Smg M3? No warranty...
Discussion
Hi everybody, just joined the forum. Sorry in advance this is a long one!! I'm currently in the market for an E46 M3, the problem being I will be buying one in the UK and importing it into Ireland. If I get a warranty from a british garage it won't be worth anything here. Obviously I'm not going to jump back on a ferry everytime something needs doing on the car. This is the dilemma... Is it a foolish decision to buy an 02 or 03 M3 SMG with probably 60k on it with no warranty? Is the manual a safer bet? I don't want to face big SMG maintenance bills which would normally be covered by a warranty. Another reason I'm swaying towards the manual is my Girlfriend drives my car (not very often) when it suits me e.g. to collect me from the pub etc... lol. I somehow doubt she'll be able to master the SMG considering the fact that Her 07 Golf GT is manual and despite me trying my best to get her to buy the DSG she couldn't master it!!lol. Thanks in advance for any advice, Mark, Ireland. Great forum by the way
How close to Northern Ireland are you? If you buy an Approved Used Car from a UK BMW dealer, you can take the car to any Northern Ireland dealer for warranty repairs.
There seems to be a pretty even split amongst M3 owners between those that favour manual cars, and those that favour SMG
I think the manual boxes are generally more reliable than the SMG, although to be fair, it seems most of the problems are software related rather than mechanical, and can be quickly rectified by the dealers.
I wouldn't be inclined to buy a car like an M3 without a fairly comprehensive warranty, and preferably the BMW AUC warranty.
There seems to be a pretty even split amongst M3 owners between those that favour manual cars, and those that favour SMG
I think the manual boxes are generally more reliable than the SMG, although to be fair, it seems most of the problems are software related rather than mechanical, and can be quickly rectified by the dealers.
I wouldn't be inclined to buy a car like an M3 without a fairly comprehensive warranty, and preferably the BMW AUC warranty.
Heya, im alittle confused, what is there to master with the SMG? its a semi-automatic gearbox but can be used as a normal auto if you dont want the fuss of using the paddleshift? i had the SMG gearbox on my old m3 and it really did make the car for me, i thought it was fantastic, once it was warmed up and stop jerking about it was great fun. However you are right to have some concern in buying one without a warranty because if something major goes wrong with the box you are looking at a potentially large repair bill where as a manual box has less to go wrong. Its a tough decision, and i must also add when my m3 hit the 60k mark i started getting dodgy warning display lights comming on my dash related to the smg gearbox, one meaning i was having an gearbox overload??? however this wasnt the only light that would come on, the tyre pressure light would come on also one saying the traction control was no longer working, maybe a sensor issue as usually happened when i was hammering the car.
Anyway, if it was me and there was no chance of me getting a warranty i personally knowing what i do about the smg box and how much fun it can be would still go ahead and buy one. You would be unlucky for it to go wrong as you dont often hear of them having major failures and there are loads of high mileage e46's out there now.
Good luck.
Anyway, if it was me and there was no chance of me getting a warranty i personally knowing what i do about the smg box and how much fun it can be would still go ahead and buy one. You would be unlucky for it to go wrong as you dont often hear of them having major failures and there are loads of high mileage e46's out there now.
Good luck.
From what i've heard the smg on the E46 is alot better than the E36
Having said that I believe there are hydraulic pumps etc in the system which are always going to be more likely to fail that a metal rod and thanks to BMW are insainly expencive to replace ( I think the E36 one is the best part of 3K for the pump)
Also if the E46 SMG did fail it might not be a massive job to convert it to manual anyway.
Having said that I believe there are hydraulic pumps etc in the system which are always going to be more likely to fail that a metal rod and thanks to BMW are insainly expencive to replace ( I think the E36 one is the best part of 3K for the pump)
Also if the E46 SMG did fail it might not be a massive job to convert it to manual anyway.
MPowerMark said:
Heya, im alittle confused, what is there to master with the SMG? its a semi-automatic gearbox but can be used as a normal auto if you dont want the fuss of using the paddleshift? i had the SMG gearbox on my old m3 and it really did make the car for me, i thought it was fantastic, once it was warmed up and stop jerking about it was great fun. However you are right to have some concern in buying one without a warranty because if something major goes wrong with the box you are looking at a potentially large repair bill where as a manual box has less to go wrong. Its a tough decision, and i must also add when my m3 hit the 60k mark i started getting dodgy warning display lights comming on my dash related to the smg gearbox, one meaning i was having an gearbox overload??? however this wasnt the only light that would come on, the tyre pressure light would come on also one saying the traction control was no longer working, maybe a sensor issue as usually happened when i was hammering the car.
Anyway, if it was me and there was no chance of me getting a warranty i personally knowing what i do about the smg box and how much fun it can be would still go ahead and buy one. You would be unlucky for it to go wrong as you dont often hear of them having major failures and there are loads of high mileage e46's out there now.
Good luck.
Hiya doin mate, I have no problem with the gearbox, Everything takes a little while to get used to. Its my girlfriend, she's not the most mechanically minded and could possibly single handedly lead to serious damage to a gearbox that doesn't simply have a clutch and a gearstick!!!lol My heart is saying SMG but my head says manual purely for the peace of mind! either way its a great car...Anyway, if it was me and there was no chance of me getting a warranty i personally knowing what i do about the smg box and how much fun it can be would still go ahead and buy one. You would be unlucky for it to go wrong as you dont often hear of them having major failures and there are loads of high mileage e46's out there now.
Good luck.
johndoe said:
Why are you considering buying an M3 in England/NI when they're cheaper in the ROI when you consider travel time, VRT etc? The choice of cars for sale in Ireland is also pretty impressive......
Hi,A lot of the M3's for sale in Ireland are originally UK cars which were cheaper high mileage cars.. Most of which haven't got full service history etc.. Trust me I learnt the hard way before!! I've bought my last 4 cars (Bmw 330cd, bmw 530d sport, Golf R32, Audi S3) all in the UK which had full history along with folders full of receipts. Anyway I will get a higher spec M3 in the UK and have it reg'd here for less than an average spec one here and also get a night on the beer somewhere in britain!!
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