You know me: I love donated vehicles, mostly because it’s amazing what gems get discarded by generous owners or overwhelmed heirs tasked with settling an estate. However it happens, you can strike gold with some of these donation lots, and that’s certainly the case with this running, driving 1998 BMW M3 coupe. This is one of my all-time favorite cars, and I deeply miss the 1995 model I had several years ago. This E36 M3 not only runs and drives but it’s not in terrible cosmetic condition, either. Find it here on eBay where bids sit at just over $9,500, which already tells you no one is stealing this one.
Now, that’s not to say you can’t get it well below the going rate; anything below $15,000 seems like a good deal to me. This being a 1998 model means it has the S52 inline-six under the hood, which is a torque-rich motor that is still sought-after for engine swaps today. The earlier 1995 M3 had the one-year-only S50 engine, which was a bit more rev-happy but had less torque. Everyone in the BMW world has their preference, but I’m partial to the ’95 engine configuration as that’s what my car was. Regardless, this M3 has few major blemishes aside from the ones associated with age, such as oxidized and faded headlamp lenses and some rock chips.
The E36 chassis cars were not known for their interior build quality or the durability of the materials; still, this one is holding together better than expected for a driver-quality example with 145K miles on the clock. I can see the instrument cluster shows the typical airbag warning light, which is usually tied to the seat belt receptacles. Not a big deal either way, and if your state doesn’t have a stringent inspection process, you can ignore it indefinitely. This is a sport package car, which you can tell by the large front air dam in the bumper, and that means it got the desirable “Vader” sport bucket seats. I noticed they were also manually adjusted, which means no finicky power seat gears to fix.
The inline-six is generally an easy engine to live with, though you do need to proactively replace cooling system components, especially since you’ll likely acquire this M3 with no records. The BMW Car Club of America grill badge on the nose panel suggests enthusiast ownership, so there’s a good chance it was looked after; however, a thermostat, water pump, and expansion tank are cheap fixes to make against a failed headgasket (ask me how I know.) This M3 will be a treat to own for whoever is lucky enough to snag it, especially if it comes with a discounted price.
There wasn’t a “sport package” per se. There was either standard or luxury package cars. The latter got luxury style seats, woodgrain trim, different side skirts and grill, and the “Contour” wheels. Those are much less desirable than the “base” models like this one, which had the Vader seats, more aggressive side skirts, the DS2 wheels, no woodgrain, and so on. The vast majority of luxury package cars in 1997-98 were automatic sedans. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a luxury package coupe.
Judging from the grill emblem and unmodified condition insofar as I can tell, this was probably grandpa’s car and he has passed. So hopefully that means it wasn’t beaten, which is getting tough to find with these. Most got trashed when their values hit their nadir in the late 2000s during the financial crisis. Back then, you could get a nice one of these for under 10 grand, meaning a lot of young drivers bought them, drifted them, modded them, and just generally destroyed them.
Depending on where the price ends up, this could be a great value for someone. I’d definitely leave it stock if I bought it.
Don’t forget to replace the radiator as well. The recycled plastic end tanks are a known failure mode. Ask me how I know…
ditto..
It takes 30 minutes to fix those headlights. I don’t understand why people don’t do something simple like that before they sell.
Donated cars get zero maintenance before they are put up for auction. The buyer is responsible for EVERYTHING.
A donated M3? That sends shivers up my spine. What could go wrong?
This car would be a perfect buy for Tyler Hoover. He could make a couple of great videos on this one, including the sticker shock when after the “Weezard” estimates what it will cost to fix it.
I had the S52 engine in my 2000 MCoupe with none of the usual cooling issues but adding a new thermostat housing to the preventive upgrade path will help with reliability. with this mileage I would also replace the shocks and consider some shorter springs: nothing radical, I used BavAuto German springs in my E36 ti for better handling and a little nicer look. Someone will “win” a ready-to-use M3 with reliability upgrades that can be staged while enjoying the fun.
sold for $15,643