..on my recently purchased 1999 M3 Vert, here is what I've had to repair or replace thus far. All OEM Parts

-Tie Rods. (Tie Rod Ball Joints were shot/boots torn). Parts $50 each. Labor myself. Flat 32mm spanner wrench, $10 at bike shop.

-Struts. I could tell it still had the original struts on her, so what the heck. Figured I'd replace them, and be done with them for the next 8 years or 80k miles. $129 per OE Sachs strut. Labor myself, except to have a local shop swap the springs over. (I hate dealing with spring compressors on MacPhersons) $65 labor for spring swap.

-While I was under there, I noticed that my outer control arm ball joint boots were just beginning to tear. As we all know, on the M3's, the ball joints are built into the control arms. So entire control arms require replacing. Appr $160 for each control arm.

-And if Im gonna do control arms, need to go ahead and have those control arm bushings replaced. $60 for the two. Don't feel like hassling with the pressing out/in of the control arm bushings, so I let a local BMW specialty shop handle the labor for the control arms/control arm bushings. $345 labor.

-Of course after all of that, it needed a good 4 wheel alignment by the same shop. $129 labor.

-Can't ignore the rear. One peek at those original rear shock mounts and I could see the rubber deteriorating badly. No rust, no sheetmetal stress...just the rubber portions of the upper shock mounts breaking off. New shock mounts were $30 for the pair, and replacement Sachs shocks were $74 each.

So..the only thing left is to inspect the rear trailing arm bushings. Visually they seem fine though. But I will triple check those this weekend.

Ride/Handling is now noticeably better. Im actually amazed at how well the old stock struts/shocks were doing. I can, however, detect that the rear is much more stable over road bumps, and less creaky/noisy as well. Guess new rear shock mounts made that difference.

All in all, the car was fairly well cared for, it was just at that mileage/age where suspension items were needing replacement.

Oh yeah. Ordered a full set of smoked tails, sidemarkers, and front corners from www.importvision.com (http://www.importvision.com). He advertises on ebay, and I contacted him offline. Full set was $133 plus $24 shipping. I was skeptical of the low price, but figured what the heck, I'd give it a shot. Worst case I'd return them, or sell on ebay.
Made in China or Taiwan..slight fitment issue with a sidemarker that required a small bit of dremeling, had to re-glue the rubber gasket on one of the tails. But other than that, they fit fine, work fine, and the reflector pattern is identical to stock, which was my requirement. (In other words, no LED tails or anything other than the stock pattern). The red is normal, the white portion is slightly smoked. Really sets the silver paint off nicely. I'll post pics later this weekend.

My car, at 10 yrs and 110K miles has had a few items replaced.

66K miles rear shock mounts and rear springs because one cracked

68K miles. oil leak (this is a long story... The dealer told me it was a torque converter, which is bonkers because that would indicate leaking trans fluid NOT motor oil, so the dealer replaced the TQ Conv. under warranty. Surprise that it was still leaking oil. After having the car for over a month it turned out to be the rear main seal.. what a bunch of morons.... Since it was under warranty I didn't have to pay anything, which was the only consolation)

72K miles... Entire cooling system (incl. water pump)

90K miles... front control arms, ball joints, tie rods and an alignment.

now at 110K I'm due for the belt tensioners to be replaced and another Transmission fluid change....
Not bad for 5 years of ownership.

:cashwalle

:cashwalle

Make that two wallets for me...

After reading a few nightmare stories on the M3 Forum, decided to add the rear upper shock mount re-inforcement plates from the Z3. I don't track/race it, nor is the suspension lowered..but at $12 each, sure won't do any harm to add them on. Took me all of 5 mins each side. Amazing BMW didn't include them from the beginning vs having the small surface area of two nuts being the only support keeping the shocks from ripping downward through the sheetmetal. Not the exaxt one I used, but the exact same as the OE BMW part.

http://www.rogueengineering.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/suspension/rsm/rsm_plate_125.jpg

Good choice.

After reading a few nightmare stories on the M3 Forum, decided to add the rear upper shock mount re-inforcement plates from the Z3. I don't track/race it, nor is the suspension lowered..but at $12 each, sure won't do any harm to add them on. Took me all of 5 mins each side. Amazing BMW didn't include them from the beginning vs having the small surface area of two nuts being the only support keeping the shocks from ripping downward through the sheetmetal. Not the exaxt one I used, but the exact same as the OE BMW part.

http://www.rogueengineering.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/suspension/rsm/rsm_plate_125.jpg

Right indeed. Also a shame BMW don't mention them when you ask for new topmounts.

Here's a pic (of my car) of the Z3 plates:

http://www.idon-industries.com/bimmer/z3plates.jpg

And I'm sure they help a lot, even if you don't do trackdays.

What amazes me is how BMW skimped on a 1$ piece of metal that can go a long way in preventing metal fatigue on an otherwise pricey car...

:rolleyes

What amazes me is how BMW skimped on a 1$ piece of metal that can go a long way in preventing metal fatigue on an otherwise pricey car...

:rolleyes

im still stuck on why they included a chime to tell you if you are speeding over your own personal limit, yet there is no chime to tell you if the car is overheating.

or why they chose to make the MPG guage as detailed as it is, yet the water temp guage is so vague that the needle pointing anywhere within the middle third of the guage is deemed "within spec."