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Yeah, like many BMW's, the rear subframe is a weak point. It can be addressed by using better bushings and replacing the stock single eared diff mount with a dual eared diff mount.
The Z3 used the E30 trailing arm rear suspension with the E36 front suspension, while the Z4 was a proper suspension all around. The Z3's are more raw and hoon worthy becuase of that, but the Z4 is certainly more composed and is almost always faster at most tracks.
The S54 Z3 M Coupes are very rare, I think about 650 were made for the US market, so they're usually fairly dear in pricing. It's not uncommon for them to be more than Z4 M Coupes. However the S52 coupes are not as rare, or as valuable and make a rather good bargain, relatively speaking. Stock for stock, the S52 cars had better gearing and were only a few tenths behind the S54 cars in the quarter mile. Over 100, it's a totally different story, and an S54 car with 3.73 or 3.90 gearing is quite quick.
Perhaps worthy of mentioning, a Z3 M Coupe has exactly enough room in the hatch to fit a full size keg. It's almost like it was designed around it. Other useless trivia, the Z3 coupe is listed as 260% stiffer than the Z3 roadster. The Z4 roadster was listed as being nearly as stiff as the Z3 coupe, and the Z4 coupe is stiffer still. Z3 M Roadsters, especially the S54 cars feel comically overpowered, while the coupes and all Z4's feel much better capable of handling their power. Of course that also means that an S54 Z3 M Roady is about as raw as any recent BMW.
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