High mileage e46 M3
Discussion
I've got my eye on an M3, it's a 2005 manual in the exact spec i'm looking for, but has done 140k miles... It has full service history, running in check etc., and is apparently in superb condition. I've had one before so am familiar with what to look out for, but this car is at a dealer miles away from me. If it all checks out and the price is right, would i be bonkers to go for it? Would you be put off by such high mileage? Also can anyone tell me what the road tax would be on a 2005 model? Thanks.
Sidewindow said:
Would you be put off by such high mileage?
^ E46 M3 is deffo my next move and I know the advice is ususally 'buy on condition, not mileage', but I'd be worried about trying to move the car on when its got 150k+ miles on the odometer, personally.Sidewindow said:
Can anyone tell me what the road tax would be on a 2005 model?
^ VED for an M3 of that vintage would be £270.
I've got a late 05 M3 CS with SMG which is just about to hit 160k, it drives superbly. Several mechanics who have driven it say it drives just as well, if not better, as low-mileage versions of the same age. I got the clutch changed at 125k (I had the gearbox off anyway) and it was less than half worn. In fairness the car had done a lot of motorway miles in its previous owner's hands.
Things to look out for would be:
- Water temps. The temp should be in the middle or slightly to the left. A higher than normal temp might indicate a) some pinking between cylinders 5+6, tiny head gasket cracks can occur at high mileage.. b) my car suffered from a higher-than-average water temperature during serious hoons which was seemingly cured when I replaced a coil pack that had died (nice cheap fix, £20 or so
)
- Rear trailing arm bushes. Just change these if you buy it, it's only going to improve the car. Buy a bush limiting kit from Simpson Motorsport (http://www.simpsonmotorsport.com/shop/product.asp?id=67&cid=5&pcid=12&product=66) and replace the bushes with the OEM parts. Don't go for PowerFlex, they limit the movement too much and the ride quality will suffer a lot. Then get a full laser alignment done, this is very important!
- Rust. 2004+ means a 12-year body warranty but expect to find rust underneath the metal plates that the doors latch on to (pull off the black cover to have a look). This absolutely IS covered by the warranty despite some garages getting s
tty about it. Vines in Guildford has a proper body shop and will do this.
- Oil. Despite what people say, the ONLY oil that is *certified* by BMW for the S54 motor is Castrol 10W60 TWS Motorsport. The more recent 10W60 Edge Professional (it replaced TWS) has been deemed acceptable by BMW more recently too. You can still get TWS on ebay if you keep an eye out. Ask the owner what they have used and also ask when they last topped up the oil, which hopefully should be never! My last two M3s (a 2002 M3 and the 2005 CS) used absolutely zero oil. Some will use a bit but if they use a lot then this might be down to wrong oils being used for a long time or a missed running-in service at ~1500mi (extremely important for the S54).
- Servicing. Make sure the correct pattern has been followed (Oil, Insp1, Oil, Insp2, repeat). Things like diff fluid should be done every I2 but it isn't extremely important, you can sort this yourself. Ideally the valve clearances should be done every Inspection but a lot of people pass on this as it's quite expensive due to the labour; again it's not going to damage the car but it's something that should be done. If the car is really rough when cold then this can sometimes be an indicator that the clearances need doing (although make sure you're running it on super unleaded, ideally vPower, before leaping to conclusions (normal unleaded in an m3 on a cold morning is like driving an angry kangeroo).
- Brakes. Might be old and knackered, probably heavily lipped if so. Not really an issue, perhaps just be prepared for the bill. Front discs and pads are about £130e/a for the disc and about £45 for pads. Rears are about £110 and £40 respectively. The standard pads are pretty terrible for fast road use and definitely terrible for track use so I use EBC yellowstuff in mine, they're about £75/pair for fronts and £65 for rears. Braided lines is a nice upgrade too, they're about £40 an axle...pedal feel with them is absolutely superb.
If I think of more things I shall post again
Things to look out for would be:
- Water temps. The temp should be in the middle or slightly to the left. A higher than normal temp might indicate a) some pinking between cylinders 5+6, tiny head gasket cracks can occur at high mileage.. b) my car suffered from a higher-than-average water temperature during serious hoons which was seemingly cured when I replaced a coil pack that had died (nice cheap fix, £20 or so
)- Rear trailing arm bushes. Just change these if you buy it, it's only going to improve the car. Buy a bush limiting kit from Simpson Motorsport (http://www.simpsonmotorsport.com/shop/product.asp?id=67&cid=5&pcid=12&product=66) and replace the bushes with the OEM parts. Don't go for PowerFlex, they limit the movement too much and the ride quality will suffer a lot. Then get a full laser alignment done, this is very important!
- Rust. 2004+ means a 12-year body warranty but expect to find rust underneath the metal plates that the doors latch on to (pull off the black cover to have a look). This absolutely IS covered by the warranty despite some garages getting s
tty about it. Vines in Guildford has a proper body shop and will do this.- Oil. Despite what people say, the ONLY oil that is *certified* by BMW for the S54 motor is Castrol 10W60 TWS Motorsport. The more recent 10W60 Edge Professional (it replaced TWS) has been deemed acceptable by BMW more recently too. You can still get TWS on ebay if you keep an eye out. Ask the owner what they have used and also ask when they last topped up the oil, which hopefully should be never! My last two M3s (a 2002 M3 and the 2005 CS) used absolutely zero oil. Some will use a bit but if they use a lot then this might be down to wrong oils being used for a long time or a missed running-in service at ~1500mi (extremely important for the S54).
- Servicing. Make sure the correct pattern has been followed (Oil, Insp1, Oil, Insp2, repeat). Things like diff fluid should be done every I2 but it isn't extremely important, you can sort this yourself. Ideally the valve clearances should be done every Inspection but a lot of people pass on this as it's quite expensive due to the labour; again it's not going to damage the car but it's something that should be done. If the car is really rough when cold then this can sometimes be an indicator that the clearances need doing (although make sure you're running it on super unleaded, ideally vPower, before leaping to conclusions (normal unleaded in an m3 on a cold morning is like driving an angry kangeroo).
- Brakes. Might be old and knackered, probably heavily lipped if so. Not really an issue, perhaps just be prepared for the bill. Front discs and pads are about £130e/a for the disc and about £45 for pads. Rears are about £110 and £40 respectively. The standard pads are pretty terrible for fast road use and definitely terrible for track use so I use EBC yellowstuff in mine, they're about £75/pair for fronts and £65 for rears. Braided lines is a nice upgrade too, they're about £40 an axle...pedal feel with them is absolutely superb.
If I think of more things I shall post again
Edited by jh1806 on Monday 4th February 14:42
Hi
Using mine as a daily currently on 123k, done almost 20k in the last 12 months. It doesn't use any oil, but has needed a clutch at 120k and some rear springs. They have a healthy appetite for tyres and brakes as previous posters have said. If it has been looked after well there isn't any reason to see 200k out of these easily. I have had 250k out of an E34 and that was as good. What is the most people have seen?
I have every bill for the car from new, everything checks out, Simpson look after it for me and I change the oil every 10k. It really gets used and point to point nothing beats it.
I have thought about changing it for an M6 but it is so good it is hard to part with.
Using mine as a daily currently on 123k, done almost 20k in the last 12 months. It doesn't use any oil, but has needed a clutch at 120k and some rear springs. They have a healthy appetite for tyres and brakes as previous posters have said. If it has been looked after well there isn't any reason to see 200k out of these easily. I have had 250k out of an E34 and that was as good. What is the most people have seen?
I have every bill for the car from new, everything checks out, Simpson look after it for me and I change the oil every 10k. It really gets used and point to point nothing beats it.
I have thought about changing it for an M6 but it is so good it is hard to part with.
I wouldn't be too concerned from a mechanical point of view but it would need to be really cheap (£7k?) to make sense and would be difficult to sell on if that were a consideration. What's it up for? If it's the Silverstone Blue one up north, that's been for sale for at least 6 months.
Thank you for all your valuable input, PH is great. I guess the consensus is that an e46 M3 can cope with high mileages, and it's not really a problem provided it has been looked after properly from brand new. Resale would of course be a concern unless buying with the intention of it being a keeper. It's hard to find a decent M3 that ticks all the boxes which is surpising given the number of cars for sale at the moment.
The car i am/was looking at is up for £7600 from a trader, however i've spotted another one closer to home with nearly half the mileage for similar money, which i think is pretty reasonable for a 2005 car (depending on condition and where it sits in it's servicing schedule).
I NEED to get back into an M3, non M cars just don't do it for me.
The car i am/was looking at is up for £7600 from a trader, however i've spotted another one closer to home with nearly half the mileage for similar money, which i think is pretty reasonable for a 2005 car (depending on condition and where it sits in it's servicing schedule).
I NEED to get back into an M3, non M cars just don't do it for me.
having said that i'd be tempted by this lower mileage car:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...
or this 4 door:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...
or this 4 door:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...
custardkid said:
or this 4 door:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...
^^ That's been for sale for ages. Literally months.http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/b...
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