[Voodooking]

My mate is selling an E46 M3. He's asking £15,500, but offered it to me for £14,500. Spec as follows

2003 BMW M3 Coupe Manual
Facelift Model (LED Rear Lights etc.)
Carbon Black
Full Black Leather
19" Alloy Wheels
40,000 miles

I appreciate this car isn't going to be cheap to run, so I don't want to pay a lot for it, but don't want to offend my mate either. He paid £19,500 from a BMW dealer for it with 37k on the clock a year ago. He's only done £3k in it as it's a garaged weekend car.

What sounds like a good price to offer him on it?

Also, anything to look out for with these cars. Any rough ideas on servicing / mpg figures?

Any advice appreciated.

[Hoops]

Black on black is a nice colour combo - milage is very good IF its fully backed up and ideally with FULL main dealer history - doubt he has extended the warranty but if he had then thats worth its weight in gold - but equally its a manual and one of the biggest issues and costliest problems is with the smg box etc - its not a bargain at 14.5k but then he's not taking the piss either - a lot depends now on the full spec of car ie. sat nav, heated seats, harmon kardon etc and then things like tyres, tax etc and finally condition of bodywork/paint and interior - the leather side bolsters go tatty very easily and the front arches and bonnet suffer massively with stone chips. Fuel consumption is only an issue if you have a really heavy right foot, otherwise you might be surprised as they can easily return mid twenties - service costs depend upon what service is due next in the book, as they go oil service, inspection 1 and then inspection 2 and they go up in cost incrementally - just a tip, although main dealer stamps are ideal when it comes to resale, cars of this age are mostly out of warranty and therefore its not imperative to get BMW to service it and independents will be far far cheaper than BMW and are often more specialised with their knowledge etc. Good luck with it - they are a cracking car and if you find a good one (not easy thanks to all the boy racers) it will look after you and put a big smile on your face - ive had 2 E46 M3's and 2 M3 CSL's and would do it all over again!!!

[trixman]

^^^^What he said.

Plus, make sure its got the 1200 mile (or is that Km?) oil change done. When I was looking around for one, albeit overseas, I would say one in 10 actually had that first stamp (its actually one of the first pages, right before the actual service book pages, so a full history can look like it had it done but actually got missed).

From my research at the time this was one of the single most important things to have done to the E46 M3.

Also it must have been very late 03 to have been the facelift model because I thought that came out in '04. Although to be fair, the only real visual change was the rear light cluster.

I also kept hearing horror stories about the Vanos, someone might be able to tell you more about that though as I believe there was a fix done by BMW.

[Speedtrap]

Like what Steve said, make sure the car has full service history, extended warranty if possible, and that there is noting wrong with the Vanos (a common and expensive problem). Check for extensive wear on the front discs as well. Also more appropriately check whether Inspection II has been done since it has done 40k miles as that is an expensive service from a main dealer (which you want to do from a main dealer).

Servicing from a main dealer is not expensive at all - talking about £300 or a bit more for a normal oil service. You would talk about low 20s on the mpg on a normal drive, depending on how you drive.

[Speedtrap]

Originally Posted by trixman

I also kept hearing horror stories about the Vanos, someone might be able to tell you more about that though as I believe there was a fix done by BMW.

Vanos are prone to failure if you drive the car hard; and sometimes it can just be down to the in/out solenoid on inside the Vanos. A good dealer should be able to spot the problem without having to replace the whole Vanos which will sent you back £1.5K

[MIKEYBMW1]

I am actually thinking of buying a CSL now as a bit nearer my price range , what do the guys who have had one think of them ,already had a e46 m3 so wondering if the CSL is much better/

sorry to jump on your thread op.

[dxb335d]

Sounds bit pricey for 03.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Sounds bit pricey for 03.

My first thoughts as well, but these have gained in value a fair bit recently.

Book value for that car is £16,300 retail.

I was looking at these late last year and saw several 54 plate cars with similar mileage under £15k. I think that there are quite a few less on the market right now.

[mikem]

I think all the points were covered by hoops, prices have definately firmed up recently (A friend has just sold his 04 Carbon Black/Red coupe with 40K, BT, 19`s (No Nav) to the trade as a straight purchase for £15K.

Provided the car has full BMWSH, the warranty can now be taken up again, even if its lapsed meaning people who want a BMW Warranty, no longer have to purchase as an AUC.

[R80TER]

vanos on the s54 engine was never really an issue, it was on the S50 though (from the e36) the s54 problem was shells, but i think come 2003 they had sorted this also.

its all down to the rest of the spec as the guys ave pointed out...

[Hoops]

Originally Posted by MIKEYBMW1

I am actually thinking of buying a CSL now as a bit nearer my price range , what do the guys who have had one think of them ,already had a e46 m3 so wondering if the CSL is much better

CSL is in a whole different league to an E46 M3 - and you will realise that the moment you sit behind the wheel of one and drive it - if you can stretch to it then buy one - you wont be disappointed.

[MIKEYBMW1]

Thanks for that Steve but decided to buy an e92 m3 instead , pick it up on Thursday

[Voodooking]

Well first of all, thanks to everyone who posted. Especially bmwbailey.

Have now got some more info on the car, going to see it on Saturday.

It has Full BMW Service History, including 1200 mile Running-In Service.

He said the extended warranty ran out this week, but he has a letter inviting him to renew it. (How much will this cost, and is it necessary?) What is the big deal about it?

Car has no Sat Nav or Harman Kardon, but does have heated seats.

Has just had two new rear tyres, MOT and Tax are up next week, but he says he will take care of these prior to sale.

He says it is "immaculate, spotless" with no dings etc. (He knows how fussy I am about cars, and would be straight with me). Also said seats were "real good".

He says he can't remember which service is next, but it's not due for another 11,500 miles.

I spoke to the local BMW independant who impressed me with their prices, and said they were about half what the dealer charges. Is it really important to keep it FBMWSH, or will an indy do? I'll probably keep this car 4 years before I sell it.

Hope I've given everyone a bit more info to help me on my decision. Still don't know what to offer him. If I offer £13,500 is that taking the pi$$? I don't want to pay over the odds, but don't want to rip off a good mate either. Is it worth £14k, or what is your opinion? Cheers.

[R80TER]

its only worth going to BMW for service if you still have warranty. if you let this expire, then find a decent indi. as a guess from previous experience, warranty will be approx £1200 a year... (thats what it was afew years back for my ZM)

[Voodooking]

I've just discovered it was registerd in January 2003, and has the shorter bootlid handle, so it must be a non-facelift car, that someone has put the LED Facelift lights on at some point...

Would this make any difference to what I should offer him?

[edowen]

no nav, and warranty expired. I would buy it.

[trixman]

Originally Posted by Voodooking

I've just discovered it was registerd in January 2003, and has the shorter bootlid handle, so it must be a non-facelift car, that someone has put the LED Facelift lights on at some point...

Would this make any difference to what I should offer him?

I would say so... you could argue that it's basically a 2002 and registered at the very beginning of 2003. Almost sounds pricey for it's age now. Worst thing about dealing with mates, you don't want to insult them with a low offer that you might normally try.

If it was me, I would just look around for a car with the spec you want at the price you want to pay... although you won't know how that car has been treated in the past...

ETA: Some examples:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1039217.htm Cabrio SMG, samish miles for 13,900
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1015889.htm You'd get for 14,000
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1053425.htm Low spec but 03, 40k miles for 14,500

If you got your friends example for 14k you would have a decent deal, any lower it would be even better, as long as you know he hasn't abused it

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by bmwbailey

CSL is in a whole different league to an E46 M3 - and you will realise that the moment you sit behind the wheel of one and drive it - if you can stretch to it then buy one - you wont be disappointed.

Thats the only M3 ive driven, not worth driving a regular M3 now no?

[Hoops]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Thats the only M3 ive driven, not worth driving a regular M3 now no?

You certainly couldnt go from a CSL to a stock E46 M3 - they really are worlds apart, not much difference in performance but handling/feel etc - different league as i keep saying. If you've only ever driven a CSL then i dont suggest you drive a stock M3. Slightly different if you compare it to Baris' M3 which is highly modded - but i would still rather spend the extra and get a CSL as they are an awsome track car straight out of the box.

[Steve A]

All the magazines waxwd lyrical about the CS edition said it was the best M3 as it was the best of both worlds, might be worth a sniff