E90 M3 - build quality

[Christoffer]

What's the consensus on the build quality/reliability of the 2007-> M3 ?

Are they as good as the E46 M3, or better, 'bulletproof' ?

Thank you.

[HammyHamster]

The S65 engine is generally considered to be bullet proof, as long as you follow the maintenance schedule properly. Build quality overall is very high, I'm not aware of any weak points.

[ant man]

As above and I've checked with the warranty companies too.

[Christoffer]

Thank you very much.

[Panthro]

Whilst the S65 is more reliable than the S54, the interior build quality on the E9x is much lower than the E46 IMO. My E46 felt solid after 70k miles, with no interior rattles or squeaks. My E92 on the other hand developed plenty of rattles that needed to be fixed.

[smokey145]

Panthro said:

Whilst the S65 is more reliable than the S54, the interior build quality on the E9x is much lower than the E46 IMO. My E46 felt solid after 70k miles, with no interior rattles or squeaks. My E92 on the other hand developed plenty of rattles that needed to be fixed.

well this is very disappointing to be read.

[ryandoc]

My experience and opinion is the E9X is a step up in build quality. I had E46 for 3 years and owned my E92 from new for 2 years this month. I've got a running report going on another forum.

Obviously whilst in general every car coming off the production line should be the some will be slightly different. But every E9X I've been in / driven has felt solid as a rock.

Just my opinion of course

[dele]

My E92 M3 felt solid, but the E93 doesn't feel so well put together on the inside, could just be the inherent nature of convertibles

[RacerMDR]

my E92 is solid as solid can be. On 38k miles........

[jonasaurus]

Problems with the actual S65 engines are few and far between but you do occassionally hear of stories about the bearings e.g.
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4337...

and the occasional engine blow up
http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showthread.php?t=369...

and to a much lesser extent in terms of seriousness for some earlier model E9X M3s the Idle Control Module needs replacing

All that being said though, the above are very rare cases are no where near to the same extent (on a relative scale) widely reported as the IMS issue with the 996/986 and 987.1/997.1 Porsches!

None of those things stopped me buying my E90 M3 so I wouldn't necessarily lose sleep over them. If you want to be sure just have an extended warranty and you're sorted!

Styling of interior is getting dated on these cars but quality wise is good but prob not as good as I'd hoped for, occassional creak inside but nothing out of the ordinary.

Edited by jonasaurus on Tuesday 6th December 18:22