E46 M3... Does anyone have any HANDS ON experience?

[SCOTT325SE]

As per the title really... does anyone have any ACTUAL, PERSONAL, HANDS ON experience with them, both from a driving perspective and from a maintenance perspective please?

Im not after any comments of "my mate has one...." or "i drove one for 5 minutes, once" comments or any opinions based on hearsay or reviews or reports....

This thread is PURELY for people who have owned one, worked on MANY of them, have lived with one of them as a regular car or crashed the arse off one or had to fill one up more than three times.

Random question I know but I'm trying to get some info and a bit of knowledge together for something

cheers gents.

[bss325i]

What do you want to know?

[SCOTT325SE]

What do you want to know?

well I'm a complete blank on them - I've never driven one, never worked on one, never had to pay the bills it generates, so really, ANYTHING that someone with ACTUAL knowledge can give me.

From something like whether the diff is Electronic, Mechanical 1way/1.5way/2way etc, to "the seats are very supportive" or "steering feedback is poor but nicely weighted in the middle" ... for instance.

[maxfield]

When I worked in London I used to work on a fair few. From what I remember not many came in for repairs. Some for remaps, aftermarket stuff, etc.

Didn't really drive them far, but remember them being pretty brutal and a nice feel to everything I.E steering, brakes, clutch etc.

That's all I can really say about them.

[SCOTT325SE]

When I worked in London I used to work on a fair few. From what I remember not many came in for repairs. Some for remaps, aftermarket stuff, etc.

.... nice feel to everything I.E steering, brakes, clutch etc.

1)So 'repairs' are low... could that be put down to german engineering Young Sir?
2) Could you define "nice feel" please? Nice is quite a broad term.

[Blitz]

Long term reports.

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evolong ... mw_m3.html

[maxfield]

I'd be going with German engineerings

Things like clutch is not too sensitive and no feel of biting point. The steering feels connected to the road, unlike a lot of new cars. Couldn't comment on handling never pushed on hard enough. Brakes felt firm but not too sensitive. Pretty much all I can remember, was over a year a go.

The only thing that has never grown on me is the sound the make as standard.

[SCOTT325SE]

Thats bang-on Young Sir! Thank you! Every little helps as some supermarket says.


I have a feeling that my Sport project is just about done-for (having decided that it pretty much needs a new roof to be mint, which is £1700 to have a new one, then have the old one chopped off, new one fabbed in, each skin treated in the right way to stop it rusting again and then properly painted and blended in) and the E46 M3 is on the shortlist of things that I am considering replacing it (and my moredoor) with.

Shortlist consists of E46 M3,
Audi RS4,
E39 M5,
Nissan 350Z (Buts thats rice)
TVR Cerbera / Tamora / Tuscan with a couple of miles on it.
Merc CLK C32 (AMG) Estate / S55

Thats pretty much the order of preference, but not having lived with either the E46 M3 or the E39 M5, I'm not very well versed with them, where as a friend of mine has had several RS4/6's and I know a little about them, so just looking to level the playing field a bit for the rest of the marques.

[SteMarsden]

I have spent about 3k miles sat in the passenger seat of one while I car shared for a while last year. Never drove it though. Also had a manual box and the first he bought had SMG that he didnt get along with.

+ve. Very good seats, not overly hard suspension and quite compliant (on 18"'s), gripped and gripped and gripped, fantastic engine note when clouted....

-ve. Thirsty, expensive to service (at the Stealers anyway), thirsty, thirsty....

If you have the £ to run one they make a fantastic value car

[SCOTT325SE]

I have spent about 3k miles sat in the passenger seat of one while I car shared for a while last year. Never drove it though. Also had a manual box and the first he bought had SMG that he didnt get along with.
+ve. Very good seats, not overly hard suspension and quite compliant (on 18"'s), gripped and gripped and gripped, fantastic engine note when clouted....
-ve. Thirsty, expensive to service (at the Stealers anyway), thirsty, thirsty....
If you have the £ to run one they make a fantastic value car

More constructive info, thank you Ste!
I was a little concerned with potentially hard suspension, beign that its a M-Car.
Out of interest, what is deemed to be Thirsty? 12/20/25/30MPG on a run? Theres no use me looking at Parkers for that sort of info - its best recieved from real world driving. If I was to get one, it would be serviced at my local Independant Stealers. I have found them fairly priced on everything I have ever bought in reality and their servicing on non-M cars was also very reasonable (not that I ever used it, as Ive maintained my own E30s)

My mileage should be coming down from the start of 2010, so I wont have to worry about the fuel bill THAT MUCH, but 12mpg combined would possibly put me off a little.

[SteMarsden]

I'm used to a hard ride in the race car so its all comparative, remember its on the 18"'s too which are less popular that the usual 19" wheels everyone fits....

We used to joke about the fuel economy, but the worst we saw was 16mpg ona balls out 'late for a meeting' run, to 26mpg being driven very gingerly (combined as it was back lanes, traffic and motorway).

BTW. This was an early E46 with a FBMWSH, it ended up throwing a rod through the block a few months after I stopped lift-sharing which was very expensive to repair
The first mod Id do is spend £80 on a set of ARP rod bolts to be fitted by your local independant when you get it!

[SCOTT325SE]

and thats possibly a pearl of a tip Ste, thank you.

i can cope with 26 combined. my e30s do 28 combined, so its hardly noticeable really. Most of my mileage is motorway based, so 26 should be realistic to achieve. Thank you Ste!

[SteMarsden]

NP at all!
Get some pics up when you get it..... HTH

[320ise]

i have heard that they can do 30mpg on a good motorway run, i'd sign up to e46zone as theres loads of m3 owners on there that may know alot more than we do!

[SCOTT325SE]

NP at all!
Get some pics up when you get it..... HTH

IF i get it

[kdevitt]

Found the stock brakes weren't up to much on track. Caliper eventually seized, which is a common enough issue - I put on 8 pot BBK which sorted it out rather than fixing the standard calipers. Quite a bit of body roll on standard shocks and springs - fitted an eibach pro-kit and was a huge improvement. Don't find it harsh at all - and the roads here are crap

Maintenance hasn't been too bad - the front wishbones are a weak point, and an expensive one at that. General module is playing up, but that can affect any E46. Coil packs can and do fail - the original Bremi ones were replaced for free in the states, but no such recall was done here or the UK so you'll have to fork out if they go (mine did - up the top of a mountain road!). Rear trailing arm bushes go at about 60k.

[SteMarsden]

Slightly off topic, I had a E46 318 myself and in 3 years had to replace:
1. 2 x window regulators
2. Pr front wishbones
3. Rear topmount
4. 2 breather pipes on the engine
....so these all seem like common E46 faults rather than M3 faults....

[Farbbm]

I owned an E46 M3 for 18 months in 2004. I bought in brand new therefore from a maintenance side of things all I can say is it was under warranty and went back to BMW to be serviced. I specifed 19" wheels which made the ride pretty hard although a friend (sorry) has one with 18" wheels which is more forgiving but doesn't look so good. The tyres can also be a bit pricey for the 19" rims as I went through 4 in my time with a couple being taken out by potholes. I had a manual one and the gearbox was a bit notchy when cold but was fine once warmed up. As for fuel mine used to average between21-23mpg in general driving although it would drop pretty quickly if giving the beans which you must do as it gives you a big smile on your face everytime.
I was aware that early E46 M3's were re-called by BMW to have some work done on the bottom part of engine but beleive it was only the first 18 month's worth of cars required to have this work done. I couldn't recommend it enough and would have another tomorrow if my circumstances were different as it was the best car I've ever owned.

[Jesus325iTouring]

Da iz nice cars Bruv,M sport innit,get some anal eyes and Lezuz lights to finish it off sorted yeah?.

[SCOTT325SE]

Now now Rog..... not all of them are done up like a Birmingham Taxi.
IF I was to end up getting one, I'd quite happily pay an extra 2k or take a lower spec model if I thought the seller hadn't been ragging the arse off it. Pretty much ANYTHING from Birmingham is already a no-no, unless its a 'known car' to one of my friends. E.G. If Chris CUK325Sport said to me that his friend had one that was well cared for, I'd consider that (and he's in Dudley)

[Jesus325iTouring]

Now now Rog..... not all of them are done up like a Birmingham Taxi.
IF I was to end up getting one, I'd quite happily pay an extra 2k or take a lower spec model if I thought the seller hadn't been ragging the arse off it. Pretty much ANYTHING from Birmingham is already a no-no, unless its a 'known car' to one of my friends. E.G. If Chris CUK325Sport said to me that his friend had one that was well cared for, I'd consider that (and he's in Dudley)

Now Chris,he's a good bloke,shame he's not still about,i liked him

[EVIR]

I've had one for over three years now and it has been a pleasure to own so far. I've almost written it off once and came close to loosing it on a couple of occasions due to diesel, engine parts, fence posts and stuff like that lying on the road. When this happens you are usually going at a serious rate of knots as the grip seems almost endless on the road, it pays to track it or do driver training in it as you can rarely drive it full on on the roads.
They are great drivers cars full stop. Mine is a csl and that bit sharper again with better steering, engine, etc. They are very reliable and most of the known issues have solutions, you have to make sure they have the running in service done on time and any recalls done; the crank bolts being the important one on early models. The brakes are fine on the road but are the same design as any other BM and have the same weaknesses if not maintained. They can be managed on track especially with proper pads but will fade if repeatedly abused.
Have been lucky so far on maintenance with no big problems but the inspection service when the valves get done is expensive and any parts you need to buy from BM, which is most of them, are expensive. ECP do the alloy front wishbones though and just grind the BM part no off. I do any work on the car myself if at all possible and it's pretty much like any other 3 series, the transmission is agricultural in comparison though. Trailing arm bushes are a common weakness just like the e36; there is a new bush available that makes a big difference over the original type which degrades and make the car feel crap with varying rear wheel steer, so avoid testing one like this if you can. The most popular mod is a couple of plates each side of this bush which improves things again.
Anyway thats what springs to mind in five minutes but there are sites like mtorque, m3cutters and such where you can find all the info you need to look after them, just like here with E30's.

[stuartgallafant]

Scott, i've been working for BMW for over 5 years now, and these were a popular car around when i started out and even today we get a lot in. I also have 2 private customers which I look after regularly, and being humbly honest, there isnt a great deal I havnt seen on them.

They are good cars to drive, I personally love the sound of them and as EVIR says above, tracking them will get your use out of them. If I was buying one, I would spend the extra and get the CSL, it really makes the extra money worth it, so much sharper, harder and pant-wettingly thrilling than a normal M3.

If you're going for a normal one, get a coupe, not a conv and go manual, the SMG setup in the Non-CSL is shite. The CSL is programmed so much better and you really, really can feel the difference

The rear diff (I saw you ask about in your 1st post) is of a viscous-gel type, no clutch packs in sight! 2-way and a 100% lock, very responsive, but costly if you blow one. The viscous-gel is installed in a chamber on the crown wheel and expands from the heat (coefficient of friction) locking the diff. I feel it takes slightly longer to lock than clutch-type diffs, but unless you're driving that hard, you wont notice. Many people complain of a graunch or whining noise at low speeds when turning in tight circles. There as an additive you can buy to combat this.

When you're looking for one, buy a low mileage one with FULL BMW HISTORY. Many 'speciaist' places talk a good game but understand quite the attention these cars need, a massive part of that is shim adjustments on Inspection II services and the correct use fluids in the engine, gearbox and diff when changing them on services

If you buy one, be prepared to spend money it. I dont anyone that has bought that hasnt spent good money on servicing, repair and general up-keep, however, what I will say, is those M3's that have had the money spent on them, are still holding a decent price tag. There are M3's out there for as low as 8 grand, but they have not much or no BMW history, high milage and thrashed

If theres anything else, just ask

Hope that helps mate...

[old_skool]

I had two E46 M3's. The first was second hand, the second brand new.

SMG is like Marmite. I had a manual and very quickly outed it for an SMG. I found the manual too heavy on the clutch and the gearchange was miserable. I adored the SMG, it was great fun. The moral to the story with SMG is try it and make up your OWN mind - don't make the same mistake that I did and buy the manual and hate it. It's a buyers market so make the best of it and try both. Oh, and ask for launch control to be demonstrated to you

The only maintenance problems I had were a broken rear spring and a repeat problem with the battery going flat which went undiagnosed by the first two BMW roadside engineers that came to it. The third guy changed the battery and all was well. A constant source of annoyance was the pinking at low engine RPM's under load. No amount of quality fuel cured the problem and both cars did it, despite th dealers scratching their heads over both.

I seem to remember average fuel economy on the OBC was always in the region of 26-27mpg.

I would have another, preferably a carbon black convertible with Imola leather, especially as they sooo cheap now - but to be fair there is not a lot it can do that my E60 M5 can't; so I find the purchase hard to justify.

You mentioned an E39 M5 - I have not owned one but a close friend has one with 110k on it and has had no problems apart from regular rear ARB links. Certainly no horror stories that you'll hear generally on t'internet.