EP3 civic type r E46 M3
Discussion
considering the change from a EP3 civic type r to a e46 M3... what are the running costs jump between the two cars? i do about 7,000 miles per annum
checked the cost of purchase, and its do-able along with insurance at 21 years old everything is ok however i am worried about the brakes and consumables... (my EP3 pads only lasted me 4,000 miles and my previous saxo vts only lasted 2,500 with abit of track action... i am worried a M3 will bleed me dry if i drive it hard?)
feedback would be good from owners who have moved from ep3 > m3's aswell
regards patrick
checked the cost of purchase, and its do-able along with insurance at 21 years old everything is ok however i am worried about the brakes and consumables... (my EP3 pads only lasted me 4,000 miles and my previous saxo vts only lasted 2,500 with abit of track action... i am worried a M3 will bleed me dry if i drive it hard?)
feedback would be good from owners who have moved from ep3 > m3's aswell
regards patrick
Where can you find insurance for an E46 M3 for a 21 year old where the cost is OK?
I'm not sure whether you might enjoy a 330ci as much as your first foray into rear wheel drive motoring.
For the cost of running an M3 you might as well ask how long a piece of string is. Some questions to start:
- How much will you be spending on the car initially? And then will it be old and high mileage, or recent and low mileage?
- How has the car been serviced in its life?
- Do you want to put a warranty on it? BMW or other?
- Will you do track days?
- Do you have enough to pay for repairs when they happen, or are you going to save on these too?
At the end of the day, even if you have been as careful as you can with the things I mentioned above you could either be very lucky and only have to deal with routine running costs for a couple of years, or be very unlucky and end up replacing most of the mechanical parts.
I'm not sure whether you might enjoy a 330ci as much as your first foray into rear wheel drive motoring.
For the cost of running an M3 you might as well ask how long a piece of string is. Some questions to start:
- How much will you be spending on the car initially? And then will it be old and high mileage, or recent and low mileage?
- How has the car been serviced in its life?
- Do you want to put a warranty on it? BMW or other?
- Will you do track days?
- Do you have enough to pay for repairs when they happen, or are you going to save on these too?
At the end of the day, even if you have been as careful as you can with the things I mentioned above you could either be very lucky and only have to deal with routine running costs for a couple of years, or be very unlucky and end up replacing most of the mechanical parts.
FamilyDub said:
You know the old adage... If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it.
I know I couldn't afford the step-up from my current car, when I looked earlier in the year.
hmm i guess, the purchase cost is ok - £11k is my budget it will be a ok E46 M3, not the best condition M3 out there but im not fussed regarding that as long as it has FSH and has been maintainedI know I couldn't afford the step-up from my current car, when I looked earlier in the year.
its the consumables, the civic flew through its MOT despite seeing four trackdays (it only had brakes / engine mount / service and it passed)
JD123d said:
Where can you find insurance for an E46 M3 for a 21 year old where the cost is OK?
I'm not sure whether you might enjoy a 330ci as much as your first foray into rear wheel drive motoring.
For the cost of running an M3 you might as well ask how long a piece of string is. Some questions to start:
- How much will you be spending on the car initially? And then will it be old and high mileage, or recent and low mileage?
- How has the car been serviced in its life?
- Do you want to put a warranty on it? BMW or other?
- Will you do track days?
- Do you have enough to pay for repairs when they happen, or are you going to save on these too?
At the end of the day, even if you have been as careful as you can with the things I mentioned above you could either be very lucky and only have to deal with routine running costs for a couple of years, or be very unlucky and end up replacing most of the mechanical parts.
well to some the cost might be shocking but iv paid £1k or so on insurance for most of my cars since 17.. so im used to it (3years no claims under my belt by the way) I'm not sure whether you might enjoy a 330ci as much as your first foray into rear wheel drive motoring.
For the cost of running an M3 you might as well ask how long a piece of string is. Some questions to start:
- How much will you be spending on the car initially? And then will it be old and high mileage, or recent and low mileage?
- How has the car been serviced in its life?
- Do you want to put a warranty on it? BMW or other?
- Will you do track days?
- Do you have enough to pay for repairs when they happen, or are you going to save on these too?
At the end of the day, even if you have been as careful as you can with the things I mentioned above you could either be very lucky and only have to deal with routine running costs for a couple of years, or be very unlucky and end up replacing most of the mechanical parts.
- 11k on one
- it has to have FSH with proof to back it up (if it doesnt il walk away)
- i dont care about warranty to be honest...
- trackdays i might do, but il cut down on them if needs to be
- repairs shouldnt be too much? my uncle owns a garage himself albeit a backstreet one... but proof of everything will be documented
im just looking for E46 M3 owners who have kept their M3'S FOR 2-3 years and how much they have spent on maintaining one in general?
At 23 with 1 years NCB in a very good postcode, the cheapest i can find E46 M3 insurance is circa £1800 from the Admiral group. For context, my 330i costs me £850.
Servicing on the M3 will be around £800 for an Insp 2 (+ valve clearances if needed which costs extra), £600 for an Insp 1 and Oil Service for about £300. The SMG pump can cost around £2k to replace if it needs it, brakes will be around £800 all round.
I wouldn't consider running an 8-9 year old M3 without a warranty (unless your budget was about £14k and you were only spending 11 of it and saving the rest for the running costs), and the BMW warranty (for car's over 60000 miles) is around £2k and under 60000 miles is £1k. This will be the only warranty that will be worth something at this age. Not to mention you'll probably have to battle with BMW over what is "wear and tear" and what isn't, at this age.
Servicing on the M3 will be around £800 for an Insp 2 (+ valve clearances if needed which costs extra), £600 for an Insp 1 and Oil Service for about £300. The SMG pump can cost around £2k to replace if it needs it, brakes will be around £800 all round.
I wouldn't consider running an 8-9 year old M3 without a warranty (unless your budget was about £14k and you were only spending 11 of it and saving the rest for the running costs), and the BMW warranty (for car's over 60000 miles) is around £2k and under 60000 miles is £1k. This will be the only warranty that will be worth something at this age. Not to mention you'll probably have to battle with BMW over what is "wear and tear" and what isn't, at this age.
Like all expensive (when new) cars, you can buy them cheap but they'll still have expensive car running costs.
Brakes, tyres, servicing, etc will all be a lot more than your CTR. And insurance will be mental.
Can you wait a few years? Insurance gets slightly more sensible when you hit 25.
Brakes, tyres, servicing, etc will all be a lot more than your CTR. And insurance will be mental.
Can you wait a few years? Insurance gets slightly more sensible when you hit 25.
I always look at it like this. The Civic new would be (equivalent to today) a £20k car, the M3 would be a £50k car new. Look at the scale for new costs and use the same scale for running costs.
Just beware with the M3 that if something does go wrong and you don't have a warranty it will be expensive. Personally I only looked at M3's with warranties.
If you're happy with the costs go for an M3, you will have a blast and it will feel very different to your Type R! Let us know what you decide.
Just beware with the M3 that if something does go wrong and you don't have a warranty it will be expensive. Personally I only looked at M3's with warranties.
If you're happy with the costs go for an M3, you will have a blast and it will feel very different to your Type R! Let us know what you decide.
i have a 330ci which is probably similar running costs to an ep3 ctr. my mate works at a bmw indy garage and he said as a general rule the m3 is double the running costs compared to the 330
i wouldnt expect much chance from 1k for new tyres, probably same again for discs and pads which is something to consider if your going to track it
then theres things like suspension,bushes etc which is all wear and tear
i could be wrong but im sure there was a post on here about how much people spend on there e46 m3 each year and iirc the average was around the 2-3k mark
also in the nicest possible way you might struggle to shift an m3 thats been serviced by 'some back garage', look at the amount of people here saying they wont touch an m3 without warranty, let alone one without full bmw service history or a well know indy
if you can afford it,go for it. but if i had 12k and was unsure about an m3 i would be looking at a 130i. best of both worlds
i wouldnt expect much chance from 1k for new tyres, probably same again for discs and pads which is something to consider if your going to track it
then theres things like suspension,bushes etc which is all wear and tear
i could be wrong but im sure there was a post on here about how much people spend on there e46 m3 each year and iirc the average was around the 2-3k mark
also in the nicest possible way you might struggle to shift an m3 thats been serviced by 'some back garage', look at the amount of people here saying they wont touch an m3 without warranty, let alone one without full bmw service history or a well know indy
if you can afford it,go for it. but if i had 12k and was unsure about an m3 i would be looking at a 130i. best of both worlds
21 and thinking of an M3?! Fair play to you but when I was 21, I was in no position to upgrade from my then Citroen AX but I was a full time student at the time..Know my folks would have had some "words of wisdom" too!!!
Nice car but as with everything motoring related, if you are doing it "on the cheap", it is probably not worth doing it at all..Just IMO of course.
Nice car but as with everything motoring related, if you are doing it "on the cheap", it is probably not worth doing it at all..Just IMO of course.
Gaygle said:
At 23 with 1 years NCB in a very good postcode, the cheapest i can find E46 M3 insurance is circa £1800 from the Admiral group. For context, my 330i costs me £850.
Servicing on the M3 will be around £800 for an Insp 2 (+ valve clearances if needed which costs extra), £600 for an Insp 1 and Oil Service for about £300. The SMG pump can cost around £2k to replace if it needs it, brakes will be around £800 all round.
I wouldn't consider running an 8-9 year old M3 without a warranty (unless your budget was about £14k and you were only spending 11 of it and saving the rest for the running costs), and the BMW warranty (for car's over 60000 miles) is around £2k and under 60000 miles is £1k. This will be the only warranty that will be worth something at this age. Not to mention you'll probably have to battle with BMW over what is "wear and tear" and what isn't, at this age.
I sold my M3 to my friend who was 21 at the time and he paid around £1,000 from Admiral.Servicing on the M3 will be around £800 for an Insp 2 (+ valve clearances if needed which costs extra), £600 for an Insp 1 and Oil Service for about £300. The SMG pump can cost around £2k to replace if it needs it, brakes will be around £800 all round.
I wouldn't consider running an 8-9 year old M3 without a warranty (unless your budget was about £14k and you were only spending 11 of it and saving the rest for the running costs), and the BMW warranty (for car's over 60000 miles) is around £2k and under 60000 miles is £1k. This will be the only warranty that will be worth something at this age. Not to mention you'll probably have to battle with BMW over what is "wear and tear" and what isn't, at this age.
The service costs you are quoting are from an expensive BMW dealer, I've had quotes of £650 for an I2 from BMW before but I get my indy to do it for less. Oil service should be £200 and an I2 is only due every 40-45k anyway.
The pump can be had alot less second hand and rarley goes wrong. Its not necessary to have BMW warranty and the cars car be run comparitivley cheaply if you do work yourself but tyres will be expensive as the M3 feels much better to drive on proper Michelin or Continentals rather than cheap tyres.
That, ultimatley is the question you need to answer, if you can afford £500 for a set of rear tyres every 10,000 miles then you should be able to afford an M3.
Cemesis said:
I sold my M3 to my friend who was 21 at the time and he paid around £1,000 from Admiral.
The service costs you are quoting are from an expensive BMW dealer, I've had quotes of £650 for an I2 from BMW before but I get my indy to do it for less. Oil service should be £200 and an I2 is only due every 40-45k anyway.
The pump can be had alot less second hand and rarley goes wrong. Its not necessary to have BMW warranty and the cars car be run comparitivley cheaply if you do work yourself but tyres will be expensive as the M3 feels much better to drive on proper Michelin or Continentals rather than cheap tyres.
That, ultimatley is the question you need to answer, if you can afford £500 for a set of rear tyres every 10,000 miles then you should be able to afford an M3.
£1,000 sounds exceptionally cheap for an M3 at 21. I paid £1,200 for my M3 at 25 - ok postcode, 3yrs no claims, no points, no accidents. I'm now down to £850ish at 27.The service costs you are quoting are from an expensive BMW dealer, I've had quotes of £650 for an I2 from BMW before but I get my indy to do it for less. Oil service should be £200 and an I2 is only due every 40-45k anyway.
The pump can be had alot less second hand and rarley goes wrong. Its not necessary to have BMW warranty and the cars car be run comparitivley cheaply if you do work yourself but tyres will be expensive as the M3 feels much better to drive on proper Michelin or Continentals rather than cheap tyres.
That, ultimatley is the question you need to answer, if you can afford £500 for a set of rear tyres every 10,000 miles then you should be able to afford an M3.
An Insp 2 will set you back around £800 at a dealer if you shop around, £700 for an Insp 1. £200 for an oil service.
A set of Vredesteins will set you back £600, a set of Michelin PS2s, £1,000. I'm running Vredesteins atm, but will go for PS2s/PSC+ next time I need a new set of four now that my mileage is so low.
Other than that, they are generally very reliable, but will throw the odd four figure bill. Buy a nail and it will be a very bitter experience. If you find a good one, your mileage is low and you are prepared for the odd big costs, then it should be good fun.
typer0612 said:
im just looking for E46 M3 owners who have kept their M3'S FOR 2-3 years and how much they have spent on maintaining one in general?
22 months. 13,000 miles. 19" wheel refurb - £420ish at Lepsons
Replacement rear springs - £190 parts from BMW
Inspection 1 at Sytner (no additional work required) - £700
2 new rear Vredestein tyres fitted - £320
NickXX said:
22 months. 13,000 miles.
19" wheel refurb - £420ish at Lepsons
Replacement rear springs - £190 parts from BMW
Inspection 1 at Sytner (no additional work required) - £700
2 new rear Vredestein tyres fitted - £320
cheers - thats what i wanted to know really... do u drive it hard or gentle? iv never had any tires lasting 10,000 miles 19" wheel refurb - £420ish at Lepsons
Replacement rear springs - £190 parts from BMW
Inspection 1 at Sytner (no additional work required) - £700
2 new rear Vredestein tyres fitted - £320
Big E 118 said:
I always look at it like this. The Civic new would be (equivalent to today) a £20k car, the M3 would be a £50k car new. Look at the scale for new costs and use the same scale for running costs.
Just beware with the M3 that if something does go wrong and you don't have a warranty it will be expensive. Personally I only looked at M3's with warranties.
If you're happy with the costs go for an M3, you will have a blast and it will feel very different to your Type R! Let us know what you decide.
sounds realistic... tbh the civic has cost me f.a to run... apart from buying it and insuring it tbh Just beware with the M3 that if something does go wrong and you don't have a warranty it will be expensive. Personally I only looked at M3's with warranties.
If you're happy with the costs go for an M3, you will have a blast and it will feel very different to your Type R! Let us know what you decide.
its cost me less than my saxo VTS (probably cos it was unreliable)
rossw46 said:
Ill be impressed if you can get insured on an M3 at your age for £1k with or without telling porkies!
had a quote for just over 1k actually on elephant's website although im with admiral at the moment (same mother company anyway)il be looking into them further and maybe test driving one soon-ish then il decide whenther or not to go for one... il report back when iv actually driven one! i might put the idea on hold til im 22 but tbh i want the M3 in time for the summer
and in regards to parts, if i buy one without full bmw service history or part it wont make any difference to the re-sale value really will it?
Edited by typer0612 on Tuesday 5th April 00:45
Edited by typer0612 on Tuesday 5th April 00:45
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