Coming from a guy that bought a beater E36, and attempted to make it nice, The advice I have for you is get something with a clean body, or at least clean enough that it doesnt need professional help. I spent like 1800 on body work on mine, and granted, now it looks darn nice but I could of had a sweet wheel and suspension setup for that instead.
I have owned a M44 ti. Coming from a 240 hp Prelude, and a 280 hp 540i, I began to dread climbing in the thing. Also, people will tell you that the ti is a nice commuter car. That was not my experience. No good gear for highway, I thrashed the thing just to get around. If you havent driven one, do so. I think you will quickly cross it off your list after also having driven a 325/328.
If I could play the E36 game over again, I would get a 328ic with a hardtop. The hardtop look on the vert is sick and there is no reason a person couldnt drive it that way in winter. Maybe not with the hardtop, but you could get a 328ic for around 5k. you could also get a moderately sad 95 M3.
B
