Patrick

Intro

1998 BMW M3 (E36) Convertible Estoril Blue, dark blue soft top over Dove Gray, 35,495 documented miles, two Charlotte-area owners from new. It has the S52 3.2-liter DOHC 24-valve inline six mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission. Produced in June 1998 and delivered on August 28, 1998, by Hendrick BMW in Charlotte, North Carolina with the original window sticker. This M3 has spent its entire life in one metropolitan area with a paper trail to match: BMW service-book stamps from 1999–2001 followed by an unbroken chronological file of dealer invoices from 2002 onward. The car comes with its original manuals and literature, window sticker, factory wind deflector with storage bag, matching spare, factory jack, complete trunk-lid tool kit, and top-restoration documentation. It has a clean Carfax with no incidents a clear title and is in North Carolina.

Exterior

The car wears glossy, uniform original Estoril Blue paint with straight body presentation, retaining its factory identification labels, lighting, and trim documented photographically down to the body stampings and door-jamb labels. The original blue soft top has been preserved and refurbished with renewed cables, tension straps, and trim, and a new OEM zip-in rear window was recently fitted. It rides on its original M Contour alloy wheels mounted with Michelin Pilot Sport tires (DOT date 2320). Seller states the brakes are original. The Hendrick BMW service manager recommended waiting until the sensor lights up to replace them. The seller replaced the front struts within the last year.

Interior

The Dove Gray leather cabin is clean with the M-color seat detailing that marks out the M3's leather sport seats, and the documented instrument cluster shows 35,495 miles. Per the window sticker, the car was optioned with the automatic transmission, power front seats, cruise control, and on-board computer. The AC blows cold. All primary instrumentation and controls are present and functional. Notably, the driver's seat adjustment mechanism was properly repaired at Hendrick BMW in 2012 with a new seat-bottom cradle and actuator documented in the file.

Mechanicals

Power comes from the S52 3.2-liter DOHC 24-valve inline six, rated at 240 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 236 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm, paired with the 5-speed automatic transmission. The engine compartment is unmodified, retaining its original finishes, plastics, hardware, and factory warning labels. The service file shows consistent care by year, not just by mileage: regular oil services, annual North Carolina emissions inspections, a new A/C condenser in 2005, convertible-top tension straps in 2010, an A/C control unit in 2016, and a brake fluid flush in 2016, among decades of smaller items. The most recent records document steady, low annual mileage in careful hands.

Imperfections

Michelin tires date to 2020

Additional Seller Comments

A preservation-focused E36 M3 Convertible distinguished by exceptionally low mileage, its highly desirable Estoril Blue and Dove Gray color combination, extensive original documentation, and strong evidence of careful long-term ownership. The vehicle

presents as a largely original, unmodified example with a clean and unusually complete supporting record.