Reply With QuoteGo and have a test drive your back will thank you in the end, bone shaking, noisy, twitching back end, with possible eye watering wallet emptying bills to cap it off.
So I’ve had a lot of cars over the years but nevervan “M”
Scared by service costs, insurances etc but tbh it’s probs now or never with my back sorted
My daily commute is approx 45 miles (round trip) via motorway and traffic less riadscas im at my desk for 7-15am
Mpg cost is heavy I know
I will prob only buy via main dealer as warranty v important
Seen one at £24500 on a 12 plate with 45k
Service costs (main dealer)
I can deal with pads and tyres via indies
Should I think more of pull the trigger
Cars in my life have often reflected both ambition and pride
I love a nice branded top end car but not at endless expense
I’ve looked in m3 cutters at cars etc but I’m asking the real guys in here as many if you will have had it have the “M” it h
Go and have a test drive your back will thank you in the end, bone shaking, noisy, twitching back end, with possible eye watering wallet emptying bills to cap it off.
I drove one recentlyOriginally Posted by Volvomanuk
No back issues
It was fine
The possible eye watering wallet emptying comment is my concern
If I’m under warranty where are the issues??
If you are scared by costs look at a Lexus isf. Very reliable, no ‘common issues’ extents warranty can be had up to 10 years old and they often do bogof so it works out at 400 ish per year and that includes fully loaded breakdown cover. It’s also a v8, rwd etc. When doing the research that’s where I spent my money. If under warranty there are no issues but if not the rod bearings are a concern and are roughly 1.5k -2k to get sorted and the throttle actuators are roughly £300 each I believe to get sorted. I have also heard from owners the brakes are not up to much when pressing on hard so budget for better pads as a minimum and ideally steel brake lines.
Last edited by Stuno1; 5th May 2018 at 06:50.
Thankyou
I’m not looking at alternatives at the mo though appreciate the input
What you mention would be covered in warranty and I’d be looking to keep the car for a year or so max
Only you will know if you can live with the service costs, there's a handy tool here to get an idea of main dealer service pricing.
https://www.bmw-service.co.uk/?gclid...naYBoCn7rw_wcB
If the costs are what you can afford then go for it, life's too short. If you don't like it/can't afford it/get fed up with it/back hurts or whatever you can always move it on. Assuming you've looked after it all you'll lose is the depreciation for the time you've owned it.
In years to come you won't be looking back and saying I'm glad I never owned an M!
Is the correct answer, from the man who's just put his money where his mouth is! How's the 911?
"A man of little significance"
That’s very useful and not as bad as I envisaged
Thanks
I’ve been running an e93 m3 as a daily for 18 months. 40 mike commute and no problems. Servicing is surprising cheap if you go to a good independent. Go for one with edc, I have mine in comfort most of the time as it’s more forgiving. Stereo upgrade, heated seats and dct were must haves for me too.
Be prepared for big fuel bills- I’ve averaged 20.4 to the gallon, about 250 miles to the tank. If you’re going for it it’s easy to empty the tank in under 200 miles, and it’ll do 300 miles if you’re gentle (although why buy an m3 then!). It’s not too bad on tyres as it’s not that torquey low down.
There are lots of reports of rod bearings going, seems to be in cars that have been driven hard from cold. Not something I’ve worried about personally. Actuators can also go (600 quid ish to fix). Most important thing when buying is to check the running in service was done, and that it has been looked after.
I still love mine, and I normally get bored of a car after a year. It’s a great car to potter around in, but is a complete animal if you go for it. Power delivery is like a bike, all top end which is addictive through the gears.
Btw don’t worry about your back- I bought mine a few months after a partial discectomy, and the seats are great- the heating helps when I’ve got a stiff back too!
Thankyou v informativeI’ve been running an e93 m3 as a daily for 18 months. 40 mike commute and no problems. Servicing is surprising cheap if you go to a good independent. Go for one with edc, I have mine in comfort most of the time as it’s more forgiving. Stereo upgrade, heated seats and dct were must haves for me too.
Be prepared for big fuel bills- I’ve averaged 20.4 to the gallon, about 250 miles to the tank. If you’re going for it it’s easy to empty the tank in under 200 miles, and it’ll do 300 miles if you’re gentle (although why buy an m3 then!). It’s not too bad on tyres as it’s not that torquey low down.
There are lots of reports of rod bearings going, seems to be in cars that have been driven hard from cold. Not something I’ve worried about personally. Actuators can also go (600 quid ish to fix). Most important thing when buying is to check the running in service was done, and that it has been looked after.
I still love mine, and I normally get bored of a car after a year. It’s a great car to potter around in, but is a complete animal if you go for it. Power delivery is like a bike, all top end which is addictive through the gears.
If I use my car on work from home days to do work I get 45p per mile on every mile there and back
If I pop out in the afternoons from the office I get the mileage there and back
Interesting point about mileage allowance.
I have an even faster/more powerful/thirstier e63 M6 and get 25p/mile which takes the edge off the commuting bills.
Was also in the main dealer yesterday for a couple of bits and pieces - the only things that should give you any kind of sleepless nights are catastrophic engine or transmission failures, the rest is sortable via main dealer or good independent (there isn’t one near me).
The BMW warranty is excellent if you can pick a car with one still current BTW.
I don’t think I’ve had as much fun in any car as my M, and I’ve had plenty.
I ran an e92 M3 for about 6 years and 50k miles.
I also had an 80 mile round trip commute. Over that time, I averaged 21mpg which equated to around 250 miles per tank.
Servicing was not as bad as I thought and it's all mileage based.
I did have, and was very pleased with, the extended warranty. Not cheap, but I did have a couple of issues that would have been very expensive to fix.
Overall, it's a very capable car.
Had an E92 comp pack for about 2 years and are great cars but I only achieved about 17 mpg, these cars are all top end and only start really moving with at least 5k on the Rev counter. Throttle actuators are a problem and a lot seem to go around 40k miles and are about £1k each. Great cars but the new model is in a different league.
I have s new M4 competition, it's not bad on fuel unless you're a hooligan, then it consumes fuel at a silly rate
Think you can claim difference between your mileage allowance and 45p/mile on your tax return.
Obviously business miles only (not commuting) up to 10,000 miles
I just get 45p a milefor first 10k
That’s business miles
Then it drops but hoping I don’t do as much this year
I’ve had 2 m3s and an m5. Great cars but be prepared for hefty bills when something goes wrong.
I’d buy an older one and run it for a year and not loose anything when you sell it ,why would I say that
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Take a look at the 4 series currently on SC, would be a great compromise for you unless you are wanting the M3 saloon with 4 doors.
I have no affiliation to the seller but having driven both myself I felt the M3 was brutal and great fun, very planted and sounds awesome but the fuel bills etc put me off. I ended up going for an SL 350 sport Mercedes as fancied a hardtop cab and already have a 4 door c class as a daily driver/ weekends with the family runabout.
Warranty’s are useless especially on a second hand cars, they train service managers to avoid if possible,make sure you get one that covers wear and tear.
They try “we’re full till 3 week Friday”wouldn’t be so bad if they stopped the clock but that’s 3 weeks eaten into the warranty.
Had a 7 series never again the A8 was fantastic, but the Bentley blows them all away, even if it’s a Q7 in disguise.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Last edited by Volvomanuk; 5th May 2018 at 16:34.
They are pretty reliable cars. Like I said rod bearings and actuators are the 2 main concerns, so as long as a warranty covers those it would give peace of mind. Personally I’d rather put the money to pay for the warranty in the bank, and if something fails pay for it then. Alternatively pay for new bearings (about 1400 quid) and then there’s worries.
It’s an M car though, so like anything similar you need to be able to stomach the running costs.
Would the warranty be from BMW? That is the only way I would buy an M car, you can buy used and if the car meets all BMW's checks, take out their warranty coverage. We bought a V10 M5 about 5 years ago now from a BMW dealer, negotiated a 2yr warranty and probably had about £3k of work done with no hassle over the 18mths of ownership. It was sensational and with the peace of mind of a BMW warranty, I could drive it how it was intended to be
I have never owned an M3 but now the family need for space is passing, i would be tempted by an F30 Competition pack. There seems to be plenty around and the prices are dropping. The E90/92 is likely to be a good medium term bet, if you have BMW warranty then you just need to budget for a bit of maintenance and depreciation will be minimal.
What's a rod bearing? Big end / little end?
Exactly as you sayWould the warranty be from BMW? That is the only way I would buy an M car, you can buy used and if the car meets all BMW's checks, take out their warranty coverage. We bought a V10 M5 about 5 years ago now from a BMW dealer, negotiated a 2yr warranty and probably had about £3k of work done with no hassle over the 18mths of ownership. It was sensational and with the peace of mind of a BMW warranty, I could drive it how it was intended to be
I have never owned an M3 but now the family need for space is passing, i would be tempted by an F30 Competition pack. There seems to be plenty around and the prices are dropping. The E90/92 is likely to be a good medium term bet, if you have BMW warranty then you just need to budget for a bit of maintenance and depreciation will be minimal.
It’ll be approved used so comes with 12 month warranty but I want two years
Conversation to have
I’ve had a Msport 335d that’s damn near as quick in the mid range and does 40mpg if you want it to.
400+torque vs 295 in the M3 partly makes up for the loss of top end tingle and makes it a bit of a “sleeper”
It’s also £14k and done 27k Miles
Try one if you can, you may be surprised
Big end- there have been some, rare, cases of them going and then it’s a new engine. 10w60 oil and very tight tolerances are not a good mix when cold. As above these engines need warming up gently before you floor it!
Just do itbuy the right car and i doubt it will depreciate either
I would be wary of the seller of that one
Can you buy a new one on finance? Low APR and full warranty - it would work out nearly the same price and you get a brand new car
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24500 on a 12 plate I’ve seen Ryan
The new ones are well out of reach
I don’t want debt on a car
Ah ok fair enough. I’ve seen lease deals of around £520 a month on these new with 6 months down but obviously you don’t own the car and over 4 years will have shelled out around £28k on it
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I wonder how much the question is about the specific model, and how much about “shall I go for it” in general.
We all have our own version of safe procurement. The most enjoyable and memorable cars I’ve had are those that have given me one or two nights’ sleepless worry about what might go wrong, whether I could afford the servicing/tyres/fuel/insurance, whatever.
Buy a new Kia if you’re nervous, but if you want to live it, go for it!
An absolute hoot!
I really wanted an f30 m3, had a look at a few then read a few comments from owners but then chickened out and went for a 335i instead. My 335i is under warranty and I’m glad that it is as back in Feb it had around £7k worth of work done to it to get rid of niggling problems that I found with it.
So whatever you go for make sure it has a proper bmw warranty, no 3rd party rubbish and warranty extensions are done direct with bmw so I’ve no idea if a dealer could offer a 2 year warranty. Another thing is that over 60k miles and the costs for warranty extension sky rocket.
I have an M3 but not the type you would drive everyday (E30), although I did the first year I had it back in the 90's..
It's become a dry only A to A car now..
Looks like I’ve got one
Left deposit subject to insurance provider not fleecing me
I think what swung it was actually putting £500 cash across the table (receipted) and saying
Your big boss isn’t in today....
Give him a call later and tell him I’m serious
After a lot of negotiating we’d still been £750 apart
The fact that I’d proved I was ready to buy seems to have gone a long way
A little like leaving a deposit on a watch I reckon
Deposit based upon a yet to do insurance quote? What a strange thing to do. What did the garage say about that?
If like most people you are a member of one of the many comparison sites a quote would have taken you all of 5 minutes to do so makes the above even more confusing?
I’m mid term with my insurer and am. It prepared to be fleeced
The smdealership are happy to do the deal subject to my insurance agreement
It was indeed a suggestion they gave allowing me not to get shafted if they try to rip me off
Well the car is now mine - will try and post some pics
E92 white with black carbon roof and huge black wheels
Sounds lovely
Drives rapid if needed
Thanks to those with input - see how long I keep her
Well done fella, I hope you have many happy miles, don’t forget if you really want to give it the beans it all happens at 5k+ on the Rev counter.
I was in earshot of a local drug dealer complaining about the fuel economy of his M3. Must be bad!
20mpg not bad for the smiles
It’s all about the smiles, and they rarely come cheap so fair play. Hope it lives up to your expectations.
Great (understatement really) cars in the dry, vicious crazy brutes in the wet (or even damp).
Plus they attract the thieves like no other car I know (cousin has had two back screens swiped and bro in law had his brand new one for less than a week before it 'disappeared')...
All that said though it's still one of the best real world fast cars you can buy, good luck keeping a clean license ;0)
Joe
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I blew up the engine on my m3 on day 1 of ownership (big end)... oops. Thankfully had warranty.
Things can get expensive when anything goes wrong. I just had new clutch/flywheel and few related bits on the m3 which cost £1500 with me sourcing part for as cheap as possible.
The big inspection services are also costly.. almost £800 from an indy. Both my m3 and z4m just had those too :(
Awesome cars though and the appreciation on the z4 has covered all costs for the last 5 years
Can't disagree there and my Cobra was the same - I did love it though.
B
Fuel is a killer and will only go up. Go for it man, you only live once.
Just about what I was about to post.
Can't have one when your brown bread.
That's the way I look at watches I want and believe me I have learnt the hard way.
He already has, allegedly.
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