Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 I will be buying a 2002 E46 M3 in the next few weeks, chances are from a main dealership. Before I part with 30k (my budget) I want to make sure that I have the facts. Can anyone let me know what to look for when buying one, major problems etc Currently Im looking for a carbon black or silver with grey leather, 19's, heated seats, HK and hopefully sat nav. Any comments - much appreciated!!! Im really looking fwd to joining the ranks of an M3 owner!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loddrik Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Everyone else will have one, they do round here anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Cheers mate - not really the answer I was hoping for but at least someone answered.... Seriously thought, anyone with advice, info? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Welcome Mattey I'm not really a force on M3s but I'm sure those with far more knowledge will be along shortly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Anyone also know the service intervals? Ill probably be getting one with betweem 25-35k on the clock, roughly when will the next one be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brabus Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Hi Mattey and welcome! Just make sure your future M3 will have had the recall work done do it and latest SMG updates and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Would the dealership be able to tell me if these have been carried out? Also I see a lot of post of people moaning about problems - are they prone to them? Is extending the warrenties always a good idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brabus Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 If you're buying from a BMW dealership then yes they should be able to tell you. People are moaning 'cause some of the earlier M3's are having to have recall work done to the engine (under warranty of course). Yes, definitely get the extended warranty, always a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Cheers mate - thanks for the advice - anything else to make sure? I guess that buying from the dealership and extending the warrenties assures me that the car is gonna be a decent one? Sorry for all the questions, but never had a BMW before let alone an M3. Just dont want to get my fingers burned! Any advice is greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brabus Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Just check for full BMWFSH, First oil change at 1250 miles, second oil change at roughly 12,000 miles. Your car should or will need Inspection 1 carried out at the mileage you are looking to buy. This should be covered within the BMW service plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Inspection 1 should be covered within the BMW service plan.. Does this mean that theres no cost? If not how much? Thanks for all the help Chris! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brabus Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Ok, I don't know how the U.K differs from Switzerland but I'm pretty certain that if the M3 you buy is still within the 3-year warranty period the Inspection 1 will be free of charge. Could Lagoo, Sidicks or Mark confirm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Lynham Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 mines on contract hire so i pay nothing for servicing, tyres etc, but im pretty sure Inspection one is at no cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Lynham Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 so, have you given any thought to SMG or manual? not wishing to open a can of worms obviously! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Thanks guys - for all the help... Anything else I should be aware of when buying? Whats the deal with price in the dealers - Ill be buying in either Kent or Essex, do they move on price at all, if so roughly how much should I be after if the sticker price is 30k? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 [ QUOTE ] so, have you given any thought to SMG or manual? not wishing to open a can of worms obviously! [/ QUOTE ] Manual I think - the wife will be driving it too - so I dont want her learning how to use them in MY car...lol... What do you guys prefer - seems to be quiet a few SMG's at the dealership, but as I said I dont want one he now wont let me test one!!! Wish I had of kept my big mouth shut! lol... Drove an auto 330ci sport while I was there, and thats why Im going for the M3 - the 330 had nothing to get excited about.. I assume the M will be totally different! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Mattey, just a few points in addition to those from the TSN-ers above. Following on from Chris_P's comments - I did actually have to pay for inspection 1 (£174) and thought that was commonplace in the UK. If it isn't then will other TSN-ers please let me know so I can harass the dealer for my money back! As he says service intervals will be around 12,000m although upon resetting following a service the interval counter can show anything up to 15,000m. Mine did up until 9,800 then it adjusted to around the 12,300 mark- they do so depending on what the cars control systems are reporting. In respect of other things to look out for I'd check the following: - bonnet,above headlights for stonechips. I have seen a few M3's over 18 months and all had chips here. Best to ensure the dealer is going to sort them. They're also common on the front air dam area. - check the 19" alloys carefully. Nearly all have been scraped at some point. If they have make sure the dealer refurbishes them for you and make it clear you'll check the quality of the job once its done. I've seen wheels done well and others done appallingly. - when you test drive it listen out carefully for rattles over the rear arches. It turns out they have covers on the shockers that frequently come loose. It isn't a hazard but it is irritating and one I bought new had it too. It only takes the dealer a very short time to resolve it though. Be wary of the clutch having been abused. Check for any slipping at all. It's a car that 9/10 will have been given a reasonably good drive on many occasions and frequent dashes from the traffic lights are known to result in clutch wear as with any other car, but my dealer told me it was very common on M3's. After that I think the checks to make are pretty much common sense. I'm delighted with mine and can't really find fault with it (other than the fact that after a month you always want even more power!) so look forward to welcoming you for plenty of other questions, information etc and hopefully getting some useful info in return once you've settled into ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lagoo Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Ok, I don't know how the U.K differs from Switzerland but I'm pretty certain that if the M3 you buy is still within the 3-year warranty period the Inspection 1 will be free of charge. Could Lagoo, Sidicks or Mark confirm? [/ QUOTE ] Hi Mattey, Ok the only free service on the M3 is the oil change @1200miles, the others you pay for so this wont affect you! M3 are on varialbe servicing and mine flagged up that it needed it at 13000miles! If you are looking at cars which are less than three years old then why dont you consider buying privately? You will get a better price and also still have the same back up if you bought from a dealer as you would have the remaining time on the original warranty (3years or 60,000(ithink??)miles). With regards to spec have you thought SMG or manual? For good residuals I would get satnav and make sure it has 19"rims. Check the condition as they are costly to repair and very hard to get an exact match! The bluetooth with a nokia 6310i works well! If i could spec mine again i would also have had the lumbar adjustment on the seats and the folding mirrors just for the novalty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Cheers M3Me - Really good advice. Ill be looking out for all of those mentioned. How do BMW do on price - if the sticker is showing 32-33k - do you think they'd come down to 30k? or do they not budge? Looking fwd to hearing back from you. or others that have had the pleasure in buying one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Ok, I don't know how the U.K differs from Switzerland but I'm pretty certain that if the M3 you buy is still within the 3-year warranty period the Inspection 1 will be free of charge. Could Lagoo, Sidicks or Mark confirm? [/ QUOTE ] Hi Mattey, Ok the only free service on the M3 is the oil change @1200miles, the others you pay for so this wont affect you! M3 are on varialbe servicing and mine flagged up that it needed it at 13000miles! If you are looking at cars which are less than three years old then why dont you consider buying privately? You will get a better price and also still have the same back up if you bought from a dealer as you would have the remaining time on the original warranty (3years or 60,000(ithink??)miles). With regards to spec have you thought SMG or manual? For good residuals I would get satnav and make sure it has 19"rims. Check the condition as they are costly to repair and very hard to get an exact match! The bluetooth with a nokia 6310i works well! If i could spec mine again i would also have had the lumbar adjustment on the seats and the folding mirrors just for the novalty! [/ QUOTE ] Think Ill have the manual. Whats the SMG like to drive compared to the manual. I always thought that buying from a dealer would be a better bet - Would the private owner be able to prove he's had the recalls done etc? Do the 2002 models suffer from recalls - what were they of so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lagoo Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Mattey, The M3 is quite a high volume car so you should be able to get a good deal especially at this time of year, but just compare them to the private ones available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 What would you recommend - dealer or private? Pros / cons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Just want to add my support to a few points Lagoo raised and my own reasons why. SatNav - definately go for it from a residuals point of view as he says, and the 19s. Lumbar support - I had it on my first but it wasn't on my second which I bought used. I miss it something chronic. It was superb. Look out for it because it makes a huge difference to the seat comfort. They're excellent seats as it is but the ability to get the perfect position is something I would love to get as a retro-fit but dread to think of how much they'd quote. Bluetooth - something else I miss. I had this with a Sony Ericsson T610i and they don't do it on the Convertible. Hence I'm having to look at a third-party bluetooth fit or a holder for the phone (which I've now changed anyway). Really miss it. SMG v Manual - I went from Manual to SMG. I've written a basic review on it in this forum but I think you should drive both and make your own mind up. Oddly enough I picked Manual initially because I thought I wanted a "purist" drive and also because the wife would drive it every now and again. However, after a few drives she didn't want to drive it any more because she kept scraping the alloys and I kept going ballistic about it...plus she thought the clutch was too heavy. SMG takes a bit of getting used to but I think it's a better option in the long term and Glasses etc state to remove £2k if a car doesn't have SMG and SatNav. I think Lagoo is also right about the private market. I bought from a dealer because I wanted total peace of mind but if the car has a warranty anyway then you've only got the normal things to check for and you're pretty much worry free after that - plus you can pocket a few £k's. I'd probably still go to a dealer if push came to shove - but only because the cautious side of me would start to worry as I was ready to hand the money over! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattpau Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Whats the deal with extending warrenties - I assume that you can buy private and then extend the warrenty with the dealer - is this right? Also when can you extend them? When I buy it or do I need to wait for the last few weeks, months? Cheers guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lagoo Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Think Ill have the manual. Whats the SMG like to drive compared to the manual. [/ QUOTE ] I liked the SMG, it was great especially when i drove to Italy and had a blat thorught the alps! You have a lot more confidence as your hands dont have to come off the steering wheel! If i am totally honest i prefer manual full stop but it was good fun! Oh and if you do city stop/start driving then you'll love it [ QUOTE ] I always thought that buying from a dealer would be a better bet - Would the private owner be able to prove he's had the recalls done etc? [/ QUOTE ] All recalls are recorded by BMW GB and notes made on the cars records. Take the VIN number form bottom right hand side of the windscreen and give BMW a ring on their customer services number! They are usually very helpfull! [ QUOTE ] Do the 2002 models suffer from recalls - what were they of so? [/ QUOTE ] Yes it will be! There is a recall for the software and also a recall an engine part on cars built before June 2003 (which mine just missed ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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