It's reasonably quick yes, won't set the world on fire though and you would be in danger of losing if you were to go up against even a modern hot hatch. I average 28mpg from it, not bad for it's age I suppose, it's a LOT better than my 300zx and that's what I was looking for.
Steering is by far the biggest weakness, I find it to be sloppy, uncommunicative and lacking the sharp response that I'm used to. I've thrown money at it hand over fist trying to remedy it, improved on it a fair bit but still not up to scratch.
Braking is good, no complaints there. Engine is good but the restrictive inlet manifold makes it lose torque dramatically at high rpm, very strong in the mid range and nice throttle response as you'd expect from an NA motor. I'll add this though, when I bought it the throttle pedal was sticky and felt horrible, every e36 I've driven has been like this. I replaced the cable with a new genuine one and it improved no end, still has more resistance than any other car I've driven though.
RWD, this is why I bought it, I love a bit of skidding and this was cheaper than the S15 I really wanted by a large margin. Only the pre facelift (Sport model) ones had an LSD, make sure you get one of these as the open diff model with an electronic nanny sucks massive balls. I suppose if you have no intention of doing any fun skids in it then it would be fine.
Suspension wise, Sport model came with Bilstein B8, I would assume this is firmer and better than the B4, they had Nurburgring stickers all over them so I guess they are the sporty models. I had these with Apex springs on and it felt like an american car, soft and wallowy. I can only assume the dampers were worn out, but anyway the springs were no good IMO, however there would be no problem with ride comfort at all.
I chose to ditch the **** suspension and put HSD HR coilovers on, even on quite a hard setting, with solid rubber bushings and solid top mounts, the ride isn't bad at all and it's still plenty compliant enough to go full throttle on a bumpy road.
You mention it sounds muted, is you exhaust flap working? The tailpipe closest to the centre of the car has a valve in it which will open up at wide throttle openings after 2.5k or so, the backbox becomes straight through, with this open and the VANOS coming in at 3k it really makes a fair bit of noise. Check that it works, it should be open when the engine is off, and close shortly after starting up.
To the guy who said don't buy a Sport, don't listen to that guy. The sport gets the lower, Bilstein suspension as I mentioned, you get the M3 body kit (definitely want this, standard looks pony), Sport seats standard, nice black headlining, LSD on the earlier ones.
