Went to dive in to replace the control arms and the rear arm bushings ando and behold, I have a very leaky strut. Want to do that asap do i can get the car aligned once.
With stock sport suspension, OE-like replacement is 210ish for one, I would do a pair. Koni STR.t are 120/ea and $ goes up from there. Better strut options to consider? Slightly used M3 parts? Cheap ebay coils (almost not kidding...)
Car is used for daily duties with no sporting intentions other than getting home quickly on a Friday.
Learn me.
I would look for someone's used take-offs on E46Fanatics or Bimmerforums. Barring that, the STR.T is supposed to be like a non-adjustable Yellow and most reviews say that they are great for a sporty DD. Bilstein HD is the way to go if you can afford it.
Based on the few E36s I've driven, I'd go for something like an H&R sport + Bilsteins and call it a day.
Are the Bilstein HDs correctly valved in the E46 application? They are almost universally hated by the E36 community...
I really liked the Bilsteins on my Rabbit when I AutoX'd but it was brutal on the street even with fairly low spring rates. Then again, it was a Rabbit. 
Currently STR.T's on sale vs a top of low end far east coilover...
