info on E46 M3

[nottyash]

I am about to buy a black Coupe 54 reg.
Is there anything to look out for, and what are the differences throughout the years?
I know this one has the LED lights. When was that changed?

Thanks

[Overhaulin]

Dealer or private ?.

When was the running service done - should no more than 1700 miles.
When was last major service i.e Inspection II ( that will be a fairly big bill even at an indy ).

I think the only mechanical issues were rear springs snapping and the rear trailing arm bushes going.

If looked after they are very reliable. never had a problem in 3.5 yrs.

When cold it can sound quiet rough and have a tendancy to "kangeroo"

Have a serach through past threads on here too.

Take it steady for a while until you are used to it, especially in the winter

All I can add is you will enjoy it.

[nottyash]

Its an indipendant dealer and negotiated £17250
Its got 36000 miles on, and has had the initial service at about 1200 miles.
I noticed warranty work on the suspension on a BMW reciept. the price will include 4 tyres and the latest BMW service which is due.

[waremark]

I have not been following prices of these, but in a world where 1 year old E92's are going for just over half price, the money sounds quite steep???

[nottyash]

Having looked around i think you do get what you pay for. Ive seen 2 private similar cars at just over 15 grand....BUT miles are 20000 higher and 1 needs tyres.
Ive noticed silver ones are quite a bit cheaper though.

As for new ones half price after a year, with the currant financial problems a majority of these are sold as company cars. The bottoms fallen out the market.
My Mate bought an RS4 for £52000 and passed it onto a dealer after 1 year for £36000. That dealer now has it up at £34000!! Thats crazy!

I think all cars fall to an "affordable" level and stay around that for a while. M3s seem to be 12 grand for a semi decent one

[Noel]

As an owner of a 52 plate I had thought prices were dropping quicker. I paid 17K back in Feb for the best condition car I could find sub £20K. The state of some cars which were supposedly spotless was shocking.

The warranty is attractive but what does it cover? (If AUC ignore me). They can be costly to fix, my SMG box is bu99ered and the car has been of the road for 6 weeks whilst the problems are sorted. I wouldn't buy SMG again just to avoid the potential ££.

[gizlaroc]

Well I have a 2002 carbon black with kiwi, SMG with nav, TV, Harman Kardon, heated seats, folding mirrors, CD changer, 19" wheels, LED rear lights, tracker..... in fact every option apart from the sun roof and rear blind it has 65k miles on it, had all the bushes changed 4k miles ago and a new clutch fitted, with 12 months MOT, TAX and 11 months warranty and I reckon I would get £12950 for it.

It's just not worth selling it really, great if you are a buyer though.


I will say that looking recently there are some real dogs out there, some of the 40k mile cars are shagged, obviously spent most of those 40k miles in a city going over speed bumps all day every day.
So you have to be careful and really buy on condition and not age or mileage with these cars.

[Aerostar]

I suspect the car Notty has just bought is the car at redline, which I was about to buy, but I couldn't find anyone to do an inspection on it.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHH

[Vixpy1]

gizlaroc said:

Well I have a 2002 carbon black with kiwi, SMG with nav, TV, Harman Kardon, heated seats, folding mirrors, CD changer, 19" wheels, LED rear lights, tracker..... in fact every option apart from the sun roof and rear blind it has 65k miles on it, had all the bushes changed 4k miles ago and a new clutch fitted, with 12 months MOT, TAX and 11 months warranty and I reckon I would get £12950 for it.

Mine is almost the same spec but with 88K on it, I reckon 11.5K at an absolute push for mine.

[nottyash]

Aerostar said:

I suspect the car Notty has just bought is the car at redline, which I was about to buy, but I couldn't find anyone to do an inspection on it.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHH

Your exactly right!!

[M3RMS]

nottyash said:

the price will include 4 tyres and the latest BMW service which is due.

Make sure they don't skimp on the rubber. I bought one from a well-known indie a year or so ago and they tried to put some real sh*** on as they were cheap. You really don't want to do that. If it means paying the difference to get some proper boots on I'd recommend you do it. (Of course they may already be putting some good ones one).

Cheers
RS

[M3RMS]

Vixpy1 said:

Mine is almost the same spec but with 88K on it, I reckon 11.5K at an absolute push for mine.

My boss just sold his. 53 plate. SMG, fully loaded. Silver with black leather. 84k on the clock. FBMWSH, no expense spared, BWM warranty, tax, MOT, new tyres. He got £10.5k for it in the end and had spent 4 months trying to get rid of it (whilst simultaneously running his brand new 58 plate M3!).

It's tough out there at the moment.... I got offered £15k on the trade for mine, which is also SMG, fully loaded but on an 05 and 48k on the clock. Shocking.

[Russ182]

Hi,

Looking upgrade from my Clio 182 to an M3 in the next 12months. Could someone tell me what options were available on the car? Which are more desirable etc?

Thanks, Russ

[gizlaroc]

Blue tooth
PDC
Folding Mirrors
Heated steats
TV
Sat Nav
Harmon Kardon
Rear Blind
Teletext / FreeView
centre armrest
6 disc multi changer
SMG gearbox
19" alloys
High Gloss Shadow Line
Grad Tint Windscreen
Voice Activation
Rear Side Airbags
Ski Bag Through Loading
Storage Pack
Trim levels i.e. Piano Black, Burr Walnut etc.
Individual Options for Interior and Exterior

[Martial Arts Man]

My advice is:

This will cost you £££ money if you want to drive it hard. Make sure this doesn't come as a nasty surprise.

Otherwise.......enjoy!

MAM

P.S. Traction control is best left off at all times

[mat205125]

As someone thinking of buying a similar car, what are the tyre costs for the 19" wheels?

What does a pair of fronts cost, and a pair of rears?

[gizlaroc]

Depends on the tyres really, the Michelin Pilot Sport 2's are the best and for those you will be looking at around £500 for rears and £300 for fronts.

You can get a set of Falken FK542's or Kuhmo 31's for around £550 for all 4.

[nottyash]

The garage rang to ask if Toyo tyres were Ok, but offered Coninentals for £110 more. They said Coninental and Bridgestone are reccomended by BMW.
I went for the Conti's, although I think Toyo's are a good tyre.

[mat205125]

gizlaroc said:

Depends on the tyres really, the Michelin Pilot Sport 2's are the best and for those you will be looking at around £500 for rears and £300 for fronts.

You can get a set of Falken FK542's or Kuhmo 31's for around £550 for all 4.

A pair?

Each?

Is that retail too? I'll get trade and fit myself anyway

[Aerostar]

Notty, When I looked at the car I found neither wing mirrors were working, the offside rear bumper had come loose from one of the clippings, and I reckoned on the front discs not having too much life in them.

I don't know enough about M3s to know if the wing mirrors were a simple fuse, or needed something more. The battery was dead as well, so I reckon it need one of those too, since it looked like the original.