M3 E46 Reliability

[Andy T]

Hey all,

I've been looking through the classifieds and came across a few 60K ish M3s (E46). Now what sort of car is the M3 running cost and reliability wise? Is spending 15K on an M3 a foolish and expensive folly?

p.s

Don't let the boys over at the Lotus forum hear me talking about getting a beemer!

[M15ley]

I know prices have dropped a lot recently but you aint going to get a good example for only £15k

[suprazed]

There's been some that looked quite good sold recently on here, around 60k miles and between £15-16k and pretty decent spec.

I think you just need look at each car carefully, obviously, but theyr'e pretty solid cars and wear the miles very well.

Also, the £15k cars will be the £17-18k cars on forecourt.

[M3desmo]

60k miles is the point where the extended BMW warranty becomes prohibitively expensive and this is probably a greater contributor to the big drop in residual at that mileage, than condition.

If you find a good clean car with that mileage it won't necessarily be any worse to own and run than a 50k mile car which would cost a fair bit more to buy, provided of course you are happy to do without the extended warranty.

[Andy T]

Ok, so what would you think is a fair price for a good example of an M3?

I had a Boxster S once and I know that porsche are supposed to be reliable but I ended up having to go to court to get back most of over 5K I had to spend on it to replace the gearbox! This was a car with a warranty too. I know most porsches have oil seal problems even from new and the 996s could be a bag of trouble.


What are the main problems to look for on the M3? And would you say they're more or less (un)reliable than a 996, Boxster or Elise?

[nutcase]

Well, I would say my 78k miler is still in very good condition- and that would certainly be in the 15-16k price bracket. It's a shed load of car for the money and even though i've just got the 996 Turbo, i'll probably keep hold of it for a while simply because it's been awesome (plus more useable seats).

Good luck in your search!

James

[Robbed666]

Running costs, the max you'll get is 21 MPG (mixed driving).

[macca]

Andy T said:

Ok, so what would you think is a fair price for a good example of an M3?

Come then end of January, £21k should get you a 2nd owner 53 reg 27k miles convertible, fbmwsh in good nick - a few scuffs on the 19" wheels. Shameless!!

[mondeoman]

Robbed666 said:

Running costs, the max you'll get is 21 MPG (mixed driving).

arse - I managed 25 over 60k miles with mixed driving

And it was reliable - only breakdowns were tyre related.

[Snooglefinder]

Robbed666 said:

Running costs, the max you'll get is 21 MPG (mixed driving).

Rubbish - I average 25mpg over a mix of A B and motorway, I have seen 30mpg on a long run with the wife driving. I have however also seen 9mpg on a track day!

Mine has 67k and have owned it for several years putting most of these miles on myself and touch wood not a murmur. Car is regularly serviced by a good indie and has been exceptionally reliable, better than my boxster for sure.

Things to be aware of are the 1200 mile running in service on the history and that all recalls have been done - call BMW customer services with the VIN and they will tell you.

With that sort of mileage you should also see a bill for replacement rear trailing arm bushes (RTABs), and probably front control arms and bushes. If they haven't been done it's a fair bet the car will need them. But even these aren't expensive in relative terms. RTABS can be bought and fitted by an indie for a couple of hundred quid. I would say more of a bargaining chip than a reason not to buy.

Anyway - good luck.