Quote:
Originally Posted by GORDON.M3
I'm going to give my fair share of input before you buy a M3.
Make sure you do your homework, buy based on service history and make sure they have proof/paperwork to show for it. I usually would be more interested in buying from a private seller as opposed to buying from a dealership/used car place. Too much sketch shit I've seen after working in the industry.
There are a lot of M3s on the market that is just in horrible condition. After searching for a good year I ended up finding what I thought was nearly as perfect it can be for a 9-year-old car.
Some of the dealer trade-in cars are a joke, I'm not going to name the dealership, but the "sales manager" of that dealership tried to sell me a sedan with all 4 sides of the car repainted. The seat condition did not even match the mileage the car had, car had 60,000km but the seats looked like they were at least 150,000km+.
The frozen colors are horrible to maintain, after seeing several in person, I've concluded that many of them are not well taken care of. Some of them were repainted and no longer "frozen".
I was looking for a manual for A LONG TIME. After test driving several, I thought to myself, unless the car is being sold by an enthusiast that you know drives the car with care it's not worth the hassle.
I went to see a bunch manuals, two had mechanical overrevs on the DME which indicated well over 9000RPM. They ran fine, but I wasn't sure what the future entails for them.
One had bad synchros, second gear grinded like shit and the guy said it was fine. One of them had a bad clutch job, there was air in the clutch so when you try to release the clutch it got stuck halfway and wouldn't pop back into position.
So I ended up with a DCT, never looked back. The E9x platform of M3s are great to drive regardless of transmission, both have a different experience. Right off the line, the DCT stock with MPSS can get you 1/4 mile times of 12.4/12.6. Even my friend with a 6MT said he kind of wishes he got the DCT. Either way, don't think too much about the transmission choice unless you are a 6mt purist, both transmissions are equally as fun!
Last but not least, make sure you scan the DME for any errors, I've seen VANOS codes which are shadow codes, which might indicate potential problems with the car even though the car winds up to redline just fine.
Hope that helps...
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Agreed wiith all of the above. Takes a while to find a good vehicle.