E46 M3 info please

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

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Joined
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I have always had a soft spot for this car and seeing the price you can pick them up now for has seriously got me thinking. I think it'd be a nice replacement for the DC5. I'm just after something a bit comfier and easier to live with yet is still a bit of an animal when I want it to be.

Couple of questions. Any advice appreciated.

How much do they cost to service at BWM and at a specialist?

Price for consumables ie brakes/clutch?

Any major problems to look for?

How much would it be for a decent exhaust system/intake and will it give me any improvements?

What's the standard suspension like. Is it worth getting some springs/coilovers for one?

What's a realistic MPG figure for mixed driving.

TIA.
 
MilanoChris said:
I have always had a soft spot for this car and seeing the price you can pick them up now for has seriously got me thinking. I think it'd be a nice replacement for the DC5. I'm just after something a bit comfier and easier to live with yet is still a bit of an animal when I want it to be.

Couple of questions. Any advice appreciated.

How much do they cost to service at BWM and at a specialist?

Price for consumables ie brakes/clutch?

Any major problems to look for?

How much would it be for a decent exhaust system/intake and will it give me any improvements?

What's the standard suspension like. Is it worth getting some springs/coilovers for one?

What's a realistic MPG figure for mixed driving.

TIA.
Click to expand...


oil
inspection 1
oil
inspection 2
start again.

at BMW: oil = £250ish, insp 1= £700-£900, insp 2 = £700-£1000
at ind: oil = £200ish (oil expensive) insp 1/2 = £500 - £800

got the inspection 2 on the CSL for £600 at an independant. i buy oil from Opie Oils for top ups and got enough for the next service. will save £50ish on what the garage will charge.

decent exhuast - miltek, supersprint,eismann, dixis etc. £700+ for back box. more for full system. M3 has 400 cell cats so good improvement going to 100 cell cats on aftermarket system.

inductions kits look pretty and make noise but no power benefits.

standard suspension is o.k. but rear springs often break, leaking shocks after 50-70k and rear trailing arm bushes are like consumables.
i wouldnt bother with springs - just for looks IMO.

decent coilovers start at £1k+ otherwise they wont offer much improvement over stock - K&W and intrax mostly recommended.

in the CSL i get 14mpg around town, but thats just me! probably more like 18-20mpg more likely.

30mpg on a run at 80mph. 26mpg on a run at 100mph.
 
I averaged 24.3mpg in 2 in around 100K miles as I never really reset my mileage computer and when I did it always ended up at 24.3 in both cars! As TomO said on the rest of the stuff and head over to www.mtorque.co.uk for the details.
 
Sorry if this is bringing this thread OT but TomO you have/had an E90 M5? How does that compare to the M3 in terms of the questions asked by the OP, except the modding stuff that is. The M5s are now at a price that seriously has me salivating :)
 
the E90 M5 is a special version that a member on here has had.

the rest of us get the E60 ;)

service costs are similar from memory, i only had an oil service which was £200 with me supplying my own oil. that was at a dealer to keep the FSH.

dont have the reported problems with the suspension, but the oldest ones are only 3 years old, so who knows. It will also be expensive to fix when they do go as they are all the EDC adjustable dampers. i wouldnt touch one without a BMW warranty as nobody knows what will go wrong with these cars in the coming years.

full set of pads for the M5 was something ridiculous like £500 + fitting! clutch was done under warranty, so not sure on the cost.

fuel consumption :(
in same circumstances -
around town = 10mpg
80mph cruise = 24mpg
100mph cruise = 21mpg

The M5 is a lot more to run than the M3, i am finding the CSL positively economical to run in comparison. however if the petrol consumption costs put you off then this is NOT the car for you. they are currently dropping around £1k a month in depreciation, so if you are worried by a £75 fill up compared to a c.£50 then look at another car!
 
Keeping an eagle eye on this, considering one of these once I have bought a house in the coming 18months or so.

Much better value than the R33 GTR I soo desperately lusted after. Servicing and running costs are high as expected, but don't seem ridiculous. VANOS death does seem worrying though :eek:
 
Firestar_3x said:
Tom are the CSL prices falling inline with the M3 price drops or are the CSL's still isolated from the market slump?
Click to expand...

All cars are dropping and the CSL is no exception, but its not falling as quickly as the M3's are and it won't go below £20K I don't think, even for a high mileage car.
 
Housey said:
All cars are dropping and the CSL is no exception, but its not falling as quickly as the M3's are and it won't go below £20K I don't think, even for a high mileage car.
Click to expand...

i hope so as i am tempted to chop mine sometime next year with some of the more exotic stuff coming down in price so much.

V8 vantage :cool: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

but i agree, CSL prices suffering but not as bad as most cars in the sector
 
MilanoChris said:
How much do they cost to service at BWM and at a specialist?

only ever user BMW dealer

oil service £195, Insp 1 £550 , insp 2 £650



Price for consumables ie brakes/clutch?

front discs/pads, £650 fitted , rear £500

I believe a clutch is about £700 fitted but they really don't go on SMG versions

Any major problems to look for?

rear coil springs are the main one, check engine recall wqas done on earlier cars

How much would it be for a decent exhaust system/intake and will it give me any improvements?

no idea

What's the standard suspension like. Is it worth getting some springs/coilovers for one?

standard is good, I fitted Eibach pro spring kit which made it even better though ride suffered a bit


What's a realistic MPG figure for mixed driving.

I got about 25mpg average

30mpg motorway
TIA.
Click to expand...
 
The inspection costs don't seem to crazy to me any more, and they're usage dependent aren't they, motorway mileage = longer gap that Wait-rose mileage? (Unless Waitrose is 40 miles away)

Any problems with the drop-top breaking common?
 
Thanks for the advice, just what I'm after. Looking at a few on PH, I might go and view some in the coming weeks.

So basically check for recalls and also the rear springs? Any extra's to particularly look out for? Are the 19's worth the extra money?
 
Dangerous Dave said:
They certainly look better however they a prone to corroding like other polished/diamond cut alloys.
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Might give that a miss then, plus I imagine the tyre bill would be huge.

Anyone on here got one around the Salisbury area? I wouldn't mind a look at one where a potential seller isn't going to spout me a load of tosh because I don't know anything about them.
 
19s are great when new, they corrode easily though and if refurbed are never right again, CSLs are the way to go
 
just thinking ahead to when you resell , Glass's lists a reduction of £2k for no satnav and £500 for no 19s

to me £2k on a 10-15k car is ludicrous but the places taking p/ex will have none of it

If I was looking again I would go for satnav, harman kardon, 19s ( or CSLs ) and SMG

re colour would go for black or steel grey with red leather
 
MilanoChris said:
Thanks for the advice, just what I'm after. Looking at a few on PH, I might go and view some in the coming weeks.

So basically check for recalls and also the rear springs? Any extra's to particularly look out for? Are the 19's worth the extra money?
Click to expand...

They are worth the money if you like the look of them though they do 'slightly' compromise the ride quality. Options wise Sat Nav makes sense if you want to make it easier to sell on as does HK and 19's. Some people also look for Blue Tooth but I had nothing but problems with it and in the end had it switched off as it caused radio reception issues and when they added the fix (that I found on the web and GAVE to BMW from their US site!) it made it to quiet to hear! As long as the car has been serviced as perscribed including the running in services on or around 1200 miles and all of the recalls have been done it should be fine. Springs are an issue, I did a couple on my 2 M3's but other than this they are pretty bullet proof really.
 
yes forgot re the 1200 mile service, if this wasn't done on time you will really struggle to ever sell it on
 
Rotty said:
just thinking ahead to when you resell , Glass's lists a reduction of £2k for no satnav and £500 for no 19s
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He is buying used though so this doesnt matter, he will 'save' that £2500 and after 2 years or so the difference will be smaller so he wont lose more. It wont always be £2500 difference otherwise when they are all ancient a car without 19's and navs would be free :p
 
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