Hey guys,
Just wanted to get you opioions on what was the worst year to own a E46 M3. I am looking from a mechanical/reliabiility standpoint.

Thoughts?

I guess the first year of production

2001-2003.5

2001-2003.5

Reason?

2001 is actually a good year, hardly any spun bearings with this year.

No year is 'the worst' year so to speak. Sure , '01s had cloth interior, small navigation screen and Non-LED tailights ( 01-03 ), but doesnt make them any different than the others performance wise.

Kind of a silly question.

2001 is actually a good year, hardly any spun bearings with this year.


VERY TRUE!!


:redspot

03 with 50k, little problem with mine.

All the years are fine... mid MY 01 to end MY 02 had engine problems but all were fixed with upgraded internals or new engines which makes the problem null and void by now.

All the cars are fine...

2001-2003.5
These years, while subject to a recall (afaik, all of them had it), all now have 6yr/100K mile all oiled parts warranties. Not such a bad thing to have.

I have not had any problems with my 2005. A great car that's enjoyable to drive.

There are no E46 M3's to avoid except poorly maintained, high mileage ones.

There are no E46 M3's to avoid except poorly maintained, high mileage ones.
:werd: Though high mileage by itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately, a car as well engineered as this can hide a great deal of abuse, so examine carefully and be wary of the "great deals" you see. Stay logical and dispassionate when buying and selling cars.

I had my car for almost 4 years and 92000 miles ... no major problems (except for that one time). I definitely didn't baby it ... but I kept it well maintained. Don't fear the car, only fear the owners who did not maintain them.

What do you guys think about buying a car that doesn't have the recall serviced yet, just to get the 6yr warranty?

On the flip side, the fact the recall hasn't been done yet is a sign of a car that hasn't been maintained well.

If the recall has not been performed yet, I would stay away from it. Definitely shows signs of abuse.

I also would not be surprised to hear BMW took issue with ignoring a recall like that for so long.

At any rate, the 6yr/100K is from original purchase (I think, please correct me for the better) which would gain you nothing by having it done later.

if the recall is not performed, I dont think you get the 6yr/100k warranty. I think that begins with the recall. I dont think BMW is warrantying the cars that should have recalls if they havent had them done. its a requirement, and I dont think you should get a free engine if you could have had the problem fixed for free and saved the motor. And I doubt you will find one without the recall done, but who knows... either way, I would stay away from any M3 that hasnt been to the dealership since 2002 or ignored the recall since then...

I agree, if you do not maintain a car like this, you don't deserve one to drive:cool


I had my car for almost 4 years and 92000 miles ... no major problems (except for that one time). I definitely didn't baby it ... but I kept it well maintained. Don't fear the car, only fear the owners who did not maintain them.

04 is great. I just bought one 2 weeks ago and love it. It is worth every penny of the car payment. The SMG transmission is a little to get use to. I had to do a lot of research to figure out how to launch the vechile. It is actually really really easy. Now that I have had it a few weeks I am glad that I have the SMG instead of a standard six speed.

if the recall is not performed, I dont think you get the 6yr/100k warranty. I think that begins with the recall. I dont think BMW is warrantying the cars that should have recalls if they havent had them done. its a requirement, and I dont think you should get a free engine if you could have had the problem fixed for free and saved the motor. And I doubt you will find one without the recall done, but who knows... either way, I would stay away from any M3 that hasnt been to the dealership since 2002 or ignored the recall since then...

I just wanted to chime in with my experience. My car had the rod bearing recall performed at 103K and most likely did not need it but the work came with a 2 year unlimited mileage warranty from BMW. For my car to last that long without having a failure has to say something about the strength of the motor...

I'm thinking about an '02 M3. What is the issue w/ the bearing recall? I gather this covered all cars in '02?

I did a quick search but didn't find anything about it, maybe I used the wrong search parameters.

if the recall is not performed, I dont think you get the 6yr/100k warranty. I think that begins with the recall.

No. My 06/03 had the warranty but not the recall.