When looking at an old BMW E36 (not that old, but from mid 90s), regular folks think: wow great design but I think this junk is thirsty and people will think I have money issues....well... this could be true if you are thinking with a cold heart. In reality, if you are a little bit of petrol head you will be astonished by this cruiser concept with relatively (for Europe especially) high displacement of 2500cc, (!) 192 horse power (these days a Mazda 6 is "extracting" only 170 hp from 2500 cc of engine) and rear wheel drive (be careful on the wet roads because no ESP in action to correct errors...)
Pros:
- nice engine: elastic, very smooth till 4000 rpm, a beast after with great sound
- runs very nice with 4 speed auto gear box (GM origin)
- very good handling, precise steering, gives you a "secure" sensation
- decent luggage compartment
- comfortable seats and good ventilation system (heating and cooling)
Cons:
- old looking interior (better looking than the 1995 edition with passenger airbag)
- higher consumption by considering modern standards (but not exagerated, you can do 100km with 9 liters on country roads)
- not very reliable electric system (dash board indicators including fuel gauge could go mad)
- the interior is not very spacious
- noisy
- the "nervous" rear wheels could give you some spins...
Testdrive
You enter the car, put the ignition on, and a nice growl reaches your ears.... I LOVE BMW L6 engines! I think that in their time they were "creme de la creme" of motoring. At the beginning, it strikes you that you could cruise into the town by reaching 2000 rpm maximum considering legal speeds. There is no need to overpass the 2k limit and the bonus is a decent fuel consumption. This is 90s middle management sensation... you are cruising on the streets with style and opened windows in order to hear the beautiful sound of the bavarian craftsmanship. If you are reaching the high-way and you are in comfort mode, your rpm will not reach 2500 normally, but if you see a car approaching very fast and you want to play a little, you switch the sport mode and the beast will change gear at 6000 rpm and you will reach very fast high speeds, sweeeet! On the country roads you will feel very connected with the car, the steering gives you the right feed-back for the road, what can I say..... the driver will be really thrilled. On the not so good side is the interior with an old looking sensation (girls will not appreciate this side), the lack of security systems (airbag - for driver only at least for this 1994 model, esp, traction control) which could be helpful on the wet roads and if you hit the throttle pedal often you will stop in petrol station often also...Spear parts are easy to find and are relatively cheap (especially sh ones), there are not things to be worried excepting some electrical system glitches and the exhaust system (which could be punctured and expensive to replace). If you will find one in good condition, it is a keeper (check for rust signs because in that time the metal quality was not so good for all cars)! I will recommend it as a second car to be kept in a covered area.
Competitors
The competition is not very large, we can recall the Audi 80 which is more rare, Opel Calibra with a very nice design but not available in RWD and maybe Mercedes CLK with higher prices and with less economical engines. Pay attention, I could bet my money that in some years the owners of some mint condition E36 will return the investment with a real profit!
