A Midsummer Night's Dream

Ah, what mirage is this I see, parked delicately in my drive, as if deposited there by fairies?

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

That's not a Mirage, that's an M3. 

Ah, what's this?  A clue as to the nature of the beast that lurks within.

Furious_E (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

That's not a Mirage, that's an M3. 

Yes of course.  You will please note that I used a lowercase "m" in "mirage," so as to avoid confusion.

Ah!  Thankfully, it is properly equipped with a 6-speed manual gearbox.  And some fool has left the keys in it!

I always enjoy a button that just says POWER and nothing else.

Okay, so we had the car for a weekend test drive.  Body and interior were actually in very nice condition.  The brake pads were sufficiently worn to activate a warning in the dash display, but they worked just fine.  On startup, the car sounded a bit like a tractor, maybe cracked exhaust manifold, or surely at least a leak.  The front suspension would emit a crunchy-scrapey sound in compression over bumps.  And there were a few times where the drivetrain would emit a sort of "crink!" sound, maybe driveshaft U-joints?  Mileage was around 80k.

I'm no stranger to BMW, but this was my first M-car.  Hard to believe at first that this thing is rated at over 400 HP?  But then again, the redline is like 8300, so you have to wind it out.  If you're going to drive one M3, why not drive the one with the most cylinders?    Upon getting the revs into the stratosphere, this car will reward you with some beautiful music.  And thrust, although nothing on the order of the low-end grunt of a Z-06.  The clutch and transmission worked flawlessly, and this was easily one of the, if not the easiest manual drivetrain to be smooth in.  My son, who sometimes struggles with the Turbo II, didn't stall the M3 once.

All in all, a fun drive, but with all that this car had wrong with it, I'd have to believe that you would double your investment right off the bat in order to put it all right. 

1988RedT2 said:

Furious_E (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

That's not a Mirage, that's an M3. 

Yes of course.  You will please note that I used a lowercase "m" in "mirage," so as to avoid confusion.

Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun. 

Actually ended up at a traffic light with one just like that on Saturday. Had an aftermarket exhaust that sounded absolutely glorious as it took off.

Has it had proper American rod bearings and bolts installed, or is it still ticking down to explosion time?

Streetwiseguy said:

Has it had proper American rod bearings and bolts installed, or is it still ticking down to explosion time?

I honestly have no idea, but to me it very much seemed like a nice, clean car with a ton of deferred maintenance.