I'd say stick it out and suck it up. They are dead reliable once fully sorted and the weaknesses are WELL known. It takes time to sort an old German car but it will reward you with buckets of thrills if you can finish off what you started.
There is no easy button for this hobby with 10 to 20 year old equipment. Do the homework, then do the wrench turning, then do the steering wheel turning. Dont keep buying and selling and paying transaction costs, just settle in and make your goal ONE full track weekend at a time. Focus on reliability over speed when it comes to modifications.
Dont get too wrapped up with the "HAVE to" modifications until you get a good baseline for stockish and get a years worth of events in. Having sorted multiple e36's for this hobby I wish I wouldnt have sold the first one. Would have been a lot more driving instead of always wondering what the next project/track car would be like.
I think you should buy new. Ecoboost mustang?
Olemiss540 said:
I'd say stick it out and suck it up. They are dead reliable once fully sorted and the weaknesses are WELL known. It takes time to sort an old German car but it will reward you with buckets of thrills if you can finish off what you started.
There is no easy button for this hobby with 10 to 20 year old equipment. Do the homework, then do the wrench turning, then do the steering wheel turning. Dont keep buying and selling and paying transaction costs, just settle in and make your goal ONE full track weekend at a time. Focus on reliability over speed when it comes to modifications.
Dont get too wrapped up with the "HAVE to" modifications until you get a good baseline for stockish and get a years worth of events in. Having sorted multiple e36's for this hobby I wish I wouldnt have sold the first one. Would have been a lot more driving instead of always wondering what the next project/track car would be like.
Thanks for the feedback! Fortunately I don't have to make many decisions about mods, previous owner did pretty much everything besides FI and reliability mods to the bottom end. I'm definitely guilty of rotating cars when they blow motors or have other significant problems. Part of that is my tendency to want to experience as many different cars as possible, part of that is (in theory) not dumping money into a car that's "done." That's likely cost me more long-term though, and I know that.
I do think I'd be less frustrated if I was starting with a stock E36, but it's been fun seeing what this one can do.
thashane said:
I think you should buy new. Ecoboost mustang?
I'd love to drive one, but I don't think that's the budget and style I'm going for! For that money I'd probably want a frisbee or something similar and NA.
Ultimately isn't this a budget question? It took me a while in this sport to realize that time and money are basically interchangeable. Spending more of one will require less of the other. In the last five years my attitude on car repairs/upgrades has changed... I used to view it as a fun hobby, now I view it as an impediment to doing my fun hobby. If you want a car to drive to the track in comfort, do trouble-free laps all day long, then drive home, there are many options out there. Unfortunately the ante to sit at that table is around $20-25k, give or take a bit depending on which brand you go with. Used car values are crazy right now but I bet you could find a 1LE Camaro with the turbo i-4 in that range, or an Ecoboost Mustang with the Track Pack.
ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:
Ultimately isn't this a budget question? It took me a while in this sport to realize that time and money are basically interchangeable. Spending more of one will require less of the other. In the last five years my attitude on car repairs/upgrades has changed... I used to view it as a fun hobby, now I view it as an impediment to doing my fun hobby. If you want a car to drive to the track in comfort, do trouble-free laps all day long, then drive home, there are many options out there. Unfortunately the ante to sit at that table is around $20-25k, give or take a bit depending on which brand you go with. Used car values are crazy right now but I bet you could find a 1LE Camaro with the turbo i-4 in that range, or an Ecoboost Mustang with the Track Pack.
It is a budget question, yeah. I could spend a few thousand (to start) on a 2nd car, or prepping the Miata, or fixing the M3 and having someone else do some of the work.
I'm not seeing any 1LE Camaros near me on the usual sites in that range, but I know what you mean. Last year someone in our local region started running one, and it performed amazing for the price. He was consistently faster than a same-gen 1SS on tighter courses. I always thought that if Nissan could just rip it off and relaunch it as a 240sx, JDM fans would buy every one they could build.
