Make sure you do all the sums before seriously considering one. Even with a BMW warranty they are expensive to run. Without a warranty it's a case of when not if something breaks, and when it does it will hurt your wallet.
BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
Make sure you do all the sums before seriously considering one. Even with a BMW warranty they are expensive to run. Without a warranty it's a case of when not if something breaks, and when it does it will hurt your wallet.
Which model?
I am finding it really difficult at the moment to find a manual E46 M3 LCI coupe that is not mega high mileage at a reasonable price. The market is flooded with rubbish cars priced at stupid money, or low mileage cars that are between £13-15k. I'm being picky and making heated seats a requirement, but am open to any colour as long as it's not silver or phoenix yellow.
[TW]Fox;27652172 said:
From 03 onwards the changes are gradual, but 05+ cars there are quite a few changes from what I have researched: LED rear clusters, DVD/sat nav unit, revised rod bearings, revised ECU, revised HVAC unit, revised DSC (M Track mode), 12 year anti-corrosion warranty, CSL exhaust headers (05 onwards).
[TW]Fox;27652406 said:
I know, my 330d is getting it's rear arches sorted under warranty (thankfully).
The LCI included the revised ECU as most 03+ cars are M Track enabled.
Supposedly the 05 has a stronger head gasket too.
That's pretty much what I determined too from the vast amount of (possibly rubbish) data on the internet. I don't believe BMW would have changed the head gasket to address problems, but you never know.
I am expecting mine to get rejected too, even though the body shop said the paint depth is within the thickness tolerance to prove it's not been painted; my service book has a full BMW history but one of the services which was supposed to be an inspection 2 has not been ticked (it's been stamped in the book but not ticked). Knowing my luck they will come back and say it's not been serviced correctly. I am being pessimistic but realistic about it.
Was it an S54 engined one? They seem to be going for crazy money at the moment.
Id say 7.5-9k depending on condition. There are loads of dreamers on pistonheads who have their cars up at stupid prices, and they have been sitting on there for a long time. Price it well and it will sell fast if it's in good condition with a FSH.
Depends what the condition is like. Pics? A very well maintained 2002 I know of went for 9k this week, but it was immaculate and had a few decent mods done to it, and had less than 100k miles.
Yeah that's it. I don't like running 2 cars. I have done in the past and just found it was pointless. Luckily I can get to work by train, but I still don't want big bills as I've just bought a new house and could do without extra expenditure for the time being. The E46 is now at a point where big bills are just waiting to happen, especially when you look at the number of head gaskets being replaced, SMG pumps, sub frame cracks, and other annoyances such as sensors, pulleys, suspension parts.
In short, I preferred the Z4.
The E92, I bought this on a whim as I was looking for a new car and decided to just go for it (I made a post about it in May 2011). I owned it for around a year and sold it due to starting a long commute to work. I may have kept it a lot longer if I didn't have that commute.
You had to really wring it's neck to get it going. It did have some low down power and torque, but it wasn't effortless. That said, it was a very special car, the S65 was immense and it was so quick, most of time I felt it was too quick for the road. I had a custom exhaust (Chris Tullett) fitted by the previous owner. Made a big difference over the OEM exhaust so I'd recommend changing this as a first mod.
Mine had a manual gearbox, which was great but it could have been made better with a short shift kit. If I were buying again I'd go with the DCT gearbox. I also had EDC fitted and I'd definitely get this again. Comfort mode took out a lot of the bumps in the road and I left it in that for most of the time.
The biggest let down of the car for me was the interior; it was crap. It rattled and squeaked, bits fell off, the seatbelt pusher arms didn't work half the time and it was overall very dull. Fuel economy was of course, not good. I never got more than 22mpg average even when cruising at 65mph.
When I bought the Z4 I had some criteria; 2 doors, folding metal hard top, dual clutch gearbox, modern interior with a few gadgets, RWD and 300bhp minimum. I couldn't find anything else that came close to the 35i. There were hardly any for sale on BMW AUC so I had to go with what was there, but ended up with a well specced car (if I had the spec I wanted I would have had comfort access and EDC dampers).
The interior was fantastic, a much nicer place to be than the M3. Some of the plastic surrounds were quite cheap and rattly but not that noticable.
The N54 engine coupled with the DCT gearbox was a highlight for me. So much low down pull and the gearbox knew exactly when to shift. When set to Sport+ the shifts were lightning quick. It sounded pretty nice too, not too dissimilar from the S54.
I enjoyed having a convertible too, and because it was designed as a convertible it felt a lot more solid than an E93. The wind deflector helped a lot too, this is a must for doing over 70mph. I had a lot more memorable drives in my Z4 than the M3. The main reason I sold it was because I had gone back to doing long commuter miles (ironically I've now got a job just down the road
). The boot was plenty big enough too even with the roof down. My wife and I went for a weeks trip to France and back in it and had the roof down for most of the time. It got so much attention too, much more than my M3, which I was really surprised about. I covered 20 odd thousand miles and only went through 1 set of tyres and one service. I had one coil pack replaced under warranty and that was it. I also averaged ~28 mpg over ownership, and I don't drive like a granny!
If 4 seats aren't a requirement and you fancy some open top motoring then I couldn't recommend the Z4 enough. I'd push for a 35is as they have a bit more power (same as the 1M Coupe) and the adjustable dampers are standard. I believe they have a louder sports exhaust too.
The E92, I bought this on a whim as I was looking for a new car and decided to just go for it (I made a post about it in May 2011). I owned it for around a year and sold it due to starting a long commute to work. I may have kept it a lot longer if I didn't have that commute.
You had to really wring it's neck to get it going. It did have some low down power and torque, but it wasn't effortless. That said, it was a very special car, the S65 was immense and it was so quick, most of time I felt it was too quick for the road. I had a custom exhaust (Chris Tullett) fitted by the previous owner. Made a big difference over the OEM exhaust so I'd recommend changing this as a first mod.
Mine had a manual gearbox, which was great but it could have been made better with a short shift kit. If I were buying again I'd go with the DCT gearbox. I also had EDC fitted and I'd definitely get this again. Comfort mode took out a lot of the bumps in the road and I left it in that for most of the time.
The biggest let down of the car for me was the interior; it was crap. It rattled and squeaked, bits fell off, the seatbelt pusher arms didn't work half the time and it was overall very dull. Fuel economy was of course, not good. I never got more than 22mpg average even when cruising at 65mph.
When I bought the Z4 I had some criteria; 2 doors, folding metal hard top, dual clutch gearbox, modern interior with a few gadgets, RWD and 300bhp minimum. I couldn't find anything else that came close to the 35i. There were hardly any for sale on BMW AUC so I had to go with what was there, but ended up with a well specced car (if I had the spec I wanted I would have had comfort access and EDC dampers).
The interior was fantastic, a much nicer place to be than the M3. Some of the plastic surrounds were quite cheap and rattly but not that noticable.
The N54 engine coupled with the DCT gearbox was a highlight for me. So much low down pull and the gearbox knew exactly when to shift. When set to Sport+ the shifts were lightning quick. It sounded pretty nice too, not too dissimilar from the S54.
I enjoyed having a convertible too, and because it was designed as a convertible it felt a lot more solid than an E93. The wind deflector helped a lot too, this is a must for doing over 70mph. I had a lot more memorable drives in my Z4 than the M3. The main reason I sold it was because I had gone back to doing long commuter miles (ironically I've now got a job just down the road
). The boot was plenty big enough too even with the roof down. My wife and I went for a weeks trip to France and back in it and had the roof down for most of the time. It got so much attention too, much more than my M3, which I was really surprised about. I covered 20 odd thousand miles and only went through 1 set of tyres and one service. I had one coil pack replaced under warranty and that was it. I also averaged ~28 mpg over ownership, and I don't drive like a granny!If 4 seats aren't a requirement and you fancy some open top motoring then I couldn't recommend the Z4 enough. I'd push for a 35is as they have a bit more power (same as the 1M Coupe) and the adjustable dampers are standard. I believe they have a louder sports exhaust too.
No worries, the 35i isn't the last word in dynamic handling, but I feel it gets an unfair review in the press. I found it great for smashing down B roads as well as cruising on the motorway. I liken it to a more modern, mini SL55! If you buy from BMW, you can push them for a 2 year warranty. I negotiated £1k off the price plus an extra years warranty.
Gents, I want to do the following to my 330d Touring to freshen it up a little bit, can you advise me on where to buy the parts?
Clean the MAF - what cleaning product should I use?
New oil breather pipe/filter - where do I buy this from?]
Remove the swirl flaps - where do I buy the blanking plates from?
New front and rear trailing arm bushes - where do I buy these from, I just want to stick with OEM or near enough OEM.
Are there any other things I could do in the mean time?
Also, if any of your E46 Touring owners have noticed your rear windscreen heater has stopped working, check where the rubber seals contacts with the window? I checked yesterday and the prolonged contact has rubbed away all the heater elements. The only fix is a new rear screen, or using some electrical contact paste, which is more hassle than it's worth.
Clean the MAF - what cleaning product should I use?
New oil breather pipe/filter - where do I buy this from?]
Remove the swirl flaps - where do I buy the blanking plates from?
New front and rear trailing arm bushes - where do I buy these from, I just want to stick with OEM or near enough OEM.
Are there any other things I could do in the mean time?
Also, if any of your E46 Touring owners have noticed your rear windscreen heater has stopped working, check where the rubber seals contacts with the window? I checked yesterday and the prolonged contact has rubbed away all the heater elements. The only fix is a new rear screen, or using some electrical contact paste, which is more hassle than it's worth.
335i's been into BMW today to look at idrive advised failed bulb holders in the rear left cluster, despite the lights working just fine.
Whilst it was there I asked them to look at a loud rattle I had mainly on startup and which I thought was the butterfly valve in the exhaust. Long story short, it actually turns out to be wastegates.
She's booked in at the end of the month for a week for them to look at and sort.It's just gone over 60k and Jan 2007 build car.
Should all be sorted through the Mondial warranty according to them! Thank **** for that!! Are they likely to say I may have to pay for investigative works before full diagnosis due to the size of the job?
If you have a full warranty then you've got nothing to worry about.