Discussion
hi all, i thinking of trading my elise in for a second hand m coupe, and would just like to know if you think this is a good idea, and just want some info on your experiences with the car, ie reliabity, performance, comfort etc
i have heard from a few sources that the 0-60 is 4.3 sec is that correct?
many thanks for any replies
i have heard from a few sources that the 0-60 is 4.3 sec is that correct?
many thanks for any replies
Most of the magazines rated the Mcoupe very highly. As you probably know, its it based on the Z3. When it first came out it had the same engine as the M3 Evo - 3.2 litres and 321 bhp. Post 2000 MY cars use a slightly detuned version of the current M3 engine and have dynamic Stability control fitted (the original version had no DSC and since it has suspension from the E30 (from the late 80's, but very much uprated though), the handling can get interesting.
Evo magazine did a buyers guide in issue 45.
The summary says:
Engine: Weakness in the Vanos variable valve timing system . A grating noise from the front of the engine means an £1800 bill.
Tyres: Tyres wear is light considering the power, 15-20000 miles a set.
Wheels: - check for kerbing as they cost £900 per set.
Suspension: Costs are not that bad - £102 for a front shock, £80 rear.
servicing at a main dealer is as follows:
Oil: £60
Inspection1: £358
Inspection2 £398.
One of the members here had one (ascender), if you look at his profile you may find a link to his website, which will give you more...
Evo magazine did a buyers guide in issue 45.
The summary says:
Engine: Weakness in the Vanos variable valve timing system . A grating noise from the front of the engine means an £1800 bill.
Tyres: Tyres wear is light considering the power, 15-20000 miles a set.
Wheels: - check for kerbing as they cost £900 per set.
Suspension: Costs are not that bad - £102 for a front shock, £80 rear.
servicing at a main dealer is as follows:
Oil: £60
Inspection1: £358
Inspection2 £398.
One of the members here had one (ascender), if you look at his profile you may find a link to his website, which will give you more...
Suggest you buy the Evo buying guide, it's pretty accurate.
Mine's a late 98 with 52k miles, no major issues in a year, my servicing costs more than douglasr mentions, but will try and find a "4 plus" dealer (4yrs old = cheaper servicing) that does M's.
As per the guide, try and get one with BMW warranty,can extend each year for £399 but once its run out you can't re-new it. I say this cos new engine is £12k plus vat and fitting !..
As stated, rear suspension a bit crude (but similar to E30 M3 I'd guess) so traction control would be nice in the wet..but unless being daft its pretty well behaved. I find engine *slightly* gutless low revs (under 2.5k) so this probably helps keep it being too much of a handful.
Reasonably comfortable, bit low geared tho' (90mph =4k revs) and if much over 6ft might be short of legroom. Small tank, I under up refilling after under 250miles and get around 23/24 mpg (mainly commuting,not much motorway).
Ref performance, Evo did get 4.3 to 60 and 11.6 to 100 which is rapid (for its power/wt seems a little 2 rapid!) and makes ribbing mates with Elises etc fun!
For the money difficult to find anything so fast + reliable + distinctive.
Happy hunting!
Mine's a late 98 with 52k miles, no major issues in a year, my servicing costs more than douglasr mentions, but will try and find a "4 plus" dealer (4yrs old = cheaper servicing) that does M's.
As per the guide, try and get one with BMW warranty,can extend each year for £399 but once its run out you can't re-new it. I say this cos new engine is £12k plus vat and fitting !..
As stated, rear suspension a bit crude (but similar to E30 M3 I'd guess) so traction control would be nice in the wet..but unless being daft its pretty well behaved. I find engine *slightly* gutless low revs (under 2.5k) so this probably helps keep it being too much of a handful.
Reasonably comfortable, bit low geared tho' (90mph =4k revs) and if much over 6ft might be short of legroom. Small tank, I under up refilling after under 250miles and get around 23/24 mpg (mainly commuting,not much motorway).
Ref performance, Evo did get 4.3 to 60 and 11.6 to 100 which is rapid (for its power/wt seems a little 2 rapid!) and makes ribbing mates with Elises etc fun!
For the money difficult to find anything so fast + reliable + distinctive.
Happy hunting!
yes i agree very few cars can match it for performance in the same price bracket or even above.
not to worried about the comfort, as any car will seem luxuary compared to the elise!
The warrenty seems very good value for £399, as i belive from reading posts on here covers nearly everything for up to 100,000 miles.
it has central locking
airbags
aircon
electric windows
electric seats, im in heaven after an elsise.
The only other cars that catches my eye are:
LOTUS EXIGE
NEW CLIO V6 [coming out in may]
not to worried about the comfort, as any car will seem luxuary compared to the elise!
The warrenty seems very good value for £399, as i belive from reading posts on here covers nearly everything for up to 100,000 miles.
it has central locking
airbags
aircon
electric windows
electric seats, im in heaven after an elsise.
The only other cars that catches my eye are:
LOTUS EXIGE
NEW CLIO V6 [coming out in may]
Very different cars u mention! For me M Coupe is a 911 on the cheap, prob half price of similar spec 911.
Current V6 Clio gets indifferent reviews,too heavy and expensive. Clio 172/Cup at 12 grand brand new seems better bet to me..
Buying guide to Exige in this months Evo, good for track days, I guess but so is a normal one/135/160 etc..
All depends wot u need the car for really!
Current V6 Clio gets indifferent reviews,too heavy and expensive. Clio 172/Cup at 12 grand brand new seems better bet to me..
Buying guide to Exige in this months Evo, good for track days, I guess but so is a normal one/135/160 etc..
All depends wot u need the car for really!
i would only be to using it a a daily road car, but i do want something that has got big power and stand out looks, all 3 cars, clio v6, exige, and bmw have both of these but having an elise at the moment would like to go for something a bit different, thats why not that keen on a exige although i know alot about the car [member of exiges.com]its still a race elise with a roof.
is there a certain year i should go for? and what sort of prices should i be expecting to pay.
i have a budget of around £26k
is there a certain year i should go for? and what sort of prices should i be expecting to pay.
i have a budget of around £26k
I've had an M roadster for the last year, and when I come to change (april), a coupe will be on the list of replacements.
Couple of points - everybody and his dog will tell you about the VANOS problems. The vast majority had the bolt upgrade done on warrenty (dealer will be able to tell you if this has been done). Even if not the mod is only replacing £15 worth of bolts and can be done in 15mins - and no more VANOS danger.
Get the tyres changed ASAP, the OE Dunlop 8080s are unspeakably sh1te, and I think quite a lot of people are put off after testing on standard tyres. A set of F1's transforms the tail behaviour.
Maintaining the BMW warrenty make a big difference to resale values and ease of sale. It can be quite difficult to sell one without warrenty - for £400 its a no-brainer.
If you want something even more special the ACSchnitzer suspension kit costs £1200 (+VAT, IIRC) and absolutely transforms the handling of the car (by all reports, I've only passengered, but corner speed was noticably increased, and slidiness seemed more predictable).
On the post 2000 cars a replacement exhaust makes a massive difference to power, as the engine is the 348 (or whatever) engine from the new M3, strangled by an over restrictive short pipe system.
Do it, enjoy it.
Couple of points - everybody and his dog will tell you about the VANOS problems. The vast majority had the bolt upgrade done on warrenty (dealer will be able to tell you if this has been done). Even if not the mod is only replacing £15 worth of bolts and can be done in 15mins - and no more VANOS danger.
Get the tyres changed ASAP, the OE Dunlop 8080s are unspeakably sh1te, and I think quite a lot of people are put off after testing on standard tyres. A set of F1's transforms the tail behaviour.
Maintaining the BMW warrenty make a big difference to resale values and ease of sale. It can be quite difficult to sell one without warrenty - for £400 its a no-brainer.
If you want something even more special the ACSchnitzer suspension kit costs £1200 (+VAT, IIRC) and absolutely transforms the handling of the car (by all reports, I've only passengered, but corner speed was noticably increased, and slidiness seemed more predictable).
On the post 2000 cars a replacement exhaust makes a massive difference to power, as the engine is the 348 (or whatever) engine from the new M3, strangled by an over restrictive short pipe system.
Do it, enjoy it.
agreed - I've had 2 over the last 3 years - 1st one stolen after 5 weeks (hooking of keys) - 2nd bought new has been great fun - service costs very manageable - its in at Hexagon for the big Insp 2 at 30k as I type and seems to be OK for a sub £1k bill - all the other services have been very low - highest £500 - I'm likely to sell soon and probably opt for Pork but I'll really miss it - loads of positive attention (keyed once)and extremely usable initially in the NW and latterly in central London - can't recommend highly enough -
i bought my m coupe 12 months ago, from new. fantastic car. the power is awesome. handles superbly, far better than the roadster, as would be expected. and it's true, you just never see them around, unlike the m3. i'd recommend one to anyone. insurance wise, i have found elephant.co.uk far cheaper than anyone else. i previously had an s2000. that too was a great car, but with the m coupe, talk about torque!!
happy hunting.
happy hunting.
Out of interest, does the servicing HAVE TO be done at BMW or are there decent indpendent specialists ? Alsoe what are the intervals?
I am also an elise owner looking to switch. - roadster not coupe.
what kind of (yawn-sorry) MPG do they get ? as my current elise is very good and I have a 250 mile weekly commute
I am also an elise owner looking to switch. - roadster not coupe.
what kind of (yawn-sorry) MPG do they get ? as my current elise is very good and I have a 250 mile weekly commute
servicing - why would you go elsewhere ? the costs are already very reasonable at main dealers - I've done 40k and biggest bill so far is a lot under £1k and most have been under £500 - compared to aything comparable that is great
Petrol - well earlier in the thread others have mentioned the pathetic small tank - in terms of MPG I'd say very much dependant on driving style - I've had 25+ for tootling and 15 and perhaps less on a hoon in Germany
Go for it - you know it makes sense - I've been meaning to sell for ages and still can't make my mind up what to replace it with - I was all set to go to a 993t and then decided to keep for a while longer
Petrol - well earlier in the thread others have mentioned the pathetic small tank - in terms of MPG I'd say very much dependant on driving style - I've had 25+ for tootling and 15 and perhaps less on a hoon in Germany
Go for it - you know it makes sense - I've been meaning to sell for ages and still can't make my mind up what to replace it with - I was all set to go to a 993t and then decided to keep for a while longer
hi ive had my o2 m coupe now for 3 mouths and what an amazing car, so much power yet so easy to use as an everyday car.
petrol wise i get about 22-25 mpg, the tank is tiny so only get arond 200 miles before i have to refil.
please go to our site www.z3mcoupe.com
one of the best m coupe sites in the world.
petrol wise i get about 22-25 mpg, the tank is tiny so only get arond 200 miles before i have to refil.
please go to our site www.z3mcoupe.com
one of the best m coupe sites in the world.
My last car was a 993 C2 and I must admit that the M Coupe blows it away in every way except alienating, other road users.
Love it to bits and they are so rare.
and for god sake do not by the roadster !!!!
drive both and you will know why. (shake rattle and roll)
and you won't look like a big girl.
>> Edited by gibo993 on Friday 24th October 15:10
Love it to bits and they are so rare.
and for god sake do not by the roadster !!!!
drive both and you will know why. (shake rattle and roll)
and you won't look like a big girl.
>> Edited by gibo993 on Friday 24th October 15:10
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