Well, it just so happens I';m working on an E36 Buyer';s Guide article right now, Doug. Here';s a preview: The E36 3 Series (1992-98) is common in the used Bimmer market, and enthusiasts are snapping them up every day. They are basically good cars, however the E36 is noted for having numerous problems that did not affect the legendary E30 3 Series (1984-1992) before it. The E30 is renown for being virtually trouble-free with the exception of power convertible tops. Unfortunately the E36 does not share this trouble-free reputation. Known E36 problem areas include radiator failures, an early model water pump defect that affected engines built up to sometime in 1995, the occasional VANOS failure, electronic HVAC control module failures, premature ball joint failures, door lock issues, door panel delamination, seat breakage, the ever present automatic transmission failures in the 80,000- to 120,000-mile range, and the very rare rear floor failures.
The most worrisome problem area is the early defective water pumps. These units have plastic impellers, which can disintegrate and cause overheating. In extreme cases, the impellers can lodge bits of themselves in the engine block coolant passages. Engines have overheated and failed as a result.
Don';t be scared by all this--these are simply things that you should check out before buying a car. Bear in mind also that you should be looking for service records detailing, at a minimum, oil changes when required by the SI system, brake fluid and coolant changes every two years, and, hopefully, gearbox and differential oil changes. But more likely than not, none of this was done except the engine oil.
Although E36 power convertible tops are nowhere near as problematic as the E30 power tops before them, they can still be a yearly expense, especially if you live in the Snow Belt and don';t buy a hardtop.
Generally speaking, the Z3 and its variants along with the 318ti seem to be the most durable and dependable E36 Bimmers. In part, this is because they';re the simplest, with fewer electronic doo-dads to break. Also, the Z3 variants and the 318ti have the semi-trailing arm rear suspension, and they have never been known to suffer the dreaded rear floor failure - that problem, however rare, seems to threaten only E36';s with the multi-link rear suspension.
Prices are all over the map, since the cars range quite a bit in age. The most desirable sedans are, of course, the M3 sedans with manual gearbox and no luxury package. The most common offering is the vanilla 325i sedan with automatic transmission.
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