M3 3.0

Author
Discussion

graememac

Original Poster:

610 posts

211 months

Tuesday 10th April 2007
quotequote all
Just seen an E36 M3 3.0 on autotrader with 100,000 miles for £4775. it has full service history and looks tidy from the pictures.
Would a car of that mileage/age be a money pit, can anyone give me an idea of running costs servicing?? is that about the right price.
i would like the performance but i'm after something that wont cost too much to run.

M5Dave

829 posts

216 months

Tuesday 10th April 2007
quotequote all
E36 M3 3.0 is a strong car, that doesn't have any known major mechanical problems waiting to bite you, and if properly maintained should sail past 100,000 miles without any problem. Although for complete peace of mind I would get it inspected by someone who knows these cars.

They need serviced about every 7,000 miles, and if you can find a good independant specialist near you it shouln't be too expensive, as they're fairly straightforward.

Ideally you're looking for a nice, properly maintained, original car(no boy racer add ons), in a good colour(avus blue, daytona violet etc), with good spec(leather interior and wider 5 spoke wheels). If the car you're looking at ticks these boxes, then IMO the price aint bad.

graememac

Original Poster:

610 posts

211 months

Tuesday 10th April 2007
quotequote all
thanks for that. What kind of price am i looking at for a sevice at an inpedendant??

M5Dave

829 posts

216 months

Wednesday 11th April 2007
quotequote all
The prices will vary between garages. I would budget around £120 for the oil service, between £250 and £300 for the inspection 1 and about another £100 on top of that for the inspection 2.

e36guy

5,906 posts

225 months

Thursday 12th April 2007
quotequote all
Lot's of people will give your horror stories about the Evos (not always warranted!) but the 3.0s are pretty bomb-proof and there are barely any performance differences between 3.0 & Evo in the real world. A 100k one that is well looked after is nothing. However - like any premium vehicle, the History is paramount. If it's hooky in any way - walk on by. There are loads of e36M3s always for sale so another will be along in a minute. Remember - it's not just th engine that's covered 100k - everything else has too so make sure ot be checking suspensions/brakes and all sorts.

jaker

3,934 posts

276 months

Friday 13th April 2007
quotequote all
'scuse my ignorance, but did the 3.0 come in a four door variant as well, or was that just the evo?

ta

jaker

M5Dave

829 posts

216 months

Friday 13th April 2007
quotequote all
Yes the 3.0 was available as a coupe, 4 door saloon, or convertible.

jaker

3,934 posts

276 months

Friday 13th April 2007
quotequote all
yeah, I've just found one... they seem to be as rare as hens teeth though... would love to run one as a daily driver, but would prefer 4 doors...

steil

1,113 posts

246 months

Friday 13th April 2007
quotequote all
jaker said:
yeah, I've just found one... they seem to be as rare as hens teeth though... would love to run one as a daily driver, but would prefer 4 doors...


You said it - fabulous family car - esp in a low key colour!

May be selling mine later this year if the family expands...

mboon

955 posts

209 months

Monday 4th June 2007
quotequote all
I have a 3.0 M3 5 door, great car, bomb proof, stunning performace. Cant go wrong.

I paid £5500 for mine nearly two years ago, fbmwsh, 97,000 on the clock, leather, standard and unabused and the best bit, garaged its whole life! no rust what so ever, I use this as a daily car and a part from being a little firsty around town a grat car.

Your not going to find a perfect car of this age, every car has there faults. luckly for me its only the discs that need changing (£100 a disc gulp)

To be fair, just before you find out the price of servicing, just remember this is a race prep engine. Two of these bolted together and you got the F1 engine. For an inspection 2 (the big one) it will cost in the region of £500. This is for everything done, new tapets, throtel bodies, plugs, oil, filters, you name it.

I would recomend getting a specialist to do the work to it as the dealers are a con.

Hope this helps, let us know how it goes.

Cheers

Mark

Hongkongfooi

627 posts

254 months

Tuesday 5th June 2007
quotequote all
mboon said:
I have a 3.0 M3 5 door, great car, bomb proof, stunning performace. Cant go wrong.

I paid £5500 for mine nearly two years ago, fbmwsh, 97,000 on the clock, leather, standard and unabused and the best bit, garaged its whole life! no rust what so ever, I use this as a daily car and a part from being a little firsty around town a grat car.

Your not going to find a perfect car of this age, every car has there faults. luckly for me its only the discs that need changing (£100 a disc gulp)

To be fair, just before you find out the price of servicing, just remember this is a race prep engine. Two of these bolted together and you got the F1 engine. For an inspection 2 (the big one) it will cost in the region of £500. This is for everything done, new tapets, throtel bodies, plugs, oil, filters, you name it.

I would recomend getting a specialist to do the work to it as the dealers are a con.


Hope this helps, let us know how it goes.

Cheers

Mark
Don't mean to be pedantic but they dont replace throttle bodies or tappets for the insp 2 as that would be soo expensive. they re- shim the tappets allowing for adjusting back as I am led to believe. You can pay up to £1000 at a main dealer for an insp 2 but yes £500 nearer the mark for an independant.

pikeyboy

2,349 posts

221 months

Wednesday 6th June 2007
quotequote all
Hongkongfooi said:
mboon said:
I have a 3.0 M3 5 door, great car, bomb proof, stunning performace. Cant go wrong.

I paid £5500 for mine nearly two years ago, fbmwsh, 97,000 on the clock, leather, standard and unabused and the best bit, garaged its whole life! no rust what so ever, I use this as a daily car and a part from being a little firsty around town a grat car.

Your not going to find a perfect car of this age, every car has there faults. luckly for me its only the discs that need changing (£100 a disc gulp)

To be fair, just before you find out the price of servicing, just remember this is a race prep engine. Two of these bolted together and you got the F1 engine. For an inspection 2 (the big one) it will cost in the region of £500. This is for everything done, new tapets, throtel bodies, plugs, oil, filters, you name it.

I would recomend getting a specialist to do the work to it as the dealers are a con.


Hope this helps, let us know how it goes.

Cheers

Mark
Don't mean to be pedantic but they dont replace throttle bodies or tappets for the insp 2 as that would be soo expensive. they re- shim the tappets allowing for adjusting back as I am led to believe. You can pay up to £1000 at a main dealer for an insp 2 but yes £500 nearer the mark for an
independant.
yep as above and i guess they would balance the throttle bodies like on my old e30.