M3 e92 cost of ownership And reliability

[gabster]

Originally Posted by 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.

PM'd you

[gabster]

I'm actually getting a bit scare on the gas issue more than anything, starting to really think if for somebody like me (never seen the inside of a race track) this would be it? How many of you guys have an M and have never touched the race track? In your opinions is it worth that much more extra expense to drive this car ONLY around town / highway? Only asking your opinions here.

[kdphan]

Originally Posted by gabster

I'm actually getting a bit scare on the gas issue more than anything, starting to really think if for somebody like me (never seen the inside of a race track) this would be it? How many of you guys have an M and have never touched the race track? In your opinions is it worth that much more extra expense to drive this car ONLY around town / highway? Only asking your opinions here.

If you're worried about gas mileage, this isn't your car to be honest.

You're looking at around 14-19mpg avg.

My M3 won't be seeing the track, but i do take it out for some fun around twisties. It's a fun car, but not cheap to own and maintain.

[Ka0tiK]

Originally Posted by UA

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.

+1

My dealer said the exact same thing. The brakes alone on this car is nuts. Extending is definitely worth it.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by gabster

I'm actually getting a bit scare on the gas issue more than anything, starting to really think if for somebody like me (never seen the inside of a race track) this would be it? How many of you guys have an M and have never touched the race track? In your opinions is it worth that much more extra expense to drive this car ONLY around town / highway? Only asking your opinions here.

I will be in the very, very, very small minority with the following comments, so take that for what it's worth.

I got my 2012 M3 about 4 months ago, it's my first BMW. I have not taken it to the track, and don't have any immediate plans to do so. I did drive an E90 M3 on the track at PCD, and it was a total blast.

That being said, I don't think this car is a great daily driver. Sure, compared to a Porsche, GT-R, or some other hot rod, I'm sure it is. But the M3 is a real gas sucker, I get about 14mpg. I have a 40+ mile round trip commute, every day. And for that reason, I have a 6 year old Accord that does wonders. Sure, I take the M3 out as much as possible, but my gasoline expenses would double if it was my only ride. I don't have a good handle on maintenance costs after the 4 year free period is up, but my Honda costs ~$100/yr to maintain. My first set of brakes made it 75K miles ($50), and DIY oil changes every 7500 miles are cheap too.

The simple fact is, the more miles you rack up on your daily, the more problems will eventually surface. Nothing wrong with putting 15K+ miles/year on an M3, but that has got to add up with some high dollar maintenance costs, eventually. I try not to think about the first round of tires I'll need to buy for the M3! Sure, call me cheap/poor/whatever, I don't care. I just think if you have a real slog of a commute, the M3 is practically wasted. I took it in to work last Friday, and was greeted with 1:15 hrs of bumper to bumper traffic on my way home. Maddening. Not to mention, I almost ran out of gas! My range got down to 13 miles when I was still stuck in some bad traffic, I really thought I wasn't going to make it!

[UA]

Agree with SamS. My M3 is my daily driver but my commute to work is 14 miles total back and forth. If it were longer, the cost of fuel would not be manageable without a secondary econobox.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by UA

Agree with SamS. My M3 is my daily driver but my commute to work is 14 miles total back and forth. If it were longer, the cost of fuel would not be manageable without a secondary econobox.

And if gas isn't $5/gal where you live, you know it will be, eventually. I'm not saying everyone should run out and go buy a Prius, but if you're just going to sit in traffic for 1-2 hours a day, the M3 is not what you want to be driving.

[swartzentruber]

How economical this car is depends a lot on how many miles you put on a year, and your mix of highway/city. I have a fairly short commute (12 miles rountrip), which is short enough that most cars don't do that well gas mileage wise, so the M3 isn't bad in comparison. I'm probably averaging 15-16 per tank in the M3, and was at 17-18 in my old 335xi. I don't do a lot of highway, where the M3 MPG is pretty poor, though we did average ~21 returning home on a trip last night, which isn't great, but beats EPA estimates. Likewise, your out-of-warranty service expenses will be greater if you are putting more miles on. Bottom line, no one can tell you how expensive the M3 will be for you, everyone will be a bit different.

[SamS]

Originally Posted by swartzentruber

How economical this car is depends a lot on how many miles you put on a year, and your mix of highway/city. I have a fairly short commute (12 miles rountrip), which is short enough that most cars don't do that well gas mileage wise, so the M3 isn't bad in comparison. I'm probably averaging 15-16 per tank in the M3, and was at 17-18 in my old 335xi.

I'm not gonna lie... that new F30 328i with 8AT and 30+mpg is mighty tempting as a second car to replace my daily, in a few years.

[Mike van D]

If gas consumption is a big concern, believe the M is not for you. I would keep gathering info and make the best educated decision you can. Good luck.

[Nine]

I had an s2000 and now have an M3, comparing the two in terms of ownership is absurd.

True cost of ownership after purchase varies on the type of owner you are.

Are you a Swissvax, HRE, BBS FI, ESS type of owner or

Are you the Drive it for 2 years under free service & maint and dump for another car type of owner...

[marksae]

Like others have mentioned already, the gas mileage makes the M3 not ideal as a DD, especially if you have a decent commute. My daily commute is 75 miles round trip.

My s2k is my commuter car, while I drive the ///M on the weekend. I average about 25-26 mpg commuting w/ the S2k, whereas I'd average 16-17 mpg commuting with the M3. Since I mainly drive city on weekends, my M3 usually averages between 14-16 mpg. The s2k is definitely not the ideal commuter, but it cuts my fuel costs down a lot per year while I still get to drive a "fun" car all the time.

[gabster]

Originally Posted by Nine

I had an s2000 and now have an M3, comparing the two in terms of ownership is absurd.

True cost of ownership after purchase varies on the type of owner you are.

Are you a Swissvax, HRE, BBS FI, ESS type of owner or

Are you the Drive it for 2 years under free service & maint and dump for another car type of owner...

not sure what you mean by swissvax,HRE, BBS FI, ESS type of owner?
but no, i purchase a car and tend to keep it for a very long time untill the wheels fall off, as long as i'm happy with it, (IE my S2K have had it for 5+ years already) but judging on the comments on this thread the e9x M3 is a car to keep just right around or until the warranty (or extended warranty for that matter) expires....

Originally Posted by swartzentruber

How economical this car is depends a lot on how many miles you put on a year, and your mix of highway/city. I have a fairly short commute (12 miles rountrip), which is short enough that most cars don't do that well gas mileage wise, so the M3 isn't bad in comparison. I'm probably averaging 15-16 per tank in the M3, and was at 17-18 in my old 335xi. I don't do a lot of highway, where the M3 MPG is pretty poor, though we did average ~21 returning home on a trip last night, which isn't great, but beats EPA estimates. Likewise, your out-of-warranty service expenses will be greater if you are putting more miles on. Bottom line, no one can tell you how expensive the M3 will be for you, everyone will be a bit different.

I do just about 12k miles a year, commute of prob 15-20 miles round trip max
on a 50/50 City/Highway, speed limit driving with "Occasional" spirited driving would i be in financial trouble?

Originally Posted by 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.

on the following driving conditions on a 50/50 City/Highway, speed limit driving with "Occasional" spirited driving with 0 Track time,
what would be the life expectancy on brake pads and rotors? do rotors most be replace always and every time pads are replaced? front and rear together as well?

same question on tires, same driving conditions above, I'm asking for averages i do understand every driver and conditions changes, just trying to determine what "fast" wear really means, also what kind of tires do you guys run? only OEM? or are there other choices that work well?
just trying to educate my self as good as possible, thanks again for your all your input.

[swartzentruber]

Originally Posted by gabster

I do just about 12k miles a year, commute of prob 15-20 miles round trip max
on a 50/50 City/Highway, speed limit driving with "Occasional" spirited driving would i be in financial trouble?

Miles MPG Gallons/Yr $ @ $4 $ @ $5
12000 17 706 2,824 3,529
12000 20 600 2,400 3,000
12000 25 480 1,920 2,400
20000 17 1,176 4,706 5,882
20000 20 1,000 4,000 5,000
20000 25 800 3,200 4,000
8000 17 471 1,882 2,353
8000 20 400 1,600 2,000
8000 25 320 1,280 1,600

Surprisingly easy financial analysis to do. With your mix, I'd guess ~17mpg average, so $400 - 900 annually you'd spend vs buying more economical choices with gas @ $4 gallon, etc. You decide if that will send you to the poorhouse.

[Adriansideways]

I have a 2008 E90 M3 d/d and done 72500miles with not a single problem! I drive it really hard, lots of oversteer and plenty tire sets ive gone through. Plenty of mods since new exaust, chip, pulley, intake, superlight rims and permenantly on semi-slicks. I adore the car and it hasent cost me anything apart from normal wear parts.

[Adriansideways]

After the mods my M3 gets around 18 mpg which is the same as my old 335 was. Its lighter on fuel now

[gabster]

Originally Posted by swartzentruber

Miles MPG Gallons/Yr $ @ $4 $ @ $5
12000 17 706 2,824 3,529
12000 20 600 2,400 3,000
12000 25 480 1,920 2,400
20000 17 1,176 4,706 5,882
20000 20 1,000 4,000 5,000
20000 25 800 3,200 4,000
8000 17 471 1,882 2,353
8000 20 400 1,600 2,000
8000 25 320 1,280 1,600

Surprisingly easy financial analysis to do. With your mix, I'd guess ~17mpg average, so $400 - 900 annually you'd spend vs buying more economical choices with gas @ $4 gallon, etc. You decide if that will send you to the poorhouse.

That does not look that bad, now that i think about it, i average (according to the OBC) 17mpg on my DD 11 VW Tiguan i might not feel that big of a difference...

[gabster]

Originally Posted by Adriansideways

After the mods my M3 gets around 18 mpg which is the same as my old 335 was. Its lighter on fuel now

What kind of mods have you done?

[j2m]

Originally Posted by kmarei

The biggest cost is the mod money

+1, if you are concerned with cost of ownership, do yourself a favor and disable your bimmerpost account and forget you ever saw this site

[Adriansideways]

Originally Posted by gabster

What kind of mods have you done?

Intake, exaust, chip, pulley, superlight OZ rims with semis and stripped around 100 kg out