12-13-2016, 07:00 PM | #21 |
Alphanumeric
Join Date: Aug 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: 981S, 340i
Posts: 9,585
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I bought mine with 27k, nearly 4 years ago. Now at 41k. Normal maintenance has been reasonable. Driven sanely, this car does not eat tires or brakes.
Big ticket items have been (indie prices): Valve adjust: $400 Dinan exhaust purchase, ship & install: $1000 Vanos hubs broken. Dr. Vanos/Beisan solution: $1800 (MaxPSI) Coils & plugs: $550 - 600 (but I bought amazon parts for the mechanic to save $) SSK & install: $650 or so Subframe inspected at 15k miles, at 21k miles at dealerships and at around 35k miles by Max PSI, checked out every time. The two real breakdowns were Vanos & the coils/plugs, with similar symptoms. Latter more annoying than breakdown. It turns out there was a recall, but previous owners missed it as they were not driving the car up to normal mileage. In both cases, car limped to the mechanic, no tow, though I may have risked engine damage & gotten lucky in the first case. There are odd little things. Door locks seem weak occasionally, trunk lid struts, on and on, but those don't really count. Last edited by equ; 12-14-2016 at 07:28 AM. |
12-13-2016, 11:02 PM | #22 |
Doctor Mudgeon
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,433
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Looking across the E46 M3 range, black/carbon black/various blues, coupe, M6. Trying to find a relatively inexpensive copy.
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12-14-2016, 11:18 AM | #23 | |
Old Fart
Join Date: Oct 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: T4R,GTI
Location: San Diego
Posts: 8,569
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Quote:
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12-14-2016, 12:08 PM | #24 |
lawn boy
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: e46m3, f25x3,C5 Z06, C4 Vette, 06 CTD Ram, and a trailer
Location: Maryland
Posts: 14,029
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The exhaust and shifter don't count. The valve adjustment is a normal maintenance item on these cars, and coils and plugs isn't really outlandish on a 15 y.o. car. VANOS is known to fail, so that's bad.
As an aside, I wouldn't mind finding someone to do my valves for $400 - that's about half of what I've found. Edit: I would say that looking for an "inexpensive" e46 m3 probably won't end well.... |
12-14-2016, 02:35 PM | #25 |
Relic
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Bethesda, MD
Posts: 12,466
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__________________
2011 M3 2006 Sierra 2500HD 4WD LBZ/Allison 2004 X5 3.0i 6MT 1995 M3 S50B32 1990 325is 1989 M3 S54B32 Hers: 1989 325iX 1996 911 Turbo |
12-14-2016, 02:47 PM | #26 | ||
lawn boy
Join Date: Oct 2003
Carmudgeonly Ride: e46m3, f25x3,C5 Z06, C4 Vette, 06 CTD Ram, and a trailer
Location: Maryland
Posts: 14,029
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Quote:
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12-14-2016, 02:50 PM | #27 |
Relic
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Bethesda, MD
Posts: 12,466
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Luckily, all of us have the option of just driving something else while we wait.
__________________
2011 M3 2006 Sierra 2500HD 4WD LBZ/Allison 2004 X5 3.0i 6MT 1995 M3 S50B32 1990 325is 1989 M3 S54B32 Hers: 1989 325iX 1996 911 Turbo |
12-14-2016, 04:06 PM | #28 |
Hello.
Join Date: Mar 2004
Carmudgeonly Ride: '09 X3, '11 328xiT, '11 135i C, '17 c2, '19 X5
Location: Downingtown, PA
Posts: 5,531
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That guy does great work cheap. HE did my GM5 in my e46 all works when it came back. It didn't rain the 3 days it was out of the car
__________________
Josh (PA) - '19 X5 '17 991.2 C2 Cab '11 135i Convertible '11 328xiT '09 X3 |
12-14-2016, 09:47 PM | #29 | |
Alphanumeric
Join Date: Aug 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: 981S, 340i
Posts: 9,585
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Quote:
It's one of the least reliable cars I've owned, certainly per mileage. I've been lucky enough to not have to limp a car from A to B, other than in this one. I think it had a pretty clean history. It's simply time doing its thing. It's not acceptable to me that the VANOS or the coils/plugs go out pre-40k. But 15 years, and sitting, does its thing. |
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12-15-2016, 04:56 PM | #30 |
Doctor Mudgeon
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 6,433
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Apparently these things go fast. Local dealership got in an '04, Jet Black, 82k on the clock. It first listed a week ago, pictures made it two days ago, sold to a guy in Illinois yesterday.
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