I autocross my car, and there are several other people in e36 ///M3s that autocross with me. It doesn't seem like the stock ///M3 does very well. Is there a reason for that? I just wanted to get some peoples thoughts on this. Are the cars outdated, or is it simply not tuned to be an autocrosser?

check this thread out:

http://bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253505&highlight=autocross

Totally depends on the region, IMHO. I know from Nationals results that an M3 isn't the car to have for B Stock, but I can still be regionally competitive (admittedly in a somewhat weak region) in my car with nothing but $500 Konis and Toyo RA-1's (far from the best autox tire). And in my region, we PAX all of our times so I'm running against all classes, not just BS.

If I knew for sure that Kumho is going to release a 245/40-17 V710 this spring, I wouldn't be contemplating jumping to BSP. Which reminds me, I've got a little bit of a side question: Has anybody been able to financially justify moving to BSP just to get some negative camber up front and thereby extend the life of tires? It does seem like the break-even point would be many seasons away.

I think BSP and SM are the two classes in which the E36 M3 can be nationally competitive.

Hmmm...check out the results in STU from this year's National final. Mike Neary posted fastest time by a bunch on the second day (Wednesday), if he'd gotten any luck on Tuesday, he would have won the class handily. M3's can certainly be competitive in STU. Yeah, it's a street tire class, but they can certainly be a lot of fun! (see sig:))

My personal opinion is that the M3 is outclassed on a national level by the RX-8. It's closer in specs to the 350Z, but the Z has more torque and can fit more tire in addition to having better body control. The 350Z can definitely run with the RX-8 - don't let the finale results fool you - Carter Thompson and Andy Hohl had some bad days in Topeka (their words not mine) but they're both amazing drivers.

An M3 can trophy nationally but I don't think it'll be a top-dog car in this class.

Regionally the car can do very well.