Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...

It's on 56k now. Was low high 20s or low 30 think when I got it (other z4 was the same).

So it has crossed my mind again now I'm getting near 60k.

I have seen an odd one or two on the forums over the years. But normally they are not a clean looking example. Plus you just don't know how they or its previous owners drive them.

I will be looking into it much more next year though. As like you said I plan on keeping it as I certainly can't afford anything better after getting the house.
 
Scania said:
Surely the thing to do here is enquire on BMW / M specific forums / usergroups as to who are the places that do a fine job and use the one of best reput
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I did and various people recommended the usual specialists and tuners who rebuild and swap engines on these cars. Pricing wise they're all close together. It was a toss up betwen Evolve and Redish. Evolve have worked on my car before but I like the comprehensive nature of Redish so opted for them.

The thing is the cheaper options at £2650 may be equally as risky. They supply an engine, I don't know if that engine has any history, they say they use OEM bearings and parts but the total price doesn't reflect that or are they not charging labour?

Too many questions. 4800 is a lot for a used engine, but I've seen it running and it is low mileage too but yes it is still a gamble, just a safer gamble than a complete unknown at a price that is seemingly too good to be true. There were cheaper engines available for 1k less money, but they were higher mileage examples and didn't have the history and paperwork to back them up.

An engine rebuild would have also come to around the same total price if not a bit more after speaking to a few specialists who could do that option.
 
Yup rebuild is more labour time intensive, plus a new crank shaft and full engine flush to get all the metal and copper out of every nook etc. Mine basically suffered worst case scenario sadly.

@badgeruk I actually forgot about ETA! They do my siubframe checks every now and then when I know I'm around the area.
 
Really sad news, I can see the conflict between spending the money to fix (and the various options therein) or calling it a day. Knowing the condition of the car, id be tempted by the fix route too. If you're very happy with the car, I don't think there's many options to change to that give quite the same satisfaction for the money.

This does however remind me of the reasons I moved away from M and RS cars this time around - theres too much money involved in fixing cars with complex components, or components that appear to wear out before they should. I spent a lot of money replacing vanos systems (M3 and M5) and two turbos (almost an engine out job on an RS6) all in the name of preventative maintenance. This on top of really expensive warranty renewals and servicing.

I used to think this was just the cost of running performance cars, but im starting to think the German manufacturers (BMW, Audi and Porsche) are the worst for it. My new-to-me Lexus ISF has similar performance to its German competition, but seemingly none of the reliability issues, nor the ludicrous servicing (£35/month service plan) and warranty costs (around £700 FOR 2yrs, 12 monthly payments, interest free). So reliable performance is possible, right?
 
naefeart said:
Really sad news, I can see the conflict between spending the money to fix (and the various options therein) or calling it a day. Knowing the condition of the car, id be tempted by the fix route too. If you're very happy with the car, I don't think there's many options to change to that give quite the same satisfaction for the money.

This does however remind me of the reasons I moved away from M and RS cars this time around - theres too much money involved in fixing cars with complex components, or components that appear to wear out before they should. I spent a lot of money replacing vanos systems (M3 and M5) and two turbos (almost an engine out job on an RS6) all in the name of preventative maintenance. This on top of really expensive warranty renewals and servicing.

I used to think this was just the cost of running performance cars, but im starting to think the German manufacturers (BMW, Audi and Porsche) are the worst for it. My new-to-me Lexus ISF has similar performance to its German competition, but seemingly none of the reliability issues, nor the ludicrous servicing (£35/month service plan) and warranty costs (around £700 FOR 2yrs, 12 monthly payments, interest free). So reliable performance is possible, right?
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I'm surprised that ISF is not that popular.. uk seems to have a massive love for anything german.

in my opinion ISF is a superior car to rS4/m5.

and I will be getting one when I'm feeling richer and tired of my is250(which is a brilliant car in on its own)
 
Och, the ISF perhaps isn't as focused as the M/RS cars, but the German manufacturers are first class in marketing such machines. Lexus are pretty poor here.

Btw I'm not suggesting German car owners should go for the Jap alternatives, just that strangely we seem to be happy to put up with these costs with ze Germans.

Re my reliable performance comment above, i should have added 'without having to spend a fortune).
 
Those IS-Fs are really nice, love the 5l V8 sound too. They're still rather expensive though having had a quick browse on autotrader! ONly 8 for sale with the cheapest being £13k with the rest up to 30!
 
Yeah there are only around 200 of these cars in the UK, so prices are all over the place. The V8 does sound glorious however and I don't have to worry about Schrodinger's rod bearings.

At least you won't have this issue with the new engine and it'll probably outlast the car.
 
Car left for Redish today. I used Autohaul (came up on Gumtree via Google search). Dan runs the business and really cool guy. Loads the car up clean and tidy etc, covers the wheels before securing them. Recommended!

The engine will arrive Thursday, the seller is hand delivering it as he doesn't trust pallet companies to be careful enough.

Redish's job list came through as well:

RedishJobList.jpeg


The oil service was due anyway, and will end up being free as new oil needs to go in as part of the job which is handy. VANOS diagnostic will also be done once the new engine is in.

I'm also getting them to look at my PDC loom as there's a break, scraping noise around the rear driver side wheel backplate area and a brake fluid change due too so getting that done as listed.

Lastly, a new clutch since the engine is out as an additional extra.
 
When swapping engines, is there anything that needs to be done with regards to vehicle registration? Does the DVLA need to be informed? I know vehicles have a VIN, is this linked to your engine in anyway, or can you just replace the engine and carry on?
 
If it's a different model/capacity engine, you need to notify them and your insurance. Since it's the same engine from the same model year, nothing changes.

Mileage is tied to the VIN not the engine too, so swap away is what I was told as long as it's the same engine. I did try searching for details online but everything points to engine swaps with different engines, not like for like.

Unless anyone knows different!
 
mrk said:
If it's a different model/capacity engine, you need to notify them and your insurance. Since it's the same engine from the same model year, nothing changes.

Mileage is tied to the VIN not the engine too, so swap away is what I was told as long as it's the same engine. I did try searching for details online but everything points to engine swaps with different engines, not like for like.

Unless anyone knows different!
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Engine number is also noted on the log book IIRC
 
Already on it!

Speaking of video, arrival video up:


The light scratches on the arches were unknown to me as the car hasn't been washed in a month and I was in London 2 weekends ago so could have happened at any time. The sill scratch looks recent though but that should go away with some crunchy nut peanut butter application. The two on the arches will require some T-cut perhaps.

The alloys refurbs have already been booked in at FA Wheels so not concerned about those.
 
mrk said:
Already on it!

Speaking of video, arrival video up:


The light scratches on the arches were unknown to me as the car hasn't been washed in a month and I was in London 2 weekends ago so could have happened at any time. The sill scratch looks recent though but that should go away with some crunchy nut peanut butter application. The two on the arches will require some T-cut perhaps.

The alloys refurbs have already been booked in at FA Wheels so not concerned about those.
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This is why you pay more, service has no price and its why the guys at Redish has such a strong reputation.

Should be back on the road in no time. :)
 
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