help with purchase

[prg1]

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum. The basic premise of this thread, is that I am looking for an e46 M3. Ideally want to spend as little as is practical but can go to £20k if necesssar, or a particular car is worth it. I am based by Chester.
Anyone seen anything they think is particularly good?

I will not really travel more than a couple of hours for the car. Also with regards to inspections is it really woth an AA one. Finding a specialist to check one over is going to be difficult unless I'm lucky enough to find a car by a specialist.

Is it worth the premium for the approved used schemes?
Interested in all opinions. Any help appreciated.
Never had a Rwd drive car just Fwd hot hatches really.

Anything I should particularly look for?

Anyone know of any good buying guides?

Wish me luck.

[Jonboy_t]

couple of bits of advice;

- It would be worth considering travelling a bit further afield for the right one. It's worth £70 on a tank of petrol to get one that had it's running in service at the right mileage vs. the future pitfalls of one that didn't.
- £20k sounds like a lot for an E46, unless it's a mint late edition with very few miles. I was on a budget much lower than yours when I bought mine so didn't see what was up in that range, but mine was £11k and it's an '04 convertible SMG with ~70k on the clock.
- Check all dealer stamps (presuming there are some), although this would be basic advice on any car purchase!
- When taking it for a test drive, don't be put off by slow gear changes (if it's an SMG) and jittery cornering to begin with, the tyres take a few miles to warm up and the gearbox is very jerky when cold. Do as long a test drive as they will let you!

Other than that, I just checked for the normal stuff as with any car really - oxidisation on the alloys was a common thing I saw on the ones that I looked at, verify mileage, convertible workings all sound, no dodgy exhaust notes, not obvious knocking, not overly jumpy on cornering.

Enjoy!!

[prg1]

£20k was absolute max and it would have to be very special.
I would much rather pay sub £15 and have an emergency fund for those higher running costs.After allat the minute I am used to rep mobile prices.
Ideally I do not fancy a SMG. I like the idea of manual but the SMG does seem to get generally good write ups on the E46. So I am not going to discount them just because of the transmission.

[4340BB]

If you want a manual go for it. I used to have one and dont regret it at all. There are plenty to choose from. I moved onto a Z4MC after the M3.
Just make sure it has been looked after.

[Makem]

there is no need to spend 20k at all. 15k will get you a really good example and this will go down to 11-12k for some not as good.
There are alot to choose from so you can be picky.
I prefered the manual to the smg, although i did like the smg. Definately try both before you buy as everyone has an opionion on this.
Relaiabilty wise they are very very good for the power they are putting out. Lots of examples doing 100k plus with no issues.
I didnt bother with warrenty. They are pretty reliable, and these companies try to wriggle out of everything now. Just get the anti blow up trader warrenty for a month or so.
For me these are one of the best all rounder cars.

[prg1]

Right then. I am definitly going sub £15k.
If I do not go SMG, what are the scary things to look for price wise. I have read a bit about cracks in the sub frame are these easy to check for?