Anyone come from an E36 M3?

[captain_underpants]

You can't lose either way. For me, the ZHP is the better choice. Consider yourself fortunate to be deciding between 2 excellent choices!

I don't think I'll be jumping into another E36 M3, at least not right now. I need this next car to be a DD, something I didn't have good luck with trying to do with my car. It left me stranded three times and once was out of state. Not trying to get into that again.

If I don't get the ZHP, which I'm not sure about at this point, I might go for an 06-07 WRX or something along those lines.

[KC ZHP]

Love this thread, and I'd love to have a stable of ZHP (street) and E36 M3 (track/street). I can't believe I put that in print. I think my MINI (track/street) is going to kill me for it.

Ha! Interesting to see similar situations here! I too had an R53 - purchased new, transitioned from autox to DEs...replaced with a pristine original E36 M3 for weekend / track duty. Would tend to agree with many of the write-ups here - there is no doubt that the E36 is a more raw, visceral car and handles beautifuly bone stock (less weight does make a difference - that and more usable torque down low in the S52). As a daily driver, the ZHP is more refined and still a lot of fun to drive.

[musicisfree]

I have the ZHP as my daily, I'm thinking about getting an E36 M3 as a weekend project car.

[vwpowa]

I have a 96 M3 coupe and now an 04 ZHP sedan . The m3 is faster and handles better, but the ZHP is an awesome car. Much more refined and power delivery is very smooth. Its nice to ride around in a car that has 0 rattles. I have the luxury package in my M3 so the seats are pretty comfortable. Not sure if they are more or less comfortable than the ZHP. I need some more seat time in the ZHP to make that decision. I bought my m3 a few years ago with 79k miles, i have only had one problem with it, cam position sensor. It now has 112K miles so it is over due for a cooling system overhaul. I also owned an 04 350z for a couple of years, i loved the cars performance but the seat killed my back. I let my wife drive it most of the time because of this. She was angry when we sold it.

[Mike V]

Now that I've sold the ZHP and gone back to an E36 M3, I thought I'd come back to this thread. I had been looking at replacing the ZHP with an E46 M3 and looked every day for 2+ months for the right car to come along. With the used car market the way it is, I wasn't having any luck finding what I wanted for a decent price. When a 98 M3/4/5 popped up on M3forum.net just 2.5 hours down the road from me, I decided to go check it out. It turned out to be a solid car and for an amazing price ($5k) so I bought it and sold the ZHP to a buddy in KC.

I liked the ZHP but I didn't love it. The lack of an LSD was the biggest frustration for me, especially last winter. I took the car to its first autocross a few months ago and again, the lack of LSD was irritating and I wasn't willing to spend $2k+ for an LSD. I also didn't care for the power delivery of the ZHP. Maybe it would have been livable with a tune; the car seemed to run fine but it just didn't have the typical BMW inline-6 feel that I was accustomed to.

The 98 M3 4-dr is so incredibly fun to drive. Sure it's louder, less refined and has 100k more miles but damn I love this car and I look forward to driving it every time. Another plus is that it was $14k cheaper than what I paid for the ZHP in 09. I will probably miss the ZHP when it comes time for the next road trip but time will tell.

I mentioned earlier in this thread that the ZHP is similar in performance to the E36 M3. Stock vs. stock, straight line performance is about the same but when it comes to the twisties, the E36 M3 wins for me. I still think the ZHP is a great car but it just wasn't the right car for me. If you're willing to drive a car that isn't as refined, I'd highly consider test driving an E36 M3.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Mike, thanks for the write up. Always nice to get this kind of perspective.

[Mike V]

Mike, thanks for the write up. Always nice to get this kind of perspective.

No problem, Marcus. This car also came with Dinan software and Dinan intake so it feels considerably stronger than the ZHP. For the price, I couldn't be happier!

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Bonus right there. Nice acquisition.