• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

used 2003 BMW M3 - yay or nay?

secretanchitman

secretanchitman

Diamond Member
http://tinyurl.com/2vycm38

i've been recently looking at used BMW M3's and so far, this one has caught my eye. options on the car are pretty much spot on (nav would be nice, but its 2003 and would be severely outdated) with what i want. also, manual FTW!

what do you guys think? it has 59k miles on it, but i think the price is a little too high imo.
 
Don't get one without Nav as it's very easy to update the OS and the Maps. Not only that, but adding an Intravee II gives you OEM style iPod control from the monitor.

Anyway, buy it. You'll never regret it.

PS: I'm biased.

EDIT: Urgh, 18"'s. Try for 19"'s. "Enthusiasts" will bang on about how the 18's are lighter and so on, but the 19" look sooo right, sooo good. That and having to explain why the 18's are better every time someone asks why it's not got the 19's is just lame. 😀
 
Last edited:
As long as you understand it will cost a bit in upkeep and repairs and don;t mind. Then go for it.

But I agree the price does seem high. But BMWs, esp M's, are higher due to fanboys.
 
DivideBYZero said:
Don't get one without Nav as it's very easy to update the OS and the Maps. Not only that, but adding an Intravee II gives you OEM style iPod control from the monitor.

Anyway, buy it. You'll never regret it.

PS: I'm biased.

EDIT: Urgh, 18"'s. Try for 19"'s. "Enthusiasts" will bang on about how the 18's are lighter and so on, but the 19" look sooo right, sooo good. That and having to explain why the 18's are better every time someone asks why it's not got the 19's is just lame. 😀
Click to expand...

You know what's really lame? Getting 19s because people who don't know any better think you should, when you know full well the car will perform better on 18s.
 
Take a close look (and/or ask) about any of the led displays having dead pixels.

Nav looks old as crap, I don't blame you -at all- for not wanting it. It is nice to have for some of the ipod setups, but the intravee kit is no longer made so it's kinda pointless. You can do ipod stuff with the other brands, but the intravee is the one that integrated with nav

The mileage is great, just ask about oil changes (it's nice to see ~5k oil changes even though BMW says 15k is ok), etc etc. The valves should've been checked/adjusted twice by now, I believe.

Personally I'd immediately change the oil, tranny, and diff fluid as soon as you get it.

You might want to find a decent local BMW shop and have them hook their scan tools up just to check for things.

I don't know the details, but many of these had subframe issues. Another thing to get checked out.
 
alkemyst said:
Isn't your company paying for it?
Click to expand...

I bought it with cash. My cash, not that it's any of your trolling business.

That and I bought it for me, not anyone else. Grow up.

How about you stick to the OP rather than derailing yet another thread due to you own insecurities?
 
Looks like a nice beamer. I say if you want a BMW and you can afford the maintenance go for it. Price is a bit high, but that's the asking price so should be no surprise. I'd start at $19K for an offer and go from there. KBB puts it at $20k for private party in good condition.

Test drive it and do your home work on it. He sais it's been dealer maintained so they should have records. Find out which dealer and go and inquire on the maintenance history.

Just like at the dealer don't be afraid to walk away either. He's talking about it being rare in his description but paint color plus a manual transmission does not a rare car make. If he's hung up on his asking price leave him your number and tell him to call you when he comes to his senses.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
Take a close look (and/or ask) about any of the led displays having dead pixels.

Nav looks old as crap, I don't blame you -at all- for not wanting it. It is nice to have for some of the ipod setups, but the intravee kit is no longer made so it's kinda pointless. You can do ipod stuff with the other brands, but the intravee is the one that integrated with nav

The mileage is great, just ask about oil changes (it's nice to see ~5k oil changes even though BMW says 15k is ok), etc etc. The valves should've been checked/adjusted twice by now, I believe.

Personally I'd immediately change the oil, tranny, and diff fluid as soon as you get it.

You might want to find a decent local BMW shop and have them hook their scan tools up just to check for things.

I don't know the details, but many of these had subframe issues. Another thing to get checked out.
Click to expand...


The NAV can be updated to 3D perspective mode, which is very nice, the maps are the easiest update ever and the Intravee II IS made and available here:

http://www.toysinyourcar.com/

They are the global supplier. In fact that's where I got mine a few years ago.

NAV in 3D mode:

3dperspective.jpg
 
For $10k more you can find loads of the newer and just as fast 335i coupes and sedans with far fewer miles on them and factory warranties.
 
disappoint said:
You know what's really lame? Getting 19s because people who don't know any better think you should, when you know full well the car will perform better on 18s.
Click to expand...

Perform better on a track maybe. You're not going to be able to fully exercise the car's (and wheel's) performance on normal roads, so who cars?

IMO, the 19 inch alloys look much better than the 18 inch alloys, and the E46 M3 is as much about looks as it is performance.
 
A larger wheel also adds more NHV (noise, harshness and vibration). A lighter wheel as tons of benefits off the track as well.

I'd also target the costs of replacement rubber in both sizes.
 
RichUK said:
Perform better on a track maybe. You're not going to be able to fully exercise the car's (and wheel's) performance on normal roads, so who cars?

IMO, the 19 inch alloys look much better than the 18 inch alloys, and the E46 M3 is as much about looks as it is performance.
Click to expand...

Well, that's not all there is to it. 18" tires are less expensive, and with a little more sidewall you'll not have quite as jarring a ride nor as high a risk of damaging/scraping a rim. If you live someplace like Pheonix, where most of the roads are straight, flat, and pretty well taken care of for the most part, 19" might be just fine. Here in DFW, the roads are something of a war zone, with frequent severe potholes, nasty entrance/exit angles from many parking lots, etc, and it's just asking for trouble. I had a slightly lowered 5g prelude with 18" enkeis on it for a bit, and it was just an ordeal getting around town, so I backed down to 16" for DD duty and my stress level went down considerably. Back then, as now, I was driving 80-100 miles a day though, often to unfamiliar parts of town, someone with less severe driving habits would likely not go through as much hassle.

As far as only noticing the differences on a racetrack, that's probably true in performance terms. There was a recent race car vs. road car (eg; M3 vs. M3 GTR, ZR1 v. C6R, etc) comparo in a major mag, and ALL of the race car variants had much smaller diameter wheels. Rubber band tires are purely for looks, and are actually detrimental to performance at the end of the day.

There are aftermarket 18" wheels that look better than the stock 18 or 19 by far anyway.
 
man you guys are great. so much info in here!

i definitely love the looks of the 19s, but i know the comfort will suffer a little bit. however, i live in chicago, so ill be putting on at least all season tires, if not winter tires for now, so i think that will "ruin" the point of getting the 19s in the first place. i did look for ones that have 19s on it, but either they had too many miles, SMG (yuck), or not the options or color i want, etc.

i also have my local mechanic who specializes in german cars, and he's been able to fix problems with my current bmw 328i that our bmw dealer couldnt figure out why. also, his rates are a hell of a lot cheaper than what the dealer charges. if i get the car, im going to take it to him to do a checkup - he has the diagnostic thing where he sees if the car brings up any faults. i did hear about the subframe issues with the later model M3s, so i will ask him to check up on it as well.

as far as the nav goes, ill admit that i totally forgot about retrofitting one. its not really necessary now, because my current car doesnt have nav and im so used to looking up directions on my iphone, but its nice to know that i can retrofit one (which i probably will end up doing in the future, depending on the difficulty).

price? yes, 22k is high, and i did look at kbb and they said 20k is about right. hopefully he can lower his price. i honestly havent been able to find another M3 in this color and options, but again, you guys are right - color and transmission do not make this a rare car. im planning on selling my current car (2000 bmw 328i sedan) and then purchasing it. im hoping to get at least 6k out of my car, so i can get the M3 for well under 20k.
 
Hmm.

Here is stock 19" E46 CSL M3 rim :

http://media.photobucket.com/image/...0album/M319CSLSPORTSRIMULTRALIGHTWEIGHT-1.jpg

I think they look ok, but they're not exactly gonna jump out at you, they look pretty much like every other BMW wheel out there on every other M3.

With the car you're looking at, something like this, even in 18" would really be sick :

http://www.velocitymotoring.com/links/images/VMR_Wheels_BMW_3-Series_Blue_V713_19_Bronze_261.jpg

That's only on a regular 3-series, and it looks fantastic imho. They would look that much better on a black M3.
 
Well since you already own a BMW I guess you are aware of the associated maintenance costs, so your good in that department. Otherwise I would just get the car checked out by a mechanic, and get the price dropped by a couple of grand. The wheels and the nav shouldn't even factor in since both can easily be replaced.
 
My boss has a CLS550 with 22" wheels on it. He is constantly dealing with flat tires and damaged rims. They are expensive as hell, fragile as hell, the tires don't last long and they give a very rough ride and worse performance in every way...but they look cool. 🙄
 
His price is high. Look at this one. Less miles and going for less than $19,000.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=805825

An M3 is much more expensive to maintain that a standard 3 series. A stuck front brakme caliper on mine cost me 1,200 in repair costs, and that was without labor charges (I barter IT work to my mechanic in exchnage for free labor). Oil will cost you about $70 per oil change since the E46 M3 takes a special 10w60 only available through the dealer or specialized mail order. Shocks are $240 each. Rear summer tires are in the high $200s each, and you should plan on replacing them after 17,000 miles tops. If you plan on drivign it with any snow, have a spare set of rims and snow tires. There are tons of other little costs that add up constantly. Plan to spend close to $2,000 per year for maintenance and wear items per year.

Having said that, I love mine to death. I have a 2001, 6 speed, Carbon Black, like that one, with 125,000 miles on it, and it still drives like new. I had the front end re-painted to get rid of the scratches and chips, and it barely has any interior wear.

2009_03_12-BMWM3-JustWashedw-New-3.jpg


And these are the proper 19" rims to get if you want a good look. They are extremely strong, but a little heavy. I have had jagged potholes that actually shredded a tire off the rim, and it didn't do anything to the wheels themselves. But it did bend a shock mount. Really bad roads can bend the control arms as well, and then your wheels go out of alignment. The dealer will not align without replacing the control arms, and they are only ones who can do it properly since it requires their own programming tools to also sync up the steering rack at the same time, while they have the car loaded with weight. And you must have the wheels aligned, or your tires will be useless in a month.

2009_03_12-BMWM3-JustWashedw-NewRim.jpg
 
Last edited:
thanks for the info papadage. the 19s seriously look much better than the 18s, but ill eventually get them down the road. the stock 18s look good to me as well though, and for now, i think getting proper winter tires is more important than the wheels itself, considering the random weather we have over here (some days its sunny, rains, snow, you name it).

i looked through e46fanatics, roadfly, and this other forum (i forget the name), but a lot of them are modded (i honestly dont want to mod mine, i know im in a minority when i say that, but i love bmws at stock), pending a sale, or just plain out of the way (in terms of location). i did happen to find a mystic blue on black M3 with 107k miles, but it was $16.9k, and personally, i dont think a used car that has over 100k miles is worth it imo.

if i can talk the seller down to 20k, ill take it...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top