Clown Shooting Brake: 2000 BMW M Coupe

Due to various economic factors that I can't even start to go into right now (actually...I wonder what the price of late model collectible cars will do with the DOW bombing and Coronapolocypse upon us...ooooo...oooo...that Coronapocalypse is something I just made up and I call dibs on it. TM. Trademark. Patent Pending. Collective commons, must attribute.  I need to back off on the coffee earlier in the day.) anyway....the Clown Shoe M Coupe has jumped up in price over the past few years and even the S52 (235 horse) powered versions (as opposed to the S54 (315 horse) powered) have seen a jump in price.  Today we've got the slower M Coupe, but the seller isn't clowning around with price and it is offered for a reasonable sum of money. Find this 2000 BMW M Coupe offered for $16,901 in San Rafael, CA via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.

S52 Powered Clown Shoe: 1999 BMW M Coupe

I had this idea that the asking prices for the clown-shoe generation BMW M-Coupes had gone through the roof, but then I found this next example which looks really nice in Imola red and appears in good shape for a reasonable ask...whoa...check out that odometer.  How many thousands of dollars did somebody spend on ultra-expensive Castrol TWS 10W60 motor oil to keep the spinny bits still spinning??  Oh, wait this is an S52 powered 240 hp version, not the later S54 powered 315hp monster..  I'm at a loss -- is this a good deal? Find this 1999 BMW M-Coupe offered for $14,000 in Soma, CA via craiglist. Tip from FuelTruck.

Cheap Sports Sedan: 1997 BMW M3 E36

I've said it before...and I'll say it again until the prices go nutz...the E36 generation BMW M3 is a really good deal in the world of used sport sedans. It was a great combination of responsive chassis and inline-6 power and slightly upgraded in 1996 with the introduction of the 3.2 liter S52B32US good for the same 240 horsepower and in 1997 BMW introduced a 4-door version. Find this 1997 BMW M3 E36 offered for $4250 near Seattle, WA via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.

Totally Innocent: 1997 BMW 318Ti

From the firewall forward the 318ti Compact is identical to the basic E36 sedan, but behind the A-pillar the compact BMW is unique.  It has a hatchback rear, uses the older E30 semi-trailing rear suspension (shared with the Z3/M Roadster & M Coupe) and is noticeably more tail happy than the regular E36 -which is already prone to violent outbursts of oversteer.  The 318ti compact version was an attempt by BMW to capture some of the lower end of the market with a lower price and 4-cylinder power, but the handling was not compromised and the Ti badge *probably means it will be worth more than the average pile of bolts when it gets old enough to be cloaked in the narcotizing fog of nostalgia. Find this 1997 BMW 318Ti offered for $7995 near Northridge, CA via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.

Exposed V8 Swap: 1994 BMW 318ti

There are two potential paths when building a fast custom car -- the first is to make it a sleeper, hide the engine and make it look stock, the second is to make it a waker, which involves poking shiny bits of the engine through a sawz-all cut hole in the hood. Guess which one DT is going to feature next.  Find this 1994 BMW 318ti V8 Swap offered for $7500 in Olympia, WA via craigslist. Tip from Matt C.

Supercharged S52: 1996 BMW 318ti E36/5

This next car has a very optimistic asking price -- particularly when you consider you can find a totally stock 318ti for a lot less...but if you want to go REALLY fast and you love the truncated look of the E36/5 and the oversteer handling of the E30 style semi-trailing arm suspension..this could be your ticket to ride. Find this 1996 BMW 318ti E36/5 offered for $15000 in Thornwood, NY via craigslist.  From Cory.

Supercharged: 1995 BMW M3 E36

BMW's E36 generation M3 is a fantastic car in any condition and prices have been very reasonable since they depreciated.  The only gripe you could legitimately support is that stock horsepower isn't much to keep up with the 300 horsepower Camry sedans that litter today's roads...but this next has something up its sleeve.  Find this 1995 BMW M3 E36 offered for $6,500 in SF Bay Area, CA via craigslist.  Tip from FuelTruck.

DT 5.0 Still a deal?: 1999 BMW M3

The first car posted to DT back in 2012 was a silver on black 1999 E36 BMW M3 on Craigslist in Glendale, CA listed for $7,400.  In it, our intrepid E-i-C talked about how since the E30 values have increased, the old magic of depreciation has made the following generation E36 of M3 a deal.  Question for the readership:  still the case 5 years on?  Find this 1999 BMW M3 for sale in San Jose, CA for $10,995 via craigslist.  This post is part of DT's 5th Birthday Celebration.

Clown Shoe: 2000 BMW M Coupe

The BMW M Clownshoe was developed by an elite team of BMW engineers, led by a madman named Burkhard Göschel who liked crazy rear wheel offset and shooting the brakes.  The team did not like the twisty rear end of the Z3 convertible and grafted a shooting brake style rear onto the car that allegedly increased torsional rigidity by 2.7 times.  The resulting car is now something of a legend among BMW fanboys and prices are going up fast.  Find this 2000 BMW M Coupe offered for $21,500 in North Bend, OR via craigslist. Tip from FuelTruck.

Penultimate Driving Machine: 1994 BMW 325is M Tech

Everybody in the BMW world talks a strong game about "M Tech" cars...but I gotta admit...I'm not buying it.  I know that the "M Tech" 325i is mo-rarafied than a real M car, but why in blazes would I want something that is slower by about every yardstick but sorta looks fast.  Like this 1994 BMW 325is M Tech offered for $4,300 in Manhattan Beach, CA. Tip from Lucas.

Cheap Speed: 1998 BMW M3

The E36 generation BMW M3 was released in 1995 with a detuned US spec engine (remember when the Europeans got the good stuff..?) and a fabulously nimble chassis.  Magazine pundits and BMW fanboys alike raved about the steering feel and I can't imagine the prices on these things can continue to be as low as they are.  Find this 1998 BMW M3 offered for $7,300 in South Los Angeles, CA.

Coffee Brake: Shipwrecked

For this week's Coffee Brake, I'd like to shift from the serious, Pulitzer prize potential stories that we normally run and instead talk about something on the lighter side.  Imagine for a minute that you are marooned on a deserted island, but that island has a nice set of roads (think road to Hana) and an obscenely large gravity fed gas station tank.  So, what car do you drive every day for the rest of your life as you live in solitary -- BUT it has to be a car that you own currently or owned in the past.

Fueling Faster & Less Often! Oh Yeah...Safer Too

Installing an ATL Super Cell into the Black Iron Racing Bavarian Brougham (BMW E36 V8) Endurance Racer

by CFlo

In the constant quest to keep a terrible beater of a vehicle from falling apart during the undue stress of endless hours of endurance racing, the spectre of speed always looms. Sure, the name of the game is reliability when you're trying to rack up laps in a field of 150 to 180 cars. Simply finishing the race without any major failures, accidents, or penalties will likely lead to a respectable result. But if you want to contend for the lead, you have to do all of those things, plus be really quite fast both on and off the track. For the Black Iron Racing Brougham d'Bavaria we handled the on-track speed with our 5.3L V8 swap, but off-track speed - i.e. pit stop time - was pretty terrible during the first race. The stock E36 fuel tank with its restrictive filler neck (which made filling an exercise in gasoline spill remediation) meant we had to rethink our entire fueling situation for the 2nd effort. Enter ATL Racing Fuel Cells and one of their high-tech but affordable solutions to let us fill quicker and stay on track longer.

The Black Iron Racing Bavarian Brougham v2.0

or How to Build a Crappy Race Car out of a $200 BMW and an LM7

by CFlo

With all of the V8 swapped oddballs we like to feature here on DT, we had to eventually start practicing what we preach. This build was over 3 years in the making, and we finally ran it this October in its maiden 24 Hours of Lemons endurance race at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in California's dusty Central Valley. Time to share!

The story started in 2012 with the first incarnation of our newest build for the 24 Hours of Lemons. It was a 1993 BMW 325i (E36) 4-door that old friend Dan (Listener Dan of DT Radio fame) had bought back in Michigan about 10 years earlier. Needless to say, there was rust. At the time, there weren’t any other E36s in Lemons that we knew of, so we figured the rust would help our cause in convincing the judges this was a $500 car. In California you’d be hard pressed to find someone to pay $250 for this thing except as a parts car.

1996 BMW M3 E36

BMW's E36 M3 has been on Santa's nice list for at least the last decade because it offers one of the best driving experiences for under $10k.  Handling is superb, acceleration is good (it could stand a few more horses, but the US version was given a detuned engine) and build quality is decent.  Find this 1996 BMW M3 E36 here on eBay offered for $6,995 buy-it-now located in Niagara Falls, NY.  This post is part of DT's 2016 Birthday Celebration of 100 cars; enjoy the ride!

E36 Custom: 1996 BMW 357i V8

BMW introduced the 3rd generation of their 3-series in 1990, and the lineup included sedans, coupes, hatchbacks, and wagons with inline engines.  The fastest has always been the BMW Motorsports designed M3 version, but many people have discovered that Chevrolet's fantastic GenIII small block V8 fits between the shock towers...and the rest is history.  Find this 1996 BMW 357i V8 offered for $15,000 CAD ($11,515 USD) in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada via Kijiji.ca.  Tip from Jeff.

Fast 'n' Cheap: 1995 BMW M3 E36

If you want to go fast but not spend a bunch of money, there is a little secret in the used car market known as the E36 generation BMW M3.  These things are cheap...really cheap when you compare them to E30 M3, E39 M5, Porsche 911, MkIV Supra and various other overpriced modern classics.  Find this 1995 BMW M3 offered for $6,500 near Los Angeles, CA via craigslist.

The Ultimate Zoom Zoom: 1992 BMW 325 with Mazda 12A Rotary

The E36 generation BMW 3-series was released in 1990 with "dolphin shape" styling by Darrin Boyer and Joji Nagashima -- but this car isn't known for its styling, it is known as the benchmark for 90s sedan handling.  The Z-axle multilink suspension out back and MacPherson strut with rack-n-pinion up front wasn't tuned to punish you, but offers superb balance in most driving conditions.  Matched with a torquey inline-6 the 325 makes a great canyon carver...but what happens when you swap a rotary Mazda engine?  Find this 1992 BMW 325 with Mazda 12A offered for $4,000 in Cape Coral, FL.