Vehicle
BMW Z3
The two-seat roadster built in South Carolina, and mechanically it is an E36 3 Series — front subframe, engines and most of the electrics are shared, so 3 Series information from the same years applies almost everywhere. The one part that is not shared is the rear: the Z3 inherited the older E30 semi-trailing-arm axle, and the rear subframe mounting points tearing away from the floor is the structural fault this car is known for, worse on the six-cylinder and M versions.
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Generations
-
E36/7 and E36/8 1995–2002
E36 running gear under a roadster body; the coupé arrived in 1998. Rear subframe mounts are the structural item to check before anything else.
- Body styles
- Roadster · Coupé
- Platform
- BMW E36
- Engines
-
- 1.8 four-cylinder — M43 · petrol · 85–87 kW (114–117 hp) · 168–180 Nm (124–133 lb-ft)
- 1.9 four-cylinder — M44 · petrol · 103 kW (138 hp) · 180 Nm (133 lb-ft)
- 2.0 straight-six — M52 · petrol · 110 kW (148 hp) · 190 Nm (140 lb-ft)
- 2.2 straight-six — M54 · petrol · 125 kW (168 hp) · 210 Nm (155 lb-ft)
- 2.5 straight-six — M54 · petrol · 245 Nm (181 lb-ft)
- 2.8 straight-six — M52 · petrol · 141–142 kW (189–190 hp) · 275–280 Nm (203–207 lb-ft)
- 3.0 straight-six — M54 · petrol · 170 kW (228 hp) · 300 Nm (221 lb-ft)
- 3.2 straight-six — S50 · petrol · 236–239 kW (316–321 hp) · 350 Nm (258 lb-ft) · M Roadster and M Coupé — S50, S52 or S54 depending on market and year
- Transmissions
- 4-speed automatic · 5-speed GETRAG 250/ZF S5-31 manual · 5-speed GM 5L40-E/ZF 5HP automatic
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive
Service information
Information, not instruction
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Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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