Thinking of a 2008 M3 with about 45K miles on it, annual costs?

Hi there,

Trying to get a feel for what I should expect to pay to keep this puppy on the road.

It is a 2008 M3, 6spd with about 45K miles on it.

I plan on driving around 6-10K miles per year, not tracking it or mod'ing it.
I'm a mature driver so not looking to rip up the streets either

Assuming the car is in average condition, what should I put aside each year for maintenance and repairs?

I know of:

1. tires
2. oil

Is it crazy to NOT get some sort of extended warranty?

Get insurance quotes. My M3 insurance wasn't much more than my wifes Accord for me, but from what I understand it can vary a lot. Figure 13-14 mpg unless you only plan to drive it on the highway with cruise control on. A set of tires, mounting, balancing and alignment is at least $1000, probably closer to $1500. It depends on the tires, your driving style, etc but you should expect that every 1.5 to 2 years for the mileage you asked about. I just priced an oil change kit at $125 which includes oil and filter. It will obviously cost more if someone else does it - I plan on doing mine every 5,000 miles. Brakes can be expensive, about $600 a pair to replace the rotors. Most other maintenance items are in the ballpark of what you would expect - air filter, cabin air filters, transmission/diff fluids, brake/clutch fluids, accessory belts, etc. Repairs are a different thing - there are some expensive components, particularly the engine, that might fail and require replacement at any time. Engine failure is probably a $20K minimum potential problem. It's not something that is likely on a well maintained car, but it's something that could happen. If you don't have the ability to deal with a $20K repair bill then a warranty might be worth looking into. If you can deal with the engine repair, then pretty much any other issue you might have with the car you can deal with. A/C Evaporator issues are something that I've heard are more common than other things and that can be expensive to have someone take apart the dash to change it. Changing the clutch in a 2008 is also pretty expensive since you need to switch to the 2009+ flywheel and parts. Warranties probably won't cover that. As with any car, things can go wrong and you should plan accordingly. Just remember that for most people things go right and they won't have any major issues. If you have a plan for if things go wrong, they you will be fine.

I wasn't thinking of the engine going, that would be pretty sad news if that happened. I have heard the engine is pretty solid, it would have to been pretty abused!

Does the BMW inspection include an oil test etc?

dualexhaust wrote

Does the BMW inspection include an oil test etc?

No, not usually. Before purchasing an M car, I'd highly recommend you get a pre purchase inspection from someone who has familiarity with BMWs, and M cars in particular. There are some national companies who can set this up for you, alternately finding an independent BMW mechanic in the area is a good option.

There are at least 100 of these cars that have lost an engine due to rod bearings. That is the part that would scare me since the repair cost is high. There may not be any advance warning that would alert you to the need to change them. When my CPO warranty ran out, I changed the bearings as preventative maintenance. Parts cost is around $600-$800 and labor around $1000-$1600 depending on what parts you use and who does the work. Replacing the engine is about $8000 to $15000 in parts and probably $1500-$2000 in labor, depending on whether you buy a used engine or rebuild yours.

Definitely get a PPI from a BMW dealer or good independent shop that knows BMWs.

The rod bearing issue is still not fully understood; while there have been catastrophic failures, they still are in fairly low numbers. A powertrain warranty of some kind may help you sleep better at night, but socking some money away for preventative replacement in the future (if the facts show it's a more pervasive problem) may be the better use of funds.

The AC evaporator is also a common failure and an expensive repair. You may see if a BMW dealer can pull service records for you to see what's been done.

pbonsalb wrote

There are at least 100 of these cars that have lost an engine due to rod bearings.

Given that 66,000 were made, that tells me that you shouldn't be too worried about it. If you are concerned about it, preemptive replacement of the bearings runs about $2500.

davesaddiction wrote

Definitely get a PPI from a BMW dealer or good independent shop that knows BMWs.

The rod bearing issue is still not fully understood; while there have been catastrophic failures, they still are in fairly low numbers. A powertrain warranty of some kind may help you sleep better at night, but socking some money away for preventative replacement in the future (if the facts show it's a more pervasive problem) may be the better use of funds.

The AC evaporator is also a common failure and an expensive repair. You may see if a BMW dealer can pull service records for you to see what's been done.

What has your service history been like with your 08?

my 2008 also has about the same mileage. Based on my most recent key read at dealership service computer, also budget for these in the next 1-2 years:

1. brake pad change
2. rotors change
3. rear diff fluid change

dualexhaust wrote

Does the BMW inspection include an oil test etc?

no. You can ask them nicely to pull oil out of the engine to fill your bottle.

dualexhaust wrote

Hi there,

Trying to get a feel for what I should expect to pay to keep this puppy on the road.

It is a 2008 M3, 6spd with about 45K miles on it.

I plan on driving around 6-10K miles per year, not tracking it or mod'ing it.
I'm a mature driver so not looking to rip up the streets either

Assuming the car is in average condition, what should I put aside each year for maintenance and repairs?

I know of:

1. tires
2. oil

Is it crazy to NOT get some sort of extended warranty?

Crazy? I'm not sure about that but I bought my 08 E90 used with an extended warranty a few years back and I'm glad I did. The adaptive headlights crapped out and my warranty has already paid for itself.

This thread has a pretty good rundown of what I think is a reasonable expectation of maintenance. Granted, you could do less and if you're driving a lot, you could do more but I hope this helps.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=778602

Other than routine maintenance, I had my AC evaporator replaced (under factory warranty) and I had my high pressure fuel sensor go out (not terribly expensive).

Solid car otherwise thus far. Bought with just under 40k miles, just passed 75k.

i have an '08 e92 m3 with approx. 50k mi.

have been running full bolt-ons for over 2 years now with no issues.

maintenance completed in the last 10k mi or so, in some instances ahead of schedule:

1. plugs
2. diff fluid
3. trans fluid
4. brake fluid
5. coolant
6. brake pads
7. battery replacement
8. rear tries
9. oil

coming up:

10. rotors (ugh)

other than that, basic wear and tear replacements:

1. steering wheel trim
2. belly pan

like many E9x M3s, the engine rev hunts on a full tank. given that no one seems to know exactly how to fix this, not motivated to spend the $$$ to resolve this issue post warranty.

other than that, car runs like a dream.

08 with 30k... Bought the extended Warrenty... Had about $7,000. In issues so far including a new rear diff. Warrenty paid for itself 2X in the first 6 months. At 35k miles now... Love the car thou!

mrMTB wrote

Given that 66,000 were made, that tells me that you shouldn't be too worried about it. If you are concerned about it, preemptive replacement of the bearings runs about $2500.

And maybe 5% of that 66,000 spend enough time on m3post to report their failure. Sadly we will never have official failure numbers.

KRB_E90 wrote

08 with 30k... Bought the extended Warrenty... Had about $7,000. In issues so far including a new rear diff. Warrenty paid for itself 2X in the first 6 months. At 35k miles now... Love the car thou!

$7k in repairs??

^ I really think that's a rare situation more than common. I bought mine with 42k and put 20k on it with 0 issues In fact besides General maintence the car has had Just light bulbs and a software update since day one.

My advice would be to look for one with full service records in mint (or close to it) condition and buy atleast a power train extended warranty. I bought a top of line extended warranty which has been overkill. If I had to do it over I would have bought a low to mid level warranty. The warranty will keep you from losing sleep.

Yes 7K and counting.

pbonsalb wrote  

There are at least 100 of these cars that have lost an engine due to rod bearings. That is the part that would scare me since the repair cost is high. There may not be any advance warning that would alert you to the need to change them. When my CPO warranty ran out, I changed the bearings as preventative maintenance. Parts cost is around $600-$800 and labor around $1000-$1600 depending on what parts you use and who does the work. Replacing the engine is about $8000 to $15000 in parts and probably $1500-$2000 in labor, depending on whether you buy a used engine or rebuild yours.

What did you bearings look like when you replaced them? Were they overly worn?

This is a YMMV situation. The car might not have any problems but worst case scenario your bearing might go after you purchase it. I wouldn't go as far as saying every engine will blow eventually, but determine for yourself how serious you think the issue is. I would eat the $2k cost to replace than to take the chance myself but some M3's have over 100k miles on original bearings. As others stated, maintenance will be multiple times more than a camry but if you work on the car yourself, it shouldn't be too bad.

Definitely get a PPI done and if you can, try to find a third party warranty for the car. If not, I suggest strongly consider getting the bearings done if you plan to keep it for a long time. Someone recently bought a 08 and their bearings went after a month or something. Luckily they had warranty!

Da Hapa wrote

Crazy? I'm not sure about that but I bought my 08 E90 used with an extended warranty a few years back and I'm glad I did. The adaptive headlights crapped out and my warranty has already paid for itself.

This thread has a pretty good rundown of what I think is a reasonable expectation of maintenance. Granted, you could do less and if you're driving a lot, you could do more but I hope this helps.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=778602

and KRB_E90 What warranty do you guys have?

I think bkdore gave a pretty good rundown in post #2 on what to expect. Apart from that I, personally, have always gotten an extended warranty when puchasing these cars. I got one on my new (to me) '11 just recently. And, I still have an additional 48K miles and 2.5 years left on the warranty for the '08 E90 M3 I'm selling very soon