HunterB

I've started thinking about what to replace my Legacy RS with and, with the kiddies grown up and rarely having anyone else in the car, I'm contemplating a BMW M Coupe. Now, they seem to be as rare as hen's teeth on the second-hand market but I've found a couple on the net that are around 250 miles from where I live. Before I commit to a 500 mile round trip, I thought I'd consult the Scoobynet Oracle to ask if anyone has had any experience of one of these .... good or bad. Anyone?

Brian

[This message has been edited by HunterB (edited 01 June 2001).]

AWD

Who not get a test drive at a much closer BMW dealer, and then if you like the car, get it cheaper elsewhere.

They are meant to be much better than the M Z-3, Tiff Needell loves them. Handle well, very unique looking cars. Cramped though.

I'd recommend taking a test drive.

ChrisB

Do a search and try to find a post by Sonu. He took his to the 'Ring at Easter - luvvverly car

Chris.

AWD

321BHP to the rear wheels.

Fun, fun, fun

Chris L

ChrisB - beat me to it Sonu's car is very nice - felt very good around the Ring and made a fantastic noise. I'm very tempted myself in a year or so's time..

Chris

ChrisB

In fact, trawl back through the Private Sales section. IIRC, Sonu was trying to sell it a while back.

Chris.

HunterB

Thanks for the replies, guys! I'll have a trawl through the archives.

AWD: I tried Dunedin, one of the two BMW dealers in Edinburgh, and had my belief in car salesmen reinforced! Mr Salesman told me they were scarce on the ground (which I know ), said he didn't know of any for sale anywhere (big help), but said that if I found one and told him where it was, he'd gladly sell it to me! Really, how generous ! Service? Something tennis players do, innit? Might try Eastern BMW in Edinburgh, I've heard since that they're better ....

HunterB

I tried emailing Sonu but I got a "No route found to domain netscape.net" error from the mail server. Can anyone (Sonu even?) email me with an up-to-date address for Sonu, please?

Thanks & regards,
Brian

Gastro

HunterB,

Funnily enough I got exactly the same response from that dealer too......!!
I havent tried the eastern - but they are worth a try. I assume your talking of the e46 model, which I am led to believe is a darn sight cheaper to maintain than the e36 - which is costly to say the least (I have more details on that if you need)........

Cheers & tell me how you get on,

Gastro

HunterB

Thanks for the advice, guys . I'll try the other dealer when I get some free time and I'll let you know how I get on.

All the best,
Brian

AWD

Gastro

The M Coupe is the hardtop coupe version of the Z3M (M roadster).

The E36 and E46 are the models of the 3 series and only refer (with respect to M cars) to the M3 coupe and M3 cabrio (E46 being the current 2001 model M3 and E36 being the previous pre-2001 model)

AWD

HunterB

If both your local BMW dealers say that they don't have any tell them to borrow one from another BMW dealer for you to test drive.

Tell them that you're not prepared to buy a car without test driving one and that if they are not prepared to source a test model for you that you would like to speak to their manager.

They have to get hold of one for you.

I hate unhelpful dealers, and often a little bit of playing hardball gets results.

SDB

I've driven a few of these and personally rate them as one of the most fabulous road cars in existence (in pure performance and handling terms).

Not so sure on the styling though. But that's just personal preference.

Cheers

Simon

Gastro

AWD,

To be *accurate* however, the same applies as in my post....... Its the engine service schedules on the e36/M coupe/MZ3 etc that are very expensive compared to the latest (e46) car which has less frequent and allegedly cheaper servicing costs........

OK ?

Gastro

SimonD

Brian

I've been running one of these for 18 months now - it replaced a MY98 Impreza.
The handling is much sharper than a standard Scoob and the engine in another league altogether. I have been slowly discovering that 320bhp, rear wheel drive and no traction control are not as much of a handful as some would have you believe.
As well as the usual hooligan behaviour, it is well up to long distance touring - if you don't mind stopping for gas every 200 miles.
As for interior space - I'm 6ft 1in and would not want to be any taller. The sunroof actually adds to the headroom but I find legroom more of an issue - the clutch sits rather high relative to the other pedals. Make sure you can get comfortable before buying!
The trim that is specific to the MCoupe is not up to the standards of the rest of the car. I have spent many hours trying to identify rattles coming from the tailgate/rear bulkhead areas. The rear anti roll bar has slipped out of it's links a couple of times when negotiating steep and tight bends and the rear wiper wash has no valve at it's end and thus dumps water over the back of the car when you park uphill.

Good luck with your search, there are six available on the BMW UK website ranging from £27k to 31k.


Simon

PS. I think it's beautiful………………….yet to find someone that agrees with me tho!

HunterB

SimonD,

Thanks for the reply. Good to hear the experiences of an owner. I spoke to Eastern BMW in Edinburgh today - much better experience than speaking to the other lot . They're going to have a trawl around the dealer network to see what's available and let me know so I can take it from there.

I'll keep y'all posted.

Brian

P.S. I think it looks great too

[This message has been edited by HunterB (edited 04 June 2001).]