M3 e92 cost of ownership And reliability

[gabster]

Hey guys, I have been looking into the e9x M3 for quite a while, I am pretty certain this would be what I'm getting very soon, unfortunately I would have to get it pre owned (i do have a budget) so being this the case, the question I have for you guys that have owned them for a while, how reliable are they really? Any serious know issues? This would tie with my second question, what would be the true cost of ownership? Is maintenance very costly? Ie. brake service , fluid changes, other maintenance I'm missing?. This in comparison to say a BMW e9x 328i for example.

[gabster]

Bmp nobody has any idea, what I'm talking about?

[PhillyNate]

Search this forum, there are plenty of threads on this topic. I can tell you that since the E9x 328i is now done, the E9x M3 has become BMW's most reliable car by default. They both unofficially shared this distinction when both were in production simultaneously. Good luck.

[Mike van D]

+1. Search.

[kmarei]

The biggest cost is the mod money

[pharmdphd98]

Reliability of the E9x M3 has been excellent, especially considering that it is a very high performance car. Maintenance cost, on the other hand, is going to be considerably higher than a 328 since all the parts, including oil, are more expensive. Castrol TWS oil, the factory recommended oil, is about $15 per quart! You have to pay to play....

[hieu1004]

Like mentioned above, this topic has been discussed many times here - just search and read through. Mods, repair/work outside of warranty, cost of ownership etc. will cost more than your typical 3 series (328, etc) - this should be obvious. With that said, the e9x M3 is a very reliable car and I love mine. However, like anything else...things can break and go wrong. If they do, don't be surprised with the cost compared to a regular 3 series. The M3 is in a different class - you gotta pay to play

[tjsabec]

There are still relatively few E9x M3s that are out of warranty/maintenance... So it is really kind of difficult to determine cost of ownership / reliability at this point in the car's life cycle. My cost of ownership thus far has been $0.

[bsiciliano]

Other than Mods which will bankrupt you, the only thing I spend money on is Gas and oil. Coming from a 328, you will be spending a lot more on gas (14 mpg city) and I think most people carry a quart of oil in the trunk as the V8 is a thirsty lady.

However, the joy of driving it is priceless. Do it!

[Zzhou]

Originally Posted by kmarei

The biggest cost is the mod money

So true!

[wooderson]

Originally Posted by tjsabec

There are still relatively few E9x M3s that are out of warranty/maintenance... So it is really kind of difficult to determine cost of ownership / reliability at this point in the car's life cycle. My cost of ownership thus far has been $0.

Yup...this.

[gabster]

Originally Posted by hieu1004

Like mentioned above, this topic has been discussed many times here - just search and read through. Mods, repair/work outside of warranty, cost of ownership etc. will cost more than your typical 3 series (328, etc) - this should be obvious. With that said, the e9x M3 is a very reliable car and I love mine. However, like anything else...things can break and go wrong. If they do, don't be surprised with the cost compared to a regular 3 series. The M3 is in a different class - you gotta pay to play

Thanks a lot guys for all the info, honestly I did search and couldn't find much info, sorry I will keep searching. And yes I am aware that it is obvious an m3 would cost more than a regular 3 series to maintain, my question is how MUCH more? Somebody here just gave be an excellent example, oil is 15$ a quart, how many quarts does the engine takes (for comparisons sake)
Tires ?
Brakes?
Maybe some 08-09 owners might have a better idea on this things since they are out of their warranty ?
Thanks again

[cmk227]

I would say try and get the extended warranty and buy a 08 or 09 that still has a warranty. The car has been great. I do oil change every 7500 miles so one is free the other I pay for.

I am very disappointed on the $ spent on the X5 after warranty. (air condition = $500, water pump $1,200) with 63,500 on the odometer.

[UA]

The motor takes 8 quarts of oil, expect to pay $120 per oil change if you do it yourself.

Tires are very expensive and you will go through them very fast considering the tread wear of performance tires and the power of the car.

Brakes, if you get them replaced by the dealer you will want to pull all your hair out and just quit life. If you do them yourself, you will still want to pull all your hair out, but you can manage to live with yourself.

Hope that helps.

[gabster]

Originally Posted by UA

The motor takes 8 quarts of oil, expect to pay $120 per oil change if you do it yourself.

Tires are very expensive and you will go through them very fast considering the tread wear of performance tires and the power of the car.

Brakes, if you get them replaced by the dealer you will want to pull all your hair out and just quit life. If you do them yourself, you will still want to pull all your hair out, but you can manage to live with yourself.

Hope that helps.

great info guys thank you so much, this is exactly what I needed to know, so would you say getting an extended maintenance service/ warranty is worth it?
what would you say brakes run around? 1k for the front pads?( if I do them my self)

[tomwac]

Originally Posted by pharmdphd98

Reliability of the E9x M3 has been excellent, especially considering that it is a very high performance car. Maintenance cost, on the other hand, is going to be considerably higher than a 328 since all the parts, including oil, are more expensive. Castrol TWS oil, the factory recommended oil, is about $15 per quart! You have to pay to play....

Well, when the dealer did the break-in oil change (engine and diff) I paid around 280€ ...my DD is the cheapest BMW money can buy, a 116d and last week it went in for an oil change (engine only)...I though that if the M3 costed almost 300, the 116d will be like 150...wrong...290 with a microfilter included...so I'm not so sure about the service costs being so much higher...I agree on tires and brakes though...

[S65V8]

Get ready to pay money for A LOT OF GAS. If you plan to drive this car in a spirited manner, you can easily kill a tank of gas over 200 miles no problem. IT GUZZLES. Other than that, engine is bulletproof based on various reviews, but plan to do regular oil changes every 5000 - 7500 miles.

Good luck with the purchase!

[runnerguy1979]

SROC5, Newbie question here but why bother doing oil changes outside of BMW's recommended oil service schedule, which I thought was quite long? Is there a reason for this or is it just to take care of the engine. Appreciate the info/wisdom (FYI: car is stock and i don't track it...yet).

Gabster, agree that the car guzzles fuel....it's actually surprising how much it drinks, especially around town. On the highway, it's slightly worse than the S2K. Just be prepared and maybe have a second car, like a honda civic (or even keep your S2K) to balance out the poor fuel economy. By the way, I was a previous S2000 owner ('05). I have to warn you, the M3 is def not on the handling and pure fun-factor level of the S2K. It's a completely different car all around. The M3 is much more refined than the S2K, and is much heavier and you can feel this in the twisties and the straights (although for how heavy it is, it handles very very well). I can give you some insight on the transition from S2K to M3 if you are interested. Just PM me. Good luck with your decision.

[UA]

Originally Posted by gabster

great info guys thank you so much, this is exactly what I needed to know, so would you say getting an extended maintenance service/ warranty is worth it?
what would you say brakes run around? 1k for the front pads?( if I do them my self)

If you do the brakes yourself, it's about $400 per rotor and $80+ for pads. So around $1k and that's only the fronts. Extended maintenance is definitely worth the money.

[Dannys M3]

This is my daily driver and I am approaching 80K miles. I average about 300 miles a tank driving normally 60/40 hwy city. I change the oil at 15K intervals and the last oil change kit from Tischer was $160 shipped ( 9 liters ). I usually have to add 1 liter of oil between changes for consumption. I average 26K miles a year so that's $1000 for a set of Vredesteins. At 100K I'll get a quote for the spark plug, rear differential, brake fluid and pad change if needed. Oh I think my AC has a slow leak and I had to spend $100 last year to recharge it.

[C|3R1C]

You can go to getbmwparts.com (which is tischer). I checked and front pads are $140.50 (set of two I think) and the rear pads are $73.35 (also the set of 2). Rotors are each front $271 and $226 each back. A full replacement from the dealer will run you almost $1500 (I'm guessing based off the addition of labor and retail parts, not tischer pricing). Depending how much you drive, I think the extended WARRANTY is worth it, considering it's an arm and a leg to replace just one thing if it were to go wrong, as well as all the labor costs associated with just diagnosing the problem. I have yet to determine if extended SERVICE is worth it, however for a mostly stock car, I think it is. That will run like $3k. (spark plugs, other fluids, labor, etc) With those two, cost of ownership is like an extra $180 (for the DYI oil changes every 7500 mi or so), plus tons of gas.

[ES_TRADER]

First year of ownership and I've spent $5066 on fuel and $195 for an oil change. So times that by how many years you plan on owning the car and you have your answer. That is of course if you're driving at least 12k per yr