*poll* 1991 E34 ///M5 3.6L or 1996 E36 ///M3 3.2L?

[dinan328iC]

Which do you feel is a better car?

A black 1991 E34 M5 with a 150K miles (and a professional rebuild 15K ago) with the 3.6L S38 engine...

Or a techno-violet 1996 E36 ///M3 with 84K miles and the 3.2L motor, all orig. miles...

I drove the ///M5 and came away very impressed, I intend to drive the ///M3 this weekend, I am wary of the high miles on the E34, but it just seemed to have tons of power on tap...

I have never driven an E36 M3 which car do you think is a better deal? Both in the ~$16K region (BTW the M5 has a dinan stage 4 suspension & cams as well as a ssk, the M3 is bone stock)

Any first hand thoughts/opinions?

[330Ci St.Grey]

Too tough to call for a vote. I say it depends on what you want.

M5: nice, rare, sweet to drive, different. I would have voted for this until you said it was modded, now I'm wary. The rebuilt motor DID NOT help.

M3: heck, I own one. You can NEVER go wrong with an M3. The motors are basically bomb proof if treated nice.

Never mind, I voted: M3. Find an unmodded good condition M5, and I'll change my mind in a second.

[dinan328iC]

the stock E34 M5 has the (in)famous self-leveling system... and if you are having a motor rebuilt anyway (& having cams replaced) why not go for performance cams?

These aren't things that were done with the idea 'I need more performance', they seem like modifications done more along the tune of 'heck it's got to be done, so why not', I would prefer an E34 M5 with the suspension already done than one where I would have to deal with a leaky leveling system or replace it with shocks/springs myself. That being said... I didn't quite come away impressed with the ssk on the M5, I can sort-of feel the reason for it during the low gears, but when you are trying to give the car full gas it feels like it needs to rev... it sounds a little on the corny side -- but that's the best way I can describe it.

In terms of an M3 I am definitly looking for one with the 3.2L engine, I am not exactly jumping for joy over the color of the car (techno violet) but all the numbers seem to match and its what I am looking for... Depending on how tomorrow's test drive goes I think this is where I will be heading...

that is unless someone else has comments to add?

[triplebeam]

Here we go again, didt you see the last forum about which is better M5 or M3? If i remember correctly the M3 is the best no dout about it

[BayBimmerM3]

ya the m3 p0wNz0r's j00

[Dr_Bake]

E34 M5's are so rare though...such a sleeper. Not to mention they're beauties...

[98ti]

i would go with the E36 ///M3 the power the looks and the sound of an ///M3 with dinan exhaust and intake. and the color really isn't that bad in my opinion but it is all up to you

[Danbean123]

Go see my poll on which car to get !

Which Bimmer should I get ??

everyone says that the M5 parts are really really expensive !!