Buying a BMW M3 E92 - things to consider?
Discussion
Hello folks
I am now in the fortunate enough position to buy a car I have wanted for years, and I am ecstatic to say the least.
Over the years I have had hot hatches and now currently drive a Subaru Impreza WRX, which image aside, is a superb car. I haven't actually owned anything quite like an M3, or any of the prestigious brands.
So, I do have a few questions that would be very helpful to know the answers too before I commit -
1) Running costs, servicing prices at a BMW dealer and specialists?
2) Does every M3 E9* come with £500+ RFL?
3) I've heard that tires need to be replaced very frequently, is this true?
4) Are they reliable? Any gotchas to weak parts?
5) Fuel is not a concern, as I do max 6k a year and all for pleasure. I currently run my Impreza on super unleaded, does the M3 need the same fuel?
Please feel free to add any ownership stories, as I am interested to hear them.
Thanks a lot
Vince
I am now in the fortunate enough position to buy a car I have wanted for years, and I am ecstatic to say the least.
Over the years I have had hot hatches and now currently drive a Subaru Impreza WRX, which image aside, is a superb car. I haven't actually owned anything quite like an M3, or any of the prestigious brands.
So, I do have a few questions that would be very helpful to know the answers too before I commit -
1) Running costs, servicing prices at a BMW dealer and specialists?
2) Does every M3 E9* come with £500+ RFL?
3) I've heard that tires need to be replaced very frequently, is this true?
4) Are they reliable? Any gotchas to weak parts?
5) Fuel is not a concern, as I do max 6k a year and all for pleasure. I currently run my Impreza on super unleaded, does the M3 need the same fuel?
Please feel free to add any ownership stories, as I am interested to hear them.
Thanks a lot
Vince
I've had mine for almost 3 years now and 40k miles, now on 70k.
1) Running costs, servicing prices at a BMW dealer and specialists?
From £200 upwards, it depends on what needs doing. Last service included diff oil change, spark plugs and a couple of other things, around £1000 all in (I paid £580 as my mate works there - v handy).
2) Does every M3 E9* come with £500+ RFL?
Mine does, pay monthly.
3) I've heard that tires need to be replaced very frequently, is this true?
That depends on how you drive it. Contis wear very quickly, Michelins much better. Avoid straddling little road humps as this causes excessive wear on innter parts of tyre.
4) Are they reliable? Any gotchas to weak parts?
Throttle actuators are the main thing that goes. Mine did and were replaced by rebuild.org.uk, all good now.
Seat belt extenders can fail, easy fix on youtube works perfectly and costs pennies.
5) Fuel is not a concern, as I do max 6k a year and all for pleasure. I currently run my Impreza on super unleaded, does the M3 need the same fuel?
Always run mine on super. 22 mpg.
It's a great car but not the most exciting unless you're driving it hard and then you're going way beyond what is legal. Too heavy for trackdays.
1) Running costs, servicing prices at a BMW dealer and specialists?
From £200 upwards, it depends on what needs doing. Last service included diff oil change, spark plugs and a couple of other things, around £1000 all in (I paid £580 as my mate works there - v handy).
2) Does every M3 E9* come with £500+ RFL?
Mine does, pay monthly.
3) I've heard that tires need to be replaced very frequently, is this true?
That depends on how you drive it. Contis wear very quickly, Michelins much better. Avoid straddling little road humps as this causes excessive wear on innter parts of tyre.
4) Are they reliable? Any gotchas to weak parts?
Throttle actuators are the main thing that goes. Mine did and were replaced by rebuild.org.uk, all good now.
Seat belt extenders can fail, easy fix on youtube works perfectly and costs pennies.
5) Fuel is not a concern, as I do max 6k a year and all for pleasure. I currently run my Impreza on super unleaded, does the M3 need the same fuel?
Always run mine on super. 22 mpg.
It's a great car but not the most exciting unless you're driving it hard and then you're going way beyond what is legal. Too heavy for trackdays.
1) Running costs, servicing prices at a BMW dealer and specialists?
You can check the service costs on https://www.bmw-service.co.uk/ entering the plate to get an idea.
2) Does every M3 E9* come with £500+ RFL?
Yep
3) I've heard that tires need to be replaced very frequently, is this true?
I've got conti's on and they seem to be wearing fine.
4) Are they reliable? Any gotchas to weak parts?
Nearly 2 years of ownership and nothing so far. People always bang on about throttle actuators and bottom end bearings though. I run a warranty to avoid the hassle.
5) Fuel is not a concern, as I do max 6k a year and all for pleasure. I currently run my Impreza on super unleaded, does the M3 need the same fuel?
Yep, I believe super is needed. Everyone bangs on about V Power, but I've not noticed the difference between all the premium unleaded stuff. I get 18-22 mpg roughly, it does get a bit tiring to be honest.
You can check the service costs on https://www.bmw-service.co.uk/ entering the plate to get an idea.
2) Does every M3 E9* come with £500+ RFL?
Yep
3) I've heard that tires need to be replaced very frequently, is this true?
I've got conti's on and they seem to be wearing fine.
4) Are they reliable? Any gotchas to weak parts?
Nearly 2 years of ownership and nothing so far. People always bang on about throttle actuators and bottom end bearings though. I run a warranty to avoid the hassle.
5) Fuel is not a concern, as I do max 6k a year and all for pleasure. I currently run my Impreza on super unleaded, does the M3 need the same fuel?
Yep, I believe super is needed. Everyone bangs on about V Power, but I've not noticed the difference between all the premium unleaded stuff. I get 18-22 mpg roughly, it does get a bit tiring to be honest.
Having owned 3 E92s , I know abit about abit.
Make sure you get a car that's specced with DCT and EDC (electronic damper control), easily spotted the button is to the right of the gear lever. Iirc It was a 1200quid option on E92s and gives you ride comfort control. Will definitely help resale when the time comes.
Check the wheels to see if they ve been refurbed, as the Laquor breaks inside the bolt holes and they corrode from the centre outwards- you can see the beginnings of it with 'milking' around the centre caps.
Obvious things are make sure the running in service was done at 1200 miles and has got a full history.
Due to the camber set the insides of the rear tyres wear unevenly across the tyre so a tyre that can appear fine looks totally different once you get underneath.
I never kept my cars long enough to get into reliability and any issues were dealt with under warranty.
Manual cars came in on a 57 plate mainly. And DCT appeared mostly on 58 plate cars onwards.
Another thing to bare in mind early cars had DVD based navigation as opposed to hard disc , and the earlier version of idrive . Terrible! Was painfully slow and the idrive was rubbish!
That's all I can think of for now!
MitchT said:
Always wondered what the big weak spot is with these. We've all heard about the E36 and E46 M3 issues, so I won't repeat them here, but I've never heard anything emerge in widespread discussion as the definitive wallet-crippling weak spot of the E9x M3.
Throttle actuators is the most common one and can cost a couple of grand to fix at a main dealer. This is mitigated now by specialists who can refurb the actuators with better gears and upgraded circuit boards. Rod end bearings are the potential catastrophe scenario but not common. They can be replaced as a preventative measure but most don't bother.
Still got my 57 manual E92 M3. Love it still after 110K miles. Never a problem with the box and would not have an automatic in any car if possible. All my wife's cars have been autos from audi/Merc and positively hate them.
Biggest expense has been the throttle actuators, both banks done at same time.
Biggest expense has been the throttle actuators, both banks done at same time.
Life is all about opinions.You do not like it, I love it it. I had an E46 M3 manual for 5 years and current model is better than that. I drove a DCT and it was jerky as f**k, but then maybe I drove a bad one or drove it bad?? Perhaps I am old school and actually like to drive a car and get involved through the gears and round corners rather than a golf buggy/go kart of drive/brake. I've driven Porsche GT3 manuals round round circuits to which I am grateful and thankful and also driven their autos. Again, I know my preference. Moreover, the indy BMW garage I get my car serviced at waxes lyrical that i have the car with the 'gearbox it should have it for an M car'. The number of issues they have had to deal with DCT.......Hey, life is about choices each to their own. No right or wrong. For me my car and I love the engagement with the manual and we drive it in a spirited manner and have smiles on our faces. if you have the same then no one is better or worse. Enjoy motoring.
E9x M3's are getting on a bit so buy on condition and provenance. If you get the spec right too, then great.
I haven't driven a manual but have owned my DCT equipped car for over 5 years and love it. I'm not getting into the EDC debate other than to say that the non EDC car rides very similar to the E39 M5 and I don't remember folks b
hing about the ride on that car in its time.
If you want an oddball, sold in small numbers and most likely to hold it's value sniff out an LCI saloon. 18" 219/260M style wheels are also rare and arguably becoming desirable, if keeping it stock is your preference.
The only big bill I've had was a major (30K) service last year at circa £800 but other annual services have been sub £300. Big bill last year for actuators and a leaking DCT box were covered by the insured warranty, which I highly recommend.
I haven't driven a manual but have owned my DCT equipped car for over 5 years and love it. I'm not getting into the EDC debate other than to say that the non EDC car rides very similar to the E39 M5 and I don't remember folks b
hing about the ride on that car in its time.If you want an oddball, sold in small numbers and most likely to hold it's value sniff out an LCI saloon. 18" 219/260M style wheels are also rare and arguably becoming desirable, if keeping it stock is your preference.
The only big bill I've had was a major (30K) service last year at circa £800 but other annual services have been sub £300. Big bill last year for actuators and a leaking DCT box were covered by the insured warranty, which I highly recommend.
Tony B2 said:
Thermobaric said:
No love for the manual here?
There is here....The quality of the change felt fine (not as nice as the one in my Boxster at the time, but good enough).
I've since been a passenger in a DCT equipped e92, but the driver just left it in full auto/non-hardcore mode, so I haven't seen what the DCT can add to the spice mix really.
For me though, the manual was more than entertaining enough.
Front bottom said:
I drove a manual version in anger around a track, and absolutely loved it! There's a lot to be said for a revvy V8 mated to a good old skool manual 'box.
The quality of the change felt fine (not as nice as the one in my Boxster at the time, but good enough).
I've since been a passenger in a DCT equipped e92, but the driver just left it in full auto/non-hardcore mode, so I haven't seen what the DCT can add to the spice mix really.
For me though, the manual was more than entertaining enough.
If I was spending most of my time on track (or in the middle of London/another big city) I might have gone for DCT, but for all other uses I prefer manual by a huge margin. To me, twin clutch transmissions (whether BMW or anyone else's) just suck the character and enjoyment out of a car.The quality of the change felt fine (not as nice as the one in my Boxster at the time, but good enough).
I've since been a passenger in a DCT equipped e92, but the driver just left it in full auto/non-hardcore mode, so I haven't seen what the DCT can add to the spice mix really.
For me though, the manual was more than entertaining enough.
The only thing the E92 manual needs is the swap to the knob used by the F-series cars. Shorter, weighted, much nicer to look at and transforms the feel of the change.
And it is a pretty simple swap.
I chose a manual on purpose, mine actually happens to be quite a slick one for whatever reason but I've driven a couple of baulky nasty ones
DCT does suit the car and if you're going to use it every day then it makes sense, mine is partly stripped and used as a track toy and I wanted the extra involvement of the manual.
As said throttle actuators become a problem at 60-70k, bottom end bearings are also a source of debate but worth having done if you're going to track the car and it's done plenty of miles, mine will be done soon
DCT does suit the car and if you're going to use it every day then it makes sense, mine is partly stripped and used as a track toy and I wanted the extra involvement of the manual.
As said throttle actuators become a problem at 60-70k, bottom end bearings are also a source of debate but worth having done if you're going to track the car and it's done plenty of miles, mine will be done soon
My only experience of DCT is (a couple of weeks into) F80 M3 ownership. I came into it from an 8 speed auto M140 and the same auto in a 320d before that.
All I can say is that in softest auto mode, the DCT is no poor relation to the ubiquitous 8 speeder. The changes are smooth and predictable.
To be fair, in full attack mode, the DCT changes feel unecessarily abrupt (and potentially unsettling), as if it's engineered in for theatre rather than being necessary for fastest progress.
Overall a nice thing to use, though, and I guess a good DCT is better than a below average manual.
All I can say is that in softest auto mode, the DCT is no poor relation to the ubiquitous 8 speeder. The changes are smooth and predictable.
To be fair, in full attack mode, the DCT changes feel unecessarily abrupt (and potentially unsettling), as if it's engineered in for theatre rather than being necessary for fastest progress.
Overall a nice thing to use, though, and I guess a good DCT is better than a below average manual.
MitchT said:
Always wondered what the big weak spot is with these. We've all heard about the E36 and E46 M3 issues, so I won't repeat them here, but I've never heard anything emerge in widespread discussion as the definitive wallet-crippling weak spot of the E9x M3.
I was actually having this conversation with a mate earlier today - possibly it's a little early to tell yet. The early cars are only just coming up to a decade old, I don't know how old the E46 was when people started to notice a pattern with the subframe mounting/boot floor cracks, but discovering the E36/Z3 having the same issue seems to be a later phenomenon. If the issue with the E46 wasn't so well documented when these cars came out it's highly likely it'll be an issue with these as well. Gassing Station | M Power | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff