Z3 M coupe.. Anyone ever drive one?
 

I love my 986S but I have wandering eyes all too often. And my latest crush on the way to finding the perfect car for me is the M coupe.

It only has a 5 speed transmission which is kind of boring, and most BMW drivers on the east coast are big a-holes LOL but I have an itch that needs to be scratched with at least a test drive. With that said, anyone here have experience with these cars? Attachment 16875

Awsome little car - the 2000 and before cars had the S52 engine (240HP) and in 2001 they fitted the car with the S50 which produced almost 321HP... the only real issue to the coupe as well as the roadster was the rear diff/axle mount which had the tendancy to break welds on the mounts. If you lift the trunk matt you can see if any of the spot welds above the rear axle are showing seperation issues. Other than that these things were bullet proof and a lot of fun to drive. Now from a fun factor I like the Boxster better... but thats just my opinion :-)

A friend had one and it had a lot of motor. It was a kick but seemed to lack the soul of a Porsche.

I owned both a 2000 M Coupe and a 2000 M Roadster. They were both nice vehicles for sure. However, they performed more like "boulevardiers" than they did enthusiast's cars. I can assure you that neither vehicle even came close to having the tactile, performance oriented feel of a boxster; let alone the Dangermobile. :) Also, the horsepower figures between the (E36) S52 and S50 motors are deceiving. Although the factory specs showed the S50 motor having more hp on paper, it didn't really produce anymore torque or hp "at the wheels" than the S52. Stick with your boxster !!



p.s. The coupe in the photo is not an "M", rather it's the base Z3 Coupe.

JD, you're right, every time I look in the garage I fall in love again. I just need to do a little more to it..GT3 front bumper, coilover suspension, a big ass rear wing like that Kokeln one, hard top, and my dream of forced induction.. Boy would I love to do LN Nickies to 3.6L with 9:1 compression and twin turbos...