08 E93 Buying Advice

[ncnmra]

Hi Guys, I owned a 2006 Z4M Roadster for a few years and sold it last year. It was my summer/weekend car. I had fun, but with a growing family it didn't make a lot of sense. I miss having a "fun" car and have been looking at getting a 4 seat convertible that I could pack the whole family.

I came across a 2008 M3 Convertible (manual).

• 3rd owner
• Car has the VF620 supercharger.
• Approx 87kms (kilometers, not miles!).
• The supercharger (and apparently rod bearings) were installed around 60km at a BMW tuning shop by the 2nd owner . From the sounds of it, the tuning shop will refuse to install a S/C if the bearings aren't done too, which makes sense.
• Current owner has had it for 1.5 years
• There are apparently no other mods other than the sc, but he did say it has the "M Performance Exhaust", which I'm not sure is standard or optional on these vehicles.
• Current owner seems very religious with all fluid changes (every 5k)
• S/C serviced this year.
• Tires and brakes about 50%...I realize brake parts are about $1200, I'm confident I can do this myself.

I generally stay away from cars that have modifications, but from my reading the VF superchargers in these cars are pretty solid.

This vehicle will not be tracked, and not driven in the winter if I own it. I will likely put 5-6k on it annually.

A few questions:

• Is buying a used S/C car a dumb idea? (especially one of the "larger" S/C kits?)
• Are the manual tops reliable on these?
• Not sure if the T/As were done. I saw some DIYs on that job and it looks doable, however with the S/C in place, does it make it much more difficult?

Any advice appreciated.

[ncnmra]

Nobody?

[zipper228]

Personally would be hesitant buying a supercharged car myself, I know the kits a reliable but I think it increases the likelihood that the car was pushed harder by previous owners (not that they aren't built to handle it). On the plus side, evidence of good maintenance and only two owners in 10+ years is great.

I can answer re: the hardtop - you'd expect this to be a weak point but apparently is not. You'll find surprisingly few reports online of serious problems in the 12 or so years they have been in existence. Most issues are easily fixed and result of user error or lack of basic maintenance. The 08 models I believe had a recall on the tension cables because the originals frayed over time. Might check to see that those were correctly replaced.

[duk]

yeah no thanks too much mods

[ncnmra]

^ The only "mod" is a S/C (VF620), I have hesitations I guess, although the thought of getting the upgrade for "free" is appealing. He's asking $30k CAD (~$23k USD).

I think the TBA's haven't been done though.

[Drifter2090]

It sounds like a good deal to me. 87k km 6mt E93 with a VF620 already. As long as the car doesn't look beat and runs and drives good, I say go for it. I wouldn't be too worried about the s/c.

[MCS]

Manual top? I think you misspoke - It should have an electronic hard top.

They are pretty reliable. There's been a noted issue with the tension cable fraying (search this board).

If the previous owner has already changed the Rod Bearings and has a good service record of all fluids/etc, I'd recommend that you bring it to a local trusted BMW mechanic to give it a once over and then go for it.

Sounds like a fun car. E93s are hard to beat in terms of top down motoring...

[ncnmra]

Sorry, yes, that was a typo, I meant "retractable top". The Z4Ms had an issue with the soft top motors getting flooded which was a costly repair, good to hear that the seemingly more complex hard top sounds reliable.