I took my 95 M3, Daytona Violet on Dove Grey to my favorite spot, American Shine detailing for some work. Those of you in the Mid-Atlantic that remember the "Skyline Run" tours I put on will remember the owner who joined those runs in his 944. It turns out, at the same time I was there, someone was having their mint 1998 M3,4,5 Techno Violet being worked on. Obviously, we had to take some pictures for the definitive Daytona Violet vs. Techno Violet comparison.
As a reminder, BMW made the e36 M3 in Daytona Violet for 1 year only in the US, 1995 with the S50 OBD-I engine. From 1996-1999 it was sold in Techno Violet with the S52 OBD-II engine.
The S50 and S52 produced the same amount of peak power. However, the S52 was the beginning of BMWs now standard "plateau" torque curve, where it produced peak torque throughout the rev range. While the S50 was the end of BMWs traditional torque curve where all the power and torque were at the very top. You really need to rev the S50 all the way to the red line to get the most out of it, but as Jason Cammisa recently showed, you can reliably do that all day, every day with this engine and it SINGS up there like modern BMW engines just don't anymore.
In my opinion, essential mods for an e36 M3 is replacement all-aluminum radiator, water pump and chassis reinforcements. Optional mods would be an electric fan (the original clutch fan can sometimes explode), replacement suspension (the originals are 25 years old at this point), Euro OEM ZKW glass lens headlights (for the love of Bavaria, not Depo headlights) and for the 95 M3, the TMS Stage 3 kit which provides +57hp / +30ft-lbs without forced induction! The power of OBD-I I guess.
I have a M2 CS and for driving on the track, the M2 CS is soooo much better than the e36 M3. But for driving on back roads, in good weather with the windows down and sunroof open, my e36 M3 is hands down the best back roads driving car I've ever driven. And I've driven a lot of cars. There's so much visibility, so much interaction and feel, so much better noise, it's just a better drivers car in every way, on back roads. On the track the M2 CS is just unmatched with how playful it is at the limit but on backroads, it's plain boring in comparison to my 95 M3.
The coupe is Daytona, the 4-door is Techno. Which is your favorite?
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLWjsutcZMrlOd7K3mzyTuMmHrYl7hml9mKwfJwE4wMvtbTcjY8iRYt6Yjbwc319YfGSnQjK72u9TJ2Aq26rUn838-ghyTVUeilRvnZzlGiK4OCObn5OZz26sE9CVBb6_BVbCKqdWMv6N3xyIN1atGIGAQ=w1916-h1078-no)