Soldato
I’d happily be financially ruined by a V8
BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
Soldato
I absolutely love my 135i. It really is lovely to drive.
But I really feel I need to scratch the V8 itch
But I know that the tax + upkeep wouldn’t be worth the cost long term.
Thing is, I’m not seeing much depreciation on E92s so thinking it could be a reasonably cheap year or 6 months of motoring… Must not apply man maths.
My E92 M3 stands head and shoulders above any other car I've owned in terms of running costs. Mine might be an extreme example but there are plenty of owners out there with running costs in the same ballpark (and equally plenty of people who have spent next to nothing running theirs). You can run far more interesting/exotic V8-powered cars than the E9x M3 with a lot less risk.
I'm sure @DRZ Had one. We were talking about them on the (unofficial) discord and he said he wouldn't recommend one unless you can stomach £5k a year in maintenance alone. They have some inherent issues you absolutely need to be aware of and even having had those looked at by a previous owner is no guarantee they won't re-occur is my understanding.I’d happily be financially ruined by a V8
As much as I love them, especially in Saloon guise, I'd be looking elsewhere for a V8 fix. Merc C63, VXR8, Lexus ISF are options.
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Soldato
Not so much £5k per year but a reserve of cash should things go wrong.
Essential maintenance that needs to be done includes:
Throttle Actuators (a solved problem if they've been replaced by rebuild.org units, else they'll just keep breaking) - £600ish
Rod Bearings - £1500ish to get done, jury is out as to if this is a solved problem or not and the answer seems to be "it depends". Despite changing rod bearings, my main bearings failed anyway and scrapped the engine. Preventative main bearing replacement isn't viable cost-wise.
Generally these will all have completely shot engine mounts unless they've been replaced already (often done when the bearings are done). DCT pans crack (every single one, eventually), undertrays disintegrate and the replacement OE part will disintegrate again so most opt for something better, injectors can fail and cause terminal damage, servicing is expensive, doubly so come spark plug change time etc etc. The ridiculous engine oil is shared with the Bugatti Veyron and Koenigsegg CCX.
Fuel costs are mileage dependent obviously - certainly not the worst car I've owned on fuel but up in the top 3 for sure, especially when "on it".
They drive incredibly well - much more of a scalpel than a brute and the engine noise is magical but would I have one again? Maybe an E90 M3 CRT as part of a larger collection but that'd be it for me.
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Soldato
Might get one and stick it on a BMW warranty for the year. I'm guessing the warranty would cover those failures?
I had a quick look but there weren't any other V8s in a similar price bracket which I could find, that I would like to own.
Maybe an RS4? But I'm not really a fan of Audis to drive.
It's a garage car for me, so 2k miles a year + the odd road trip.
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Find a reg on autotrader and check the price for the BMW warranty. It's rather large.
Picked a reg on a private sale from AT, although with 98k miles so very close to not being covered. Annual with £100 excess and roadside, for fully comp, £4778.
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Soldato
1833 for a 2010 car with under 60k, no roadside and 100 excess.
Not great but not terrible.
20K miles PA in my E92 M3 looked like this back in 2016.
That's.... Reasonable. Not great, but reasonable.
£30 a day. Not cheap to run.
Soldato
It's impossible. V8s call to us men. It's natural.
I want an E92 M3..... All my regular track day mates have them, in various states of modification for track. Outside race cars and very well driven supercars they are fast when set up properly. They need some sensible upgrades to suspension and brakes together with some weight taking out of them (and one of them EVenturi intakes for the noise....oh the noise) but they go like stink and with rod bearings sorted, are reliable. Couple of them running over 600bhp.
The white one is probably the most highly 'optimised' with the very best bits on it and the driver is really quick.
There are another 4 or 5 on top of those 3 all in different stages of tune. Addictive if somewhat expensive game that rarely sees money spent give a return outside of massive smiles.
The white one is probably the most highly 'optimised' with the very best bits on it and the driver is really quick.
There are another 4 or 5 on top of those 3 all in different stages of tune. Addictive if somewhat expensive game that rarely sees money spent give a return outside of massive smiles.
Soldato
That seems to have come down then - when I quoted on mine it was £3300pa for a 2011 (competition pack) car with under 60k.
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It is simply not true to say that aside from a £1500 rod bearing job they are trouble free. Every single one made will have throttle actuator issues. Repeatedly if you don't come to learn about the non-OE fix. Every single DCT car will need a new DCT pan at some point. Every single one will need engine mounts by now - they often go unnoticed but have completely disintegrated! Every single car will need to sort out that stupid and relatively expensive undertray. Some will have injector issues - which are seemingly hard to notice and results in engine failure if they are allowed to get bad, which they do - quickly. This is something of a new trend, but I personally know of two of these cars that have had to have new engines due to injector failure, plus my car with the replacement engine met its demise via injectors as well. Then there's VANOS hub issues, etc etc. They are immensely complex engines and stuff does go wrong with them. The rear diff carrier is made out of cheese. That's before you've got to any mods needed to address the stock car's shortcomings like brakes.
Then there's the servicing, which isn't cheap - the "big" service is £1k+.
If you've got enough money to not care one iota or absolutely must specifically have an E9x M3 then go right ahead but mile-for-mile my E92 M3 cost me about 2x the McLaren, more than Gibbo has spent running his Ferrari 458 in total etc etc. I am not alone - there are plenty of threads on M3Cutters and PH of people with similar running costs beyond fuel. In my view they absolutely are not special enough to warrant this sort of spending.
Of course, if you're lucky like Simon (or don't drive your cars...) then you're unlikely to have an issue. Which is the problem - you get people casually lusting after a V8/M3/whatever and go in not knowing what is at least possible, encouraged by tales of completely trouble-free 600bhp+ E9x M3s. I don't think that's helpful. There's multiple a year of these tuned/supercharged cars getting rebuilt at specialists (inc one at Aaron Reeve right now!) that suggest all is not kittens and moonbeams.
Soldato
Soldato
You convinced me that it’s a stupid idea.
But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do it
Sound of a V8 is like crack. And I leave near Goodwood so I hear/see many V8s hitting the A27 regularly.
Definitely a silly thing to buy a 13 year old car with known reliability issues. But yet…
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Soldato
Oh by all means buy one! They are mega! Just have your eyes open going in and then keep your fingers/arms/legs/toes, eyes and heart crossed during... 
Get a comp pack car with as much history and in the best condition you can, ideally with the TAs and RBs done by someone reputable.
I'm a sucker for a V8 (hence my v8poweruk insta handle) so if you can, you should (while you still can...)
Get a comp pack car with as much history and in the best condition you can, ideally with the TAs and RBs done by someone reputable.
I'm a sucker for a V8 (hence my v8poweruk insta handle) so if you can, you should (while you still can...)