Need some info from previous or current owners of the 98-02 bmw M Coupe. I have been looking at a few, mileages are high, 50k plus. What are your thoughts on these cars?
To start off with the roadster, I had a roadster for a year, did 12000 miles, doughnuts all the way everywhere i went and then sold it for £1000 more than i paid. AWESOME! I do not like normal Z3's but this is a bit ballsier and certainly looks more beefed up (I'd say the roadster is even wilder looking). The car itself it a great car for the money and will out run many many sports cars out there. It is such a great buy now as they have dropped really to their base value and have been there for a couple of years now so there really isnt anything to lose. It is a real drivers car and that back end is great fun but too much and its a goner! Very comfortable and refined I would say. I personally had the roof down every time i drove it, sun, rain, night time whatever! The roof is very quick to go up and down and you can easily do it at 30mph no problem! The coupe is obviously the preferable choice for you, why is that? I've driven the coupe and yes it was a great drive, even better than the roadster but i just loved getin the roof down on that beast and i just didnt need the extra space inside. My two friends had coupes and one of them split the chassis, god knows how as i dont think he quite told me the truth! Regards, Matthew
It's going to be a bit biased, but go to www.bimmerforums.com, as they have a good amount of owners on there. Also, they have a huge classified area with M-Coupes popping up for sale frequently.
I will check it out. Also, the one on ebay with 2k miles is for sale in Ohio I think, at the BMW Store. They want $60k!!!
The cars have rear subframe issues. Be sure to do your research on that, and exercise caution with any purchase.
We had an M-Coupe here for a while, which I got to drive for a week. Forgot exactly what year it was, but it was a 240bhp version. We called it "the shoe"! It was a blast to drive. It was a fast car, with pretty good torque. The back end felt like it could come around on you if you were driving too aggressively, and without warning. I never actually did that, it just felt like that. It is a car with a single purpose, certainly not something I would care to drive everyday. It had a fairly stiff ride, and the interior was quite cramped. For a weekend fun car, it was great. For a daily driver, I would look elsewhere.
I owned a 01 Imola Red M Coupe (315 hp) for almost a year. The car was a blast from the day I drove it off the lot. It wasn't what I was looking for, but the dealer couldn't move the car for 6 months; guess it was because it was aimed more towards the purists, and the looks have always been debatable. I bought the bimmer for well under sticker half way through 2002. Anyhow, the car always put a smile on my face, but there were just a few things I could not get past. No factory keyless entry, factory harmon/kardon (9 speakers) was a joke and ofcourse it was classified as an E36/8 (last year of production) when the E46 models were really taking off. Oh yeah, and how could I forget that raspy exhaust note when you mash the throttle. After 17k miles in 9 months, I sold the car for a little under what I paid for it and in time bought an M3. I regretted it. I then realized that the M Coupe was something special. Four years have passed and I now own a Gallardo, but I will always regard the Lambo and the M coupe as my favorite sports cars. The M was truly one of a kind.
Wow, first i've ever heard of that. I know there was another version of the coupe but it wasnt an M version. I have a model of it at home and its nowt in comparison to the M, thought that might be it. The M's have always had well over 300bhp
It states 2 different engines, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M_Coupe M Coupes built between 1999 and 2000 are fitted with two different engines, depending on the destination market. The same engines were used as powered the 1996 to 1999 BMW M3. The US models were fitted with the S52, a 240 hp (176 kW) and 320 Nm (236 ft·lbf) 3.2 litre inline 6 cylinder engine. European models were fitted with the S50, a 321 hp (239 kW) and 350 Nm (184 ft·lbf) 3.2 litre inline 6 cylinder engine.
North America S52 engine: 2,180 built from 07/98 through 06/2000 North America S54 engine: 690 built from 02/2001 through 05/2002
Here in the US the 01-02 M coupes had the S54 engine which has 315 hp and is the same engine used in the 01-06 M3. The Euro S50 is a whole different motor with different characteristics. The M coupe with the S54 is the one to get, although the if you want to put on an aftermarket turbocharger or blower, the earlier M coupe is better. The car has a cult like following because it represents the kind of car company BMW used to be (making small, lightweight, nimble cars).
Hey Chris. Don't worry alot about the subframe issue, b/c it is: 1) uncommon, 2) relatively easily found during an inspection (by someone familiar with these cars, and 3) there are weld in kits (about a $500 or less job) that can fix the problem. The owner of the shop that has done some of the mods on my M3 tracks a blown M coupe. If you have specific questions, I would be happy to either 1) hook you guys up, or 2) ask him those questions for you. Stock, these cars are supposedly a little twitchy on the track, but simple mods apparently dial that out. Scott
Nope, the first M-Coupe definitely had a 240bhp motor in it. Not only that, but the 240bhp motor feels torquier than the 333bhp, at least in my opinion. I drove the M-Coupe with the 240bhp motor, and I drove an M3 Convertible with the 333bhp motor.
Absolutely--I owned an M3 Conv. with the 333hp motor--felt slow unless you beat the sh*t out of it. My '98 M3 (with the 240 hp motor) feels much better around town--BUT, realize that the Conv is heavy as a pig.
We had a Z3 it was a fun little car. I'm not sure about the engine but I sware it was a 2.3 litre? Fun little car very small and handled well.
I have a 240hp E36 3.2 M3 and until you really hammer on it, the later 330?hp M3 feels slower. For a vert I'm VERY happy with the engine's charactersitics. Both the M roadster and M coupe felt very "twitchy" to me in factory trim... not the same feeling I got in the base Z3 and base coupe... I assumed that could be adjusted/modified out of it, but I chose my '98 M3 vert over a '99 M roadster at the same price... Bill
