The E36 is very reliable.. you just have to make sure your following the maintenance schedule. The maintenance schedule..well thats going to cost you $$$

I can tell you right now in costs for my 05 E46 M3.. its insane dude. BMW of macon wanted 386$ just for an oil change.. i laughed in their face. They are outrageous, but even compared to 250$ normally anywhere else..its still insane. Inspection 2's (every 40k mi) is around 14-1800$ (depending on where you take it).

Yes, you can save a lot of money doing maintenance yourself. Oil changes, brakes, things like that are O.K...BUT - I dont know about you, but im definitely not comfortable putting shims in a 6000$ motor for a valve adjustment on a car im making payments on.

The e36 is a lot cheaper in cost vs the e46, but its still going to be expensive compared to most honda's. I will tell you one thing, you pay for what you get. My M3 is amazing, bar none. I love it more than a fat kid loves cake. If that means cutting costs in certain areas to drive my dream car, your damn right im going to do it. Check out http://m3forum.com. Im sure you will find better information for what your looking for there. From what ive seen IA is just a little biased with hondas lol (that isnt a bad thing either dont get me wrong).

Oh and dont forget, you can always look at the E46 ZHP or normal 3 series BMW's. They are probably about equal to the E36 M3 price range (and cheaper to maintain). Sometimes i wish i would have bought an E92 twin turbo 3 series non M vs my E46 M3... They are NICE.

Good luck dude. PM me if you have any questions man..