Some E46 M3 info please

MeEsH BaKkA · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:00

Right I have decided I want rid of my Astra after 2 years (of quite fun ownership) and am very interested in a E46 M3 which is now much more affordable to insure.

I'm after some info on what usualy goes wrong and servicing costs, I have read that rear springs and bushes go quite often what would the cost be for new rear springs? Are the engines reliable/any known issues such a vanos problems? Is the inboard nav any good? Is the HK audio any good etc...

The cars I'm looking at are 04+ with sub 50k miles although I could make an exception for a particularly well looked after/specd car. The sub 50k part would be putting me on course for an inspection 2 I expect can these be carried out by an Indy or main dealer only, what is involved with insp 2?

Thanks for any help and hopfuly I will end up in a nice silver grey coupe with imola red leather in the next couple of months

[TW]Fox · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:08

Inspection 2 is the largest service and costs about £700-£900 depending on where you go. Inspection 1's are £600-£800, but the Oil Services are reasonably inexpensive at under £200.

The nav is rubbish, looks dated but the interior looks far better with it fitted.

Make no mistake these are great cars but are not cheap to buy or maintain.

If you are coming from a Vauxhall Astra any car you get in is going to seem amazing. Perhaps take advantage of this and consider a 330Ci. It's not as fast, but it looks similar and the running costs are much lower.

Vita · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:09

Fox, would you say the SMG's are better then the Manuals? From what I've been told of those who have driven both cars, they much prefer the Manuals then the SMG's.

[TW]Fox · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:10

Vita said:
Fox, would you say the SMG's are better then the Manuals? From what I've been told of those who have driven both cars, they much prefer the Manuals then the SMG's.

Absolutely down to owner preference. I hate SMG and would never touch one, but some people swear by it. It isnt a reliability nightmare like the original SSG/SMG1 cars, though.

MeEsH BaKkA · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:21

Fox I know what you mean about the astra not being amazing but I'm coming from the VXR (big woop I know) and had originaly wanted an M3 but due to my previous Clio cup being stolen and writen off insurance for the M3 became too high due to the claim. I got the Astra rather cheap hence the rather odd change of choice from german rwd coupe to fwd over powered hatch.

I understand the big power and dynamics gap between the two cars but I'm fairly confident it would not be an issue day. Also fuel costs are not an issue due to the car being a weekend toy with no commuting required.

Rotty · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:27

I loved SMG but don't make a judgement from a test drive, took me 3 months to really get into it

main problem is rear springs breaking bot not expensive

re the Nav while not great get it if you can as when you come to resell Glass's guide says to deduct £2k for no Nav and the dealers will be strict on this,of course it is also worthless if you have it

if it's 1200 mile service was missed or late then don't touch it as it will be extremely difficult to sell on, 19 inch wheels look great but beware because if they have been refurbed they are likely to look crap very soon

[TW]Fox · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:32

The £2k no-nav thing applied when they were £20k+ cars not £12k cars. It does still make a difference, but not £2k.

Shimmy · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:35

I've no experience of the nav in an E46, what is it that makes them so rubbish?

I ask as I have inbuilt nav in my older Omega and whilst a TomTom will do much more, I've had no problems using my 10 year old nav system during my ownership.

[TW]Fox · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:37

Shimmy said:
I've no experience of the nav in an E46, what is it that makes them so rubbish?

It's a 10 year old computer system, so the interface, etc etc is all rather dated. It also doesnt have full postcode lookup (No, the silly workaround with POI's isnt the same thing).

MeEsH BaKkA · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:41

I want to test drive an SMG car and know of someone with a SMG M3 but as people and the owner of the one I want to test drive have said, it takes quite a while to get used to although quite a few people like it from what I have read.

Nice sig fox

Rotty · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:41

[TW]Fox;18147097 said:
The £2k no-nav thing applied when they were £20k+ cars not £12k cars. It does still make a difference, but not £2k.

very true but the book still says it afaik and they will still stick to it as daft as it is

may have changed very recently

Shimmy · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:44

[TW]Fox;18147128 said:
It's a 10 year old computer system, so the interface, etc etc is all rather dated. It also doesnt have full postcode lookup (No, the silly workaround with POI's isnt the same thing).

Sounds very similar if not the same as what I have.

Whilst I agree a full postcode function would be much better I haven't felt the need to mount my phone as nav or setup the standalone TomTom. The pickup of signal is quick, turn signals are adequate and as it's inbuilt the voice directions work well.

Perhaps I'm just more forgiving because I had lower expectations from what is a very cheap car.

NickXX · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:44

Good call on the colour scheme

As mentioned above - Insurance/Servicing/tyres/brakes are expensive. Worth considering if you're doing a lot of miles. Fuel economy is surprisingly good, I average around 25mpg.

The sat nav is old, but functionality is still very good - I always trust it to plot out a decent route for me, whether it's to a local town or the other side of Europe. Also has TMC and BMW are still releasing up to date maps.

Insp 2 is engine/gearbox/diff oil, air filter, cabin filter, valve clearances, and a bit of poking about.

Mine absolutely had to have SMG, do note that the manual box can be a bit clunky.

MeEsH BaKkA · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:50

NickXX nice car

I have averaged 25mpg in my astra so that's not too bad (I got 53 miles to a tank at the ring this year :S )

I don't plan on doing that many miles tbh it is going to be a car for pleasure basicaly tuning about, track days and the odd ring trip (all hard on brakes and tires I suppose)

[TW]Fox · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:56

It's not a very good choice for trackdays because the cost of tyres, brakes, etc etc all adds up very fast.

Even NickXX doesnt use his for trackdays, he found it was better to buy and run a dedicated second car for track use instead of using his M3.

Housey · 5 Jan 2011 at 12:59

Both my M3's (around 100K covered in them from new) saw 24.3mpg. I'm not up to speed on the current costs for running them as mine were bought in 2002 and 2004 from new, but they are generally a pretty bullet proof car, rear springs aside which went on both my cars. I actually had a Vanos fail on my first M3 too, which was rare on the E46 unlike the E36 and without a warranty would have cost over £2K to fix. Don't foget this is, in pro-rata terms a £56K car from new so exepct the running costs of such a car when it comes to parts and consumables.

MeEsH BaKkA · 5 Jan 2011 at 13:01

Well I do currently have a mx5 track car so I would probably keep that for uk trackdays and use the M3 on a couple of car handling/limits days and on ring trips as the mx5 almost killed me driving to the ring with no interior etc...

Oh I ment running about not tuning about in my last post, the car will be kept totaly standard!