Advice on E46 M3 Coupe

Blinkz

Blinkz

Blinkz

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,183
Location
Frimley, Surrey or 38,000ft
Hey guys,

I've been thinking about upgrading from my current car for a while now and have decided for a number of reasons that life is too short and we should enjoy it while we can. So I've decided since I can afford to buy and operate an M3 its time to realise a dream and finally get myself one!

I've had a look around the forums and have read some good threads on the M3 but I just wanted some general advice from those you own or have owned them. I've a budget of approx £18k and am aiming for a 2004/5 M3 Coupe, probably with SMG but I'm still not sure about that. I'll be test driving them both to see which I prefer. For my budget it looks like I can get a fairly decent spec with 40-50k miles on it. Any opinions on convertible? Personally I can't really see the point in this country and I assume they will be a lot noisier to cruise in.

Are there any options people recommend? The main thing I was looking for was Harmon Kardon, Bluetooth phone prep, widescreen sat nav. Things that would be nice but not a deal breaker would include heated seats, lumber support. Obviously will also be looking for BMW FSH. I'm planning on getting from an indie dealer, there are 2 close to me which have a good selection. The main BMW dealers don't seem to have many E46 M3s in stock and I'm not sure how I would feel spending 10k+ on a private sale.

Are there any specific issues that I should look out for? I've heard there fairly reliable but the VANOS and SMG pumps can have issues?

Any advice, suggestions etc would be welcome!

Blinkz
 
Great cars - But extremely juicy! and very expensive servicing.

Brakes and tyres also very expensive.

But it's a quality car!
 
1) Ensure it has it's running in service on or around 1200 miles
2) Ensure it has had any recall work done as perscribed by BMW, there were recalls on earlier cars but I think 2004 onwards were OK
3) Lumber support is standard
4) Check rear springs, they have a habbit of going
5) SMG or manual is personal preference, manual won't be prone to some issues SMG faces, but it can still go wrong
6) Convertible is rattly and noisy, wouldn't be my choice as it loses rigidty and you can feel it, but drive both and make your decision.

It has been so long now since I got rid of my last one I forget what's what.
 
Massively expensive servicing because the valve clearances are adjusted at Inspection 1 and 2 services so they will run to about £700 for Inspection 1 and £850 for Inspection 2.

But absolutely brilliant cars.

I fancy a Cabrio but Housey just scared me.
 
Borrowed this for a couple of days



Nice looking car, fast-ish - not as fast as i expected though, **** on the low down revs, nice once you get them moving. Very comfy on the inside! Bit boring though.

Had major SMG problems! SMG pump or something, biggest load of trouble ever lol!!
 
Hey, thanks for the replies. I am aware that the servicing is on the expensive side! Although the two inspections are 30,000 miles apart so will only be doing either a Ins 1 or 2 every 2 years. As I understand it, its Oil - Ins 1 - Oil - Ins 2 with 15,000miles in between?

Also understand that it will be thirsty, but my current car is hardly frugal and I'd rather have a nice car! I hear that with motorway driving you can get 25, perhaps 30mpg out of them.

The problems with the SMG are a concern. I do like the idea of paddle shifts and full auto for when stuck in traffic but if they are really unreliable then I'm not sure its worth it. Housey you've confirmed it for me, standard coupe it is! I didn't really see the point in a soft top anyway.

As for the options, there seems to be a lot of different types of radio/sound system/satnav/tv options?? Are they any preferences to which is better?
 
Don't worry too much about the Harmon Kardon - it's not really that good and some people say the 'hifi' option is better. Certainly try to get one with Nav as this opens up the option of installing an Intravee to connect an MP3 changer or iPod to. TV is ok but certainly not a must-have option and is fairly cheap to retrofit if you really want it. Bear in mind that those with the TV option will almost certainly have an analogue tuner anyway.
 
[TW]Fox;16569886 said:
I fancy a Cabrio but Housey just scared me.
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I don't like saloon cars with their roofs chopped off, never been in one that didn't feel noisy and shaky and in something as stiffly sprung and taught as an M3 that, for me at least, was an issue. In terms of real world performance there is little in it but I would choose the coupe every time and did. Don't mind cars built from day one as soft tops, MX5, Boxsters, Z4's etc, but big saloons with roof removed are flawed concepts in my book.

As always, drive them all and make your own mind up.
 
Blinkz said:
As for the options, there seems to be a lot of different types of radio/sound system/satnav/tv options?? Are they any preferences to which is better?
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Harmon Kardon, wide screen Sat Nav and 6 disc in the boot is the way to go in a 2nd hand M3. You will pay little more for the HK so you might as well have it, I think it is better than the standard fit but it's not world class. Also, if you have Bluetooth fitted check to see it works and doesn't cause a buzzing on the radio, mine did and in the end I had to have the Bluetooth disconected as BMW could not fix it to my satisfaction. I still remember driving it out of the showroom, turning right up Radford Bank and thinking WTF is that buzzing!!! :mad:
 
£18k is very good money for an e46 M3 - should pick up a nice one from a garage. I would personally (and did) buy privately - but mine also had a BMW warranty, so wasn't much of a risk.

I bought mine last July for £14,950. I was very specific about what I wanted, but the right car came up 2 weeks after I listed out my desirables which were:

M3

Must have/be:
Black or Silver Grey paint
16:9 Navigation
SMG gearbox
Red/Orange/Lime green/Cream leather interior
Harmon Kardon

Should have/be:
Sunroof if coupe
Facelift (LED rear lights)
19" alloys
Under £14,000
Under 60,000 miles

Can be:
Coupe
Cabrio
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Things to note are, cars made pre-01/01/04 have a 6yr corrosion warranty, cars post-01/01/04 have a 12yr corrosion warranty - although you will almost certainly be in the latter group. BMW Warranty is quite reasonable to renew UP TO 60,000miles (£800pa approx), but goes sky high the moment you his 60,000miles (£2,000 approx).

SMG was a must to me. It adds another dimension to the car imo. If the manual box was Honda S2000-like, then maybe it would change things - however it's notchy and apparently a bit of a pain to get into gear when cold. Try SMG with an open mind, it can take a while (weeks) to get used to, and the auto-mode isn't like a normal auto-box. I am very pleased with my decision to go for SMG.

SMG2 in the M3 gets a bad reputation partially due to SMG1 which was fitted to the e36 M3 and partially due to poor fault diagnosis. SMG1 had more reliability issues and this stigma has carried over to SMG2 which is a totally different system (made by different people). Additionally, SMG2 pumps have been changed when they have been perfectly fine, where the real issue can actually be a dodgy relay or a broken £1 spring.

Anyway, give it a go - you might love it or you might hate it, a manual car would have been a deal breaker for me, but you might be happy either way.

VANOS is generally very reliable, so shouldn't be an issue. Again this is a bit of a hangover from the e36 Evo which suffered from VANOS issues. The S54 in the e46 should be fine.

I've had no issues with mine in nearly 11 months/8,000 miles. I have however had my wheels refurbished (they were kerbed when I bought it). 19" wheels are polished/laquered and can bit a bit of a headache after they get kerbed as they generally corrode.

They're not as thirsty as you think. I averaged 24.something over the winter months. I'm probably down to 23.something now that the roads are dry. Show it a motorway and you'll struggle to get less than high 20s.

Anyway, I bought my car for exactly the same reason as you, it almost becomes instinct as you approach your late 20s ;). Do it while you can, you won't regret it - well, I haven't at least.

Few more pics of mine:
IMG_4042.jpg

IMG_4038.jpg

IMG_4051.jpg

IMG_4052.jpg

IMG_4055.jpg


...and a few more.

Ask away if you have any more questions.
 
Oxide™ said:
Thanks I read they are good but kind of far, I would definitely require a courtesy car for work.
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Was Lepsons Gillingham I think it was £420.

They do have a courtesy car, although you have to pay for it. You could also leave the wheels there if you have a spare set. Almost worth buying a cheap set of 17s and selling them afterwards.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. Nick your M3 is just gorgeous. I want either black or silver and have to admit very much leaning towards silver/grey now. What is that colour actually called?

As I mentioned I do like the idea of SMG and so will be test driving both a manual and SMG to see what they are like. Again am leaning towards SMG...but I'll see.

Ok I'm pretty confused over the stereo and sat-nav options. There seems to be a load of different combinations. Is the Sat-Nav and radio/tv integrated? I see there is a Business Radio, a Professional Radio, Harmon Kardon as well as CD changers. When it comes to sat-nav it seems to be the same? Business navigation, Professional nav, just a standard nav??? What are all the differences between them all lol! Its pretty confusing. Which is the one with widescreen? Ideally I'd like to plug my Iphone into it and play music but I doubt a 5 year old car will able to do that?

Are there any other specific options that are good to have, either for whilst owning or just for resale value in the future? I see you mentioned you choose one with a different exhaust?

With regards to a warranty, can I add the BMW warranty at a later date? Are there other types of warranties available from different companies? Never owned an expensive car before so just trying to understand the options.

Those are my main questions at the moment, if I think of anymore....:D
 
Blinkz said:
Thanks for the input everyone. Nick your M3 is just gorgeous. I want either black or silver and have to admit very much leaning towards silver/grey now. What is that colour actually called?
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Thanks! Mine's called Silver Grey (same colour as the CSL). There is also the darker Steel Grey (discontinued in 2003) and the lighter (and common) Titantium Silver. The black is called Carbon Black.


Ok I'm pretty confused over the stereo and sat-nav options. There seems to be a load of different combinations. Is the Sat-Nav and radio/tv integrated? I see there is a Business Radio, a Professional Radio, Harmon Kardon as well as CD changers. When it comes to sat-nav it seems to be the same? Business navigation, Professional nav, just a standard nav??? What are all the differences between them all lol! Its pretty confusing. Which is the one with widescreen? Ideally I'd like to plug my Iphone into it and play music but I doubt a 5 year old car will able to do that?
Click to expand...

Very early (2001 cars) were sold with the 4:3 screen, anything later will come with the 16:9 screen. If it has a 16:9 screen it will come with Professional navigation which also means it will have a TV. Business Navigation is extremely rare and has a little dot matrix screen which can only really display arrows (rather than a full colour map).

There is a little box called an Intravee which you can buy which allows you to link your iPhone to the 16:9 screen - displaying track names/giving control/allowing you to use the steering controls. You'll be looking to spend £150-200 to get the kit. It's a very good system which integrates well into the BMW Navigation screen.

Harmon Kardon just adds an amplifier, maybe a couple of extra speakers and a pair of subwoofers. It was an option I wanted, but mainly for the pretty speaker grilles over anything else, the sound is better than the standard system but won't set the world alight.

Are there any other specific options that are good to have, either for whilst owning or just for resale value in the future? I see you mentioned you choose one with a different exhaust?
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Mine has 16:9 Nav, Bluetooth, 19" alloys, HK - which I think are the main desirables, it is also facelift which gives the value a bit of a boost too (LED rear lights).

Mine also has red leather which again, seems to be desirable. I don't think there is much difference between SMG/manual in terms of resale.

My exhaust was an OEM option (AC Schnitzer), it wasn't something I was looking for, but it's brilliant so I have kept it.


With regards to a warranty, can I add the BMW warranty at a later date? Are there other types of warranties available from different companies? Never owned an expensive car before so just trying to understand the options.
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I believe that you can now add the BMW Warranty at a later day. Warranty direct is another company worth trying.
 
Make sure you get the MKIV navigation version. It is DVD based and is located in the boot and hooks up to the 16:9 screen up front. I have the older MKIII CD based version and to upgrade is around £400 for a straight swap of the different drives.
 
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