yet another 'thinking of buying an e46 M3 thread'..

[phatmanace]

hi folks,

I'm thinking about buying an E46 M3 (would really like a convertible one) . I've spent a couple of evenings perusing this forum to try and make sure I don't ask questions that have been asked before. Key points seem to be

- Running in service essential at <1750 miles.
- Rear springs snapping on some cars.
- VANOS unit problems on high milage examples.
- SMG/Manual seems to be a preference - so having one or the other doesn't affect resale particularly
- SMG II is much better on E46 than previous generations.
- SatNav does affect resale but less so than having a good service history.

normally, I buy my cars privately - and have never bought a car from a main dealer. This time though, I think that it might be the right thing to do (and paying for the extended warranty) given what might go wrong, and how much it might cost if it does.

do folks have an opinion on whether doing this is sensible. or would be more prudent to get a privately owned one, with a service history, and put 5k in a savings account just in case.

Cheers & thanks in advance.
-ace


-ace

[Chessers]

Depends on what you are spending. I purchased mine from a dealer mainly because of the condition and ultra low mileage.

Friend of mine brought privately, car was still under extended warranty anyway so if there had been a horror story he would have been covered. Think he extended his warranrty with Warranty Direct and saved about £300 per year(some people say good things about them, some people bad things) through BMW owners club.

SMG II is a great gearbox in my opinion once you realise a tiny lift before change makes all of the difference they are pretty smooth. I got mine loaded, Sat Nav, 19's etc and it does seem like the specced ones sell easier.

Springs are common problems, but easy fix, VANOS on these is not so much of an issue IMHO.

Most important thing is that running in service, if it hasn't been done walk away and take very large steps !!

Edited by Chessers on Sunday 10th February 11:45

[petrolhead76]

Running in service was less than 1500 miles if IIRC.

I thought the VANOS issue was with the e36 not the e46.

[M3 BABY!!]

The 53 Reg onwards M3's had the LED rear lights fitted and also there were no major recalls needed after this period.

[phatmanace]

thanks folks - I'll also go and have a look at mtorque as well - as that also seems to be a mine of information!

-ace

[Vixpy1]

petrolhead76 said:

I thought the VANOS issue was with the e36 not the e46.

Its rare, but it does sometimes fail.

Just had 2 new rear spings on mine, one was snapped in half! about 75 a corner plus about 15 mins a side to fit.

Check the diff on the SMG cars too, most will have had the uprated one fitted when the orig packed up, but not all.