in any circumstance.  (well besides grid-lock traffic, but I hate driving any car in that!)  

As they made so many of these cars, only  the very best (no wrecks, low mileage, pristine examples) will ever really appreciate.  Your's, although  clean and nice, has a story behind it, so it's  unlikely to ever appreciate much.  Drive the wheels off of it, and enjoy it!   

If will make you feel better, sell the interior bit to someone who will appreciate them. That way, a bit of the car's soul lives on in another.