If you buy an E36 328 you get most of the M3 drivetrain, minus the halfshafts.
One reason to buy an M3 is that it has factory reinforced rear subframe mounts.
BMW's being expensive to maintain is a bit of a myth but it does apply to certain things. Common maintenance items on the E36 are dirt cheap. I've owned 5 of them now and never broke the bank on maintenance. Spent $300 once on a brand new radiator, I think brand new 240SX radiators are like $260.
The car will treat you well if you take care of it though, and nothing really major will go wrong unless you do something stupid (overheat it for 30minutes solid, run way low on oil, etc)
Cheap route to drift an E36: Find a '92-'93 325 with low miles that looks like it has been cared for. Buy the rear subframe reinforcement plates, get a Z3 2.8 diff swap the internals, get bilstein sport shocks and H&R race springs, upgrade the rear sway bar. Go slide and save for a turbo or ask Santa to bring the Eurosport twinscrew supercharger.
Oh and E36 coupe and sedan have the same wheelbase, same exact car really, but the sedan has higher seats.