M3 Reliability with high miles

[meesterb]

Could anybody please advise how reliable reasonably well looked after M3's are after highish miles i.e. >100k. I fancy either a E46 or even the now bargain basement E36 as a second car and whilst tempted by the much cheaper prices of long-legged cars for sale would like to know how long these cars normally run between re-builds? Is 150-200k realistic? Are the SMG gearboxes less reliable than the manual gearboxes? Any advise would be much appreciated.

[mark beardmore]

nothing wrong with high miles on a m3 as long as its been properly serviced, mines done 151k and did 315bhp on the rollers earlier on this year not bad for a 3.0 with basic modifications, it also doesnt use any water or oil, it just keeps going and going

[taz devil]

my e36 m3 ragtop has 141k used every day for 5 weeks never missed a beat just likes hanging out at petrol pumps uses no oil and water .
if a car has high miles normal its been looked athter to get there only beemer i had problems with was a low miles one had 8 with 120k + never had an engine problem just normal bushes pads wear and tear

[bass2rez]

My E36 M3 Evo has 159,000 miles now and still runs beautifully and uses no oil between services. Beyond usual servicing I have had to replace some bushes at the back, have had the differential oil seals replaced as they started to leak and I have needed to replace the brake disks and pads. As far as I can recall, thats all the work that had been required so far.

Cheers,
Steve

[mark beardmore]

just normal stuff, diff seals are a pain to do from what i remember, mine were done 3+ years ago still dry as a bone with plenty of abuse, but diff oil changed anually

[jbbusybee]

The highest E36 M3 mileage I know of is just over 400k, yes 400k. It's 4 door saloon.

[jbbusybee]

The highest E36 M3 mileage I know of is just over 400k, yes 400k. It's 4 door saloon.

[Ti22]

Avoid SMG's.. regularly fail and £££'s to fix..

[thegreengoblet]

Mines on 112k and is in need of the diff seals doing. I've just had the front and rear trailing arm bushes done. The shocks are a little tired, so I will get around to replacing these when I get the diff seals done. I will also get the rear top mounts replaced with E46 convertible ones at the same time. Otherwise she runs well and pulls hard. Never had to top up the water or oil. She does around 40 miles a day.
Looking through her history, she's never had any Vanos issues although she is a little noisy. Great car will cheap running costs, although insurance is very high

[bass2rez]

jbbusybee said:

The highest E36 M3 mileage I know of is just over 400k, yes 400k. It's 4 door saloon.

Thats a lot of miles. Is there any word on what work the car needed to get to this sort of mileage? Was an engine rebuild necesary, or is it on the original "unopened" engine? Is it anybody who's on Pistonheads?

[gareth h]

Ti22 said:

Avoid SMG's.. regularly fail and £££'s to fix..

80k miles on mine no smg problems. I think this is blown out of proportion, there are more bits to go wrong (and when they do it inevitable gets posted here) but the box itself is identical to the manual car.

[Ti22]

gareth h said:

Ti22 said:

Avoid SMG's.. regularly fail and £££'s to fix..

80k miles on mine no smg problems. I think this is blown out of proportion, there are more bits to go wrong (and when they do it inevitable gets posted here) but the box itself is identical to the manual car.

the box itself is fine. I run a garage and have seen/ heard of too many that the control solenoids/ electronics go on. It's a weak point (like VANOS), not saying that they are all going to go. It can also be fixed, but the cost is usually 4 figures.

[bulmers]

im watching this topic with interest as im hopeing to pick up a 03 one tomorrow with just 100k on it good info being posted, cheers to all for there input

[MarkyW]

I was talking to Stuart of Munich Legends about this on the way from the station to the showroom last week and he said that the E46s were pretty much bullet proof if maintained properly. Check for running in service and reputable stamps for all subsequent services at appropriate intervals.

I know there are some cars on one of the other forums I frequent that are 100K+ miles and these seem fine, so this may substantiate Stuart's comment.

Regards

Mark

[Onetrackmind]

There are some reports of the head gasket letting go on high mileage E46's. The gasket fails between the cylinders as it is quite thin at this point. This can be accelerated by putting the engine under load when not fully warmed. Check the m3cutters forum for more info.

Subframe cracks can sometimes appear on some E46's also. Check m3cutters for more info. BMW currently fix this FOC if the car is less than 10 yrs old and not modified.


All car models have their specific reliability issues. The E46 M3 is generally known to be very strong. The E36 is also strong but associated with over blown VANOS issues, which can now be prevented or fixed much cheaper than previously.

Get either. They're both stunning value!

Edited by Onetrackmind on Monday 25th October 22:22

[AngryApples]

110k (65k of that in the last 17 months) on my 04' E46 SMG and (touch wood) no issues whatsoever

Regularly serviced (and doing 40-50k/year, I do mean REGULARLY) at an independant specialist that is well know and I trust beyond question

[M3John]

Ti22 said:

Avoid SMG's.. regularly fail and £££'s to fix..

That is the only thing i'd suggest that people avoid - in e36 form.

Apart from this they are pretty bomb proof, my little chariot has now done 147k and runs like a dream.

Edited by M3John on Friday 29th October 21:43

[jbbusybee]

bass2rez said:

jbbusybee said:

The highest E36 M3 mileage I know of is just over 400k, yes 400k. It's 4 door saloon.

Thats a lot of miles. Is there any word on what work the car needed to get to this sort of mileage? Was an engine rebuild necesary, or is it on the original "unopened" engine? Is it anybody who's on Pistonheads?

There's been no engine work at all. It covered it's first 100,000 or so pretty quickly commuting from London to Munich and the South of France it's had a couple of clutches oh and the drivers seat broke.

It also feels very quick, perhaps because most of it's life has been at speed.

The owner is not on Pistonheads he's in his late 60's. He bought a Dakar yellow E36 M3 as a replacement, which we've just sold as he kept using the original!

My only advice is buy the best you can and treat it well. We've seen some fab cars in the workshop ruined in less than a year.

Not M, but my Alpina B6,1 owner in 20 odd years is knocking on 140,000 miles with no problems and my E28 M5 112,000 miles beautifully.

[nottyash]

AngryApples said:

110k (65k of that in the last 17 months) on my 04' E46 SMG and (touch wood) no issues whatsoever

Regularly serviced (and doing 40-50k/year, I do mean REGULARLY) at an independant specialist that is well know and I trust beyond question

Hello Angry apples, I Sold mine about 6 months after I bought it as I went to work away.
I bought the Manual from Redline. I covered 10000 miles in 6 months, got hit with new discs/ pads all round and a suspension arm for MOT. Ouch!!
Sold it with 50000 miles on for £15100 in December 2008
Looking at another now though

[manand38]

Nice to see a positive post about //M engines!