Engine Pinking Noises

[Bumble SV]

I have put a deposit down on a March 2004 E46 M3. I noticed when I test drove the car that the engine had a slight pinking noise. The dealer agreed to service the car including resolving the 'pinking' noise.

The BMW dealer completed their Inspection II yesterday. They have been unable to rectify the 'pinking' noise coming from the engine and have concluded that the Vanos must be on its way out, and that it needs replacing to cure the problem. They have decided to undertake this work (all at their cost - approx £1,500 for the parts apparently).

I'm a bit nervous of buying a car with issues, although I suppose most cars have something wrong or some querks. Having scoured the forums, the Vanos appears to be one of the main issues with the E46 M3. Are there any other issues that I need to get them to check out too? As the Vanos appears to be the weak link in an otherwise solid engine, having a new one now at their cost is probably a good thing anyway.

Do you agree or is there a flaw in my logic so I should walk away?

Many thanks in advance.

[Great Pretender]

Walk away.

There are approximately 9 billion E46 M3's currently for sale. Why buy one with potential issues?

Alternatively I'd try filling it with some decent fuel. It certainly doesn't sound like a Vanos issue (to me anyway).

[Bumble SV]

Thanks GP.

Now 9 billion E46 M3s for sale?! Are you sure

Out of the others for sale though, I wouldn't be surprised that a significant amount have something wrong. Surely better to get one that is being fixed - right?

[MrOnTheRopes]

Pinking noises are not that uncommon on these engines particularly if you've got dodgy fuel (RON 95) in there. Both my CSL (owned since 2003) and my previous M3 do/did this under load at low revs on crappy unleaded fuel.

[Bumble SV]

Thanks. It does sound from all my reviews of the various forums that pinking is a common issue at low revs on the E46 M3. Given it appears to disappear at higher revs then that gives one solution

[Great Pretender]

Bumble SV said:

Thanks. It does sound from all my reviews of the various forums that pinking is a common issue at low revs on the E46 M3. Given it appears to disappear at higher revs then that gives one solution

Yes,

So why is the guy selling it prepared to allegedly spend £1500 replacing the vanos?

Sounds like something's amiss. Apart from which, even if the engine is fine, who in their right mind would run one of these cars on st fuel? Hell, I even fill my runaround with V-power!

Walk away and find another.