Rabid

Sick of diesel boredom and my lease 320 goes back soon so I thought what better to blast away the boredom of low revving, nannying ESP/DSP-crap mobiles than an M coupe.

Anyone have any first hand experience of these cars? I'm thinking of a
MY 2000/1 with the earlier lesser powered E36 M3 engine rather than the later car, although I could be persuaded to pay more.

The looks are a bonus for me by the way as, 911's are as common as pigeon **** round here.........................

Brendan Hughes

Hardly "lesser powered" (3bhp IIRC), but the main thing about the later model is it has DSC, so it might help certain persons not to put it through a hedge while enjoying themselves.

john banks

I thought it was 321 vs 338 BHP for the E36 to E46 M engine? But indeed the later one adds DSC which you can turn off completely. E36 have their VANOS problems, and early E46 have big end bearing problems, but I'm not sure at what stage the M Coupe got the E46 engine - the watershed for the dodgy E46 engine was about June 2003.

john banks

Beware the complete **** up with BMW M warranties - you used to be able to pay about £720 a year to silly age/mileage as long as there were no gaps. Now it is £1800 for cars over 60000 miles, and you pay a £250 excess for every claim no matter how small. There are also a load of exclusions. Completely changes my attitude to ever running an out of warranty M as they do break big time. Apparently the warranty costs are a reflection of the true price of running out of warranty.

Brendan Hughes

john, IIRC MCoupe upgrade was something like 321 to 324bhp, I think I saw as they couldn't get the nice manifold of the E46 M3 thus couldn't translate the power gains. Or something.

john banks

Ah, thanks for putting me right

Edited above to show 60000 miles as well for the warranty price increase to stupid levels.

Frazer

From Parkers

Using the 3.2 litre straight-six from the M3, mated exclusively to a five-speed manual gearbox the M Coupé was, at the time, the fastest accelerating car to wear a BMW badge, getting from 0-60mph in 5.2 seconds. In 2001 it received mild revisions which saw the power output creep up 4bhp to 325 in line with the M3. Performance improved very slightly: it still got to 155mph, but made the 0-60mph dash 0.1 seconds faster

alloy

Step out from under the tree then . The M Coupe is a nice car, plenty of poke, but the 911 is far superior IMO boxer exhaust note, RR set up, its been a work in progress for the past 40 odd years

Brendan Hughes

TBH I find that a dumb argument. If any car was worked on by one of the top engineering companies in the world for 40 years, it would be the best in the world. To me, the fact that the 911 is NOT definitively the greatest supercar on earth, after all that money and development, means they started with a crap product and have constantly been playing catchup.



......zzzzzzzzip.

alloy

Thats a resonable arguement too , but the fact that it has been in development, it has so much grip, can handle and has sold so many units world wide would indicate it is a good car. It is not the best as thats all budget dependent and IMO a 911 is not a supercar, well not in its usual carrerra guise, neither is the M coupe. Having only drove a 996 C4S and E46 M3, i can not comment on rwd Porshe or M Coupe, just IMO the Porshe is the better car

Rabid

My comments about the 911 being 'as common as talentless chavs driving modified bugeyes' were nothing to do with the relative merits of either car. Merely that I'd prefer something with some exclusivity.
In any case I've owned a 993 before and fancy something different.

Rabid

The VANOS issues with both cars are somewhat of a worry but I believe £1500 sorts that out so not really a major issue.

Brendan Hughes

Edited for accuracy

Brendan Hughes

I know you're rolling in it, but you realise that the £1500 is no guarantee whatsoever that it won't happen again? AIUI... Really put me off when I found that out.

alloy

Ok then Rabid They're not that exclusive with a price ranging from 10k-20k, that puts them in pretty much most peoples price bracket. As for the dig at "talentless chavs" and bugeyes i think you mean Classics

Rabid

So I've been told, but I'd have to be really unlucky to have it fail more than once in the 10K or so miles I'd keep it for, especially as I'd look after it ie let it warm up properly and change the filters ahead of schedule.
Maybe though a few grand more on an S54 engined car would make sense, had my heart set on black exterior/interior though which seems a rare combination.

Rabid

They are exclusive in the sense that there are hardly any of them on the roads, money doesn't come into it.

I'd have thought most of the 'talentless chavs' would be in bugeyes as they obviously have the poorest taste/least class.

alloy

possibly so

Good luck with the M Coupe though, last summer i was in a service area and there must have been 30+ of them ready to drive out. The coupe just looks so much more aggressive and complete than the Roadster. Personally i'd still have the 911 but i see what you mean they are a rare sight on the road. Definate positive upgrade on an oil burner

bpm1588

friend of mine has a z3 m roadster,an amazing car or should i say monster! we keep him going that its a hairdresser's car but i can tell you something it takes proper ***** to drive this car on the limit.....you dont see many of them either

Brendan Hughes

That's coz they're crap. HTH

Rabid

Strong words! As we know the coupe's another matter but I wouldn't say the roadster is 'crap', mind you I've only driven the tin top so any comments are pure conjecture.

Brendan Hughes

From you, that's a compliment

Senior_AP

M Coupe Vs 911 (with 20k in ya pocket).


Quality?? No difference.

Age?? BMW will be a 2002 ish, the 911, a 1995 if you're lucky.

Performance?? BMW will be quicker, unless the 911 is a 1980's Turbo.

Exclusivity?? BMW far more so!!


....but it still isn't a 911 !!!

Though, I'd still take the M Coupe - love 'em!!

eliot

Hi guys

I've had mine for 6 months and it is an absolute blast

It's the later model MY01 with the S54 E46 engine - and i love every minute of it, i go almost everywhere sideways!!!

It is so different to the scoob (although i do miss my old beast), and it took a while to get used the the rear wheel drive (especially in the wet), but i have soooo much fun. Also, it was the only car i drove after the scoob that gave me as bigger grin

Here are some pics of my beloved "Bread van":

SimonD

Mine failed at just under 20k and then again less than 5k later. It was out of warranty but BMW picked up about 80% of the bill the first time and all of it the second time. I had sold it to a friend at this stage so cannot be sure but he mentioned the full cost being closer to £2.5k each time. Could be the dealer talking up BMW's generosity!!

Rabid

BMW dealers have a habit of charging rip off prices as I'm sure you know. Munich Legends will replace the VANOS for 1400 quid. Failures are a given I think but you were very unlucky to get just 5K miles.

Your car looks awesome Elliot, just what I'm looking at. Bread van heaven.

Gixerman

When i sold my sti v5 type-r a couple of years ago, i replaced it with an m-coupe.

It has been a brilliant car but sooooo much better for uprated ARB's and Coilovers!!!

As to the vanos issue, so many people have the them changed when it isn't needed. One of my best friends is a service manager for BMW and he said that even though they may make the 'grumbling' sound if performance and idle are ok then there is no reason to change it!!!! It would appear that it has been a nice little earner for the dealers through the extended warranty. Also cars that have had the vanos replaced quite often have the noise come back a few thousand miles later. He also said he doesn't know of any engine failure as a resuilt of vanos failure!

My car has now done nearly 60k miles on the original vanos (along with slight 'grumbling' noise) and still pulls like a train!!

A pic of the 'old gal' for you.....................................

RICHLUCAS

SimonD & Rabid

Guys, this is my first posting on this site & I could really do with your help......

Bank in March this year I bought a 1998 BMW Z3M Roadster from Collingham of Harrogate. WOW What a car !

Well it was until the Monday before last when I was driving between Stratford Upon Avon & Cambridge when the VANOS went bang & I had to be flat-bedded back to ELM'S BMW of Cambridge.

The Vehicle is now out of warranty. I have been reading through this Forum & BM3W.com & noticed that this seems to be a known problem with the vehicle. I have also read with greater interest that you've both suffered with exactly this problem & BMW UK have been very good and fixed this problem 100% FOC .....

Can you please help and tell me how you approached BMW UK with this problem. Do you have any other advice or anything that can help me build a case to argue with BMW uk ??? I've just bought a house & can't afford to get it repaired !

Thanks

Rich

richard.lucas@ntlworld.com

sbk1972

Rich,

Ive got a M3 evo, and had a number of vanos swapped out under warranty. A few questions, does your car have a warranty with BMW ? If not, how long has it been out of warranty ? When you brought the car, did it have a BMW warranty or a garagew warranty ??

I ask, becuase if the car is in warranty, then there should be no issue, if out, then you will need to argue the case, especially if you regulary service the car at your local BMW. You can try and argue that BMW should of spotted it via the diag machine, and try to get them to cover 80% of the bill. If you dont ask, you got get, so you might as well try.

If not, then I would take it to an indy dealer, as the rates are cheaper, and its not unheard of that many dealers dont truely know what they are looking at, and say its the vanos when its a sensor.

Take a look at e36coupe.com. Many of the guys there have had vanos issues, problems and have got them sorted.

I feel your pain matey and wish you the best of luck.

SBK

Brendan Hughes

"A number"???