Hey guys, I'm interested in trading in my 2006 H3 for an e46 m3 either 2001-2005 and I actually went and looked at a 2001 M3 yesterday. It was a topaz blue e46 with black interior, about 45k miles on the clock, and to tell you the truth I wasn't very impressed. And really I'm starting this thread to just see if what I looked at was a pos, or if it was the same problem with alot of m3s in those years.

List of problems:
1) The A-Pillar material were all saggy and wrinkled. Looks as if you took the fabric off, and someone tried to cover it themselves. The car was stock so I don't think anybody played with it, but it looked like garbage.

2) The center console material was easily scratched by your fingernails and would leave blemishes anywhere you would touch. It was like it had a wax coating on it, and you could make patterns in it by rubbing your fingers/nails around.

Those are only a couple of things, but they both made the car look less valuable, and it was priced at $29k. Not worth it in my opinion, my Hummer has a perfect exterior, and minor flaws in the rear interior and they wanted to give me $18k.

Thanks guys,
Mike

you can get perfect interior in kia sephia too for 12k. whats the point?

2) The center console material was easily scratched by your fingernails and would leave blemishes anywhere you would touch. It was like it had a wax coating on it, and you could make patterns in it by rubbing your fingers/nails around.

Thanks guys,
Mike

That was my biggest complaint as well. The center console and the 1" square pad on the passenger side like where the mirror adjustments is on the drivers side were all scratched. I replaced the cup holder as it was in the worst shape, $40. I just scratched the remaining coating off of the 1" square so at least it is uniform in color now but i really wish there was a way to refinish the center console. Looks like maybe keys were dropped on it and scratched it.

Seems like a poor finish for a high end car IMO.

1) The A-Pillar material were all saggy and wrinkled. Looks as if you took the fabric off, and someone tried to cover it themselves. The car was stock so I don't think anybody played with it, but it looked like garbage.
This almost sounds like water damage and the other sounds like a cheap attempt to refurb a trashed interior.

I'd pass on it. There are plenty of cars out there with good to excellent interiors. From my experience, it doesn't seem like the interior materials are that prone to wear, as long as you maintain it correctly.

Yep, I have no complaints in the interior dept. If you want to talk about rattles....

and the other sounds like a cheap attempt to refurb a trashed interior.

Hey George,
Agree on the headliner, sagging usually indicates high humidity over an extended period ruining the adhesive but are you saying the scratches on the center console are an attempt to refurb the interior?

I thought the same at first but I did some searching and found others listing the same problem. It is like a thin rubberized coating that is very prone to scratching. The only reason I can figure for them putting it on is to matte the finish of the interior so maybe it is only in cars with black interior.

Anyway, I did a bunch of searching and no one has found a way to repair it that I can find. Even my local dealer said it was pretty common. in the first link below a dealer even replaced the cupholder under warranty. Guess I should have tried that before I spent $40 on one. Oh well. Blemishes like this irk me.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=594261&page=0&highlight=console+scratch
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2161241#post2161241&highlight=console+scratch
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2244516#post2244516&highlight=console+scratch

Looks like a problem in the e39s as well
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10689368&postcount=5

If the fabric issue you are talking about involves the fabric weather stripping/trim that runs from the dash up over the windows, it was a common problem for that to sag/fall off due to bad adhesive. Most dealer's fixed it under warranty, but some people fixed it themselves. Not a sign of mistreatment.

I meant the coating he said was like a wax. Like someone cleaned the interior with one of those orange cleaners or used Pledge or something similar.

Or it could be another symptom of the over-baked, possibly water damaged interior, like the sagging cloth. I'd be curious to see if this is a flood car.

Poor upkeep at any rate.

I meant the coating he said was like a wax. Like someone cleaned the interior with one of those orange cleaners or used Pledge or something similar.

Or it could be another symptom of the over-baked, possibly water damaged interior, like the sagging cloth. I'd be curious to see if this is a flood car.

Poor upkeep at any rate.

Ah. I really think it is just a poor choice of finish materials by BMW. I can easily see how he would describe it as waxy but it is very likely the same (IMO) crappy rubberized stuff as I have in mine. I took my old cupholder in to the parts counter when I bought the new one and showed the parts guy how easy it was to damage the finish and he just agreed with me and said they sold a lot of those.

Thanks for all the info guys! This "small" dealership stressed buying cars from Florida, Texas, Cali, and Arizona because they wanted the best cars. The m3 actually came from Florida he said. And I understand it would be easy to replace things like a cupholder, but the remaining interior..ya know? Not trying to pay $30k then buy a new interior. And I wasn't talking about the weather stripping, it's more like the fabric on the a-pillars. They were wrinkled the entire way down the pillar. Didn't smell like a water damaged car..:confused

I'll just throw in at this point that in 24 years of car ownership, the "cupholders" were my biggest complaint. The e46M is truly an amazing car from my perspective and if you are turned off by one car with a sagging headliner then you will have missed out on a fantastic opportunity to drive a world class drivers car. Then again, the e36 crowd will tell you it is a bloated pig so what do I know.:)

I have an '03 and my A-pillar liners were replaced 1.5 years ago, under warranty. They were saggy/scrunched up. My C-pillar covers started coming apart about a year ago too although they are somewhat cheap to replace ($37/side). I also agree the center console is made of some soft material that scratches easily, all around the cup holders there are scratches, which bothers me but I can live with it considering all the other positives about the car.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the car, 3.5 years after getting it.

Btw, $29k is a lot for an '01. You should be getting an '03.5 for that money.

Btw, $29k is a lot for an '01. You should be getting an '03.5 for that money.

Well, I also found an 02' for $24,900 with 78k on the clock today. What you think that is worth guys? It's silver exterior, black interior..

Well, I also found an 02' for $24,900 with 78k on the clock today. What you think that is worth guys? It's silver exterior, black interior..That's a lot more reasonable, depending on options and condition. Is that the asking price? If so, I'm sure they would be willing to come down some.

That's a lot more reasonable, depending on options and condition. Is that the asking price? If so, I'm sure they would be willing to come down some.

Yep, that's the asking price. I don't know too much about e46s though. Anybody have signs to look for? Do I need to do like a 70k mile service on it?

Make sure at least the rod bearing recalls are done and also the Inspection II was completed (b/c they inspect and adjust valves in this Insp. and that alone is worth money). You really need to drive a few to get an idea of how well they were taken care of. Make sure at least the required maintenance was done if not more (oil changes anyway).

You do at least know that there is but one approved Oil for the E46 M3? (Castrol 10w-60 IIRC) Make sure it ran on that at specified intervals...

Yep, that's the asking price. I don't know too much about e46s though. Anybody have signs to look for? Do I need to do like a 70k mile service on it?

Make sure the inspection II was done on it. Otherwise you are looking at putting in $800-$1200 for that to be done and I wouldn't skip it (valves have to be at checked on the E46 M3's). Make sure the recall has been done also. E46 M3's can be quite expensive to own, but it is worth it! Also, make sure the owner used the right oil in it. 10w-60 by Castrol. Another thing I would not do differently as using different oil in it can make a nice car a nice paper weight.

Good luck in finding an M3!