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 I am thinking of getting an 03 plate M3 at a cost of @ £15,000.

I normally buy new. At the moment I drive a Ford Focus Zetec 2.0 petrol. A 55 plate. Nothing that special.

I'm quite happy with it, but want (at least once in my life) a fast sports car and have been seriously thinking of getting an M3.

Do many things go wrong with these cars?  Are they quite tough and reliable?

I live in Weston super mare and was wondering about servicing costs and are there any professional specialist BMW garages who can do servicing cheaper than the main dealers?

 How much would a full service cost on a M3?  Tyres, exhaust?

Does anyone know what the exhaust is made from as I've heard that some exhausts last years and years due to what they are made from.

As I don't normally buy second hand what sort of things should I be doing before buying.

I know that I will have to do a check if the car has been stolen or in an accident - how do I go about that?

Anything else to think about?

Thanks in advance.

Here's something i wrote a few years back, but to answer this we do need an M3 owner or two to help... there are some very good forums though, and I must have written something for Autocar, but I can't find it.

This may not help...J Plus there is loads and loads of buying advice that I could paste in but really make sure that you can afford to run an M3, if you can't, don't bother...J

E46 M3
Why it’s great
It was actually great value new and is of course even better value used. It’s a supercar for fairly ordinary car money and the new six-cylinder engine was just perfect. 343bhp was plenty of power and delivering all that at 7900rpm remains an astounding sensory treat. However clumsy you are it won’t try and hurt you because there are big brakes, accurate steering and electronic gadgets (stability and traction control) to help. Based on the standard cooking coupe means that it is everyday practical, but as ever that little chromed badge lets everyone know it means business. Oh yes and the convertible is brilliant not least because it is torsionally more rigid than the previous generation coupe. So what a way to ruffle your hair.



What goes wrong
Exploding engines, but it’s OK, that only happens in America. Over there the M3 comes with a 100K 6 year warranty, but in Europe we haven’t  had these problems at all. The SMG gearbox is either loved or loathed and if there is a problem then a dealer will have to reprogramme it for you. In upgrade terms it seems that plenty of owners up grade the brakes with four pot calipers especially if they tackle track days, so ask about these mods. If there is any judder under braking then that’s possibly going to be warpred discs. Overall though the M3 is only marginally out of warranty so there should not be any problems.

Service costs
BMW are loath to quote generally for servicing not least because in some southern areas of the country you can pay £100 per hour plus labour rate. In the new order of things though you can get an E46 serviced by a specialist and save around £40-£50 or so. According to Coopers of Reading an Oil service is around £170, the Inspection 1 £600 and Inspection 2 £650 as a very rough guide.

Useful numbers
www.bmw.co.uk for official dealers, www.usedbmwcars.co.uk for an unofficial links to M3s for sale.
The most relevant club is the M Car Club www.bmcarclub.co.uk The BMW Car Club www.bmwcarclubgb.co.uk is the leading UK club. www.e46fanatics.com Americans getting exicited about BMWs.
 

This is all interesting stuff.  I am in a similar position at the moment looking to buy an M3.  I would be interested in knowing whether people think buying from a main dealer BMW approved used is worth the extra money? 

Theres an 03 car with 50 odd thousand miles approved used selling for £19850, whereas the equivalent at a smaller independent garage can be around £17K.  Is the approved used status worth the extra 2 - 3K?

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James, I wanted to take the same feathers of car approved by the BMW. Please tell me the full details and its original price.

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Gary Bristow

Car Auctions

As James Ruppert says, but as a former owner of one (Pheonix yellow mettalic body) i'd by one in a dark colour not silver (every other car is silver these days!) definately not red,but my cars colour was always admired.James did not mention tyres the rearers are about £250 each! i don't know the price of fronts but allow say £200 maybe.Emmisions means high road tax and also the car brings you close to the police ( be warned)  police cars will follow you!.Then there's the thorny  subject of insurance, assuming your points free just now and are over 30 with built up bonuses you might depending where you live ( i got mine for £380 fully comp), where you live maybe double it.So unless you've got a good and save job , i'd do what i did and try it for about six or seven months and then sell it.I had bought mine for £29K and seven months seven thousand miles later i traded it and lost £6,500 on it which is'nt to bad but has to be taken in to the cars budget.        

Hi James.

robotised gear boxes are rubbish and not worth the hassle!.Most people who buy an M3 try to buy with the  minimum of problems. What made me sell mine was 2 rears in as many weeks with no cheaper alternatives and avoiding the next service (it had done 28 thousand ).Yes i'm glad i had one for seven months, but the "what next syndrome" was what but me off,to many people don't do their budget for these kind of cars. Yes they maybe relatively tough but every day consumables are not fuel for instance, drive it carefully you get 24MPG , drive it like a loony and it 14MPG , long trips and i did get 34MPG out of mine! .Yes by all means buy one but be warned it can seriously affect your bank balance!

 Go to www.sytnercardiffbmw.co.uk and then click on approved used list.  You then need to click on group stock and its the cheapest M3 in the M3 list.  £19850 I believe.

OK. Ionly did a 1000mls a month, so that nowadays is classed as a low mileage driver. At that time it was costing me about 97p per mile to run it.It doesn't take much to work out if you do double my mileage that at todays prices especially in England your looking at 2K for fuel alone!. Factor in a service, say £600, then the odd puncture(there's no spare wheel by the way) that'll be £300+ today.Yes it will be the best thing you've driven in your life so far , but it will also be one of most expensive you driven yet...happy motoring!  

And these cars are worth today? - yes ,about 20% less, i have a 530i m-sport giude price for trade in about £16K , ACTUAL VALUE about £14K yes now might be the time to by one , but dealers just don't want to now if you hsave a trade in, if your a cash buyer you barely have to ask for a good deal, thats discrimanation for you!

 NotopgearinF1 & all,

I'm currently driving a 2003 / 53 M3.  After owning a 3 yr old 325Ci M-Sport for 4 years it was my ideal upgrade.

In my opinion the M3 is a great car, and you really get a lot for your money; both in terms of equipment & performance.  Even the standard M3's come with many components which are options on non 'M' models... TV & Sat Nav as standard from 53 Reg, full leather with elecric 10 way adustable seats, Bi-xenons, exterior styling, 18" or 19" wheels, auto digital climate, cruise control and more.  The performance is outstanding, and it's an everyday car.

Having owned the car for almost 2 years I've had no problems at all, and the last service came to a total of £350.  You are of course going to pay more for tyres than your average car, but if you shop around (www.blackcircles.com always worth a try) I've found Continental M3 tyres (made specifically for the M3) for £160 fitted (rear), and £130 fitted (front).  The car consistently averages 26MPG which is good for the engine & performance it packs.

Prices are really attrractive right now, with a 50k 2003 good condition model seemingly selling for £15k - £16k.  There are plenty around so you get a great choice and can be picky with what you're after.  Always check for BMW Service history, and check the car did get it's 1,200 mile first service (apparently this is important on the M3).  When looking for good models I asked the seller to send me a list of the servicing garages with dates, and the VIN / Reg, all of the BMW garages were happy to confirm that they had serviced the car, and also told me if any other work was complete; this was really helpful when buying privately.  Also always use a service such as HPI, costs around £20 and confirms the car's not been written off, reported stolen, or has outstanding finance against it.

Basically if you want a nice car, well build, which can eat miles with ease, and bring a big smile when you feel like a blast the M3 is a great choice. Pick up a car costing £43k 5 years ago for a bargain!