E46 M3 good price or not?

[Plantins]

I'm jumping in at the deep end here and thinking of purchasing a car that I know very little about ( M3's )I've got the chance of an 03 plate CSL grey, Imola red leather, manual, E46 M3 for £21,500. 31k miles full dealer service history, CSL 19" alloys, CSL boot, a nice clean car. No Sat Nav and could really do with 4 new tyres, asking price was £23,500. Private cash sale so no warranty etc, 12 months mot + 6 months tax.
Good price or not?
The car and I are both in Scotland.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

[Dino D]

I wouldn't be comfortable without a warranty... Even on a 12k 330i I got a 3rd party warranty to be safe because I just didn't have spare cash for major bills. The 3rd party warranty seemed useless though as it looked tough tio make any claims but I got the dealer to throw it in for free.

I'm sure there'll be some M owners along soon.

PS: I read in a n issue of CAR that their pretty new used e46 M3 somed some expensive problem causing it lose it's oil. All fixed under the BMW warranty though.

BTW, do you the owner and the way he drove the car?

[Plantins]

He had some warranty work done when he got the car, he said they were called back for something or other.
He drove the car pretty quick at times but probably showing what the car could do, started from cold and mentioned not to rev past the indicators which are lit until they are out. I would say the car is driven on mainly A and B roads, the car is averaging 20.8 mpg, not sure if that is good or bad?

Cheers!

[MitchT]

Big end bearing shells were the problem. They were dodgy on 'early' cars and were fixed FOC on affected vehicles. The onus is on the buyer/owner to find out from BMW customer services if it needs doing and ask their local main dealer to carry out the work if it does - they do it on any affected car whether it's under warranty or not. If the work isn't done and the big end bearing shells fail you need a new engine at a cost of £14,500 and that is only paid for by BMW if you do have a BMW warranty - you've been warned!

NB. When I say 'early' cars, that is the line spun by BMW... but someone on PHeads has a later car that failed, so I wouldn't risk having one of these cars without the warranty as BMW could argue, if you have a later car, that it isn't elligible for the recall work on the grounds that you don't have an 'early' car, but then it might fail anyway!

This problem is the main reason why the M warranty prices have gone up so much.

Edited by MitchT on Friday 14th September 21:48

[Plantins]

Decided to get one from the main dealer, abit more expensive but got sat nav and 12 month warranty etc.
Whats the price of a warranty for a 2003 M3?
If the warranty is re-newed each year, what age will BMW stop re-newing the warranty, is there an age limit for warranties on BMW cars?

Thanks for any replies!

[MitchT]

Plantins said:

Whats the price of a warranty for a 2003 M3?

Depends on the mileage. Under 60k miles it's £1,050, I think. Over £60k miles it's £1,800. In each case there is an excess... £250 on cars with over 60k miles, not sure if it's less on cars with less miles. Still want one?