BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
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Soldato
Well, considering he's asking us what he thinks it's worth, I'd assume he doesn't want to spend £11k and instead wants to make a lower offer to give himself enough cash left over to restore it to good condition.
Soldato
I've noticed exactly the same with the F80, it spins up SO easily! It's obviously got more power & torque than the M135i had but you had to actually try to get the rears spinning in that, whereas in the M3 you have to try not to! Must be something fundamentally different in the setup between the two cars...maybe it's the LSD, or maybe it's because of the DCT box instead of the ZF8?
The trouble is these cars are now 'worth' more than its worth spending on it.
Man of Honour
Optimistically advertised at £11k for a 2002 model, so a non facelift. That price is facelift money, we're talking 2004/2005/2006. Although having a quick look on Autotrader for 70k mileage examples with FSH and what appears to be fairly decent condition and not tatted up with black grilles and M badges on the kidney grilles etc, they start at around £12k and only go up...
Let's say you offer £8.5k and he accepts, I'd say be prepared to spend a few grand if you intend on owning it for a few years and doing some miles. At 70k miles, it almost certainly hasn't had the common sensors/components fail/wear that then need replacing. On top of that, the usual running costs for servicing, brake lines, tyres, bushes, flex disc, VANOS etc. I've owned mine since 62k miles and am currently on 104k. I've been lucky in that my engine itself has been fault free all this time. Oil changes are always done ahead of time and as far as I can see, previous owners have kept to that schedule too. It never needs a top-up either, so has no leaks. Supporting components have failed and needed replacing, but you expect that.
You've really got to REALLY want an E46 M3 to buy one now. It won't ever be a "oh maybe I'll try an E46 M3 next" purchase, it has to be because you want one from deep down, otherwise you'll be left eyes watery.
If you are happy with that, then read on
Coupe or convertible? Most likely cracked spring. These crack like clockwork every couple of years on the coupes. Convertibles have different springs and sit a bit lower as well. Springs are cheap to replace with OEM ones, you could even DIY them, or if you have a decent local garage, just pay the hour's labour. Replace springs in pairs, like any suspension based component. Suplex (IIRC) springs are cheaper than OEM but are supposedly stronger with the same spring rate as OEM.
They will all rust at this age. Replace wing with a new one. Aftermarket wings won't always be a 1:1 fit. A new wing cost for the driver side cost me £391, and a further £320 to paint and fit, along with cleaning and prepping the passenger side wing to prevent any rust on that one in the near future.
Common if the car sits outside a lot on sunny days. The wing mirror base is aluminium which boils the paint from the inside causing the bubbling over time. A bodyshop can sand the paint down and respray them easily and fairly cheaply.
Oil service is cheap, but I bet the following service is an Inspection 2, which is at least £600. Buy the oil from Opie/ECP when deals are active (pretty much always?!) along with a Mann oil filter and call it a job jobbed. A garage should charge you an hour's labour to do an oil change unless you do it yourself and reset the indicator through the cluster hidden menu.
On top of that, I'd also consider cosmetic condition. Things like leather wear, bolsters especially as they can be DIY brought back to life, or be seen to by an expert. Steering wheel retrims cost £150 odd, new leather gaiters for the handbrake and gearbox to make them look fresh again have a cost to them, genuine BMW mats as the old ones will likely be very grubby as they are not items most people but a second thought to.
To be totally honest, I'm glad I've owned one now, engine is just brilliant and makes the ownership worth the efforts when you do let it go on the open roads. But if someone showed me a portal window that gave me a glimpse of the present day back when I was buying one to see just how much the costs pile on over 40k+ miles of driving, then I may have thought twice and bought something newer. It's not even a daily car, I mostly use it on weekends! But as said, now that I've owned one for a while, I'm glad I got it otherwise I'd never have been able to enjoy the engine any other way.
Let's say you offer £8.5k and he accepts, I'd say be prepared to spend a few grand if you intend on owning it for a few years and doing some miles. At 70k miles, it almost certainly hasn't had the common sensors/components fail/wear that then need replacing. On top of that, the usual running costs for servicing, brake lines, tyres, bushes, flex disc, VANOS etc. I've owned mine since 62k miles and am currently on 104k. I've been lucky in that my engine itself has been fault free all this time. Oil changes are always done ahead of time and as far as I can see, previous owners have kept to that schedule too. It never needs a top-up either, so has no leaks. Supporting components have failed and needed replacing, but you expect that.
You've really got to REALLY want an E46 M3 to buy one now. It won't ever be a "oh maybe I'll try an E46 M3 next" purchase, it has to be because you want one from deep down, otherwise you'll be left eyes watery.
If you are happy with that, then read on
Coupe or convertible? Most likely cracked spring. These crack like clockwork every couple of years on the coupes. Convertibles have different springs and sit a bit lower as well. Springs are cheap to replace with OEM ones, you could even DIY them, or if you have a decent local garage, just pay the hour's labour. Replace springs in pairs, like any suspension based component. Suplex (IIRC) springs are cheaper than OEM but are supposedly stronger with the same spring rate as OEM.
They will all rust at this age. Replace wing with a new one. Aftermarket wings won't always be a 1:1 fit. A new wing cost for the driver side cost me £391, and a further £320 to paint and fit, along with cleaning and prepping the passenger side wing to prevent any rust on that one in the near future.
Common if the car sits outside a lot on sunny days. The wing mirror base is aluminium which boils the paint from the inside causing the bubbling over time. A bodyshop can sand the paint down and respray them easily and fairly cheaply.
Oil service is cheap, but I bet the following service is an Inspection 2, which is at least £600. Buy the oil from Opie/ECP when deals are active (pretty much always?!) along with a Mann oil filter and call it a job jobbed. A garage should charge you an hour's labour to do an oil change unless you do it yourself and reset the indicator through the cluster hidden menu.
On top of that, I'd also consider cosmetic condition. Things like leather wear, bolsters especially as they can be DIY brought back to life, or be seen to by an expert. Steering wheel retrims cost £150 odd, new leather gaiters for the handbrake and gearbox to make them look fresh again have a cost to them, genuine BMW mats as the old ones will likely be very grubby as they are not items most people but a second thought to.
To be totally honest, I'm glad I've owned one now, engine is just brilliant and makes the ownership worth the efforts when you do let it go on the open roads. But if someone showed me a portal window that gave me a glimpse of the present day back when I was buying one to see just how much the costs pile on over 40k+ miles of driving, then I may have thought twice and bought something newer. It's not even a daily car, I mostly use it on weekends! But as said, now that I've owned one for a while, I'm glad I got it otherwise I'd never have been able to enjoy the engine any other way.
Soldato
Indeed. Although I think mrk's one is a bit of an extreme example as his standards are far higher than even the average enthusiast. A slightly cracked interior trim panel, a kerbed alloy, a worn gearstick gaiter or a couple of small dents on the bodywork wouldn't bother me, but in mrk's case he'd pay to get them all fixed. Add all that up over an ownership period and you end up with a very substantial bill.
That said, I'd definitely agree that they almost all need fairly serious investment nowadays to get them up to standard, and they're not a purchase you make just because you fancy a "quick car".
Man of Honour
There are still some things I want to get sorted in the future! The trim that surrounds the roof hatch behind the parcel shelf is body coloured, it's not metal but appears to be Alu I think, and as such as some signs of minor bubbling starting to form. That panel needs to be sanded down and painted... Along with road tar and other overspray filth that has lodged into the general paint surface so looks a bit naff up close. Guess that means another appointment with the detailer at some point after the above has been done too.
And a stone chipped rear alloy!!
It's certainly not 100% cosmetic issue free on the outside, but I can live with those I suppose
And a stone chipped rear alloy!!
It's certainly not 100% cosmetic issue free on the outside, but I can live with those I suppose
Associate
Strange thing happened today.
Don't normally check the doors are physically locked after pressing the lock button on the fob, I just walk away and presume they're locked after the lights flash,
But I'd been in the boot and ended up walking past the passenger side and noticed the lock button was up after locking it.
Pulled the door open and it made a kind of beeping noise, so I pushed the button down then shut the door and it stayed down and was now locked.
I'll have to keep my eye on it.
Don't normally check the doors are physically locked after pressing the lock button on the fob, I just walk away and presume they're locked after the lights flash,
But I'd been in the boot and ended up walking past the passenger side and noticed the lock button was up after locking it.
Pulled the door open and it made a kind of beeping noise, so I pushed the button down then shut the door and it stayed down and was now locked.
I'll have to keep my eye on it.
Soldato
There are still some things I want to get sorted in the future! The trim that surrounds the roof hatch behind the parcel shelf is body coloured, it's not metal but appears to be Alu I think, and as such as some signs of minor bubbling starting to form. That panel needs to be sanded down and painted... Along with road tar and other overspray filth that has lodged into the general paint surface so looks a bit naff up close. Guess that means another appointment with the detailer at some point after the above has been done too.
And a stone chipped rear alloy!!
It's certainly not 100% cosmetic issue free on the outside, but I can live with those I suppose
Scrap it tbh
You've really got to REALLY want an E46 M3 to buy one now. It won't ever be a "oh maybe I'll try an E46 M3 next" purchase, it has to be because you want one from deep down, otherwise you'll be left eyes watery.
If you are happy with that, then read on
Thanks for your reply. I have been looking on and off for a year now so certainly not a fleeting fancy. I think the seller underestimates how much maintenance these now need and has not kept up. I would be surprised if he accepts under 10k. He kept saying the phrase great investment
Permabanned
Tell him "GLWS" and find a better one... he'll probably come back to you when he realises no-one in their right mind would pay that much.
Man of Honour
Any pictures of it? Would like to see interior/exterior.
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Jul 2007
- Posts
- 5,392
Saw an X2 on the road today, looked like the m sport X. Personally think the grey is reminiscent of cheap faded plastic on low spec cars but overall I liked it.
Not snot yellow though.
Not snot yellow though.
Dont spoil a nice car by becoming part of the dashcam brigade.
How would added safeguarding spoil the car? I'm not going to be off hunting £200 for YBF, but a nice subtle camera is probably a good thing to in case of an RTC.
Answered here with supporting photos : http://g30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1457675
Honestly, you didn't £10 is literally 10 miles, and I'm not even joking....