E36 M3 running costs
Discussion
I may have to make a snap decision on an M3 tomorrow - chap wants to swap it with my Elise.
It's a 96 M3 Evo saloon, 55k FSH. not sure if Vanos has been done.
Insurance I know about.
I do 20k miles a year, a fair bit of which is motorway.
any hints on running costs - especially servicing?
cheers all
It's a 96 M3 Evo saloon, 55k FSH. not sure if Vanos has been done.
Insurance I know about.
I do 20k miles a year, a fair bit of which is motorway.
any hints on running costs - especially servicing?
cheers all
NDT said:
I may have to make a snap decision on an M3 tomorrow - chap wants to swap it with my Elise.
It's a 96 M3 Evo saloon, 55k FSH. not sure if Vanos has been done.
Insurance I know about.
I do 20k miles a year, a fair bit of which is motorway.
any hints on running costs - especially servicing?
Assumin its a 'P' reg Glasses sees it at abt £10.5k
CAP around £10k
cheers all
Pop over to www.bm3w.co.uk to ask about the potential problems, there are lot of E36 'experts' 
on there and there are a lot of past threads on E36's. Vanos is a known problem with the Evo.
>> Edited by john_p on Friday 15th August 19:20
on there and there are a lot of past threads on E36's. Vanos is a known problem with the Evo. >> Edited by john_p on Friday 15th August 19:20
If it has full main dealer history and is still under warranty (extendable from BMW if it was never allowed to lapse) then go for it.
They ain't that cheap to service if you keep it BMW - £150 for an oil service, £550+ for an Inspection 1 and £800+ for inpsection 2.
Vanos can be dodgy on 3.2 cars and if out of warranty, £1500 a go to change.
They ain't that cheap to service if you keep it BMW - £150 for an oil service, £550+ for an Inspection 1 and £800+ for inpsection 2.
Vanos can be dodgy on 3.2 cars and if out of warranty, £1500 a go to change.
RE The Vanos Issue:- In this months BMW CAR magazine, someone wrote in regarding VANOS:::::The Reply:-
With the youngest vehicles being 6 years old the E36 has fallen out of BMW's 3 yr warranty scheme, subsequently VANOS units will not be replaced under the terms and conditions that applied 3 years ago. Although there was no safety recall, BMW instigated a 'Quality enhancement' scheme which applies to E36's built from Oct 1995 to Oct 1999. The open ended scheme covers full warranty replacement of the vanos unit and all relevant E36's will have had their unit's replaced unless they prematurely dropped out of the dealer network. If the car was checked in for a service the chassis number would have been taken automatically and logged into BMW's viewdata system, which would inform the Technician of any outstanding issues on that particular car. It's unlikely that many car's unit has been missed but those who have slipped through the net will be replaced by BMW.
AS FOR THE FAULT ITSELF, ACCORDING TO TECHNICIANS THE PROBLEM STEMS FROM OIL FILTER CLOGGING UP AND STARVING VANOS UNIT OF LUBRICATION AND EVENTUALLY CAUSING FAILURE......
>> Edited by v8 mark on Sunday 17th August 09:24
With the youngest vehicles being 6 years old the E36 has fallen out of BMW's 3 yr warranty scheme, subsequently VANOS units will not be replaced under the terms and conditions that applied 3 years ago. Although there was no safety recall, BMW instigated a 'Quality enhancement' scheme which applies to E36's built from Oct 1995 to Oct 1999. The open ended scheme covers full warranty replacement of the vanos unit and all relevant E36's will have had their unit's replaced unless they prematurely dropped out of the dealer network. If the car was checked in for a service the chassis number would have been taken automatically and logged into BMW's viewdata system, which would inform the Technician of any outstanding issues on that particular car. It's unlikely that many car's unit has been missed but those who have slipped through the net will be replaced by BMW.
AS FOR THE FAULT ITSELF, ACCORDING TO TECHNICIANS THE PROBLEM STEMS FROM OIL FILTER CLOGGING UP AND STARVING VANOS UNIT OF LUBRICATION AND EVENTUALLY CAUSING FAILURE......
>> Edited by v8 mark on Sunday 17th August 09:24
NDT said:
thanks all.
I assume it's variable servicing on these?
do you know what the average mileage between services is?
Really does depend on how/where you drive it.
If it is all M-Ways then 10-12k is realistic, but I have driven the last 5k in central London and it wants another service already!
The poll about Vanos on www.bm3w.co.uk/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=95571&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1 shows that it is a problem that cannot be ignored.
My old 3.0 M3 used to do 7 - 8k between services. At the BMW dealer they used to cost roughly £250 (small) up to around £650 (big). I never got a pair of back tyres to last more than 12k (mostly m-way cruising, not much pressing on). On longer trips it would do around 30mpg, round town 20-ish.
I ran mine from 25k to 75k, it drove as well the day I sold it as it did when I got it. The only irritation was the number of foglights that got broken by stones (6 as far as remember, I gave up fixing them eventually).
Hope this helps, for what it's worth it was one of the best cars I've owned, it just seemed to do everything well. I'd definietly have another, although I'd be a little wary of an evo because of the vanos issue.
I ran mine from 25k to 75k, it drove as well the day I sold it as it did when I got it. The only irritation was the number of foglights that got broken by stones (6 as far as remember, I gave up fixing them eventually).
Hope this helps, for what it's worth it was one of the best cars I've owned, it just seemed to do everything well. I'd definietly have another, although I'd be a little wary of an evo because of the vanos issue.
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