I did not get a good look over the rear subframe, but three of us test drove it. The two friends that came with and drove me down both have '99 M3s (you can see one's Estoril Blue), and we all agreed the car felt solid, sounded good, tracked straight, and so forth. Though it will need new shocks soon, which I am debating on getting H&R Springs with Konis, or just Konis and enjoying a car with some form of stock ride height.
The interior is in pretty good shape, with the expected wear on the driver's seat. No tears that I've found anywhere. Wheels are OEM DS1s, so 17 inches. Paint on the car is solid aside from a few small rock chips in the front and a small scratch by the rear trunk - the paint on the MR-S is already in worse shape from what I can tell (thanks autocross and grippy tires). All the buttons and interior lights seem to work, including the 18 button OBC (which is amazing, from what I've read), though there is the infamous steering wheel noise.
Things on the car that should be address soon.
- Shocks
- Engine and transmission mounts (last thing I need to do is money shift the transmission)
- Fog light bulbs.
- A new head unit - there is a Sony now, and I was very close to just tearing the out and tossing it out the window. Absolute rubbish. And horribly distracting at night.
- Refinish the Vadars.
- Passenger side window regulator is going out.
- Valve retainers (yay S50 goodness)
- Front tower bracing.
- Rear subframe brace.
- Suspension bushings all around.
- Flush the power steering fluid.
Cosmetic things I plan to do to make the car look a bit better -
- Amber Corner lights all around.
- Euro clear lights up front.
- BBS (or rep) wheels all around.
- LTW Wing?
If you are wondering, the car has 140,000 miles and I paid a bit under 6 grand for it. I wasn't planning on paying the full asking price but the interior was in much better shape than the pictures indicated and it actually has some remotely decent tires on it.
Driving back from Portland to eastern Washington, we took a small segment of the old highay. Very much a twisty, 10-25 MPH type of road in places. I'd already gotten to drive a couple of E36 M3s, but not on anything this twisty. Handling is fairly solid and amazingly precise, and just driving the car fully made me understand why people love these cars so much. I will say it isn't quite as tossable as the MR-S and the turn in isn't as aggressive, but it is more composed on various surfaces and above 90 MPH.
It is rather interesting how each of the three M3's in our circle, despite all being E36s, feel completely different. The Estoril Blue has an exhaust and thus has more of its power up high, while the Titinum Silver (a '99) one has a stock setup and thus more torque down low. Mine, thanks to the slightly smaller engine, produces more power up high and lacks the low end torque, which with the different final drive, makes for a very different experience flooring it. Both the '99s also have springs and such, so they are a bit tighter feeling.
As for the MR-S and Civic, they are both for sale. Debating if I really want to try to keep one, or just sell them and clean up the M3 and just use that till I graduate and get a solid job. Yes, the M3 has shifted my priorities that much. The Celica is still here and will be made into a reasonable running state for winter and delivery duties. Honestly, I should have gone with the M3 suggestions over a year ago when I was looking at cars and ended up with the MR-S. Yes, I just said that. Japanese loving, MR fan, light weight snob Cody just has been converted to a German engineering, FR, autobahn rocket fan.
Congrats on the purchase though, I'm completely honest when I say I'm never going to drive a BMW myself, but that's a sweet ride 
