Whats the long and short of the E46 M3?

[Andre3000 55]

I have a family member looking at buying an e46 m3. Having only a small amount of experience with this model I want to know the inherent issues, common faults, things to look for and avoid.

If anyone could share their findings either from ownership or preferably a BMW tech I'd be very grateful.

[Neal 545]

Owned one for 4 years and use it daily. Clocked up 60,000 kms and the cars done 107,000 kms

Went against internet and bimmersport M3 E46 buyers advice guide and brought a 2002 (April) with SMG. Wanted an M3 with less than 50,000 kms . Drove a few and this one was nice and tight and seemed have a bit more go for some reason. Car has most options except headlight washers, electric seat bolsters and 19 inch wheels (prefer tyre choice options in 18s)

Issues

Rear view mirror dimming failed shortly after purchase (replaced mirror glass ($130 usd)

Power Steering hose developed leak. ($500 ish , gold plated part ? )

CD stacker played up after track day. (DYI repair, lub required $15 )

Maintenance

Usual services (intervals 24,000 km)

Front rotors and pads @ 77,000 km ($1800)

Rear rotors and pads @ 92,000 km ($1000 ish)

Tyres 53,000 km Bridgestone Re11's ($2,200)

Tyres 106,000 km Michelin PSS ($2,200)

AMG Battery @ 95,000 km ($500)

Mods

Run 235/40/18 & 265/35/18 on factory rim rather than 225/45/18 255/40/18 standard size (don't see DSC warning light flash as much)

Stereo project $NDA encase wife sees this (BM53 tuner mods for sound quality , kilowatt of headroom, carpc integration)

Mk4 Nav with 2014 map , Bluetooth ULF

SMG re-flash with Z4mcoupe software (smoother auto changes) Thinking of CSL load next with DME mods

ISOfix top tether brackets

Dyno ( car is supposedly standard, 56,000km 307 rwbhp , 90,000km 302 rwbhp on dynopack dynos) which is 20 - 30 above what it should be.

Good bits

Car corners like on rails

SMG grin factor

Shift lights on tacho with sMg with upper shift programs

Xenon headlights , high beam is fantastic

Nav options with rev camera (don't back over kids toys)

Grip in wet and ability to put power down (see tyres)

Cross wind has little effect on car

Stable at speed and under hard braking (Taupo track)

Induction sound / exhaust rasp

Bad bits

Hitting cats eyes / highway joint sections

Ride on rough roads

Stop start traffic uphill with SMG

SMG in reverse gear (fine line between moving slightly and moving lots )

Handbrake goes off every couple of years

Rubberised trim easy to mark and scuff

No Aux in on factory radios / nav until late 2002

Factory hifi option is very average, HK system slightly better.

What I'd change / add if money was no object

Supercharger ECS 530hp option

BBS e88's on 18's 245 / 275 combo

P Plate

[Tristan 338]

It's a pretty heavily documented car so if you have a bit of a search there's no shortage of information

[MISS BM 712]

Saw this one a few days ago.

Highly recommend.

Excellent car. Don't let SMG deter you - loved mine. No problems given you look after them.

I'm in the market for another one, but yet to see the right one pop up - I have a demanding list which seems impossible to achieve haha.

[allan 295]

E46 rear sub frame problem does this also apply to the m3. Oh on the early SMG pump/ Hydraulic system give trouble also.

Edited September 21, 2015 by tim 325

[Rubix 434]

Owned one for 4 years and use it daily. Clocked up 60,000 kms and the cars done 107,000 kms

Went against internet and bimmersport M3 E46 buyers advice guide and brought a 2002 (April)

Apparently there's a sticker in the boot that shows if recall work was done - The 2002 ones had bearing issues and had a recall done as part of this to have the bearings replaced as they apparently failed at around 20,000km. But as far as I know the bearings were just replaced with more cheap chinese ones that were used in the first place?

Might pay to find your sticker and see if this was done

[Rubix 434]

E46 rear sub frame problem does this also apply to the m3.

Yes yes and yes.

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

Talk to Tom, Andrew. If there's something he doesn't know about these cars it isn't worth knowing.

[Neal 545]

Here's the "scare" list that us owners propagate on the internet to keep prices low and second hand options up ( might be some truths )

Window regulators fail

Smg pumps fail at an alarming rate

smg relays fail

Manual gearboxes chew out syncros on second gear which equals box replacement

Subframes fail at rear

Bearing recall and replacement bearing failure ( get oil analysis done every now and then)

Vanos seal failure

Vanos bolt failure pre 2003

Diff clunk

DIFF BOLTS

ALTERNATOR failure

Bm53 tuner module failure

Airbag seat occupant senor mat failure

Oil pump failure

Nav screen failure

Amp failure

Rear view mirror acid of death failure

Rear window aerial amp failure

Rotor warping

DSC module failure

Some of these items can be viewed as preventative maintenance items such as diff & vanos bolts. Others can be roll of the dice. Just got to remember they are a 9-14 y/o car.

[Neal 545]

Best way to check bearing condition is to sample engine oil and have a report done similar to what many truck owners do. I haven't checked my own service advisory recall status, but oil analysis has come up with little signs of bearing wear.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

Best way to check bearing condition is to sample engine oil and have a report done similar to what many truck owners do. I haven't checked my own service advisory recall status, but oil analysis has come up with little signs of bearing wear.

how would one go about having a test done? whom? price?

[Steve K-B 51]

http://www.oillab.co.nz/home

Think its about $45. They send you a kit, you fill up a bottle with oil and post it back to them.

[Neal 545]

That's the one.

Plenty of USA M3 owners do this as well just to check engine change as there are rumours of the bearing recall bearings still wearing.

The other thing of note is the condition of the oil at the standard change intervals has been fine at 24,000 km. Still within spec but I'd only do this if the car is being used daily with decent amount of run time.

[M3AN 4016]

VANOS hub failure isn't mentioned above (that I saw). Replace with upgraded unit when you do the bolts, solenoids and seals.

If VANOS hasn't been completely overhauled (with receipts etc) take $2k off the price.