A previous owner of a few E30's, the last being a 325i Sport, but now looking for an M3.
Just looking for some M3 specific 'buyers guide' info if anyone can help?
Thanks guys.
Phil
Advice from M3 owners
Moderator: martauto
Things to look at for are:-
front subframes tend to crack from heavy track use. also check for dimples in the roof around ariel - again a sign of heavy track use. stress points are the areas around the bottom of the windscreen. If there are any cracks its a sign of crash damage and/or heavy track use.
rust wise check all arches, around the lights in the boot, also around the number plate on the rear, have a good poke under the fuse box. Also prise off the plastic covers where the wipers are, shine a torch in there and check for holes/rust - very common to have rust here.
mechanically - check the usual stuff suspension wise, front wheels should sit towards the front of the car instead of in the middle of the arch, engine is ok to be a little rattly on start up and oil light should go out striaght away. gearbox may be slighlty nothcy in 1st and 2nd when cold. if its notchy when warm you have worn syncros. When you have the car warmed up drop it from 4th into 3rd at high rpms and then into 2nd at high rpms - if it crunches you have worn synros (good test this one)
Electic fan should kick in at 3/4 way and cut off after 30sec. Keep an eye on this. There should be no smoke or rattles from the engine. When driving it drive it up through the gears - it should pull like a train to the red line in all gears. Let the owner drive it first from cold and see how he drives it. If he looks after the car he will let the oil warm up before giving it the holly. It should also tick over at around 750rpm. IF it fluctuates from 600rpm to 1200rpm its the rubber blocks around the inlet manifold. not an expensive job to repair.
If the car has been resprayed for any reason you will notice the side skirts will have the same satin finish as the car. WHen these cars left the factory the side skirts had a dull matt finish.
thats all i can think of at the moment - if theres anything in particular you need advice on give me a shout.
happy hunting!!!
front subframes tend to crack from heavy track use. also check for dimples in the roof around ariel - again a sign of heavy track use. stress points are the areas around the bottom of the windscreen. If there are any cracks its a sign of crash damage and/or heavy track use.
rust wise check all arches, around the lights in the boot, also around the number plate on the rear, have a good poke under the fuse box. Also prise off the plastic covers where the wipers are, shine a torch in there and check for holes/rust - very common to have rust here.
mechanically - check the usual stuff suspension wise, front wheels should sit towards the front of the car instead of in the middle of the arch, engine is ok to be a little rattly on start up and oil light should go out striaght away. gearbox may be slighlty nothcy in 1st and 2nd when cold. if its notchy when warm you have worn syncros. When you have the car warmed up drop it from 4th into 3rd at high rpms and then into 2nd at high rpms - if it crunches you have worn synros (good test this one)
Electic fan should kick in at 3/4 way and cut off after 30sec. Keep an eye on this. There should be no smoke or rattles from the engine. When driving it drive it up through the gears - it should pull like a train to the red line in all gears. Let the owner drive it first from cold and see how he drives it. If he looks after the car he will let the oil warm up before giving it the holly. It should also tick over at around 750rpm. IF it fluctuates from 600rpm to 1200rpm its the rubber blocks around the inlet manifold. not an expensive job to repair.
If the car has been resprayed for any reason you will notice the side skirts will have the same satin finish as the car. WHen these cars left the factory the side skirts had a dull matt finish.
thats all i can think of at the moment - if theres anything in particular you need advice on give me a shout.
happy hunting!!!
AS far as rust goes under the fuse box would worry me the most as its very difficult to sort with out stripping the fuse box out. A simple job you'd assume but its hard wired so a bit of a nightmare
Only other problem i've heard of is the main shaft bearings in the gearbox. If theres a transmission noise when the cars ticking over that goes when the clutch is pushed down it could be this. Mine is starting to make a noise and i've already put a second gearbox in it.
Only other problem i've heard of is the main shaft bearings in the gearbox. If theres a transmission noise when the cars ticking over that goes when the clutch is pushed down it could be this. Mine is starting to make a noise and i've already put a second gearbox in it.
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E30BeemerLad
- Married to the E30 Zone
- Posts: 16806
- Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: Norfolk
all the getrag boxes "chatter" at idle, sometimes a change of oil can quieten things down a little. I thought i had a clutch release bearing gone at first.
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orangecurry
- E30 Zone Addict
- Posts: 2512
- Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2005 11:00 pm
- Location: West Sussex
that is the best advice which I also follow... of course it doesn't mean the previous owners looked after the engine, but it's a very good signeamo wrote: Let the owner drive it first from cold and see how he drives it. If he looks after the car he will let the oil warm up before giving it the holly.
Good advice, but I thought the wheels normally sit slightly back fro the centre of the archeamo wrote: mechanically - check the usual stuff suspension wise, front wheels should sit towards the front of the car instead of in the middle of the arch,.
