Having owned an e39 M5, I am intrigued by the low price, but I know the maintenance to bring this up to perfect is pretty hight. This is a car to buy, fix enough to run well but just drive into the ground while having fun.

Tia is why I ended up in an Alpine White e36 M3 instead of my dream Dakar Yellow one.  The yellow ones command a $3k or so price premium over the bland colors.  At least they look really sharp in white with the black trim around the mid section.   Additionally the interior is a very rare two tone beige and black, so…

Thats two awesome 80s/90s cars in my book.  I already have the e36 M3, I'm thinking rad little pickup truck to finish it off and still have 10k to spare fixing them up.

I understand the dealer stickers, they all look tacky. Also don’t you dare drill holes in my front bumper and install a dealer plate. Keep the look the way the designer intended, no front plate.

No you don’t. I daily drove mine through Erie, PA winters for the three years I owned it. It was pretty good in the snow since it has very high amounts of compression braking and the ground clearance isnt too bad. It was good fun drifting it at slow speed everywhere all winter, the longish wheel base they’ve made it…

I owned an e39 M5 between 69k and 115k miles on the clock. I can assure you that 400k miles is a huge number in terms of upkeep and fuel costs. Tires alone are very expensive in these with the short amount of time tires last on the back of an e39 M5.

If you want to see a dealer that got hit hard, there was a Buick, Oldsmobile,  Pontiac,  Suzuki dealer here.  They now sell Buick and GMC.  Sadly, I'd rather have Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Suzuki over the other two.

I’m with your wife on this one.  I really didn't like the extra electronics features on my 2013 Mini, they added extra steps to simple tasks like changing the radio station.  I replaced it with BMW e36 M3, and couldn't be happier.  It's ergonomically perfect, easy to park due to size, zippy and responsive to drive,…

I know a guy that would once per year wash the exterior of his Ford Ranger with steel wool and kerosene. 

I agree with everything you just said and loved driving it. Great handling, chuckable fun. What I didn’t like was what the aggressive regen braking did to my head. The 10 minute test drive gave me the worst case of vertigo I’ve ever experienced. I swayed for 2 weeks. Something about my body not expecting that much…

Hown in the world are shape rates $215 per hour?  My local BMW dealer is about $110 per hour.

Is wanted to install a pair upside down and make them sad eyes.

Lol. I spent every Friday last winter parking my e36 M3 at the local little ski resort among the big jeeps and other suvs. Been driving 2 wheel drive cars in Erie, PA winters for 10 years and haven’t been stuck yet.

I’d be genuinely terrified to have a Toyota dealer work on one of these. My friend with an FRS had his valve springs replaced under recall. The dealer clearly doesn’t know how to work on the Subaru engine as it has been rebuilt twice afterwards when the engine siezed. This time around after 10 minutes of driving it is…

I'm am absolutely a fan if the e36 M3, and own one as a daily driver.  However this one is spendy.  EAG always has the high priced BMWs, however I understand from people that have purchased from them that they are always quite satisfied with their experience.   

Mmm Alpina 20 spoke wheels.

This so much!  A rev happy zippy engine mated to a manual is what the old BMW enthusiasts (myself included) love.  It's so satisfing to run a free revving NA engine.

I've owned 3 manual BMWs.  The e36 328is was by far the most eager and fun to drive.  The e36 M3 now that I have an M50 intake manifold on it is also eager and totally fun.  The e39 M5 was great to run out and just do pulls, it was satisfing to downshift and pull, but like the torquey new BMW you drove, it didn't beg…

Mitsubishi has an awareness problem? They are absolutely everywhere where I live. Especially the Mirage, there been selling like hotcakes. It seems like the Mirage took the place of the Suzuki SX4 here when Suzuki left. I’ve also been seeing a lot of Eclipse Crosses. The Erie, PA dealer must have 400 cars in stock if…

Dave is right. Samurai is the answer and exactly what I thought before I viewed the article. They are economical, fun to drive, and brilliantly capable off road.  I've spent much time behind the wheel of one, and determined it's hard to have much more fun skipping around town than in a Samurai.