Test drove e92 - giant disappointment

[happy187]

So I test drove a 2008 e92 m3, 6mt, melborne red, 18's, with 18k on the odo. Asking 42k. This was at a big dealer here in Houston. The dealer is just like carmax and runs the spectrum of cars from ferrari to fiesta.

How the test drives work at this place is you give them dl and ins, valet pulls the car around and off you go. It kinda nice not having a salesman in your ear while driving.

I jumped in the car and noticed that the "service engine soon" light was on. I notified the valet and he'd told me it was cool. I drove of and it only got worse. The clutch was beat, there was Speaker that was shorting out, and I heard an exhaust leak.

Needless to say on the performance end I was less than impressed. Also the interior was just my old 335i staring at me. Overall I left very sad, like finding out that Santa isn't real.

[Erhan]

Yeah all the MT M3s come with SES on and beat up clutch from the factory.

Oh the interior might look similar to 335i, all though M3 is based on X6.

[Krozi]

lol

[PKL]

Find a car that isn't a POS to test drive? Clearly that car was a bad apple

[happy187]

Originally Posted by erhanh

Yeah all the MT M3s come with SES on and beat up clutch from the factory.

Oh the interior might look similar to 335i, all though M3 is based on X6.

Really thats odd. I would think BMW would fix the ses and beat clutches on all 6mt m3's. But hey if that's how they came from the factory BMW must know what they are doing.

[cmk227]

Bad apple. The car is amazing. Look on the for sale ad on the forum or go to the next meet in Houston and see if they let u test drive.

[happy187]

Originally Posted by PKL

Find a car that isn't a POS to test drive? Clearly that car was a bad apple

Yeah Im not sure what shocked me more. How someone could abuse a car in so few miles, or how the sales guy acted like all the issues were no big deal. He actually said "well you know must people don't know how to drive a stick."

[JusCruzin]

Originally Posted by happy187

The dealer is just like carmax and runs the spectrum of cars from ferrari to fiesta.

On a more important note, this dealer wouldn't happen to have a 458 Italia that I can test drive without a salesman accompanying me by any chance?

[ALPINE6SPD]

Sorry to hear that but I woudl test drive one that is running perfectly and does not have any exhaust leaks. Selling both I can tell you in my opinion the M3 is a big upgrade over the 335i. You may not think so but that is the same way a person who has a 328i feels when they drive a 335i. They say all I see while sitting in theis car and loking at the outside is a 328i here with more power that is useless anyways. If you look at it like that you can understand how a person with a 328i woudl feel about a 335i and a person with a 335i would feel about an M3. At least an M3 looks different than an 335i where a 335i doesnt really look much different that a 328i. I can see your point though.

I own a 328i which means I am not biased towards a 335i or an M3 but if I had the money for an M3 I would not even consider a 335i and just get the M3. This time around for me I didnt have the money for a 335i so the choice was simple.

99% of the customers I know who can afford the M3 dont even care about a 335i. There really is a big difference if you look at the whole package but its for you to decide if it is worth the extra money for an M3.

[ALPINE6SPD]

Originally Posted by GhostRideTheWhip

Don't feed the troll.

LOL but I dont think he has reached troll status yet. Give him a break man.

[09E92M34ME]

you should stick with your awesome 335 because it is superior in everyway to the m3. i can't believe you would even test drive a m3 seeing that you have a far better 335.

[mcp202]

Originally Posted by happy187

So I test drove a 2008 e92 m3, 6mt, melborne red, 18's, with 18k on the odo. Asking 42k. This was at a big dealer here in Houston. The dealer is just like carmax and runs the spectrum of cars from ferrari to fiesta.

How the test drives work at this place is you give them dl and ins, valet pulls the car around and off you go. It kinda nice not having a salesman in your ear while driving.

I jumped in the car and noticed that the "service engine soon" light was on. I notified the valet and he'd told me it was cool. I drove of and it only got worse. The clutch was beat, there was Speaker that was shorting out, and I heard an exhaust leak.

Needless to say on the performance end I was less than impressed. Also the interior was just my old 335i staring at me. Overall I left very sad, like finding out that Santa isn't real.

How did you form an opinion of a car that clearly needed service and/or the previous owner abused for 18k?

[LateBraking]

[gblansten]

I think that is cool that the clutch is already broken in. If I get an M3 this fall the first thing I'll do is try to go up my steep driveway in fourth gear for about thirty minutes. Of course, I'll only do this if BMW forgets to during the testing phase of my build.

[Seattle S65B40]

Originally Posted by 09E92M34ME

you should stick with your awesome 335 because it is superior in everyway to the m3. i can't believe you would even test drive a m3 seeing that you have a far better 335.

[wrh3]

Sounds like a car that was quickly returned to stock (de-modded) before selling to/trading in at this dealer.......and the interest in a quality job for some at that point is not a high point. Check Engine could be a damaged O2 sensor from an exhaust swap. I could be totally wrong, just guessing based on the information.

Find a good E92 to drive, we still love ours.

I can say that that I was surprised with our pre-owned M3 test drive vs our modified 335, it killed that car- it was so much better.

[Dave07997S]

What elevates him to troll status is he tested a car that had obvious problems and he comes across disappointed. If it was a post that stated "I can't believe how a dealer can let someone test drive a car in this condition", then we would understand.

So here's the award..

[M3maniac20]

Solution: Go in and drive a NEW M3. I don't care if you are looking to buy new or not but you can't go drive a 3 year old (first year of E9x) and then sum up the whole line because you had a bad experience. Why would you ever form an opinion on a used car? It will never be like it was from day 1 and you can't trust what people have done to it before you got it.

[wrh3]

Originally Posted by M3maniac20

Solution: Go in and drive a NEW M3. I don't care if you are looking to buy new or not but you can't go drive a 3 year old (first year of E9x) and then sum up the whole line because you had a bad experience. Why would you ever form an opinion on a used car? It will never be like it was from day 1 and you can't trust what people have done to it before you got it.

The only problem with a new M3 is that most dealers won't let you really drive it since the 1200 mile break in point has not been reached.....and I wouldn't want to beat on a new car I wasn't going to buy anyway. We were genuinely underwhelmed when we test drove a new one when they first came out, but throughly impressed after driving one that already had 10k miles on the clock.

[Timothy J]

These threads are unreal

[M3maniac20]

Originally Posted by wrh3

The only problem with a new M3 is that most dealers won't let you really drive it since the 1200 mile break in point has not been reached.....and I wouldn't want to beat on a new car I wasn't going to buy anyway. We were genuinely underwhelmed when we test drove a new one when they first came out, but throughly impressed after driving one that already had 10k miles on the clock.

See I never had a problem with that. I drove an M3 3 times. Once before I ordered it then twice during. My CA always said "Have fun, just keep it below 5.5k rpm." They'll let you drive anything you want down here, as long as you show moderate interest... Aston Martin, Bentley or Maserati they'll let you take it. (granted I have never done this, but I've been to the dealerships and I was surprised to how many people were taken those things out)

I'm guessing the dealership the OP is talking about is the ///Momentum chain thats all around the Texas and some other states. If he has trouble he should just find another dealership that will let him take it.

[luis_m3]

Originally Posted by happy187

Really thats odd. I would think BMW would fix the ses and beat clutches on all 6mt m3's. But hey if that's how they came from the factory BMW must know what they are doing.

Wow...