Stuck on what M with high km's I can afford to buy/maintain

[emilinaitor]

I'm in the market for a new manual Bmw M car, the ones I want the most that are in my price range are an e46 m3, m39 m5, and a e90/92/93 m3. I've looked into the cars alot and I love the e92 the most but from what I found I'm not sure if I can afford to maintain it. I found a few with the rod bearings and the throttle actuators done and a few that have oil tests that say their still good but those cars are all in the 100k-200k km's(60k-124k miles). I'm looking at dailing these and I drive about 27000km's(16700miles) a year. I just mainly wanted to know if you guys think the e92 is the best one for me to go with or not, and also what would I be looking at in things that commonly go wrong other than the rod bearings and the throttle actuators.

[Blindside_137]

Have you saved up cash to buy the car outright? What sort of budget do you have? If you are looking at 60k-120k mileage cars my guess is around 20-25k for the car. If you have that cash set aside or even some of it then you can do a lot of preventive maintenance on the car when you get it.

That being said, based on your daily driving use of 17k miles a year, I don't think an M is a great option. Even gas would become a major expense at that rate. I'm lucky my commute is about 6-7 miles. So I can daily my M3, and not including fun weekend cruises, that puts me at 4-5k miles a year commuting.

My suggestion is an economical daily, and getting the M when you can have a fun second car.

[wfdeacon88]

If you find one that is in decent shape for ~$20-22K (with 80-110K miles), plan to budget $5-7K the first year at on preventative (ex/ RB) and routine maintenance. It's a reliable platform if maintained well, but the wear and tear items are not cheap unless one can DIY them. Mine was in phenomenal shape for the mileage, but I hit a lot of milestone items the first year. I should be good now for another year or two, but I definitely spent $7-8K or so in the first 11 months getting everything sorted. If you get lucky and don't have many issues, then use the money for fun shit

[Sephiroth]

Kudos for understanding your financial limits. Don’t forget to count your insurance and gas costs for such regular usage. If I were having such considerations I would pass on these cars and get something more reliable and cheaper to operate.

[emilinaitor]

I have about 17k saved up but I was gonna keep 2k to do some maintenance on the car. The main reason I wanted an M was because I'm young and I wanted to get a fast car for a few years to have fun then if it's still solid keep it as a weekend car after that. For now I'd use it as a summer car and pickup a cheap car for the winter.

[emilinaitor]

For the most part I can DIY all the jobs and for the big jobs I might me able to DIY or I can take it into the dealer. Luckly I get parts and service for pretty cheap since I work at a Bmw dealership. I'm looking to get one in the 80-90k mile range for both the e46 and e90-93 and as for the e39 i can't find any that I want. But can I ask what kind of things would I be looking at that would need to be fixed on these cars? In my research for the e90-93 I know the rod bearings are a common issue as well as the throttle body actuators. Also for the rod bearings do you know if I get one that has a clean black stone oil test and if I always let the car fully warm up before moving it, will I for the most part not have to worry about it?

[emilinaitor]

So I know my gas prices will be pretty high but I will be saving a good amount on insurance surprising and it will be more than enough to cover the difference in gas payments.

[shimmy09]

Originally Posted by emilinaitor

For the most part I can DIY all the jobs and for the big jobs I might me able to DIY or I can take it into the dealer. Luckly I get parts and service for pretty cheap since I work at a Bmw dealership. I'm looking to get one in the 80-90k mile range for both the e46 and e90-93 and as for the e39 i can't find any that I want. But can I ask what kind of things would I be looking at that would need to be fixed on these cars? In my research for the e90-93 I know the rod bearings are a common issue as well as the throttle body actuators. Also for the rod bearings do you know if I get one that has a clean black stone oil test and if I always let the car fully warm up before moving it, will I for the most part not have to worry about it?

I have both an E92 M3 and E86 M coupe, trust me when I say I wouldn't get an M car if you're financially tight especially a used M. I've been thru all the usual bugs that trouble them, from throttle actuators, Idle control valve, rod bearings, just to name a few.. it adds up. I would get something more economically sound, one that makes sense for your financial situation.

[TomHudson]

Given those choices, I’d grab the e39 M5.

[03BeastCharmer]

Originally Posted by emilinaitor

I have about 17k saved up but I was gonna keep 2k to do some maintenance on the car. The main reason I wanted an M was because I'm young and I wanted to get a fast car for a few years to have fun then if it's still solid keep it as a weekend car after that. For now I'd use it as a summer car and pickup a cheap car for the winter.

Define fast? If you want speed, a 135/335i would actually be cheaper to buy and maintain and give you a greater impression of acceleration (push you in your seat) than an M3 because of the turbo and torque. M3 is about handling more than speed. I have a 70K mile M3 and used to own an E39 M5, both had expensive maintenance bills, even when doing the jobs yourself.

[BeaterM3]

Originally Posted by emilinaitor

I'm in the market for a new manual Bmw M car, the ones I want the most that are in my price range are an e46 m3, m39 m5, and a e90/92/93 m3. I've looked into the cars alot and I love the e92 the most but from what I found I'm not sure if I can afford to maintain it. I found a few with the rod bearings and the throttle actuators done and a few that have oil tests that say their still good but those cars are all in the 100k-200k km's(60k-124k miles). I'm looking at dailing these and I drive about 27000km's(16700miles) a year. I just mainly wanted to know if you guys think the e92 is the best one for me to go with or not, and also what would I be looking at in things that commonly go wrong other than the rod bearings and the throttle actuators.

Just from hanging around the forum for the past few months, the top expenses for this car are Oil changes, gas, brakes and tires. And all 4 of those depend on how hard and much you drive.

Like all BMWs, valve cover gaskets and coolant reservoirs could be your nemesis. Depend on how bad the gaskets are, you can get away with not replacing for a bit.

Honestly, besides the RB and TAs (if you have a DCT, they can leak), the car seems like a pretty solid beast. I've heard of way more common problems inflicting 335i (even N55s).

[BeaterM3]

Originally Posted by wfdeacon88

If you find one that is in decent shape for ~$20-22K (with 80-110K miles), plan to budget $5-7K the first year at on preventative (ex/ RB) and routine maintenance. It's a reliable platform if maintained well, but the wear and tear items are not cheap unless one can DIY them. Mine was in phenomenal shape for the mileage, but I hit a lot of milestone items the first year. I should be good now for another year or two, but I definitely spent $7-8K or so in the first 11 months getting everything sorted. If you get lucky and don't have many issues, then use the money for fun shit

7-8k is alot to spend on sorting out issues tho. I hope that's not a baseline around here lol.

So far I've spent $3250 on preventative and maintenance: 2/3 was preventative with the rod bearings and buying in good condition working TAs for back up in case mine go. $2450 right there. The remainder went towards replacing the bottom pan of the DCT, clock spring and right rear wheel sensor (the latter 2 I did myself).