96 C36 AMG... money pit?

[T2urtle]

recently found one of these for sale for a very cheap price. I've always loved that body style benz.

I can turn a wrench but i fear the parts will be pricy since its a AMG model. Been looking around forums and found a lot of people needed a lot of work on their cars overall.

 

[mwmorph]

It's like owning Paris Hilton. Interesting from a distance, but not something you'll be able to afford long term.

You really have to ask yourself, are you willing to keep this money pit around? The transmission are suspect in those C36 cars of that generation and the car itself will be nothing but a money pit, something being wrong with it for months out of the year as it waits for parts and then gets repaired.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

If it was a C43 then sure - avoid the C36. 276HP in that car would be a lot of fun.

 

[halik]

recently found one of these for sale for a very cheap price. I've always loved that body style benz.

I can turn a wrench but i fear the parts will be pricy since its a AMG model. Been looking around forums and found a lot of people needed a lot of work on their cars overall.

My mom put 40K on her C230 (or 280?), selling it at like 130seomthing with 320 bucks in total maintenance

The c43 is the one to get though, very rare.

 

[T2urtle]

i'm not a diehard benz fan... but i would assume a c43 is pretty dam rare. I've seen 3 C36 AMG in my lifetime so far and then the 4th one i'm about to go see is the one for sale. Its priced very low for a car like this IMHO. Some claim it to be M3-like back in the day.

Me personally if I get it, would be used as a DD in the summer months and maybe once in a while in the winter months. I love they styling of this more so over even most newer benz. I've just been reading on the AMG forums tons of people say its worth the month and others say get something else.

 

[exdeath]

What is this very cheap price? You can get a infinitely superior CL55 AMG or various other higher end AMGs for around $20,000.

 

[Arkaign]

Hmm. If you're going to put up with a somewhat tempermental german car over 10 years old, I think E36 M3 is doing it right. You can unlock the motor to the full 300+hp really easily if you get the 3.2L model. And my goodness is that a fine sounding motor.

<--- admittedly a BMW guy and not a giant Mercedes fan.

 

[T2urtle]

What is this very cheap price? You can get a infinitely superior CL55 AMG or various other higher end AMGs for around $20,000.

About $3400, blk on blk with 115k


I honestly much rather have a e36 m3 but lets face it, chances of me finding those for as cheap on this AMG is very slim and of course the m3 would most likely be beaten down. Its great there are a lot of m3 guys around and lots of parts.

Either way i'm going to check this thing middle of the week, hopefully its makes my choice a lot easier.

 

[Arkaign]

Wow yeah, $3400 isn't gonna find a workable E36 M3. I think the best I've seen are $9k-$12k range for low-miles good running examples.

Here's hoping you find what you're looking for when you see it.

 

[CraigRT]

I've always loved those C36's too

 

[PricklyPete]

Lets be honest...chances are any 14 year old, high performance german car is likely to be a money pit...but if you really want it...get it.