E46 Purchase

[andyman_2006]

SebringMan said:

Go onto M3cutters. They reckon it's worth £7k

Maybe I was horrendously unlucky but I couldn't find one in good condition for less £11k IMHO. That is with mileage out of the equation, just a straight car and that's not tired.

I'll write up about the cars I saw one of the days. Maybe I was unlucky. I did however see 5 cars.

For the OP I can provide a blog of what I have spent which while expensive looks cheap to some! I bought it on under 123,000 miles and it is now going towards 127,000 miles. Yup, I've driven it quite a bit since May compared to some people!

http://www.pistonheads.com/members/showServiceHist...

Edited by SebringMan on Monday 28th November 11:32

Edited by SebringMan on Monday 28th November 11:32

---

Is it worth adding - i presume you didn't pay labour charges on many of your job costings, like the inspection service, you did the work yourself didn't you including tappets and shims?

Some owners might need to factor in labour costs for some jobs that your are able to do yourself?

Andy

[SebringMan]

Cheburator mk2 said:

Now that I am "special-car-less" with the GT3 tucked away for Winter and the 928GTS 5-spd in a million bits undergoing a factory refresh, I thought a M3 Cab can be a nice stop gap car. Before you boo me, I have done the Coupe - my dad still drives my old LHD 1 owner car, which I bought nearly new in 2002. My brother has been kind enough to lend me two cabs over the years, and given that I will not be tracking it, I thought some wind in my hair would be nice.

Anyway, I digress. I started looking at the lower end of the market - after all it was meant to be a stop gap car, not something that I wanted permanently in my collection. Well, anything below £8k is an absolute dog - have seen 4 cars and all have rusty arches, tyres not fit to be drifted out, let alone be driven on, shagged and doddgy carbon fiber interiors, dubious mileage histories once the MOT history and service history was consulted. All had the subframes checked - funny, how it is not the subframe, but the boot floor which actually tears apart, and had SMG pumps giving "nice, long primes"....

One of the cars was actually a diamond in the rough, but I just could not bring myself to pay the full asking considering the amount of time needed to bring it up to scratch. Hence, unless you are prepared to DIY a lot, there are hardly any bargains left...

Sometimes, a like button would be nice . That summarised my experience.

No worries about the Cab. While a Cab is not for me (I never thought an Auto or SMG would be for me : I looked into converting my XJ40 XJR to a manual!) We all go for different things.

I've come to terms with the costs TBH, although my blog would probably frighten some people! Even the SMG pump scenario doesn't seem so bad with the pump issues generally being the motor itself that fails.

I am willing to DIY; I have done to a few cars. But like you there seems to be a difference between DIYing alot to the point of diminishing returns and doing just enough.


Another friend of mine bought a lovely example which TBH I would have settled with nicely even if the combo (colours) was not what I had in mind):

Silver/Black
Manual
Sat Nav/HK as options
Good discs all round
MPSS all round on refurbished 19" wheels in Smoked Chrome (the latter for a car to be used is a sensible step.
99k now on just over 100k

That was over £10k. It is in stunning condition. Even that has a little formation of rust on the wheelarches but he has it on the cards to fix. Still...

IME most good cars are no longer the bargain they once were, or people have become wiser buyers.

andyman_2006 said:

---

Is it worth adding - i presume you didn't pay labour charges on many of your job costings, like the inspection service, you did the work yourself didn't you including tappets and shims?

Some owners might need to factor in labour costs for some jobs that your are able to do yourself?

Andy

Yup, I work on the cars myself for silly reasons including:

-I don't actually mind the jobs in small doses (nuts I know!) but I do have a breaking point
-There are not many garages I trust nearby and some specialists; I guess I've had my share of bad luck over the years but who hasn't?
-I probably couldn't run the cars if I took everything to a decent garage, and that goes for most cars.
-I also sell on a very small scale some classic car parts for some time ; I got sick of buying rubbish that failed so have my own take...

The airbag recall and the front end paintjob were the only jobs I outsourced. Maybe you can comment but I reckon I've probably saved around £600-800 in labour.

There's my thread which is due an update soon ; I do try to be careful on some jobs:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by SebringMan on Monday 28th November 12:03

[Cheburator mk2]

I love DIY jobs - last biggish thing I did was the HG on our 944 Turbo Cup car with the engine in situ, coming to think of it, I also took the transaxle out, for a LSD refresh with the car on axle stands. Doh! I also built/service a 500bhp 928 Cup car, so I am not shy to messing around with a tool chest. But the issues faced on a lot of the bargain basement M3s are not just time consuming, but expensive - st tyres - even with mid-mkt FK453s you are looking at £500. Rust - £150 per panel at a friend's bodyshop, which can quickly grow to £1000 to do it nicely, worn seat bolsters and steering wheels - £300 and more, damaged interior trim - take off, sand, prime, paint - nothing really but time consuming to get it right. Discs which have been skimmed... Don't get me started if any of the suspension components are rusty - take off, sandblast, prime with epoxy, paint, re-fit with new bushes... Suddenly the 110k miles dog at £6k becomes a £9k car, which you will struggle to get your money back come re-sale...

As for SMG - my wife hates manuals...

P.S. There are still bargains out there, but one needs to be extremely well tuned in and go with eyes super wide open.

Edited by Cheburator mk2 on Wednesday 12th April 12:02

[crankedup]

Thanks for all the inputs, we decided to buy the car from bespokesportscars, good history and drove really well. For a car at 12 years of age it is in superb condition. Pick it up this Friday.
Our son is handy with spanners, most of the stuff on his Cerbera he spanners, he reckons he always will do a better job than a garage, but it takes longer sometimes. He can use our car in exchange for spanner hours maybe

[SebringMan]

Good to hear you got one in the end.

Which one of theirs did you go with? They have quite a few for sale!

I guess the issue with garages is that they have to pay themselves and their overheads and the customer doesn't want to pay alot! If something can be done better with a bit more time spent on it they won't do that as 80% of the time the customer will moan and their mates tell them 'they were ripped off'.

Including soaking the rear exhaust mounts in WD40 for weeks before I reckon changing my rear exhaust mounts took longer in total than doing it at a specialists ; they can't just stick the car on a ramp and soak the studs in penetrating oil and wait an age!

[Buttmonkey]

Interesting and timely thread. Always hankered after one of these and finally took the plunge and picked up a nice PY 2005 SMG coupe on 19"s CSL reps last night. Needs small interior tidying, usual headlining drop at in places - to be expected out here - but in good nick. 96,000 kms with half leather / half fabric seats

Had it inspected, rear floor and subframe and it was in good shape - excellent advice on this forum as to what to look out for. Paid equivalent of 6,000-GBP - cars are cheaper out here.

Pictures below with a few of its new stablemates. Apologies for the poor phone quality pics.





Drive back was less than great as I picked the only day all year that it's rained to collect it, which can be pretty hairy.

All is good and looking forward to driving it and getting it into top shape.

[andyman_2006]

crankedup said:

Thanks for all the inputs, we decided to buy the car from bespokesportscars, good history and drove really well. For a car at 12 years of age it is in superb condition. Pick it up this Friday.
Our son is handy with spanners, most of the stuff on his Cerbera he spanners, he reckons he always will do a better job than a garage, but it takes longer sometimes. He can use our car in exchange for spanner hours maybe

---

Great news, and glad you are happy. Which one did you buy? the dark blue 04 plate? it looked nice, wheels were mint.The car looked well presented.

Andy

[pidsy]

Come on OP! More info.

[SebringMan]

If he chose the one I thought he has great taste. Most aren't keen on the grey but I think it works very well with Mystic Blue.

Of course I am not biased, much.

[crankedup]

SebringMan said:

If he chose the one I thought he has great taste. Most aren't keen on the grey but I think it works very well with Mystic Blue.

Of course I am not biased, much.

Went for the Mystic Blue with grey leather. Beautiful diamond cut refurbed wheels, reasonable miles 103,000. No sunroof, but then we didn't want one particularly. I will post a few pic's at weekend. Lovely manual gearbox which is something that was a must for us giving that old Sokol feel to driving.
Paid top dollar for the car at £10,300 but as is said the price is soon forgotten and I feel the car is worth it. Just need to sort out the tax and insurance now!!

[andyman_2006]

crankedup said:

SebringMan said:

If he chose the one I thought he has great taste. Most aren't keen on the grey but I think it works very well with Mystic Blue.

Of course I am not biased, much.

Went for the Mystic Blue with grey leather. Beautiful diamond cut refurbed wheels, reasonable miles 103,000. No sunroof, but then we didn't want one particularly. I will post a few pic's at weekend. Lovely manual gearbox which is something that was a must for us giving that old Sokol feel to driving.
Paid top dollar for the car at £10,300 but as is said the price is soon forgotten and I feel the car is worth it. Just need to sort out the tax and insurance now!!

---

I know which one now, i had a look at the link you posted, the first thing i noticed was the Mystic blue very nice, i had a le mans blue 1-coupe but this is nicer colour i think. I'm not a fan of the grey leather but totally see why it would be chosen with the blue, it does however look very tidy indeed. I clocked the wheels noticed they had been re-cut nicely and had continental tyres not a budget brand so plus there. Welcome to the club! you wont regret it, and £10K is a steal for a £40K car.

Andy

[wiggycerb]

crankedup said:

Thanks for all the inputs, we decided to buy the car from bespokesportscars, good history and drove really well. For a car at 12 years of age it is in superb condition. Pick it up this Friday.
Our son is handy with spanners, most of the stuff on his Cerbera he spanners, he reckons he always will do a better job than a garage, but it takes longer sometimes. He can use our car in exchange for spanner hours maybe

w

Which Cerb has he got ?, I have the 4.2 AJP and use the e45 M3 as my daily.

Both completely different animals but equally enjoyable.

Matt

[crankedup]

andyman_2006 said:

---

I know which one now, i had a look at the link you posted, the first thing i noticed was the Mystic blue very nice, i had a le mans blue 1-coupe but this is nicer colour i think. I'm not a fan of the grey leather but totally see why it would be chosen with the blue, it does however look very tidy indeed. I clocked the wheels noticed they had been re-cut nicely and had continental tyres not a budget brand so plus there. Welcome to the club! you wont regret it, and £10K is a steal for a £40K car.

Andy

Thanks Andy Yes good sign that the tyres are not budget brand, the rears are almost new but the fronts are half worn. Seems to be a good car, but only time and miles to be certain I suppose.
The one big draw back for us is the lack of a spare wheel, it has still got the pump things in the boot but I would rather have a proper spare. Do you guys buy a space saver ?

[crankedup]

wiggycerb said:

Which Cerb has he got ?, I have the 4.2 AJP and use the e45 M3 as my daily.

Both completely different animals but equally enjoyable.

Matt

Certainly different animals, I drove Matts Cerb a couple of months back after a long lay off from performance cars. It shocked me just how quick the cerb is, lovely. His one is a 4.5 V8 all in original condition. He has had a few niggles to sort out, but then he likes his cars to be spot on. First job was the suspension, he said the car was almost undrivable when he first purchased it from a private sale. Price was good so allowed for bits to be sorted, door sensors was another.
One thing found was that TVR garage services are crap, not improved since I last owned a SEAC twenty years back! That's why he sorts the problems so they are done correctly.

[andyman_2006]

crankedup said:

Thanks Andy Yes good sign that the tyres are not budget brand, the rears are almost new but the fronts are half worn. Seems to be a good car, but only time and miles to be certain I suppose.
The one big draw back for us is the lack of a spare wheel, it has still got the pump things in the boot but I would rather have a proper spare. Do you guys buy a space saver ?

---

I still have the factory fitted pump, but also have a tyre weld i carry, although my car is not used as my daily these days. I'm sure you could buy a space saver if you are worried, i never felt the need even back when i used the car for business, i maybe got lucky having never needed the pump or a spare.

Andy

[wiggycerb]

crankedup said:

Certainly different animals, I drove Matts Cerb a couple of months back after a long lay off from performance cars. It shocked me just how quick the cerb is, lovely. His one is a 4.5 V8 all in original condition. He has had a few niggles to sort out, but then he likes his cars to be spot on. First job was the suspension, he said the car was almost undrivable when he first purchased it from a private sale. Price was good so allowed for bits to be sorted, door sensors was another.
One thing found was that TVR garage services are crap, not improved since I last owned a SEAC twenty years back! That's why he sorts the problems so they are done correctly.

I know how he feels, I do most of it myself just the tappet inspection I leave to a long trusted specialist who's known the car ever since I bought it 16 years ago.... I just need to persuade the Wife I need a bigger garage so I can do more

[SebringMan]

crankedup said:

Went for the Mystic Blue with grey leather. Beautiful diamond cut refurbed wheels, reasonable miles 103,000. No sunroof, but then we didn't want one particularly. I will post a few pic's at weekend. Lovely manual gearbox which is something that was a must for us giving that old Sokol feel to driving.
Paid top dollar for the car at £10,300 but as is said the price is soon forgotten and I feel the car is worth it. Just need to sort out the tax and insurance now!!

I'd disagree with one part of that but the world would be a boring place if we all agreed .

I reckon you paid a fair price, certainly not over the top. As said there is alot of rubbish for sale . Enjoy, they make for a great daily.

[crankedup]

[oliver1oo6]

crankedup said:

It's getting really tough now, seems so many inherent faults with the design of this car that I am starting to ask myself why is it that I am interested in buying this classic"
Hopefully the early design faults are resolved, but thank you for the heads up and I will definitely be looking very closely at the history.
Strangely my old Vauxhall (1928) and my Volvo (1968) seem unremakeably strong, robust and a good turn of speed for there era. This I was hoping to find in a e46.

For what it's worth, I listened to all the horror stories but bought one anyway. A 2005 CS with SMG in Interlagos Blue (in Australia).

It was an EPIC car, and I had no significant issues with it during my ownership. Notwithstanding, it was on the lighter end of kms (100,000 or ~60k miles) and the previous owner had rebuilt the VANOS with stronger bolts, "just in case". The motor was tight - drank no oil between changes and would happily be driven aggressively for hours up in the 8k rev range AND submit to the occasional morning commute. The gearbox was great - a manual would have been better but the SMG was really engaging and worked well when pushing on. It was very grumpy when cold, but that is something that brought me immense joy - nursing it out of town for an early morning run was sublime.

I did eventually fit a new water pump - the bearing had let go. That was about it. I recently sold it to make way for an investment, but I really miss it. To my mind, nothing can touch what that car does to you, for the money.

[robbiekhan]

May as well pop the question here, anyone know where I can get a set of genuine CSL wheels?

And I agree with the above, the engine and feel of the whole car transforms at each stage of the rev range. It makes you feel things not many other cars can for close to the same kind of money.