First off, Semper Fi and thank you for your service to our country. My oldest son is a Marine who, after 2 tours to Iraq, is now stationed at Camp Pendleton. As for the car, you'll find lots of opinions here and I'll offer mine as well: Go for the E36 M3. For $20G you can get a nice low mileage one and still have plenty for reasonable mods. The 330CI was a nice ride but the E46 styling was never my favorite. Good luck and thanks again for the sacrifice you have made so the rest of us can sit back and talk about cars!
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"I always say, the way a man treats his car is how he treats himself."
1998 Hellrot Red M3, Koni Adjustables, Borla Exhaust, K&N CAI, BBS RA Wheels.