raceonusa

BMW 1995 M3
Weight - 3175 lbs.
HP - 240
Torque - 225
MPG - 27 - 28
Transmission - 5 Speed


Lexus 1992 SC300
(this lexus has cosmetic damage, but that's no problem to fix)
Weight - 3494 lbs
HP - 225
Torque - 214
MPG - 22 - 23
Transmission - 5 Speed


Can you guys shoot me some pro's and con's for each vehicle..

My goal is a reliable 350hp daily driver , that I can take to the track occasionally.

I've noticed there are quite a few options for the SC, either run a NA-T turbo kit and upgrade clutch , or swap 1JZ or 2JZ-GTE engine & transmission.. Can you use the 1JZ stock tranzmission from the GE with the 2JZ-GTE engine?

Is it a better idea to just buy a non-running SC, then buy a front clip and have everything swapped? Might as well I guess since everything is coming out, right?

For the M3, I don't really know how easy it is to upgrade..

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

You cannot be serious........ The M3 has 8 BILLION more mods, better at everything right out of the box, and has very few weak points compared to the Sc. Slide by www.bimmerforums.com and learn.

PS- the '95 M3 was the fastest of all the years.

raceonusa

Actually.. the M3 has 150k miles.. so that's another thing to consider.. Needs minor stuff like a trim piece, and new brake pads. Oh cool 1995 is the fastest, nice!

I may be able to get a non-running SC super cheap, which would leave around $4500 for a 1JZ swap or mods if that is even possible, before it would be the same price as the M3. I also have an RSR supra exhaust hanging around that (I think) I can slap on the SC when it's ready.

Everyone is telling me M3 though.. so I think your right.

na4now

COME ON, Olt!

A nice clean '95 M3 will run you $10-11K,....OR you could get a nice SC and put suspension, wheels, and a 1jz swap.

Id take the Lexus.

Baoser

i vote for m3...haha you can get a 95 for 7-8k and its not in bad condition. just gotta check thermostat housing, radiator, water impeller, and rtabs...haha

if im lucky i hang with my friend on an onramp...then he blows me away...its depressing =( I wish my car was manual/turboed... =(

Rollin'ES3

If i were to keep both cars stock I'd take the M3

But if I was going to mod, I'd take the Lexus

MattSEG

Be in for sticker shock when the vanos, or pretty much anything else on the m3 goes out. On the SC when something breaks the better replacements are often less expensive.

TRDRacer

Vanos sucks *** and is pricy as ****!! If you want to turbo the m3 or buy any other mods it will run you alot!! But you can put an exhaust, cold air intake, flywheel, and a chip and you got around 300 hp!! Much bigger gains in hp on the OBD1 M3. Those are some common mods but anything else will run you hella! The Active Autoworks turbo is 10G and you still got to build the engine up too handel the hp! Also the M3 has probs with the electrical systems.

SCoupe

Then this is a very easy decision. M3's are road kill to a 2jzgte on a track. Period.

I visited the "bimmer" forums: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=454142 After ten pages of dyno info it was clear that few M3's made much over 235whp after mods, chips, intakes with the few boosted ones turning in low 300whp. That is a freaking joke to the 1j or 2j by comparison. Look at this stack of potent 2j's: http://www.clubna-t.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22 Raw bang for the buck, a swapped SC is a missle that finds itself in rarified air. It takes Z06, 996 Turbo and some other expensive or heavily modded cars with good drivers to best it.

In every NASA HPDE track event that I've participated in, the M3 is an obstacle to my mildly tuned SC300 2gz-gte (and certainly a 1jz). I could pass at will any M3 in the groups I was in. They are gutless wonders by comparison. With the Supra brakes and suspension the M3 seems to have only slight handling edge but certiainly not enough to stay out of the way.

The answer to your slightly fuzzy tranny question is yes.

The answer to the which car question is crystal clear, get the SC and do the 1j or 2j swap and you'll eat any year M3 on the track not just the older ones. It also looks better on the ride home, here's mine:

hass

M3, best year too.
-hass

LMoney4o8

iTrader: (2)

sc more reliable! bimmer more problems

Gunnar

I had two friends buy '95 M3's, one was an auto for $6000 and the other was a 5-speed with something like 58K miles and really nice 19's for $6400. I never rode in the auto but the 5-speed one was niiiiice. I was surprised at how well it moved on 19's.

Blizzy

iTrader: (-1)

I weighed this same exact decision when I chose my SC. This year of M3 was among the models I considered buying.

I chose the SC for its reliability and value. Ultimately, practicality got the best of me.

In my opinion, the M3 has more to offer; but, you can also do more with the SC with a fixed amount of dough.

3000

I'm just concerned about the insurance.

ElitistK

iTrader: (4)

The m3 is a sportscar, the sc is a cruiser. I doubt you can find a m3 with the eurospec engine, so right off the top, I would pick the sc.

Potential-wise, the sc is much greater. The design was also way ahead of its time, while the e36 looks way older than jesus already (IMHO).

I would probably go with the sc.