Please give me some feedback on this E36 M3...

That's the BMW car, not the usual E36 M3 I drag in here.

It looks like docwyte's repeated "just buy an E36 M3 and stop whining about the E36 M3 you normally buy" is bearing fruit (and I mean that in the nicest possible way), as I'm looking at this one with possible intent.

It looks like most of the typical issues have been addressed, although I'm not quite sure how a half cage helps with strengthening the subframe mounting points. And while it's got most of the modifications on it that I would put on there, I have to go look at it to see if it's not too stripped down for my liking. After all, most track events I got to are about 3-5h away so a little bit of comfort goes a long way.

Looks quite clean and has a lot of parts you'd be buying anyway. Looks like the half cage is tied into the subframe mounts. Doesn't seem like an unreasonable price. The only concern I would have is the quality of the frame rail repair.

A half caged former track rat with a salvage title... what could go wrong?

Well, I am looking for a car that will see a fair amount of track use...

Depending on who you run with the cage might have to be redone to comply with rules and such. Also registering and insuring a salvage title vehicle.

Didn't you have helmet clearance issues with a previous car?

Not sure how much the seat changes things, but a stock M3 does not have a lot of headroom. With the race seat and no sunroof, you are in the best position to have headroom... but I'm not sure if it offers a lot or not.

In reply to ProDarwin:

Actually, I've had helmet clearance issues with both the Miata and the MR2, so that's a very good point. Does anybody know if the sedan has more headroom? There are a couple of those for sale in NorCal as well, although they'd need the additional work to make them more suitable to be tracked.

In reply to MrChaos:

Good point about the cage, that was on my list of things to check if I go see the car. I don't think insurance on a salvage title vehicle is that big a problem in NV, but I think I have to have additional inspections to be able to register it if it has an out-of-state salvage title. That's a bunch of additional hassle that I could do without.

Knew I'd eventually wear you down!

That one looks decent, but I don't see where the oil pump nut has been tack welded, that the RTAB reinforcements were done and the oil pan baffles put in.

You can get a really nice track prepped E36 M3 for $10k, I'd keep looking...

Headroom is limited on these--- as I barely fit with a helmet on and I'm 5'8". (stock seats with sunroof) I'd think with no sunroof, and a non-stock seat--- bolted to the floor, it would add 5" of headroom or so.

Subframe mounting points were re-inforced from the factory on the 96 and newer E36 M3's so the 1/2 cage is more for safety's sake / stiffening the chassis.

I'd also be wary about the chassis repairs. These cars communicate very well when they are right. It's one of the best things about them IMHO. I'd want to be sure the repair didn't rob any of that before pulling the trigger.

I'd also ditch those wheels and see if he' take another $1,500, or $1,000 off. The price is reasonable though.....

I had no issues with head room and I'm 6' tall all torso. My M3 had a sunroof and stock seats, with the seat height adjustment all the way down and the seat tilt adjustment tilted back I was fine.

I've also sat in one with fixed back seats/VAC mounts and fit easily as well.

The salvage title is worrisome, but the given the price and the upgrades, I'd consider it. I'd get it to a local BMW specialist for a PPO and see what they have to say about the quality of the shell and repair work... Then either run screaming or snap it up.

If you can go drive it, that will tell you 85% of what you need to know. Go flog it down some backroad twisties. Pay attention to how the power comes on. Should be nice and smooth, with a little punch around 4k as vanos comes on. Gear shifter should be easy to shift, unless hes installed a short shifter kit, in which case it might be a bit more notchy.

Pay attention to how the car feels when accelerating from a stop. Sometimes you can feel the slack if the diff bushings and stuff are worn out. Also in cornering, listen for any clunks and watch for weird behavior. My car needed bushings done, and it would kind of wallow mid corner. felt like the front would set then the rear would kind of follow, but they were separate events due to my shot bushings in the rear.

I know e36 track rat sleds, and I would buy that one for $6k if I wanted something that I could stop screwing around with and start tracking. See if it fits you - the sunroof is out and the cage was specific to the car, so this usually means a little extra headroom.

The subframe reinforcements have been done (it's the second thing on the list) and all the suspension bushings and parts have been done with suitable durable replacements.

I know numerous people who track these cars frequently without an oil pan baffle no prob, and they have never lost the oil pan nut either. If it all goes wrong, it's time to find myself a replacement motor, but that's only a $1,000 part, and I have yet to see it happen to any of my friends. If the risk bothers you and you want to fix that, I warn you it's a PITA, PITA, PITA job to get the pan off once the engine is in the car. On my internal meter, I rate it as about $1,000 worth of suffering so I would play the lottery (unless I would up under house arrest and I needed something to do with my time).

If I wanted to get the price down, I would skip the $2,000 MSRP wheels with the brand-new Dunlops. Tire Rack sells a light 15" wheel that fits the car, for about $125 a corner. I can get the pick-of-the-litter HPDE/AutoX tires in 15-50-205 for $100 a corner. I run this way, and it's the single best way I know to keep running costs down, so I can afford more track time, and develop more craft. Every time I need to re-tire my other car with some sticky 18's, I'm out $1,200! Everybody says "what about the brakes, only the stock ones fit under 15's" but the stock brakes with PFC-11 pads and air ducts are plenty primo powerful in my opinion. I think those Hawk pads are fine, but if I'm looking for some serious anchor chain, they ain't it.

I would toss the harness and go back to the three-point, until I had an on-brand track seat and a necksgen. And I'm not sure that Clubman is compatible with the necksgen. But that's just me. I'm driving around the track in a 3-point with no window net, which shows you I am oblivious to the ever-present risk of putting my lights out sliding into a wall or a tree sideways.

15" wheels are too small to clear the stock M3 brakes

Clickbait! I thought you wanted feedback on a dookie.

evildky wrote: Clickbait! I thought you wanted feedback on a dookie.

Yea. That's why I stopped in...

I'm 6'2" all torso and I had no problem fitting in mine with a helmet and stock seats.

Looks like a decent car, the salvage part sucks but if it's a track rat it might not matter. But to make it a good track rat you are probably going to have to put a new suspension on it–the HR race springs, swapped hats and such isn't a great setup.

D'oh! It's an M. Well, there goes 15" wheels and $1000 motors. OTOH, the horsepower is a very nice nice trade-off. Snork has put up some impressive lap times at the Glen in an E36 with a lesser motor. And there are still sub-20# wheels available in 17" for under $125/corner, and tires for $150/corner.

The current suspension has adjustable dampers, enough front camber to cure most of the understeer engineered into the car, and decent spring rates. What I wouldn't have driving that set-up is finer levels of adjustment for height/rake, corner weight, camber, front caster, and spring rate. And if I streeted it more than a I tracked it, I would need to flip-mount the front tires halfway through. There are good suspension packages out there in the $1,000 to $4,000 range at any time that I thought my driving had gotten better than my suspension. Which has not happened yet after 40-ish track days.

I'll try to go look at the car this weekend (weather permitting, we have back-to-back winter storms coming through again). Unfortunately between the Porsche issues and some other 'life happens' stuff, I might have to give this one a miss until I've either sold the MR2 or rebuilt the war chest somewhat.

Or take half the money I'd spend on an M3 for a bunch of upgrades on the MR2 and run that for another season.

@JBasham, re your seat comment - first thing I'd do with this particular M3 is replace the seats with the set of genuine, FIA approved Recaro SPGs I have in my MR2, then get a new set of road-legal Schroth harnesses.

I've always been a little leery of salvage title cars, but at the same time if it's for track use and you can verify nothing major wrong with it then why not!

Recaro SPGs, must be nice . . . I'm living with a pair of $100 stock BMW sport seats I got off Craigslist for now.

Good luck with sorting your budget priorities.