TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT: 1995 BMW E36 M3 - $4,950

Hi there readers,

Welcome to a new segment on this humble little blog, called "Take It or Leave It" where I share with you the latest offerings from around the world and leave it to you to decide whether that car is worth saving, or if you shouldn't even go near it. I'll start by doing these once a week. If I get good feedback, we'll re-visit this segment more frequently, so get ready, because, at least in this instance, your vote truly matters.

Today's inaugural car is a 1995 BMW M3 from Chicago.

Let me just start by saying straight away that the E36 M3 is not popular in most American enthusiast car clubs. In fact, in its base form, this generation of M3 is sort of, well, shunned, if I'm honest, and it's not without reason.

Sure, it's an M-powered BMW for under 5 grand! Yes! BUT, it's important to remember one critical thing: this is the American-Spec E36, which is a FAR cry from the Euro-spec version. Basically, where the Euro-Spec M3 is Yo Yo Ma playing a stradivarius, the American-Spec M3 is, essentially, banging a sauce pan with a spoon.

You see, originally, America was never slated to even get the E36 state side. But thanks to the efforts of members of the BMW Car Club of America, BMW responded by allowing what was considered a hoonicorn to come stateside. Oh, how we rejoiced! We danced! We cried!....but then, when the first orders came in, we quickly found out that we'd been betrayed! Short changed! Screwed over! because what was a high-performance car in Europe was now a fat, lazy lump of metal in the states.

Where the top-speed of the Euro model was pegged at 155mph, the American spec had to make due with a measly 137mph top speed. And where the Euro E36 had the gift of individual throttle bodies, and an engine that was good for 286 horsepower and over 330 lb-ft of torque to get it from 0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds, the American version had a single throttle body, and had to cope with only 240 horsepower, and a meager 225 lb-ft of torque. That meant it was only good for a much slower 0-60 time of a forgettable 6.1 seconds. And the laziness doesn't end there. The Euro E36 had better brakes, better headlights, a better rear-diff, and a speedo with a higher number on the mph scale. In essence, what BMW had done is taken an iconic sports car and fattened it up for Americans to hoon about in their flat, non-enjoyable roads.

But that didn't stop the hardcore BMW enthusiasts from seeing its potential. As in the case with this latest example.

In the description, the owner claims he's selling it simply because he's purchased a new car and can't afford to foot the bill for this one any longer. He also claims that he's been the owner for 4 years, and in that time has ticked the ODO up to 158,000 miles. According to the description, he's done "alot of maintenance, recently" which is followed by some modifications he's made to the car to make it go faster; including a tuner chip, Borla Exhaust, and a new intake among other things.

In the pictures, the car looks to be in okay shape, except for a few rust spots that have been painted over, which the owner was cool enough to show in the pictures as well. The white paint also looks to be in decent shape for a 22 year old car, though there is a small spat of rust right by the license plate on the trunk. Inside, the seats show typical wear, with a few cracks and marks here and there. It could benefit from new upholstery in the future, but it's not something that needs urgent attention for now.

Other than that, the car does look to be in a good running order, though it's in your best interest to run a carfax check, it being an old M3 and all.

So, given all of this new and important information, is $4,950 the right price for the whole package?

Take it or Leave it. You decide!