2002 M3 Cabrio running costs?

[Butter Face]

Hi all.


As I'm getting older I'm thinking more about treating myself and buying an E46 M3 Cabrio.

I've found a nice car (Carbon black, black leather, 19's and a manual)

I'm not worried about fuel economy tbh. I do about 8k a year.

Insurance is pretty decent as I'm cracking on.

My main concern is the actual costs of brakes, servicing and what parts need replacement etc.

I hear horror stories of huge service bills, but I work at a Renault main dealer who could service the car for me. The car I'm looking at has 75,000 miles and a full service history (although not all at dealer, some at a specialist)

I just don't want to buy a car thats going to cost me a billion pounds to keep on the road.

Any thoughts appreciated.

[BigAz]

In my experience, it's better to pay a bit extra for full BMW service history.
Particularly on a car like an E46 M3, best to make sure it's not been abused.

Running costs on any BMW are going to be higher than something like a Ford or a Renault, but it's worth it for the M3 thrill!

Best of luck, be sure to post a picture of it if you buy it!

Aaron.

[Nedzilla]

Ive owned one for the last 5 years,just about to put it up for sale actually.They are quite reasonable to run and dont really require much maintainance but when they do they can be quite costly.

Few examples of costs:

Tyres £700-£1100 per set

Front pads and discs £465 fitted

Rear pads and discs £400 fitted

Fuel economy 20mpg town 32mpg motorway

Services: oil service £130
Insp 1 £460
Insp 2 £600 Indy prices

Work that will need doing on that car if not already done: Rear springs £250 fitted
Rear arm bushes £130 fitted
Front wishbone/balljoints £330 per side fitted

These are the prices I have paid for work done using a good BMW specialist though prices will vary depending on where you go.

[Stingercut]

^^ spot on. Wise to get the best maintained car you can afford, even better if it was properly looked after and 'loved' by an enthusiast eg an M3cutter. I absolutely love my vert to bits and so do my family, including my 2yr 8mth old
Incredible car for the money and you won't honestly give a fig what it costs for the pleasure it will give. I had an Alfa before and they are definitely not cheap to run using specialists. Good luck and post pics of the new toy.

Stinger

[jaedba2604]

BigAz said:

In my experience, it's better to pay a bit extra for full BMW service history.
Particularly on a car like an E46 M3, best to make sure it's not been abused.

Running costs on any BMW are going to be higher than something like a Ford or a Renault, but it's worth it for the M3 thrill!

Best of luck, be sure to post a picture of it if you buy it!

Aaron.

On an older car i wouldn't restrict myself to something that's only been serviced at a dealer..so long as it's got evidence of being serviced at a decent indy and the work that is likely to be required has been done that's a good start, after all the inspections are only a check list and routine work...

[TEKNOPUG]

This. Better to see that the car has been to a reputable Indy who will treat it like his own, rather than through a dealer network where any old trainee-monkey has been let loose on it and it’s just been another car to get through as quickly as they can.

[The Ferret]

TEKNOPUG said:

This. Better to see that the car has been to a reputable Indy who will treat it like his own, rather than through a dealer network where any old trainee-monkey has been let loose on it and it’s just been another car to get through as quickly as they can.

Another in agreement here with above sentiment. Forget BMW history, if you get it then its a bonus, but personally I'd be more inclined to just make sure the car has been serviced on time by someone reputable and judge the rest on the condition of the car itself and the attitude of the owner (especially if they have owned it for a long time)

Having owned mine for a couple of years and looked at an awful lot the best bit of advice I can offer is to be wary of bargains. It might not always be the case, but most of the time you get what you pay for. The difference in mechanical and cosmetic condition between the bottom and top of the price range is massive. Some absolute dogs out there, and some real gems.

[jaedba2604]

I think it's fairly obvious when you see a well looked after car - careful of evasive owners, and take any stories they give you about the owners before them with a pinch of salt! I had one chap come to view and he went through everything with a fine tooth comb, yet hardly spoke a word to me, that's a bit silly really, buying a car privately, i'd be giving the vendor a bit of chat, that can tell you loads more than copying out all the service history by hand..

I sold mine recently and, for the price, it was a good car, low mileage, decent colour/trim, in the end i wanted to shift it but was paranoid that pricing too low would put people off.

Just have a budget in mind and don't be too prescriptive on colour. I know everyone's budget is different but i had a couple of people who came to view who were so fussy you know that they're looking for the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And the worse thing? When, and if, it comes along, they'll want 2 weeks to think about it! So i'm sure those two people who wasted my time 2 months ago still haven't found the car they thought they would, cos they've got £9k in their pocket and they're looking for £15k cars.

And don't be tempted to max out your budget and leave yourself penniless, you'll need something doing in the first 6 months and not a lot's cheap!