BMW and M Power Owners

So equivalent of £433 per month? Doubt you'd be any less than that on a PCP or whatever, and could see it easily loosing that £10k over the first 2 years, so probably a decent enough way to do it IMO.

But not as nice sounding as the £250 pm Golf R deals, or similar sorts of deals that are kicking about. Is there not an M5 deal for about £100 a month more than that? Sure, it's £100 more, but M5...
 
I'm not sure, but if there is I'm interested.

Currently I have a 328i which costs me -

290 per month BIK tax
6,700 a year salary sacrifice
120 a month trade up (gross)

In all it is about 670 a month. I need to save about 200-250 so budget is about 470 all in. However on a private car I would profit on the mileage so call it a budget of 550-600 max. That has to include insurance which is about a grand (no NCD) for the 335d. And I assume something for gap insurance and tyres servicing etc?

So maybe a max of 400 for the lease? Probably on a 23+3 with 12000 a year.

Golf R certainly sounds interesting, got a link?

Think this is gonna need a spreadsheet :)
 
Ste said:
Thinking of a 335d on a two year personal lease. 3 months down and then 400 a month for 12500 PA including road tax.

Seem like a reasonable deal? It's barely anything over and above a 320d...
Click to expand...

It's quite a lot over a 320d, there was a lease deal on 320d ED's at about half that the other week.
 
On the same site I'd seen a 320D for about 90 quid less but hadn't shopped around.

It'd be the LCI for sure

What sites do people recommend?
 
Looking at the BMW warranty, which is the one most people go for? I know you pay monthly in order so it just tick over 60k miles and still valid but in terms of the options, which one is worth it and not worth it?

100 excess or 250 excess (I am thinking £100 excess in case there is anything need fixing at the initial period and perhaps switch to £250 later on)
Include Emergency service?

I already have a top tier AA cover with my family (so have discount), so in theory i don't need emergency service as AA will toll my car anywhere if they can't repair it. But I like the hire car bit. Do I need to have this to get the free hire car?
 
IMHO the best product is Comprehensive with a £100 excess - it seems to save around £100 a year so unless you claim more than once you are no worse off. I've got a year left on mine so I've not renewed it but I've opted for £100 excess on the Mini for that reason.

BMW Emergency Service is much better than AA cover and only costs about £65 a year extra, which is very competitive. You get full onward travel cover, 48 hours of hire car, hotels if you need them and are far from home, etc etc as well as breakdown cover.

Hire cars are to fill the gap between problem and dealer loan car at short notice - not for routine warranty work, where the dealer provides a loan car irrespective of whether you have Emergency Service or not.
 
Thanks.

Would you advise, if a car is say 50k on the clock and I do 8k miles a year, take out an annual cover which saves like 20%, and then switch to monthly after 12 months.

For that to apply I really need to find a car under 50k miles, to save that £86-£100. Which perhaps isn't worth it if a £60k car is like £1k less.
 
NeilMick said:
Took it out for a nice drive at 5:30am thiis morning, needs the following however before I go on my 3000 miles trip through Europe.

Engine Oil
Gearbox Oil
MOT
Bilstein B12 Kit
New Windscreen

Z4ELY.png
Click to expand...

Someone's been to Ely ;)
 
Recently stepped up my interest in the E46 M3.

Have been looking at what's involved in the service I and II.

Other than valve clearance adjustments the servicing doesn't seem to be any different to a normal car (filters and oils/fluids, when due). The rest of the services are just checking everything.

Whilst I'd want the valve adjustments to be checked by someone who knows what they're doing, the rest is just bog standard stuff.

It seems the key thing is to find one that's a) had the clearances done b) compression tested (or do it myself) and c) ideally had clutch/water pump/possibly starter motor changed as they're getting to the age where these items are more likely to fail. Obviously the rear subframe needs to be checked too and I'm sure I read on here that the rear brake lines are a common problem.

Certainly food for thought - unless I'm mistaken in my research.
 
Last edited:
Just checked insurance (should have done this first really), can get insurance for a Z4, £ voluntary excess, £350 compulsory for a little under £500 a year.

Not that much more than my Yaris lol
 
Last edited:
sigma said:
Recently stepped up my interest in the E46 M3.

Have been looking at what's involved in the service I and II.

Other than valve clearance adjustments the servicing doesn't seem to be any different to a normal car (filters and oils/fluids, when due). The rest of the services are just checking everything.

Whilst I'd want the valve adjustments to be checked by someone who knows what they're doing, the rest is just bog standard stuff.

It seems the key thing is to find one that's a) had the clearances done b) compression tested (or do it myself) and c) ideally had clutch/water pump/possibly starter motor changed as they're getting to the age where these items are more likely to fail. Obviously the rear subframe needs to be checked too and I'm sure I read on here that the rear brake lines are a common problem.

Certainly food for thought - unless I'm mistaken in my research.
Click to expand...

The valve clearance is done every Inspection 2 and isn't that much of a difficult task in itself, it's just time consuming hence why an Inspection 2 costs the most. Your best bet would be to find your nearest specialist garage as they will charge less for labour. My local is £35 an hour and as such an Inspection 2 costs less than £550.

On all my cars I've had an oil service every year regardless of mileage driven and the sump plug and washer replaced each time too.

Maintaining an E46 M3 can be very costs friendly, you just need to look at it wisely and most importantly, find an indy that takes some pride in what they do (this isn't easy I'll admit, I came across my local one by sheer luck browsing Google Maps one day!). Buy oil + filters from places like ECP. It's cheaper than what any indy can source and then all you're paying is labour really.

You're more likely to see through common faults such as failing sensors and brake/body components than actual engine issues providing the car has been routinely serviced.

The other little bit that makes these cars so fun to own is that because they've been around now for so long, the community is huge and you can literally plug in your laptop or smartphone and start hacking away customising in the things you want and removing those you don't.
 
Last edited:
mrk said:
The valve clearance is done every Inspection 2 and isn't that much of a difficult task in itself, it's just time consuming hence why an Inspection 2 costs the most.
Click to expand...

This is not true - it is checked at Inspection 1 as well, which is why both Inspection services on an E46 M3 are considerably more expensive than say a 330Ci whereas the E46 M3 oil service is very low cost.

Your best bet would be to find your nearest specialist garage as they will charge less for labour. My local is £35 an hour and as such an Inspection 2 costs less than £550.
Click to expand...

£35 an hour labour rate is so exceptionally low I am actually amazed. Even down here in the South West, the land of low wages and houses that cost nothing like that up in Hampshire, you can't get a Ford Fiesta fixed for 35 quid an hour let alone a BMW at a specialist.

Even 9 years ago I was paying more than that per hour at a specialist! Some of the more well known specialists in Hampshire are approaching £100 an hour themselves now.

Maintaining an E46 M3 can be very costs friendly
Click to expand...

So can running a Ferrari if you pretend half the service schedule doesn't exist and find somebody who can apparently service it for 25p an hour, to be fair. I guess the trick is managing that :p

Buy oil + filters from places like ECP. It's cheaper than what any indy can source and then all you're paying is labour really.
Click to expand...

Any indy can use ECP (And most will have a trade account the for keener prices) so buying it yourself isn't cheaper than what any indy can source, the issue is that most indys mark the price up on parts for extra profit.
 
mrk said:
On all my cars I've had an oil service every year regardless of mileage driven and the sump plug and washer replaced each time too.
Click to expand...

Sump plug replaced every oil change? Why? :confused:

Apart from the usual ECP/GSF/local motor factors can you direct me to any online BMW specific part places where I can look at part prices please?

Also, I noticed in your gear gaiter pic that your car doesn't appear to have heated seats? Bit odd for a convertible not to have them? Unless the buttons are in a different place to normal.
 
Last edited:
Serves me right for not double checking before posting :o

[TW]Fox;28170216 said:
This is not true - it is checked at Inspection 1 as well, which is why both Inspection services on an E46 M3 are considerably more expensive than say a 330Ci whereas the E46 M3 oil service is very low cost.

[TW]Fox;28170216 said:
So can running a Ferrari if you pretend half the service schedule doesn't exist and find somebody who can apparently service it for 25p an hour, to be fair. I guess the trick is managing that :p
Click to expand...

Sorry this part is my misunderstanding. They use the same service list as the main dealer so that would indeed be the case. For some reason I thought it was Insp2 only. if any parts are needed then they're all sourced from Snows
Click to expand...

[TW]Fox;28170216 said:
£35 an hour labour rate is so exceptionally low I am actually amazed. Even down here in the South West, the land of low wages and houses that cost nothing like that up in Hampshire, you can't get a Ford Fiesta fixed for 35 quid an hour let alone a BMW at a specialist.

Even 9 years ago I was paying more than that per hour at a specialist! Some of the more well known specialists in Hampshire are approaching £100 an hour themselves now.
Click to expand...

Before I started using him I did ask why the rate was so low compared to other places, there's a garage just down the road from me who did the MOT yearly on the previous car and I used them for odd jobs, they charged £50 an hour but they are a larger garage with more staff. This indy is much smaller with 2 staff. He said it's low because he doesn't need to charge that much for it. He's only open Mon-Fri though which is a pain for me but worth going out the way for.

I've been using him for some years now and never had an issue, always friendly one to one service and always goes the extra mile.
sigma said:
Sump plug replaced every oil change? Why? :confused:
Click to expand...

It's such a cheap part from the main dealer (£1.something and washer is 83p) you may as well? Looking on forums it seems some request it, some don't, some dealers and garages do it out of practice anyway and some OEMs even recommend it. Not essential but as I say,, so cheap you may as well?
 
Last edited:
[TW]Fox;28170216 said:
So can running a Ferrari if you pretend half the service schedule doesn't exist and find somebody who can apparently service it for 25p an hour, to be fair. I guess the trick is managing that :p
Click to expand...

I know this isn't aimed at me but my point was that apart from valve clearances, the servicing isn't too different from any normal car, it's just the usual fluids - admittedly they will cost more than the average car and the servicing may be more often but as far as actually doing the task, a fluid change is a fluid change, regardless of whether BMW do it or not.

That said I will probably push for one with FBMWSH or at least specialist. Think I'm going to browse the owners club(s?) as I'd rather it be owned by an enthusiast.

mrk said:
It's such a cheap part from the main dealer (£1.something and washer is 83p) you may as well? Looking on forums it seems some request it, some don't, some dealers and garages do it out of practice anyway and some OEMs even recommend it. Not essential but as I say,, so cheap you may as well?
Click to expand...

Washer, yes, as they're consumables but never heard of replacing the sump plug every change. All bolts are cheap, it doesn't mean I want to replace them every time I take a part off :p
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom