BMW E46 M3 coupe...

[germancarguy]

Folks, I am looking to buy an e46 M3 coupe so if you are thinking of selling, please message me with the details and your number. I regularly trawl the classifieds and I am not really interested in buying from dealers (just my preference). I have had a handful of these great cars in the past so I am quite familiar with what a good un should be like.

What I am after-
1. Coupe - SMG or Manual
2. Below 50k miles
3. HPI CLEAR- NO DAMAGED/REPAIRED CARS]
4.Must be very clean and have a full service history.

Budget depends on the car.
Looking to buy asap.

[C2james]

I must say looking for a car with under 50k will be hard, I picked up an almost perfect one with 86k on but don’t really care much on mileage (to a degree)

[fat80b]

C2james said:

I must say looking for a car with under 50k will be hard, I picked up an almost perfect one with 86k on but don’t really care much on mileage (to a degree)

Agreed, under 50K is going to be tricky. Condition / the right work being done was more important to me.

Mine is an 02 plate with 86K on it as well. It has the right history - preventative boot floor fix, SMG service, full history etc
Carbon black with Kiwi interior.

I am currently using it as a daily driver and feel guilty that it is a future classic. I'd contemplate selling but haven't done anything about it yet as prices seem to be stable / rising looking at the classifieds.

What is your budget?.

[SebringMan]

C2james said:

I must say looking for a car with under 50k will be hard, I picked up an almost perfect one with 86k on but don’t really care much on mileage (to a degree)

Going by a few prices I suspect he's after investment material and nothing else

From what I had with a 180k 944 Turbo compared to several other owners with 70k less, including my own S2 mileage doesn't bother me quite as much as it did, a little like yourself .

I do feel a little guilty for dailying mine again, but then again, while it is pricey to run it does offer good thrills for the money/package. If things go wrong I fix 'em! And I've got to take mine across a nice chunk of Europe which was pretty cool!

I'm still trying to talk sense into myself however. I'm getting the rod bearings changed despite mine being at 137k. I fixed the VANOS as per my thread just after Christmas and it has had the RACP done. I think then I wouldn't want to stop driving it however!

[Joscal]

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24874/lot/51/?cat...

This one could well be going to a dealer soon? I was surprised at the price but I suppose it's the way the market is going?

[Mr Whippy]

I’ve noticed nice low mileage ones going for daft money (or asking price)
Likely to store and hope they appreciate more. Risky imo.

They’re nice but they’re not that nice.

There are so many around, easy to bring up to a nice condition, and still have change vs these ‘mint’ examples.

I think the M3 are just another victim of people looking for somewhere to put their money and see it grow.



Best to buy an £8k one, throw £5k at it if needed, document it, and have a car you can enjoy and resell easily at a fair price when you’ve finished with it.

[RichardM5]

Joscal said:

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24874/lot/51/?cat...

This one could well be going to a dealer soon? I was surprised at the price but I suppose it's the way the market is going?

The drivers seat upper outer bolster looks like it's done 127,000 miles not 27,000! So does the sill trim for the drivers door.

[mwstewart]

And the steering wheel and gearknob. I think it's genuine but it hasn't been particularly cherished.

[mwstewart]

Mr Whippy said:

I’ve noticed nice low mileage ones going for daft money (or asking price)
Likely to store and hope they appreciate more. Risky imo.

They’re nice but they’re not that nice.

There are so many around, easy to bring up to a nice condition, and still have change vs these ‘mint’ examples.

I think the M3 are just another victim of people looking for somewhere to put their money and see it grow.



Best to buy an £8k one, throw £5k at it if needed, document it, and have a car you can enjoy and resell easily at a fair price when you’ve finished with it.

They were a high point for BMW M in both styling and driving - especially the engine. The softening of later cars - especially those turbo charged - has done them a favour.

[anonymous-user]

RichardM5 said:

Joscal said:

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24874/lot/51/?cat...

This one could well be going to a dealer soon? I was surprised at the price but I suppose it's the way the market is going?

The drivers seat upper outer bolster looks like it's done 127,000 miles not 27,000! So does the sill trim for the drivers door.

The car is in Guernsey so likely loads of short distance trips.

[ftypical]

Lots of salt-laden sea air too...

[EJH]

ftypical said:

Lots of salt-laden sea air too...

I lived in Jersey for 13 years and, assuming that cars aren't left parked where they get sea-spray, this really isn't an issue in the channel Islands.

What's more of an issue (positively) is the almost complete lack of road salting, meaning that cars don't get the salt-loading they would in the rest of the UK so undersides can look much newer than you might expect.

All of this assumes that the car's are serviced and looked after, however, as the lack of MOT, a somewhat laissez-faire attitude to car maintenance by many and the low speed limits of the islands mean that some cars can be complete wrecks, despite looking okay.