The E36 M3 was lauded as one of the greatest handling cars of all time, but those of us in the US were always a little disappointed that the M3 made due with 240hp here throughout its lifespan, while the Euros ended up with a 321hp beast that makes the E46 seem like a lot less of a leap than it was here. There were many ways to go about fixing the lack of power, but few are more reputable and holistic than Dinan’s packages. With just an intake, chip, and exhaust, the first M3 I drove had a healthy dose of aggression. Today’s comes with the full meal deal, earning the Dinan badge and a Euro-shaming 340hp out of the supercharged 3.0l. That’ll be plenty for me, and it carries the bigger stick without raising its voice, just some Dinan blocks at each corner. This example is cherry in color and condition, having covered just 38k miles. With BMW’s endorsement of Dinan, examples like this may well become the most sought-after, especially when they are this well cared for.
Click for details: 1995 BMW M3 Dinan S3 on eBay
Year: 1995
Model: M3 Dinan S3
Engine: Supercharged 3.0l inline-6
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 38,802
Price: $19,888
1995 BMW M3, HELLROT RED ON BLACK, DINAN STAGE 3!
3.0L VORTECH SUPERCHARGED I6!
340HP/307TQ!
DINAN STAGE 3 SUPERCHARGER SYSTEM!
DINAN FREE FLOW EXHAUST!
DINAN FRONT STRUT TOWER BRACE!
DINAN REAR SHOCK TOWER BRACE!
DINAN STAGE 3 SUSPENSION!
DINAN 3 PIECE WHEELS!
BRAND NEW MICHELIN PS2 TIRES!
DINAN SERIAL NUMBERED S3 PLAQUE!
DINAN DECK LID BADGE!
RARE LEATHER VADER SEATS!
OEM BMW OPERATIONAL HEAD UNIT!
SUNROOF!
PROPER 6-SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION!
TRUE COLLECTOR CAR!
TRULY A MUST SEE PIECE!
AMAZING DRIVABILITY!
ONE OWNER CLEAN CARFAX!
Someone appears to be thinning the collection, but if you can stomach going a few grand higher than “nice” E36 M3 territory, you could come out the other end going a heck of a lot faster. With 38k miles, maybe it doesn’t need to be a daily driver (though it could be); I see this as becoming an amazing weekend stormer for someone with an E39 528i Touring.
-NR
It looks well cared for, but they don’t mention or show any kind of history on it. Only one owner too, I wonder if they bought it at auction. It’d be nice to have some Dinan paperwork & service records with a car that’s being advertised as a “collector’s car.”
Dinan had been modifying BMWs since early 80s-ish I believe (& Minis since their BMW ownership), but didn’t have the more official kind of acceptance/agreement in terms of Dinan parts & cars sold (& warrantied) in a limited # of BMW dealers until 1996. Dinan is now (2013) owned by B&M Products (shifters, Hurst, Flowmaster, etc).
” 340HP/307TQ!”
If you’re throwing out exact #s, let’s see some dyno printouts or minimally the original Dinan paperwork.
“DINAN REAR SHOCK TOWER BRACE!
DINAN STAGE 3 SUSPENSION!”
If I bought this car the first thing I’d do would be to install the Turner Motorsports e36 M3 front & rear chassis reinforcement kit. Rear subframes & shock towers are a known weakness in E36, E46 and others. From ’95 on the E36 M3 got some subframe points reinforced, but you can still take it up a notch, which I would do based on the stresses a stiffer suspension & the tower braces F&R would add.
“DINAN 3 PIECE WHEELS!”
These are pretty cool looking. I’m curious if Dinan absconded with the stock ones or what, if they did your whole car??
“DINAN SERIAL NUMBERED S3 PLAQUE!”
Generally this would be a good thing to photograph in the ad. 😉
“DINAN DECK LID BADGE!”
Did someone say badges?!
“RARE LEATHER VADER SEATS!”
If by rare you mean came on every M3 coupe.
“OEM BMW OPERATIONAL HEAD UNIT!”
Get your Discman 1/8″ to cassette adapter ready homies!
“SUNROOF!”
I always wanted more weight up there in my sports car! 😉
“PROPER 6-SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION!”
I had no recollection that the Dinan car dropped a 6 speed in for the 5-speed that came stock to US. I’m assuming they used the ROW spec 6-speed?
“TRUE COLLECTOR CAR!”
If it’s in all caps with an exclamation point, who am I to even question it? 🙂
as the owner of a 95 E36 Dinan M3 (which has since lost the S/C and is a dedicated track car)
there is NO 6 speed…LMAO….Dinan did not change or modify the tranny for the added Hp&Torque..
the Stage 3 suspension at that time consisted of: Koni’s, and front camber plates.thicker sway bars front & rear..& better RTABS & bushings…JRZ’s were not available for the E36 back in 95.
an optional item was an oil cooler if one desired….no mention of the freeflow exhaust??…unless I missed that….also as a point of fact…they were not called S3’s back in the day when I had mine done..in fact there was no Dinan dealer in the tri-state area…..I had to send the car myself to Morgan Hill
that said there is an Estoril Blue one available with slightly more miles 40k I believe in my area for a 20k ask…..just saying…
oops my mistake…just saw the free-flow exhaust mentioned…..
1st rule of dealers: add copious amounts of armor-all all over the car your trying to sell
@Mdriver – thanks for your insight & first hand info. After I submitted my prior post I did get to thinking “hmm…if they actually swapped the entire trans, that’s like a $3-4k part and maybe $2-3k in billable shop time (adding significantly to the bottom line!)…and also leaves them with a stockpile of low mileage 5-speeds.” And now that I look at the pics closer that’s definitely a 5-speed pattern on the shift knob.
Unless you’re getting something for a song because of it, it’s slightly unnerving when the cars are just commodities to the seller. I can only dream of a job where good enough means being “mostly accurate” in what I describe, having caps lock & the exclamation point be the two most valuable things on my keyboard, and having only a drum of armor all (as you pointed out @MD) be my sole tool with which to physically change the appearance of the goods that I market — no less & no more.
Nice car, but the red painted mesh under the grill is hideous…why would someone ever do that?
@John – I agree it is kind of funky looking, but IIRC body colored lower bumper mesh was stock in 1995. If you google the 95 E36 M3 for some reason a lot of the brochure, advertising, and car magazine testers were Dakar Yellow and have the body colored mesh. I believe it was a ’96 or mid ’96 MY production change for the non-lux package. (Lux package eventually got the bumper w/ painted slats IIRC).