M3 E92 questions

[woogie]

Hi all - I have an M3 itch that needs scratching and just need a little bit more info .

I am interested in a main dealer 2010MY - I know you pay more than private but the car is all sorted before you get it, warranty etc ( peace of mind)- plus I want to PX my BMW . I checked and the throttle actuators were done in July this year . Regarding rod bearings is that something I should ask about also ?

Main question I have is how is it for short drives. For instance I work 2 miles away and I drive there in morning then go pick my daughter up from crèche at 5 , hence why I don't bike such a short distance. Will it be ok with these short drives ? Saturdays I am off to London every 2 weeks either to football or parents and this is a 300 mile round trip. Sundays I will def be going for a blast also .

I did the drive a few years back for 5 years in a 911 and never had any issue so was wondering if its ok in an M3 or will I screw things up as I know it needs warming up quite a bit

thanks in advance

[woogie]

Smuler said:

woogie said:

Hi all - I have an M3 itch that needs scratching and just need a little bit more info .

I am interested in a main dealer 2010MY - I know you pay more than private but the car is all sorted before you get it, warranty etc ( peace of mind)- plus I want to PX my BMW . I checked and the throttle actuators were done in July this year . Regarding rod bearings is that something I should ask about also ?

Main question I have is how is it for short drives. For instance I work 2 miles away and I drive there in morning then go pick my daughter up from crèche at 5 , hence why I don't bike such a short distance. Will it be ok with these short drives ? Saturdays I am off to London every 2 weeks either to football or parents and this is a 300 mile round trip. Sundays I will def be going for a blast also .

I did the drive a few years back for 5 years in a 911 and never had any issue so was wondering if its ok in an M3 or will I screw things up as I know it needs warming up quite a bit

thanks in advance

You'll probably be happier with answers from (long term) owners, but I looked at a few of these, for me, and lots more for a mate. And didn't find rod bearings mentioned in the service/maintenance history at all Throttle Actuators were the main culprit, but if you's getting a AUC car, those sort of things will be covered. My mate went AUC and to be honest, the prices were not always notably more expensive. It really depends on the car.
In the end he got a AUC 2010, so LCI, but although we looked mostly at 2007-2009 cars I'd say the biggest issue was making sure they had a pukka service history. Even one 2009 AUC car had missing records, cos there was no way it could have gone 30k without an oil service!

I don't drive my E46 M3 for such short drives, but the warm up lights go off within a few miles so really can't see it being a problem.

Hi thanks for feed back , I will check the service history. I def want a 2010 or never as like you say it has the LCI update. I think the one I am looking at is the competition pack one as it has black wheels , black roof , black exhaust tips. ( I need to check this)

[woogie]

Smuler said:

You're welcome, CP is the stunning wheels and updated EDC, it also rides 10mm lower. These wheels can be in black, but most were silver I saw.

Here's a competition package one that has the silver wheels.

http://usedcars.bmw.co.uk/M/4.0-V8/London/2074288-...

Here's a CP article I referred too.

http://www.evo.co.uk/bmw/m3/6837/bmw-m3-competitio...


I've also still got my notes on what was serviced when, reference the 2010 LCI my mate bought. If you want to use that as a benchmark let me know?

cheers - its not the CP pack I just asked - it has the CP wheels on it though which suits the colour ( MCB)

[woogie]

R33FAL said:

Would disagree... I have had the Avant Garde competition pack wheels on mine for 2 years and they are absolutely fine.

Also, if you happen to kerb them, cost to replace full set ~£695 is the same as a cost of one wheel from BMW.

Dealers don't seem to pick up on mine being reps either.

How can you tell if they are reps ?

[woogie]

I am looking at 2 m3's for 26,000


one is 2010 - 60,000 miles and has EDC
other is 2010 - 40,000 and doesn't have EDC


Is EDC such a big deal? I prefer the new and lower mileage car

Also BMW advise me that they cannot drop the prices blab blah blah it is what it is, is this true? You cant get any discount at all ?

[woogie]

Smuler said:

woogie said:

I am looking at 2 m3's for 26,000


one is 2010 - 60,000 miles and has EDC
other is 2010 - 40,000 and doesn't have EDC


Is EDC such a big deal? I prefer the new and lower mileage car

Also BMW advise me that they cannot drop the prices blab blah blah it is what it is, is this true? You cant get any discount at all ?

They CAN drop, but having looked at these for myself, Feb-MAy and for a mate, later on, they don't have to IF they are reasonably priced and there's demand. Example, 12 people went after a M3 back In Feb I looked at. It seemed mint, 23k, 32k miles, 1 prior owner (I think). I saw them waiting, one nearly hit me with the door, getting in as I was crouching down checking tyre tread


I wouldn't chose any option over decent mileage. Default suspension settings I've had in all M3s I've driven is great. So I'd go for the lower one, tho as I think I said before I'd want absolute surety on service/maintenance history. That's more important than EDC and miles.

The higher Mileage one is also a special edition in Monte Carlo blue , not sure what else you get but it does have a better stereo also

Thing is the low miler hasn't had any throttle actuators and the blue one has had them done in 2014 and June this year so guess you get a two year warranty from June on those ? But is it best to have a car that's been done or one that's never had to have them ?

Would you think maybe the higher mileage one has been tracked ?

[woogie]

They just called me its 8-30 pm lol

He said if we offer the two year warranty would I be interested ? I would as those warranties are pretty expensive and it's peice of mind for two years .

We will see tomorrow

[woogie]

I now own an M3

[woogie]

I wanted to pick it up this weekend but their diary is full at present


How can the diary be full I want it this weekend ? how does it take to pick a car up?

Looks like next Saturday now

[woogie]

Smuler said:

woogie said:

I wanted to pick it up this weekend but their diary is full at present


How can the diary be full I want it this weekend ? how does it take to pick a car up?

Looks like next Saturday now

That sounds strange, AUC handovers are fairly simple, as there's a standard pro forma. My M3 purchase experience was test drive, agree deal, wait 6 days as there were a few things that needed doing and then collect/sign paperwork which can't have been more than 20 minutes as I paid by debit card which is quickest transfer of funds. Not sure whether that's still possible.

But anyways, maybe in your case they have some prep like wheel refurb, they need doing to get the car mint?

Booked in for next Tuesday now.

I am pxing my 320d convertible - never driven an M3 before but hopeing it's going to be amazing.

I wanted a coupe not a convertible, lighter by 230 kilos and I wanted it for the driving experience

I have looked at so many vids and reviews I think I could probably build one from scratch now lol

So how wide is my smile going to be do you reckon ?

[woogie]

martindesu said:

woogie said:

I am looking at 2 m3's for 26,000


one is 2010 - 60,000 miles and has EDC
other is 2010 - 40,000 and doesn't have EDC


Is EDC such a big deal? I prefer the new and lower mileage car

Also BMW advise me that they cannot drop the prices blab blah blah it is what it is, is this true? You cant get any discount at all ?

I dont have EDC and my car has done 50k. The garage thought it must be 20k as it's so clean underneath.

Hi - I bought the lower mileage non edc one - it came with 2 year warranty and that swung it - plus its 2011 not 2010 ( got year wrong above)

[woogie]

This is identical to mine bar mine is 2011 not 2009 so a few upgrades

https://youtu.be/CdzM8dJNAN8

Edited by woogie on Friday 11th November 18:10

[woogie]

Just got back from Leeds , 600 mike trip and am a tad tired, will report on my trip tomorrow . Car is fab

[woogie]

Hi guys - 2 questions .

1. when I press the M button it goes to manual mode, is this correct ? I have adjusted all the settings ? I just wondered if you could press M and it stays in auto rather then having to flip it back using the stick ?

2. When the engine is fully heated up am I expecting to see orange at all on dash board ? I still see it up to about 7800 revs at moment after a 15 min drive ?

thanks

[woogie]

river_rat said:

Yes M mode will put it in manual mode, can you actually put it back into auto mode with the gearstick but retain M mode then (never tried that)?

Does anybody drive these in auto mode anyway, I always use the paddles even when driving around town?

yes it does - another thing I learnt that you probably knew is the radio buttons can be programmed for anything - so M drive, sat nav , whatever ,I have one for turning the screen off as at night its a bit bright and if I don't need it no need to have it on .

also if u r in manual mode say 7th for instance and you put your foot down not much happens, but keep your foot down and keep holding M and it drops a few gears depending on what speed you are doing .

[woogie]

river_rat said:

I'm 99.9% sure mine immediately switches into manual mode when I press the M button.

Is it related to the gearbox setting used when in M mode maybe (mine is set to 5, ie quickest brutal change)?

I am 100 pct sure it does this lol

[woogie]

OMG I just noticed I have no USB point in the glove compartment , how am I going to play my ipod in my car , guess I will have to try that one pin point but it wont charge and will it show albums on media player ?

[woogie]

Max Maxasson said:

woogie said:

1. when I press the M button it goes to manual mode, is this correct ? I have adjusted all the settings ? I just wondered if you could press M and it stays in auto rather then having to flip it back using the stick ?

You can set the M button to change a host of settings...one of them is to put the DCT in auto and whatever setting you want.

woogie said:

2. When the engine is fully heated up am I expecting to see orange at all on dash board ? I still see it up to about 7800 revs at moment after a 15 min drive ?

thanks

I think thats normal as well.

I would recommend going to a BMW dealer and asking them to give you a print out of the data held on your key. In that data will be your "integration level" this is your software version - if its an old version then you are well advised to get it updated.

Edited by Max Maxasson on Friday 18th November 08:52

Hi - I still cant see what setting you are looking at to prevent it going into manual ? I get into the M drive but its doesn't say auto anywhere ?

I bought it at BMW on Tuesday so all updates would have been done .

[woogie]

Max Maxasson said:

Dealers don't normally update the cars software as a matter of course...it takes a while.
Its something you would normally have to pay for unless you are having an issue.
If you get the print out - I get mine done every dealer visit, it has quite a bit of info - then you will know what software version you are on.

excellent thanks

[woogie]

Max Maxasson said:

woogie said:

Hi - I still cant see what setting you are looking at to prevent it going into manual ? I get into the M drive but its doesn't say auto anywhere ?

In the I-Drive
Go to Settings
Select M Drive
Select Drivelogic
Press the I-Drive button
Change the S to D
Choose the gearbox mode number
You also have the choice of unchanged.
Exit.

woogie said:

I bought it at BMW on Tuesday so all updates would have been done .

Dealers don't normally update the cars software as a matter of course...it takes a while.
Its something you would normally have to pay for unless you are having an issue.
If you get the print out - I get mine done every dealer visit, it has quite a bit of info - then you will know what software version you are on.

Thanks I will try that M drive option