E46 M3 - 4 previous owners

[torres del paine]

I test drove a 54 plate, silver/grey, manual, E46 M3 with 39,000 miles today and was very impressed overall.

The car drove very well indeed; clean and smooth acclerataion, brakes and steering were spot on as far as I could tell and there was no slack in the car at all. It really did feel tight.

And, aside from sat nav and a sunroof (neither of which I'm bothered about) it has all the options including tracker and ticks all the right boxes for me (best colour too!) except for one thing: including the current owner it has had 4 owners... should I be concerned?

Thanks in advance.

[Neil.D]

No not at all. I wouldnt be suprised if one, maybe two of the previous keepers were companies, ie the user then buying it from the company.

Remember these cars are toys and people treat them as such. One person may only keep it for a year, the next may not like it/buy a newer one etc etc.
If everything else rings true then I wouldn't lose any sleep.

[M3RMS]

I wouldn't worry too much - it doesn't necessarily mean the cars got problems, just make sure you get it properly inspected first.

I think these kind of cars tend to have lots of owners. Some people buy them just to say they've had them, other people keep them until they can afford to get something different/newer or better. I've had 8 cars in 4 years (including 2 E46 M3s).

I only sold 4 of them because they were starting to have problems (including 2 E46 M3s) ........ the other 4 were in great condition (especially the Mini Coopers S GP Works, which I only had for 6 weeks)....

I'd say make sure it comes with a proper warranty, which'll cover any probs - and then get stuck right in there. Superb cars.

Cheers
RS

[M3RMS]

torres del paine said:

E46 M3 with 39,000 miles

In case you don't already know - the next service (probably not too far off) will be the Inspection 2. And that can be really quite expensive. c£850+ from a main dealer.

Cheers
RS

[Neil.D]

True, as above. Some keep them until they need a service, tyres, brakes and clutch have gone so trade them in rather than shell out the £3k or so needed.

[torres del paine]

Thanks for the advice.

The car has had a 1200 mile running in service, an oil service and an inspection 1. Am I right in saying that another oil service is due first followed by an Inspection 2 service (inc valve inspection/adjustment)?

The tyres looked pretty fresh. The owner told me that all 4 tyres (Michelin Pilot Sports) had covered appox 4,000 miles.

The clutch and brakes are original items but felt good in the 15 minutes I had behind the wheel.

I will get an inspection done if I do decide to proceed.

[off your marks]

I wouldn't be concerned about the actual car itself being affectd by the #owners as the history, inspection and test drive will satisfy you there. I would, however pay it some attention, because like you others will qestion the number when you come to sell. Even though we all know how these cars are sold, kept and used etc there IS a stigma attached to the number of owners if it is high. People assume (not necessarlily correctly) that it may have been a hot potato and passed around due to a problem, maybe a milage cover up or crash etc.

Whilst I agree whith the sentiments of others - get a comprehensive hpi that details the owner transfer dates - look for a period where owner change was rapid etc. It may be perfectly fine and no problems - however they are a car than can be used, abused and owned by someone of the undesirable type. there are plenty around so have a good dig.

[M3RMS]

torres del paine said:

Thanks for the advice.

The car has had a 1200 mile running in service, an oil service and an inspection 1. Am I right in saying that another oil service is due first followed by an Inspection 2 service (inc valve inspection/adjustment)?

Correct. It's inspection-oil-inspection-oil etc.

But 'typically' I'd have expected the oil to have been done at that mileage. Around 36k miles usually - but it is variable, so of course there will be some variabilty.

It will tell you on the dash when you start it up. Did you see how long to the next service and which one it was?

(worth checking out mtorque.co.uk by the way. Most comprehensive M3 forum in my book).
Cheers
RS

[deano23]

M3RMS said:

I only sold 4 of them because they were starting to have problems (including 2 E46 M3s) ........
RS

Didn't sell one on to me did you???