Thinking of buying an E92 M3

[nickfrog]

RossP said:

I've managed just over a year Nickfrog. Succumbed and ordered an M4 which arrives in Sept

Good move. I'll probably go M2 early next year so that I can look down at M135i owners.

[davey68]

I really want an E92! Price point for me though is around 20k so i'm looking at a very early car (2007?) and I worry such a high performance car and expensive car might store up some big bills. I owned an E36 evo a long time ago and the M tax for servicing, brakes etc did bug me a bit. I just love V8's and I fear we won't see another car like the E92 again.

[bigtime]

The E92's are pretty reliable and I think throttle actuators are the main weak point. There's Manual for less than 21k on BMW's website. This would come with a years warranty that you could extend after a year. Servicing isn't expensive at all really as its intelligent servicing now and not the old inspection 1 and 2 tyoe servicing.

Edited by bigtime on Monday 20th July 22:26

[Baz Tench]

It's looking like my next car will be an e92 M3 too, but prices won't drop now for some time IMO. The main reason being they are of course the last of the n/a engines.

I drove one around the MIRA test track around four years ago, came home and immediately started looking at the classifieds. They were fetching around £17k for the early ones back then, so values have held and in fact gained slightly in some instances.

[ratty6464]

I've just got back from a week in the Scottish highlands and it cemented why I love my e92 M3 after 2 years of ownership. I had a bit of a love hate relationship when I first got it (documented on here and M3 Cutters) but persevered.

Anyway, back to Scotland - it was a close run thing whether we should take my wife's company car which is a 120d with the great 8 speed auto, as it is miles cheaper to run and she's not insured to drive theM3 at the moment. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. So we took the M3 and averaged 30.3 mpg according to the trip computer for the 400 mile journey at a steady cruise. It's such a relaxed and comfortable distance machine (it's a manual btw).

Up In the highlands it turned into another machine altogether, with the quiet and beautiful well sighted roads the majority of stretches are corners at the top of 3rd gear with a few straights getting into 4th and a few slower 2nd gear corners, but you can keep the engine in the fantastic 6k-8.4k Rev band for miles on end. And here it really screams, with the induction roar filling the cabin and the almost elastic power deliver with razor sharp throttle response. And the chassis digging in with the diff finding traction and blasting out of corners. These are the roads the car was designed for, where you can keep in the sweet spot for miles rather than having to dip down to the 3-5k revs mid range.

I've totally fallen for the car and feel I've finally completely gelled with it. My work commute is fun but it's nothing like the opportunity to have clear open roads and warmed up tyres where you can sustain those sorts of revs for long periods.

On the way back home the 8 hr motorway drive was bearable and comfortable - with a few stops for fuel and food - and there isn't a car this side of an M6 I would have preferred to do the long journey in.

For anyone considering a v8 M3, go for it. Don't be put off by a manual, but make sure you buy on condition and get a 2nd years warranty if going for a BMW AUC car. Don't be put off by a mediocre test drive - my test drive was rubbish and it takes a while to learn the car.

They don't make cars like this anymore, bar the exotics like the 911 GT3 and the naturally aspirated engine whilst challenging is ultimately supremely rewarding (plus it sounds incredible).

Go for it.

Edited by ratty6464 on Friday 24th July 09:25

[NORTS]

Totally agree with the above. Really thinking about keeping mine long term once its replaced from daily duties.

[TheBanjo]

The good and bad from my first 12 months' ownership of a 2009 E92 M3

Positives:

- Good engine with excellent driving dynamics. To get better, e.g. M4, you'd have to shell out quite a lot more
- M-DCT is quick
- Rear seats can be used
- Boot is spacious
- Seats are very comfortable
- Can be used as a daily driver
- Even the default sound system is a good one
- The sound of the V8
- Second hand prices are falling and I believe the E92 M3 will become a "future classic"
- The 2009 iDrive isn't bad

Negatives

- Actuators are a weak spot
- M-DCT can be as stupid as a bag of hammers in stop-start traffic, and as loud
- While body and engine re-worked by the M division, interior is mainly from a cheaper 3 series complete with rattles
- The novelty of the belt handover wears thin quickly, particularly if the spring goes and it doesn't actually hand you your belt
- Despite the transmission being "sealed for life", some DCT boxes weep oil and need to be resealed and refilled. The pentosin oil is milked from golden goats on a mythical Greek island -- or so you'd think so from its price
- Voice recognition is frustrating. "Jones" "Dialing 'home'" "No, damn you, Jones. I said Jones."
- Every speed bump's your enemy and be careful approaching curbs
- Even on comfort setting, the hard suspension can make long journey's awful, particularly on the neglected roads out yonder
- Doors open quite wide, so parking in tight spaces can make life interesting
- Keeping to the speed limit

Overall

For me, the positives outweigh the negatives. Driving it rarely fails to put a smile on my face. How I've still got my licence is beyond me. I've got to the point where I could, with some juggling of finances, purchase an M4. However, despite the M4 being a better car in most respects, I've decided to stick with the M3 because it's still exciting to drive; the annual depreciation on an 2015 M4 is less than my current annual maintenance budget of an M3; and I'm unsure if I've the driving skill to extract the most from an M4, let alone my current M3.

[cosworth330]

Have any of you gone from an E60 M5 to the E90 M3 ? I might move from my M5 to the M3 just for a change but wonder what the difference in ride quality will be like (comfort). I'm sure an M3 will be more fun on the road.

Simon.

[bigtime]

I don't have edc and find the ride quality good over un even roads. Maybe because I came from a 335 with run flats that was terrible over an sort of bumpy road. I'd have an M4 on the drive now if the engine had more character like the V8 in the E92.

[cerb4.5lee]

TheBanjo said:

- Even on comfort setting, the hard suspension can make long journey's awful, particularly on the neglected roads out yonder

I thought mine with EDC set to comfort rode excellent but that might be because I was used to the run flats and M sport suspension I had on other BMW`s.

[skeeterm5]

cosworth330 said:

Have any of you gone from an E60 M5 to the E90 M3 ? I might move from my M5 to the M3 just for a change but wonder what the difference in ride quality will be like (comfort). I'm sure an M3 will be more fun on the road.

Simon.

I ran 2 E60 M5s and then went to an E92 M3. I owned both M5s for nearly 2 years each, I owned the M3 for less than 3 months before selling it back to the BMW dealer I purchased it from.

For me, and I appreciate that this is a personal opinion, there was little/no sense of occasion with the M3 and I found it pretty dull as a daily driver. Having come from the V10 I just didn't fall in love with it at all and from a driving perspective it just didn’t give that buzz you get with the M5.

On the plus side, it was a stunning looking car and very well equipped and an order of magnitude cheaper to run but for me just so boring.

I can well understand that going the other way, from say 335 etc then it will feel a step up, from the M5 it feels like a step down.

Finally, I now have another M5, says it all.

S

[cerb4.5lee]

skeeterm5 said:

For me, and I appreciate that this is a personal opinion, there was little/no sense of occasion with the M3 and I found it pretty dull as a daily driver.

That makes two of us and I thought the same.

[ashway]

ratty6464 said:

I've just got back from a week in the Scottish highlands and it cemented why I love my e92 M3 after 2 years of ownership. I had a bit of a love hate relationship when I first got it (documented on here and M3 Cutters) but persevered.

Edited by ratty6464 on Friday 24th July 09:25

Glad you stuck with it and grew to like it. I took delivery of mine within days of you and they were both in at DDB the same week.

I've started to look at the F8X M3/4 but still not financially viable yet given the 0% finance deals we got. I also had MPE fitted and I would miss that noise

[bigtime]

cerb4.5lee said:

That makes two of us and I thought the same.

I think it depends what your used too. Am I right in thinking you had/have a TVR? If so it will feel a little mundane compared to this and also a V10 in an M5 I suppose. My friend thinks mines an occasion to drive but he has a vxr Astra where as my other friends think the opposite but one has a Cayman r and Maclaren. This is why I haven't jumped to the M4 as its not as special engine wise. The M3 is perfect for me as I can use it everyday it's a bit different from your normal rep mobile. It's a jack of all trades.

[TheBanjo]

cerb4.5lee said:

TheBanjo said:

- Even on comfort setting, the hard suspension can make long journey's awful, particularly on the neglected roads out yonder

I thought mine with EDC set to comfort rode excellent but that might be because I was used to the run flats and M sport suspension I had on other BMW`s.

Highway driving is great, but on the lesser roads I found that, even with EDC in comfort, the car accentuates the lumpy surface.

Of course, I'm late middle age *cough* so these days I find things like heated seats indispensable, a thought which would have made me sneer as a younger man.

[nigelpugh7]

Well guys, I but the bullet this week and finally picked up my 2013 M3 Cabriolet.

Here is a quick snap of her roof down at Curborough Sprint tack this week.



I will post a more detailed post about the whys and what nots of the buying and thought process later.

But for now I am loving this car, the noise it makes is just epic, and every drive becomes a fun trip.

For the first time in many years,,I have been getting up early and just going for a blast around my local lanes, it's that much fun, I feel like a teenager again!

Happy to be back in the land of M Power ownership!

[RossP]

cerb4.5lee said:

skeeterm5 said:

For me, and I appreciate that this is a personal opinion, there was little/no sense of occasion with the M3 and I found it pretty dull as a daily driver.

That makes two of us and I thought the same.

Well I completely disagree. I loved my E92 M3 especially once I had the OEM exhaust mod. Every drive felt special.

[R33FAL]

nigelpugh7 said:

Well guys, I but the bullet this week and finally picked up my 2013 M3 Cabriolet.

Nice looking car. Best time to be getting into a convertible as well

[cerb4.5lee]

TheBanjo said:

cerb4.5lee said:

TheBanjo said:

- Even on comfort setting, the hard suspension can make long journey's awful, particularly on the neglected roads out yonder

I thought mine with EDC set to comfort rode excellent but that might be because I was used to the run flats and M sport suspension I had on other BMW`s.

Highway driving is great, but on the lesser roads I found that, even with EDC in comfort, the car accentuates the lumpy surface.

Of course, I'm late middle age *cough* so these days I find things like heated seats indispensable, a thought which would have made me sneer as a younger man.

I am only in my early forties but heated seats have always been indispensable to me and all my BMW`s have had them because I wont buy it if they don't have them.

[cerb4.5lee]

nigelpugh7 said:

Well guys, I but the bullet this week and finally picked up my 2013 M3 Cabriolet.

Here is a quick snap of her roof down at Curborough Sprint tack this week.



I will post a more detailed post about the whys and what nots of the buying and thought process later.

But for now I am loving this car, the noise it makes is just epic, and every drive becomes a fun trip.

For the first time in many years,,I have been getting up early and just going for a blast around my local lanes, it's that much fun, I feel like a teenager again!

Happy to be back in the land of M Power ownership!

That's identical to my brother in laws and he loves his and I agree with the roof down they sound brilliant and so much different to how they sound in the Coupe and when I took him out it my old Coupe he thought they had forgot to put a V8 under the bonnet of mine because the difference was so great, enjoy it.