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Thread: e34 M5 vs e36 M3 or e46 330ci for a daily

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
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    e34 M5 vs e36 M3 or e46 330ci for a daily

    As a daily driver, I am considering either one. Reliability-wise, which one would be more suitable? I've found a well maintained M5 with records, but the M3s I've all looked at seemed to have issues or no maintenance records of any sort here. Lots of 330s floating around. I'm aware that the e46 is a little nicer inside, but it is not a deal-breaker to me and here the owners are asking for more than what the m5 would cost.

    I work 12 hours / day, 6-7 days a week so I would rather not fiddle around with issues all the time. Though maintenance is a common concern for old cars, I don't want a monthly payment at this time..

  2. #2
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    Arida Zona
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    Stay away from the E34 M5, great cars, but unfortunately extremely expensive as far as maintenance goes. And not just normal 5 series vs. M5 differences, the E34 M5 had a race-bred engine more so than most BMW M's and is expensive to keep up.

    E36 M3 is great, I would get a N/A spec and those are easy to fix. Reliaibility/maintenance cost wise the E46 330 and E36 M3 are very close to eachother. In fact the 330 (particularly ZHP) vs. E36 M3 argument has been a common one for many years and will be for many many more. I would drive both and see which one you like more, as between those two its really preference. The 330 being newer though can mean its a bit cheaper to maintain but also more expensive up front

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  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Love me some E34 M5. I don't care if it is expensive to maintain cause I would love to have one.



  4. #4
    Join Date
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    New England
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    F90 M5; E36 M3 Turbo
    If you are working 12 hours a day, 6-7 days per week, buy the 330. If you can find a ZHP, go for it.

    If you had more time and wanted a less common car and did not mind it being a project at times, I'd go for the others. The E34M5 obviously being the rarest and most expensive and time consuming to keep on the road. E36M3 being simpler and cheaper and still a great car. Any 15-20 year old car needs work and will only need more and more.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
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    1997 Estoril M3 Coupe
    Isn't the m5 engine a M88 block? M88 is the king of cool. I always heard e34s were reliable but I have no first hand experience. As for the 330i vs e36 M, the 330 doesn't have an LSD, therefore it is not a good dd. That being said, if I couldn't work on a car I wouldn't look at any of them.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
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    Atlanta GA
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    1989 BMW 325i
    The engine in the e34 m5 was based off of the later m88 engines and called the s38. It had lower compression, a double row timing chain, and different camshafts vs the m88

  7. #7
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    Ya I currently daily a new Toyota Tundra truck. I used to work out in the bush so I needed it to get around, but now I work in the city so it's a bit impractical, especially when I start hitting things in indoor parking lots because of the ride height and having issues parking. Getting 13-14 mpg as well and that's starting to hurt.

    Ordered a E92 335i just a couple weeks ago, but the bank wants my truck sold first if I were to finance. So meanwhile I'm looking for another daily...

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