FS: 98 BMW M3 coupe 5sp, cosmos/black

I'm putting my car up for sale. I'm looking to switch to something a bit bigger and more economical for my newly increasing commute.

Some of you know the car is a '98 M3 coupe, 5 speed manual, Cosmos black on black leather, sport package, cold weather package (heated manual Vader seats)

135000+ miles, daily driven.

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tirerack_cosmos1_zps371a0df8.jpg


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The previous owner was the only owner, the lady had it as a company car then re-registered under her personal name, but it was under their care its whole life. No accidents at all on record, but many years ago their son rubbed the drivers door on a concrete barrel in a parking lot. The door was replaced at Patrick BMW using OE parts, and perfectly paint matched. The car has a straight, clean body, with just a few dings, and some rock chips up front. It's not rusty! Car has the factory option armrest as well, it's in perfect shape though I removed it for arm clearance. It is included and can be reinstalled in minutes.

The car will come with 2 sets of wheels and tires:
-stock Double Spoke II wheels with 80% Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, stock sizes
-Mille Miglia 16" winter wheels with Blizzak WS60, 80%
-Includes a pair of 10mm ARD flat spacers (hubcentric) with 10mm Turner hub extenders up front, longer lug bolts to match, and also a spare set of 4 flat 5mm spacers with a full set of 5mm longer bolts. Factory lugs also included.


The only modifications are Ground Control street/school hybrid coilovers w/camber plates, 525/650 lb/in ERS springs F/R, DJ auto glass projector lights with DDM 35W 4500K hid, ZHP shift knob, and an Autothority intake. That's it. It also has a Kenwood radio which I might need to keep for the next car; I have the working factory deck. The factory HK sound is excellent, and the OE suspension and headlights will come with the car. Everything on the car works great except for the driver's seat back heat (butt works), and the power passenger mirror. I just set it and forget it.

Recent maintenance:

-Water pump 2009
-New OE Sachs clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, ZF 1st/Rev gear detent pin service, z3 shifter, UUC delrin carrier bushing 05/12
-Remanufactured driveshaft with fresh u-joints, flex disc, and center support bearing from Portland Driveline Service 05/12
-new rear outer lower ball joints and camber bolts, 7/12
-AKG poly diff bushings 10/12
-Replaced seized caliper with remanufactured from Napa, 3/13
-Fresh ATE brake fluid 2013
-Oil changes 5k winter / 3k summer with Castrol Syntec 0W-30 (german) in winter and 5W-50 in summer.
-AKG 90A rear trailing arm bushings 3/13

The car has been well cared-for, and it's been prepared for daily and mild autocross use. Nothing has been removed or modified in a non-reversible way, and it's a hoot to drive any time!

I'm asking $9500 negotiable. I'm happy to entertain offers, try me!

If you're interested, please let me know! I'd much prefer to sell to an enthusiast. Feel free to contact via email at [email protected] or PM here.

If I end up not selling the car, no biggie - I'll enjoy the hell out of it some more :)
 
Last edited:

FlyinGTP

Regular
Apr 25, 2008
235
0
Elk Grove
The heaters going out are really common on e36's. my estoril m3 sedan with vader seat swap had the same issue. All you have to do is pull the leather back and look for the little black mark on the cushion under the heater lead. Solder the leads back up and they work again. The tend to fray as they pass off of the cushion to the base of the seat. This goes for all e36 seats with heaters. Doesn't matter if it is cushion or backrest.

If you want this car sold fast post it on bimmer forum. Seeing as it is clean as hell will help. But non evo coupes usually don't bring more than 8500. It's because there are so many of them out there. The evo's and stick sedans are the ones that bring good money. Estoril, hellrot, techno violet, byzraz(burnt orange) all bring big money especially in stick and sedan form. For those who don't know a e36 evolution started 5/98 production only on the coupes through 99. The conv's got the steering wheel though. But it is a tri spoke sport steering wheels, bigger euro style rear end with 6 bolt driveshaft, and 6 speed manual trans.

This is a really clean e36 which can be very hard to find. I searched for over a year for my estoril sedan.
 

fretburnr

Heel&Toe Hero
Jan 29, 2008
247
0
Aurora
Hey thanks for the kind words everyone!

I had taken the seat apart, and found that the break was farther up in the pad than the usual spot near the end. I was planning on just replacing the pad.

The car has been listed on Bimmerforums now for a week or so.

Not to be argumentative, but the US market never got an evolution model, which was the European designation for the '96/97+ OBD2 changes, including going from 3.0 to 3.2L.

Our mid-cycle change gave '98.5-99 cars the 3 spoke wheel. My '98.0 model has the other "facelift" features of side airbags and rear headrests.

Also, the only US cars that got 6-bolt CV-ended driveshafts as far as I have seen are the '95 and early '96 cars, and those diffs were the same as other US market cars save for the input flange. After that they all went to the standard 4 bolt here in the states. None of the US market cars got the 6 speed.

You may have seen some gray market imports, as that must certainly have been an attractive option for people of means at the time.

A pretty involved resource for the production models both here and in Europe can be found at the BMW M Registry:

BMW M Registry - FAQ E36 M3 3.2

As a sidenote, I very much miss my previous '97 Estoril/Dove 5sp sedan!
 

FlyinGTP

Regular
Apr 25, 2008
235
0
Elk Grove
Hey thanks for the kind words everyone!

I had taken the seat apart, and found that the break was farther up in the pad than the usual spot near the end. I was planning on just replacing the pad.

The car has been listed on Bimmerforums now for a week or so.

Not to be argumentative, but the US market never got an evolution model, which was the European designation for the '96/97+ OBD2 changes, including going from 3.0 to 3.2L.

Our mid-cycle change gave '98.5-99 cars the 3 spoke wheel. My '98.0 model has the other "facelift" features of side airbags and rear headrests.

Also, the only US cars that got 6-bolt CV-ended driveshafts as far as I have seen are the '95 and early '96 cars, and those diffs were the same as other US market cars save for the input flange. After that they all went to the standard 4 bolt here in the states. None of the US market cars got the 6 speed.

You may have seen some gray market imports, as that must certainly have been an attractive option for people of means at the time.

A pretty involved resource for the production models both here and in Europe can be found at the BMW M Registry:

BMW M Registry - FAQ E36 M3 3.2

As a sidenote, I very much miss my previous '97 Estoril/Dove 5sp sedan!

I never said that the evo's where sold in the us from the dealer. I just said they bring more money. I've come across quite a few evo's here though imported from Canada and other left hand drive countries. All evo's should have a 6 bolt driveshaft. The 6 speed manual drive shaft for the e36 never came any other way. The full on evo is 5/98 production. That was when the 3 spoke steering wheel was added to production. The other stuff was available in different forms through out production. What is considered a true evo is a late 98 model year and 99. I know from this from working for BMW.
 

fretburnr

Heel&Toe Hero
Jan 29, 2008
247
0
Aurora
I decided against the weld-on or bolt-on bracket as they significantly increase NVH, and this is primarily a street car. The AKG poly bushings have done a great job of preventing movement and bolt breakage. I suppose if someone were to take this car to the strip on a regular basis the brackets would be more appropriate.

Thanks!
 

FlyinGTP

Regular
Apr 25, 2008
235
0
Elk Grove
I decided against the weld-on or bolt-on bracket as they significantly increase NVH, and this is primarily a street car. The AKG poly bushings have done a great job of preventing movement and bolt breakage. I suppose if someone were to take this car to the strip on a regular basis the brackets would be more appropriate.

Thanks!

I have a AA bracket on my e36 and was just wondering. Normally the diff bracket is a early mod for a lot of people. I rode in one that had the billet diff bushings and it was pretty brutal for just driving around. I didn't really notice much of a change ride wise from the AA bracket on my car.

Best of luck on the sale.
 

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