2012 M3 Ownership Experiences - 5 Year Retrospective

[Sinner101GR]

Hey all!

About 5 and a half years ago, I purchased a 2012 M3 Coupe from CarMax and have been daily-driving it ever since. As of yesterday, I performed the 'essential,' rod bearings replacement that is very much the boogie-man of these cars and figured it'd be fun to do a retrospective of sorts on ownership, maintenance and costs that have been incurred since buying the car. While there's a plethora of information out there, it's always nice to add more to the pile for those folks looking to get into one of these exceptionally fun cars.

Initial Research
Let's be honest, I was dead set on an M3 since I was a kid. The E36 M3 (well, the 3/4/5), to this day, is one of the most beautiful cars ever put to the road. I fell in love with the mentality of the brand - that you had a sports car from the get-go with a bit of quality meant to be enjoyed as a nice little added bonus and from a design standpoint the M3 just looks exactly like the kind of car that knows what it is without flaunting it.

The E46 of course is absolutely gorgeous and a dream to drive, but when the E9x models rolled out, I was floored. It's got just enough of a visual motif to be gorgeous and while enthusiasts know, most people just see 'BMW.' That engine, the drive, the interior specs; it's just a perfect kind of car that let's you accomplish pretty much anything you need. There's a reason the M3 is a benchmark for car reviews - it's just so damn good at what it's built for and that V8 NA S65 engine just screams. To me, that model is going to be the standout next to the E30 in the next century - the car that people look back on and just know it was something special.

So I bought mine from CarMax, lol. Purchased June 8th, 2018, I took delivery after selling my old 2009 BMW 328i to my little brother. Performed a PPI at the local enthusiast shop and everything came back pretty good with the exception of a random TPMS light that I could not convince CarMax to replace as the code did not trip while they had it over the month long warranty period.

For those looking - CarMax won't haggle, but they do offer a solid warranty program and upon doing the numbers and learning more about the car I took the gamble and did not do an extended warranty, despite how good their offerings are.

The Car


I ended up with a 2012 Jerez Black model with DCT, about every option aside from the Competition Pack, has the Style 220 Wheels (which I prefer over the 359s), and it came with a sunroof and not the carbon one which was a bummer, but hey, and I am now the third owner. From what I can tell, the original owner did a Euro-delivery on the car while the 2nd one bought it and almost immediately defaulted on their payments. Those two put a total of 48,573 miles on the car from 2012 to 2018 and I suspect one of them shattered the real window in some fashion, though there were absolutely no records of the car that I could find. Just a lot of shattered window glass in the trunk and some weird small plastic and rubber gaskets and bits missing from here or there. One of the previous owners also lowered the car to competition spec with coil overs, which was nice, as well as adding a weather strip on the rear bumper, also neat.

From CarMax in 2018 my cost was around $32,998 with taxes/fees as well.

Almost immediately, I decided the car would stay as OEM as possible with the only additions being Carbon Fiber - the spoiler and side mirrors are OEM, though I added a front GTS-style splitter that was made by a small maker here on these forums for way cheaper as it was more than likely that I'd break it (which I did and have since removed.)

The Maintenance Breakdown
Anyone, and I mean anyone who wants to get these cars should know of the two biggest issues - the Throttle Actuators and the Rod Bearings. I'll go into those two here in a few, but overall the car has been extremely reliable with a few odds and ends going haywire. The S65 engine thus far has been great and with her opened up over this past week looked to be in great condition. Current mileage is at 77,460 miles, meaning I've put in 28,887 miles over the course of 5 and 1/2 years. I have doing oil every year at a general cost of around $200/per interval and have swapped out my tires a few times (I mean, I do like to drive) which runs around $1200/per full swap.

With a full breakdown and everything done to this car:

• PPI: $94.50
• 1st Detail: $400
• Spoiler Install: $450
• OEM Spoiler and Side Mirrors: $600
• Oil Service 1: $206.85
• M3 Badge Replacement: $52.45
• Tire Swap 1 and Oil: $1,177.60
• Oil Service 2: $206.83
• Throttle Actuator Rebuild and Install: $800
• 2nd Detail: $95
• Wiper Replacement: $73.85
• 60K mile Maintenance (Oil Service 3, Filters, Brake Fluid, Spark Plugs): $1,050.36
• Headlamp Ballast Control Replacement: $213.75
• Rear Tire Replacement: $596.12
• Manifold Gasket Leak: $284.97
• Oil Service 4 and Battery Replacement: $618.74
• TPMS Valve Stem Cap Replacements: $49.77
• Oil Service 5 and Front Brake/Disc/Pad Replacement: $1,646.58
• Rod Bearings and Oil Service 6 along with 4-tire Swap and 2 TPMS sensor replacements: $4,373.86

All in all, that amounts to $12,991.23 in maintenance or cleaning costs over 5.5 years with an average of $2,598.25/year in spend.

I equate only about $498.72 in unplanned maintenance costs over the lifetime of my ownership.

Larger Comments

• Throttle Actuators

This one is a lot less of a headache, but one that from what I have been able to read is not a matter of if, but when. Mine failed at 61,571 miles in August of 2020, or 2 years of ownership. I was just sitting at a light downtown about to turn left and boom, engine light comes on, reduced power indicator comes on and the tach forces limp mode. Drove the car back home about a mile and got to researching, immediately thinking 'yep, it's the actuators.'

One thing I learned and will vouch for is using Rebuild. At the time I had to ship my old actuators out to them in the UK, but it looks like they have a US-based distributor, so that's cool. Took about 2 weeks for the shipment to occur and the job is fairly plug and play.

• Rod Bearings

As you can see here, there's a bit of wear. The job was done at 77,460 and I have always believed that the job is something that should be done no matter your feelings on the subject. While many of us read the horror stories, we also hear more anecdotal evidence on hooning-about being a major problem and reason for why the bearings fail. Despite this, I warm my car up, I rarely rev it up like an idiot and when I'm out and about in the backroads I tend to keep myself in 3rd-5th gear hovering in the 4-6K range, rather than go full tilt. I am by no means a crazy driver and yet here we are with a lot of wear on these.

I opted for the ARP bolts and BE bearings, so we'll see how that goes. However, I can immediately tell you I am very much looking forward to the peace of mind that this job brings. What's wild to me, though, is that this job went from around $1,500 all-in when I bought the car to around $3,500 or so from most shops. I was lucky to get the bolts/bearings from a private sale at $700, and a friend who owns a shop agreed on parts/labor costs for me with $2100ish to do the job. I still spent around $2,800 for peace of mind on a catastrophic failure point for these cars. You have to be willing to take that cost on if you are going to buy this, so in all reality you should know going into owning this car without those jobs that you're going to spend anywhere from $4-5K just in 'preventative' maintenance.

Final Thoughts
With the car hitting around 80K miles - I have another round of fluids and filters coming up that will invariably cost around another $1K or so. I want to get another major detail this year and will likely spend around $700 or more on that, and for some reason my amp in the back that controls the radio blew and while it is a plug-and-play system, the only ones I can find (while sticking to OEM) are like $1,600 or so to replace.

However - this car. Man, this car. It's the dream. I fully believe in 20-50 years it's going to be more than a classic and one of those fondly remembered machines that did something so damn well. It's not the fastest, it's not some extraordinary super car and it has its faults, but every single time I get into that drivers seat I get to feel a machine that was built to do it's job in a way that few cars can ever match. The hydraulic steering, the balance, the engine, the feel, the looks. It's a hallmark car that has aged gracefully built around an engine that absolutely sings. I'm sure the 100K miles threshold is going to hold other challenges (gasket leaks for days bois, gasket leaks for days....), but I have no intention of ever selling or getting rid of this car. I'll get an F80 to drive daily and have this one in the garage for the weekend outings.

Hope that helps anyone looking, or reaffirms for those of us lucky to own one of these magnificent cars.

Thanks!

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by Sinner101GR

Despite this, I warm my car up, I rarely rev it up like an idiot and when I'm out and about in the backroads I tend to keep myself in 3rd-5th gear hovering in the 4-6K range, rather than go full tilt. I am by no means a crazy driver and yet here we are with a lot of wear on these. I opted for the ARP bolts and BE bearings, so we'll see how that goes.

Thanks for such a great write up. You're right; in 20-30 years folks may look upon these E9X M cars much like purist CarGuys today look upon a E-Type Jag, or an early 911S, an E30 M3 or similar. Your particular car looks to be in fabulous condition and you're taking very good car of it by the looks of it and the maintenance list.

Your old OEM bearings look pretty darn good compared with cars of similar mileage and with the later (updated) OEM bearings. Congrats on going with B.E. Bearings and ARP bolts which are OEM+ IMO. Now that you have the "gold- standard" B.E. bearings installed, don't be afraid to occasionally go wide open throttle all the way to red line (8300RPM). The sound is glorious. It's even more fun with the windows down. You're not too far away from my neck of the woods either. If you're ever down this way on a weekend consider attending this event:
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https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1143964
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https://www.facebook.com/CarsCoffeeUpstate/
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[ESB]

Cool write up and congrats on the milestone + getting the big ticket items out of the way!

I’ve never driven an E9x M3. I really want to just for the experience! Despite that, I totally agree this car will be remembered as a great. I feel similarly about the F87 M2C but am fairly confident the E9x will always rank higher in people’s minds in 20+ years. There’s just something special about the high revving NA V8 M3.

[drwankel]

2012 E92 M3 Jerez Black owner here, also purchased from Carmax. Bought in 2015. 16k miles when purchased.

9 years later, have just hit 71k. Only thing that ever failed during my ownership was the throttle actuators. Replaced under warranty.

Been the most reliable car I've ever owned.

[Lucky1]

I think these cars are already regarded as unique and never to be seen again in the ///M lineup. I daily drive mine and am at similar mileage. I don’t commute much but in future thats likely to change and I’m torn because I chose this to be my daily driver so by the time its got classic status or what not I’ll likely have over 200k-300k miles on it and gas will probably cost an arm or two. But I don’t want to not drive it either; I have it for a reason.

[fs34]

Love this write up. Love these cars! I have to fight to keep mine considering it’s my daily and my wife would prefer I have something else. I can’t think of another car I’d rather have. Cheers, we are all lucky to push that start button and motorboat these amazing vehicles.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by fs34

Love this write up. Love these cars! I have to fight to keep mine considering it’s my daily and my wife would prefer I have something else. I can’t think of another car I’d rather have. Cheers, we are all lucky to push that start button and motorboat these amazing vehicles.

I think you’re taking the term “double hump” a little too literally

[fs34]

Originally Posted by kolosy

I think you’re taking the term “double hump” a little too literally

lol, I’ve had friends ask what the car is like. I always respond that this car is like a great rack I get to play with every day. It never gets old.