lowlander

Hi there,

Anyone got any buying advice on one of these. Looking specifically at the 3.2's built after 1996 until around 2001 / 2002.

Thanks.

Martin.

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

The first thing to check Martin is the Vanos system. As the M3 evo has a dual vanos system, which is a common problem and is expensive to replace.

Some of these have been replaced under warranty but best check this with the owner

Fuchsrohre

Buy the BMW warranty - my old Evo would've cost me a fortune to repair otherwise.

As banny says, the vanos system was found to be leaking oil when it went in for a routine service. They had the car 4 days to repair it. At BMW's ambitious hourly rate, that would've cost me a small fortune if I didn't have a warranty. Technically, I've heard BMW repair this WITHOUT a car being under warranty as its noted by them to be a design flaw. I'd feel a lot safer with a warranty though.

Also, they have tons of bhp but no traction control so expect to go through rear tyres quickly!

They also stall from time to time during idle for no apparent reason!

Apart from that, great cars! If you're going from a scooby turbo to one like I did, they're a breath of fresh air - different power delivery (linear) so you don't *think* you're accelerating fast but you are. No "kick" like the scooby, but just as fast, if not faster.

I run an e46 M3 now, which I can also recommend highly.

flat4_ire

e46 m3 hmmm, is she the smg?

banny sti

iTrader: (68)

My mate has just bought an E46 M3 convertible with SMG, its a fanatastic car and sounds better inside the car than outside.

flat4_ire

never in one, wudnt mind tho, very expensive pay €50k for a nice 2001 here, what a joke

Ralph Wiggum

i noticed that e46 m3 sound terrible from outside like something is broke, yet the csl is simply nuts, now i can't believe its the carbon air intake that makes the noise change that much surely,

what is the rattly sound in a normal m3 on chat

turboDean

iTrader: (4)

I've driven my mates e46 m3 convertable with SMG its excellent, kills my scooby but it does cost 3 times as much.

It's up for sale if anyone wants one, 03, silver, fully loaded (think it's got every extra except the hard top) think it's done about 18000 miles and he wants £34500 for it.

Fuchsrohre

thats the subaru owner you just passed grinding his teeth

Ralph Wiggum

lol i had a dust up with a convertable e46 m3 and was pulling on it, the coupe though was neck and neck up to silly speeds, wasnt me who was dissappointed with the performance of the said cars

fatherpierre

'course it wasnt''........................

The M3 driver's now rapidly searching for a faster car with his £15k trade-in cash flapping in his hand, and jibbering about inferior cars beating him 'off the line'.................

Ralph Wiggum

who said it was off the line lmao this was rolling, im not the sort who sits at lights revving the nuts of the car lol, i hope theres no m3 drivers who would even do that either lol

both times where joining a motorway up a slip road so fair game really, what i would say is that if i could afford to i'd proberly have a black m3 though lol. not saying there **** , i'd rather a csl for the better wheels, better noise and better handling, well tyres LOL

Senior_AP

M3 Evo is, in gear, faster than any scoob except that mad fast one, the "Spec 7b-ZR-C-Techno RA Q-PBZRG" or whatever it's called.

Consider the saloon, they can be very discreet indeed, I had a saloon Evo, no spoiler, no M badges. Only giveaway was the mirrors.

It was most satisfying.

rr_ww

http://www.mukerji.co.uk/vanos/

Although the owner doesnt claim to be the world authority on this. I do happen to know what hes writing is fairly near the truth. There are many many threads on Vanos on many different BMW websites.

www.www.bmwcarclubforum.co.uk
www.bm3w.co.uk
www.e36coupe.com

The problem is people think a noisy Vanos is about to fail and take out the engine. When its quite unlikely. So if you can get a car with a BMW warranty then I'd buy that. But dont get hung up on it being just noisy. Thats not the main problem.

For my money Id try and find a 3.0 (single Vanos) M3 GT. Theres only 25 ish RHD in the country and its a better car. Especially as it generally makes 300 Brake whereas the Evos Ive seen havent made the full 321 they were claimed to have from factory.

Dont expect to be able to get one for the same amount of money as 'Evo Magazine' managed. (They are closer to £10K.) Be aware also, that the "specialist" they bought from is widely despised in the BMW M car community!

Senior_AP

Please quantify "better".

Smaller brakes, worse suspension and less power.

When I was looking at an M3 I test drove the regular 3.0 and I was far from impressed. it pissed me off cos I really wanted one.....then i test drove the Evo and the difference was huge.

Granted the GT is better than the regular M3, but better than the Evo?? IMO no way!!

A good example Evo with warranty to me constitutes about the best money can buy for 10k-14k.

rr_ww

Aluminium doors
295 Brake more often than not.
Adjustable Splitter and rear spoiler
Rareity Value. (Remember this was the homologation version)
Stronger engine. - Evo is just a regular 3.0 upped to 3.2.

I would say you probably drove a good Evo and a bad 3.0 litre. For some reason the Evos never produce more than 300-10 (give or take) when on Rolling roads. Im also not sure, but hasnt the 6 speed box got shorter ratios in the lower gears which would account for the feeling.

Any M3 is a good car of course. Its just I prefer to have something thats been Homologated. Just for the "geek factor"

easyrider

I went from scoob to M3evo and back to another scoob.
Dont get me wrong,the M3 is a great car,but the scoob suits me better+ the M3's not the drivers car i'd been led to believe it was-Its a great rear end action car though.

FletchCSL

Go for the GT if you can live with the colour.

The susp setup of the GT is the same as that of the evo IIRC. BMW took the setup for the evo straight from the GT

Go on bm3w.co.uk do a search in past M models section theres loads of info on the GT and buying info etc