Autoglym soft top cleaner with a brush I bought online, and autoglym soft top protector to water seal the canvas every 6 months.
Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...
- Thread starter mrk
- Start date
Two new rear tyres (same wheel!) in the space of 6 months or so 
The first time it was a screw in close to the shoulder so my tyre guy advised against repairing it for safety. The second time, last week, a drill bit had made its way into a similar position
So now I have one PS4 S which has brand new tread, and 3x which are a few mm lighter. So annoying.
Oil service is now due too but my guy will do that when he returns in the new year, and I've also discovered a noise coming from the rear driver side wheel when turning left mostly, like a light scraping noise as if something is loose and only touches moving parts when turning left. Had a look under but could not spot anything out of the ordinary so the car needs raising up for a better inspection.
Old cars eh.
The first time it was a screw in close to the shoulder so my tyre guy advised against repairing it for safety. The second time, last week, a drill bit had made its way into a similar position
So now I have one PS4 S which has brand new tread, and 3x which are a few mm lighter. So annoying.
Oil service is now due too but my guy will do that when he returns in the new year, and I've also discovered a noise coming from the rear driver side wheel when turning left mostly, like a light scraping noise as if something is loose and only touches moving parts when turning left. Had a look under but could not spot anything out of the ordinary so the car needs raising up for a better inspection.
Old cars eh.
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Today I bring you sad news
My rod bearings have gone...
Sunday night I heard a tapping noise 10 miles or so from my home exit off the motorway.
Stopped at a layby to investigate.
Tap tap tap tap tick tick tap coming from the front top area of the engine block.
Turned the car off, wouldn't turn on again. Called breakdown and someone was with me within 30 mins. (Start Rescue are great, btw!).
Trailered the car to home and the next morning took it to a garage down the road that know my car as they MOT it all the time and do odd bits.
Silver and copper bits of metal in the sump and some scoring on the inner wall lining where the oil pump chain is. Suspect that the oil pump or tensioner may have started to go causing the chain to slack and also rod bearings to go, or maybe the other way round.
For anyone considering an E46 M3, or even any M car of age really, consider this:
1: Oil change every 4-5k miles, or once a year whatever comes sooner. This is an absolute must. Every single person who knows these M engines and has worked on them has stated this numerous times even though BMW's service book states 15k miles. This will keep the bearings in good health and prolong their lifespan. After 100k miles on original bearings, you're basically playing Minesweeper.
2: Consider changing the rod bearings and bolts around 60-80k mileage. There are uprated bolts and bearings that can be installed, but if the car is being used on the road and not driven harsh every time, then OEM bearings and bolts are fine according to Redish Motorsport.
So what have I decided to do?
I bought a new engine with 66k miles on it. The donor car it came from had a side impact so is SORN and being broken for parts. The car had 2 owners from new with main dealer servicing only and is also a 2005 model. Service book and receipts all being included. Cost was £4800...
Redish will be doing the engine swap, and will be doing an oil service + VANOS test + rod bearings before it goes in. They will also be doing a comprehensive inspection of the whole car and videoing the entire job with photo updates and the like. Also their inspection services are a bit cheaper than my local specialist, so I'm going to have them do all servicing from now on and make use of my rail fair discounts to get to and from Bristol. Redish estimate is ~£1500. However I've offered them my old engine which they can rebuild or use for something else, so the price should be lower, or offset against labour or something, will see what James Redish says.
I weighed up various options, I considered breaking the car for parts as the condition of my car is excellent and the parts would fetch strong money. But then what do I replace it with, no other car within reasonable money I buy now without leasing would feel the same, and I've already invested a lot of time and energy into this car to keep it tidy, so decided to get it fixed. I will be putting fewer miles on it going forwards as maybe next year will look to buying a 2nd car (an EV), maybe a Leaf or something similar for daily stuff and commuting leaving the M3 for proper roof down and weekends away etc. At least once this is all done I know the biggest problem should no longer be a worry.
Work begins December 10th for a 7 day period. Redish will send me videos and photos of each stage, along with valve clearance reports and everything else.
So in short, whilst you can get these cars for cheap, yet also a lot of money for clean examples, no matter what you get, you will still need to be spending a couple grand on preventative maintenance on the engine alone during ownership if you use the car regularly and the previous owner has not had these things seen to.
My rod bearings have gone...
Sunday night I heard a tapping noise 10 miles or so from my home exit off the motorway.
Stopped at a layby to investigate.
Tap tap tap tap tick tick tap coming from the front top area of the engine block.
Turned the car off, wouldn't turn on again. Called breakdown and someone was with me within 30 mins. (Start Rescue are great, btw!).
Trailered the car to home and the next morning took it to a garage down the road that know my car as they MOT it all the time and do odd bits.
Silver and copper bits of metal in the sump and some scoring on the inner wall lining where the oil pump chain is. Suspect that the oil pump or tensioner may have started to go causing the chain to slack and also rod bearings to go, or maybe the other way round.
For anyone considering an E46 M3, or even any M car of age really, consider this:
1: Oil change every 4-5k miles, or once a year whatever comes sooner. This is an absolute must. Every single person who knows these M engines and has worked on them has stated this numerous times even though BMW's service book states 15k miles. This will keep the bearings in good health and prolong their lifespan. After 100k miles on original bearings, you're basically playing Minesweeper.
2: Consider changing the rod bearings and bolts around 60-80k mileage. There are uprated bolts and bearings that can be installed, but if the car is being used on the road and not driven harsh every time, then OEM bearings and bolts are fine according to Redish Motorsport.
So what have I decided to do?
I bought a new engine with 66k miles on it. The donor car it came from had a side impact so is SORN and being broken for parts. The car had 2 owners from new with main dealer servicing only and is also a 2005 model. Service book and receipts all being included. Cost was £4800...
Redish will be doing the engine swap, and will be doing an oil service + VANOS test + rod bearings before it goes in. They will also be doing a comprehensive inspection of the whole car and videoing the entire job with photo updates and the like. Also their inspection services are a bit cheaper than my local specialist, so I'm going to have them do all servicing from now on and make use of my rail fair discounts to get to and from Bristol. Redish estimate is ~£1500. However I've offered them my old engine which they can rebuild or use for something else, so the price should be lower, or offset against labour or something, will see what James Redish says.
I weighed up various options, I considered breaking the car for parts as the condition of my car is excellent and the parts would fetch strong money. But then what do I replace it with, no other car within reasonable money I buy now without leasing would feel the same, and I've already invested a lot of time and energy into this car to keep it tidy, so decided to get it fixed. I will be putting fewer miles on it going forwards as maybe next year will look to buying a 2nd car (an EV), maybe a Leaf or something similar for daily stuff and commuting leaving the M3 for proper roof down and weekends away etc. At least once this is all done I know the biggest problem should no longer be a worry.
Work begins December 10th for a 7 day period. Redish will send me videos and photos of each stage, along with valve clearance reports and everything else.
So in short, whilst you can get these cars for cheap, yet also a lot of money for clean examples, no matter what you get, you will still need to be spending a couple grand on preventative maintenance on the engine alone during ownership if you use the car regularly and the previous owner has not had these things seen to.
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Associate
That's crappy to hear but at least your keeping the car on thr Road.Always a bit worrying reading stuff like this for our engines. Always half expecting something to go wrong with it one day. One reason why I used the crappy picanto to keep the pointless miles off it.
Shame to hear of your issues, but they are a pretty strong engine. I changed the oil in my two from new around 10K miles and always ensured it was the (at the time) M Spec Castrol oil. Some people went Mobil 1 back in the day, but I used the Castrol oil specced for the car. Vanos went in my first car at 20K miles, but that was just unlucky but as they age I would drop the oil probably every 6K just because I am old fashioned. But they are a strong engine and the odd one or two might have a weakness.
Oh certainly they are a strong engine, more-so than other M car engines, just these issues show up once they fast approach 100k miles depending on the kind of life they've lived and how often the oil has been changed. The latter being the most important. I've always supplied Castrol Edge 10w60 during my 4 years of ownership to the indy, but also always stuck to the book interval period. That all changes now of course. Oil is cheap to be honest, ECP, GSF and Carparts4Less sell the oil with DFS-style discounts regularly, so I'll just stock up a couple months before I do the next oil change and that's then sorted.
It's one reason I want to get an EV sooner rather than later, just keep the miles off the M3 and use it purely for leisure. I don't use it for daily commuting, but do use it regularly nonetheless. If I had a small EV, that would be perfect for dossing about daily in.
It's one reason I want to get an EV sooner rather than later, just keep the miles off the M3 and use it purely for leisure. I don't use it for daily commuting, but do use it regularly nonetheless. If I had a small EV, that would be perfect for dossing about daily in.
I told you a long time to sort those rod bearings mate, its a service item on E46 and E92 M3's, not a case some are effected, THEY ALL wear out eventually, as thats name of the game with 8000rpm redline.
But yes there is no such thing as a cheap M3 as the things to watch for are:
- Boot floor cracks, again they all go, so best to get the repair and upgrade done, thats a grand or a major expensive boot floor repair.
- Rod bearings, around a grand, or a new engine.
- Vanos, something you can generally wait for fail unless you get unlucky.
- Head gasket, again they all go, but you can generally just wait for that to go and then replace it.
- M Diff, the clutch packs wear out, should be refreshed every 60k or so
I got lucky when my rod bearings went, the car actually had new rod bearing by BMW early in its life for a recall, but around 80k miles later they failed again, thankfully caught in time to not have taken the crank or engine with them. I rebuilt the engine myself, so far so good as I've put a few thousand miles and track days on the engine since, all has been good.
To refresh an E46 M3 cost thousands and thousands, I know as I own one and been the perfectionist I am everything has been refreshed on it.
But yes there is no such thing as a cheap M3 as the things to watch for are:
- Boot floor cracks, again they all go, so best to get the repair and upgrade done, thats a grand or a major expensive boot floor repair.
- Rod bearings, around a grand, or a new engine.
- Vanos, something you can generally wait for fail unless you get unlucky.
- Head gasket, again they all go, but you can generally just wait for that to go and then replace it.
- M Diff, the clutch packs wear out, should be refreshed every 60k or so
I got lucky when my rod bearings went, the car actually had new rod bearing by BMW early in its life for a recall, but around 80k miles later they failed again, thankfully caught in time to not have taken the crank or engine with them. I rebuilt the engine myself, so far so good as I've put a few thousand miles and track days on the engine since, all has been good.
To refresh an E46 M3 cost thousands and thousands, I know as I own one and been the perfectionist I am everything has been refreshed on it.
As Gibbo rightly says, if you want a car like this and want it to be a high quality example then you will have to spend money on it and not cut corners. Mine were brand new and came with a nice solid BMW Warranty but they cost £42K (which seems so cheap now) and still had expensive running costs. A car with 100k miles will need work, will need replacement components IF you want it to be a good one.
You can probably buy my R8 for 65K today a 140K car for 65K.....and then you realise it needs a gearbox £23K or some ceramic pads £1300 or worse, some discs, so the entire GDP of a small country. Said it many times, cars like this rarely lose the running costs of the list price versions.
You can probably buy my R8 for 65K today a 140K car for 65K.....and then you realise it needs a gearbox £23K or some ceramic pads £1300 or worse, some discs, so the entire GDP of a small country. Said it many times, cars like this rarely lose the running costs of the list price versions.
Soldato
Awful news! Always enjoyed following this thread and glad to hear you're not letting it go. You've got a great example of a well cared and loved one so well worth the preservation. Hopefully the engine swap goes well, seems like you're in good hands.
Always enjoyed following this thread and glad to hear you're not letting it go. You've got a great example of a well cared and loved one so well worth the preservation. Hopefully the engine swap goes well, seems like you're in good hands.Unlucky.
Surprised the see rod bearing issues if you don’t rag it from cold? It’s a massive topic on M3 forums and you will have noticed a knocking on cold start before it became a problem. People claiming they need to be done as it’s a design issue yet replace the parts with identical ones and they don’t change the main bearings either.
Honda have no issue with rid bearings and they rev much higher. It does seem a weakness in BMWs but I’d put it down to driving hard from cold (could be previous owners and the thick oil).
Good luck with the engine swap.
Surprised the see rod bearing issues if you don’t rag it from cold? It’s a massive topic on M3 forums and you will have noticed a knocking on cold start before it became a problem. People claiming they need to be done as it’s a design issue yet replace the parts with identical ones and they don’t change the main bearings either.
Honda have no issue with rid bearings and they rev much higher. It does seem a weakness in BMWs but I’d put it down to driving hard from cold (could be previous owners and the thick oil).
Good luck with the engine swap.
Soldato
Evolve recently made a good video about it, their conclusion is that it is a service item and should be treated as consumable. Oil tests etc will not really show if shells are going or not.
Unlucky MRK, but I agree with your decision. Your car in particular is a super clean example and for the money you're spending on it you won't be able to find anything that can replace it..
Unlucky MRK, but I agree with your decision. Your car in particular is a super clean example and for the money you're spending on it you won't be able to find anything that can replace it..
Thats the issue, you can't buy a brand new E46 or E92 any more, so would you really want to take the risk for what is around a grand to future proof yourself.
I was very lucky as mine went at Powerstation, well about 50 miles later and there was no knocking with RPM, only at idle so car was still making oil pressure at which point Andy (Fuzz) simply said turn it off, towe it home and cross your fingers.
If I was buying an E46/90/92 M3 used, which had not had the bearings done in last 30k miles with proof, it would be one of the first things on my list to do along with boot floor. Just not worth the risk.
On my M3 I made the decision to go with coated bearings and ARP bolts, fingers crossed its been fine since I did the rebuild a few years ago.
Caporegime
Unlucky
Sorry to hear of your woes but glad your keeping it and getting it sorted, I’ll continue to follow with interest.
Sorry to hear of your woes but glad your keeping it and getting it sorted, I’ll continue to follow with interest.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Never imagined something like this would happen with your car (considering how tidy it is).
Hopefully the engine swap goes smoothly.
Is this issue common just with the M cars or does it included the 330s etc?
Hopefully the engine swap goes smoothly.
Is this issue common just with the M cars or does it included the 330s etc?
Soldato
e46 m3, e92 m3, m5/m6 with v10s have this issue. 330s etc run different(nXX) engines and don't have it. Seems to be a thing with "Sxx" engines.
Oddly coincidental, but this video came up on my YouTube "recommended" feed last night .Assuming this is the issue we are talking about?
I don't know much about these engines, but have heard of the issue and watched it purely out of interest (before seeing this thread), it explained the problem quite well.
I don't know much about these engines, but have heard of the issue and watched it purely out of interest (before seeing this thread), it explained the problem quite well.