E46 M3 pre-purchase checklist

[equ]

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.

[blee]

Looking across the E46 M3 range, black/carbon black/various blues, coupe, M6. Trying to find a relatively inexpensive copy.

[Jeff_DML]

Originally Posted by equ

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.

not sure if that sounds reliable considering you put only 14k miles on it and it has 41k miles total Guess you technically said reasonable not reliable but I am reading that as the same

[bren]

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....

[Nick M3]

Relays in the general module cause weak locks:

https://www.bmwgm5.com

[bren]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Relays in the general module cause weak locks:

https://www.bmwgm5.com

While the GM5 is out of your car several things won't work. Windshield wipers won't work...If you think it's going to rain I would suggest waiting or applying some Rain-X. This stuff is amazing....

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by bren

Luckily, all of us have the option of just driving something else while we wait.

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by bren

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

[equ]

Originally Posted by Jeff_DML

not sure if that sounds reliable considering you put only 14k miles on it and it has 41k miles total Guess you technically said reasonable not reliable but I am reading that as the same

I didn't say it was reliable, I said "normal" maintenance (as in wear & tear & scheduled) has been reasonable, it's still on its original brake pads and discs (though the rear pads are getting thinner).


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.

[blee]

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.