This is up to a lot of factors, including desired speed, angle and personal style. In general, I set up my drifts earlier than I would set up when gripping. Often, starting to drift just as you enter the outside rumble strip area is a good pointer. Basically, you may want to have established countersteer as you reach the normal turn-in point.
Typically for hairpins and shorter turns I start very wide with a brake drift to get high angle at turn-in, while for longer turns I think it's best to "quick-feint" or power over and sort of lock on to a low-medium angle. The key here is to try and find a balance point quickly, where you can keep the car moving at a relatively constant angle. High Speed Ring and Suzuka East are good places to learn this technique.
One tip that may work for you if you drift with a wheel or have good analogue control is to countersteer quickly, turn very slightly into the turn (just apply some pressure to the wheel in the direction of the turn) while drifting and balance the angle with the throttle. If you keep the wheels spinning without "burning out", you can hold very long drifts like this without losing a grain of speed.
I would say that the Nismo 270R is the perfect beginner drift car. It has enough power and a good suspension set-up (stock) for drifting. Just add a custom gearbox and N1/2 tires and you should be set. I still have trouble setting up cars to drift as good as that one. Other good cars to begin with are 90's Mazda RX7 (FD), Holden Monaro and BMW 330i fully tuned, but stop at 300HP (much better than the M3 IMO and absolutely fantastic on N1s).
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