BMW E46 M3 - REAL LIFE running costs?

[Mr Gearchange]

Excuse my ignorance but what cars are eligible for a warranty?
Do you have to buy from within the BMW network - I imagine there aren't many E46's in the AUC network these days?

[E30M3SE]

Mr Gearchange said:

Excuse my ignorance but what cars are eligible for a warranty?
Do you have to buy from within the BMW network - I imagine there aren't many E46's in the AUC network these days?

You can buy from anywhere you like, just has to have FSH (inc running in service), can be put on any age of car, it just gets more costly at 60k miles, and at 100K a comprehensive warranty or named component cannot be purchased only the Driveline option is applicable.

BMW Insured Warranty

[BalhamBadger]

Mr Gearchange said:

Excuse my ignorance but what cars are eligible for a warranty?
Do you have to buy from within the BMW network - I imagine there aren't many E46's in the AUC network these days?

That's a good question.

Re: AUC cars, you're quite right, they're very rare nowadays. Those that do come up are ludicrously overpriced.

Edited by BalhamBadger on Monday 11th June 21:51

[Pig Skill]

There are a lot of dogs out there and these are the ones that are the wallet openers.

Buy a good one and running costs are acceptable. I have one as my daily is it's a great car

[Mr Pies]

E30M3SE said:

You can buy from anywhere you like, just has to have FSH (inc running in service), can be put on any age of car, it just gets more costly at 60k miles, and at 100K a comprehensive warranty or named component cannot be purchased only the Driveline option is applicable.

BMW Insured Warranty

Great post. How much is the comprehensive warranty? I'm presuming that's the best to have?

[darreni]

Mr Pies said:

Great post. How much is the comprehensive warranty? I'm presuming that's the best to have?

Below 60k miles, fully comp 0 excess is around £8-900 p/a.
Over 60k, up to £2400 p/a.

[shim]

darreni said:

Below 60k miles, fully comp 0 excess is around £8-900 p/a.
Over 60k, up to £2400 p/a.

If you buy below 60k miles and monthly the warranty doesn't go up.

If it is above 60k miles, Named Component will be fine, covers all drive train and engine.

[BalhamBadger]

shim said:

If you buy below 60k miles and monthly the warranty doesn't go up.

If it is above 60k miles, Named Component will be fine, covers all drive train and engine.

There aren't too many left with under 60k miles, certainly not within my budget.

Any idea how much Named Component cover would cost? Seems sensible to cover the major mechanical parts with such a highly-strung engine.

[E30M3SE]

C&P'd from a post in April 2012 on the CSL register.

Full Comp / 250 Excess / Breakdown = £690
Full Comp / 100 Excess / Breakdown = £835
Full Comp / 0 Excess / Breakdown = £951

Full Comp / 250 Excess / No Breakdown = £612
Full Comp / 100 Excess / No Breakdown = £757
Full Comp / 0 Excess / No Breakdown = £873

---

Named Part / 250 Excess / Breakdown = £590
Named Part / 100 Excess / Breakdown = £706
Named Part / 0 Excess / Breakdown = £798

Named Part / 250 Excess / No Breakdown = £512
Named Part / 100 Excess / No Breakdown = £628
Named Part / 0 Excess / No Breakdown = £720

---

Driveline / 250 Excess / Breakdown = £474
Driveline / 100 Excess / Breakdown = £557
Driveline / 0 Excess / Breakdown = £623

Driveline / 250 Excess / No Breakdown = £396
Driveline / 100 Excess / No Breakdown = £479
Driveline / 0 Excess / No Breakdown = £545


For cars over 60k miles

Full Comp / 250 Excess / Breakdown = £1535
Full Comp / 100 Excess / Breakdown = £1926
Full Comp / 0 Excess / Breakdown = £2235

Full Comp / 250 Excess / No Breakdown = £1457
Full Comp / 100 Excess / No Breakdown = £1848
Full Comp / 0 Excess / No Breakdown = £2157

---

Named Part / 250 Excess / Breakdown = £1266
Named Part / 100 Excess / Breakdown = £1578
Named Part / 0 Excess / Breakdown = £1826

Named Part / 250 Excess / No Breakdown = £1188
Named Part / 100 Excess / No Breakdown = £1500
Named Part / 0 Excess / No Breakdown = £1748

---

Driveline / 250 Excess / Breakdown = £880
Driveline / 100 Excess / Breakdown = £1081
Driveline / 0 Excess / Breakdown = £1240

Driveline / 250 Excess / No Breakdown = £802
Driveline / 100 Excess / No Breakdown = £1003
Driveline / 0 Excess / No Breakdown = £1162

This is on a renewal basis, if the warranty has lapsed then the cost is a little more.

If you want up to date exact costing for a car you're looking at give Mondial a call on 02086669204, they're a helpfull bunch, or click the link I posted above, select the warranty type and select 'quotation' you'll need the VRM of the car.

[BalhamBadger]

Brilliant, cheers.

[leeson660]

I've done 5k miles in my CS since I bought it in december 2011 and its cost me around 5k.

This does include absolutely everything including fuel, insurance, full set of super sports (1k trade), tracker, all the cleaning stuff, mot, tax.

My warranty expires in august so I'll be then having an extra monthly cost.

The most important thing to remember I think is that despite the prices now the e46 m3 was once a 50k+ car and is still a powerful 170mph car. Its still a 50k car in terms of running costs.

In terms of fuel I average 22mpg and remember it will only run properly on the high octane fuel.

[gaz1234]

i would say nearly twice as much as the 330

[BalhamBadger]

leeson660 said:

I've done 5k miles in my CS since I bought it in december 2011 and its cost me around 5k.

This does include absolutely everything including fuel, insurance, full set of super sports (1k trade), tracker, all the cleaning stuff, mot, tax.

Would it be possible to give a rough breakdown of the £5k?

I'm budgeting fixed costs of £800 for insurance, £270 for tax. Interested to know where the other £3k went after your tyres.

This thread has been really useful to me. I'm happy to say things are more or less in line with my expectations; M3 ownership is definitely something you want to go into with your eyes open. I think the line about it being a 170mph car puts things into perspective.

[darreni]

BalhamBadger said:

Would it be possible to give a rough breakdown of the £5k?

I'm budgeting fixed costs of £800 for insurance, £270 for tax. Interested to know where the other £3k went after your tyres.

This thread has been really useful to me. I'm happy to say things are more or less in line with my expectations; M3 ownership is definitely something you want to go into with your eyes open. I think the line about it being a 170mph car puts things into perspective.

Look for well mainatined cars (the M3 forums are usually a good bet).
A £10k car that needs a service, tyres & brakes can suddenly become a £13k car, so may be worth upping the budget to get a nice one.

Look for matching premium tyres (I would'nt put budget tyres on any car) & recent brakes, service etc. Main dealer preferred.

Good luck.

[MattOz]

I'm on my 3rd one, so they definitely have an appeal.

Running costs wise, mine is dealer serviced at the correct intervals and I do an oil and filter change mid way between dealer visits. Therefore, oil and filter changed every 7k miles or so.

Warranty is with BMW, so £87 a month. Since September I've spent £900 on four new tyres, had the alloys refurbed by Lepsons (£380) and bought numerous bits and pieces for another £300, think clubsport gearknob, alcantara gaiter etc. I've spent £270 on VED and £35 on the MOT.

Fuel wise, I do mostly motorway miles, so I'm averaging over 27mpg. The car is due an oil service in 2500 miles time.

Overall, not too bad. Nothing currently needs replacing either, which is nice.

However, under warranty, I've had the lumbar and bolster adjusters sorted on the seats. The drivers window repositioned as there was significant (to me) wind noise at motorway speeds. The rear seat fixing points adjusted as they rattled. The sat nav unit gave up the ghost for the 2nd time, so that was replaced. Invoice for £1600! This is why the ongoing £87 a month for the full comp insured warranty is a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. Doing 15k miles a year, I wouldn't want to run an M3 outside of warranty as it could get expensive.

[mat205125]

There is lots you can do yourself, however still lots that you can't.

Even if you can do lots of things yourself, M unique parts can be double the money of lesser 3 series parts. This should never come as a surprise!

[philis]

Successfully navigated 10k miles in mine since December 2011, so far its cost me £550 for an insp1 service including 2 rear springs at £90 each, and its averaged 28.2 mpg of which most are moterway. Oh and i cashed in a spare set of CSL wheels that the last owner threw in with the sale, so im £300 up!

Needs nothing, and can honestly see it motoring on for another 10k without batting an eyelid.

Don't read too much into what the scare mongers out there say, buy the best you can afford, put 2k in your bank ready for when it breaks and f**k the warranty, complete waste of money IMO

[gaz1234]

Sorry, slightly differnt Q, can a stealer or BMW HQ provide you the owner of your bmw the SH?

[torres del paine]

Just to add, I've had mine for nearly 3 years now and it has been fabulously reliable. I've averaged about 8k miles a year and bar an annoying light failure and broken rear spring, and the usual expendables and service costs, it has never let me down. I hardly ever potter about either... damn good cars.

Also, I recommend upgrading the bushes to poly bushes (don't listen to the naysayers - ride does not suffer). They bring about a noticeable improvement in feel, steering and handling (back end does not fidget when pressing on)

[chris116]

gaz1234 said:

Sorry, slightly differnt Q, can a stealer or BMW HQ provide you the owner of your bmw the SH?

You can call 09062090001 to check the specification and service history of a BMW (£1 per min), you just need to tell them either the reg no or the last seven digits of the VIN. They should be able to provide you with all dealer visits they have listed for the car although they can normally only tell you which dealers the car has visited and on what date.

If you want any more detailed info then you will have to speak to the service department of the dealers they mention who should be able to tell you what the visits were for.

I have in the past phoned the normal BMW customer services number (08705050160) to try and ask a question about something on an M3 I was looking at and got chatting to the person I spoke to. I mentioned that I still had to check the service history via the other number and she offered to check it. You could try this way but I think I was very lucky and normally they will just tell you to call the premium rate number.