Any of you recent owners look at used M3's?
 

Last night I looked at '01-'03 M3's since the pricetag for them is just about at a loaded new '05 G. The reliability kind of scares me but I can't ignore these before making this decision. I found a few MCoupes (they made the 315HP version in '01 and '02) last night as well, for even less. Any opinions?

Whenever the new body was released, thats when it really caught my attention, but none-the-less, I likem a lot, but actually wouldnt buy one unless it was an unbelievable deal.

The whole reason I switched over from Audi was to get more reliability with comparable luxury and more power. I'm not going back to any european mfg.

funny... i was just at bmw over the weekend. my dad's lease is up on his fx45 this summer and needs a new car. we went from mercedes to bmw. he's looking at the cls 500, e500 4matic and the 5-4.5i. interesting thing was that when we went from mercedes to bmw i couldn't believe how bland and boring the interiors of the bmw's were. they had 2 m3 coupes for sale and i sat in them. i noted the same bland and boring interior in the m3. what got me the most was how boring the actual cluster diplay was. not that our g's have nice interiors either... but i think it's just as comparable (although bmw has softer materials). when i saw the price on the m3's it just reaffirmed my g purchase. overall though... those damn mercedes sure have an incredible interior.

I too switched over from Audi because of the reliability. My TT was great (mechnically) but the service and the rattles were crazy.

I would look at them and admire their performance and then go buy the same car I drive now.

I have an aversion to buying a used sports sedan or coupe of any flavor because I don't know where it's been. All you have to do is read through these forums for a couple of hours and you can fill a notebook with reasons not to buy a used sports car.

True, you may get the one driven by someone who admires the car but drives it sanely, but you may also get the one driven by 'spank-boy street racer' who never missed an opportunity to abuse the $hit out of it. You never know.

If I were going to buy a car like that I'd want to have the best chance of having a good experience with it - so I'd buy new.

couldn't agree more... same reason i refuse to acquire any used sports cars.

Its not just a car....you call up your insurance yet? Try that and see if you still feel the same way. And if its out of warranty, you will hate life since german parts are not cheap. And from my knowledge and experience with friends who drive european, BMW 3-series/M tend to have mechanical/electrical problems every once in a while. Also, there was a mechanical recall on one of those years on the M3...(Engine failure? Or something)

I was looking at used M3's before buying my G. I had this 03 silver with 20,xxx miles on it in my sights. It was 39g's. Parents wanted to spend my money on a new car, so my 8 thousand went to the DP of my G. I am very happy with my purchase tho.

The m3's interior sucks big balls. I mean, for a 60g sports car, you would think they would pimp out the interior but the interior in a 330ci is much more better.

I agree with geewillikers. But i only considered the used m3 because people abusing 50+g cars is not common. well i could be really wrong here because there seems to be a boom of rich kids around my area. ah well.

I would only consider a used M3 if it were still under warranty. The repair costs of a complicated high strung German car can be astronomical.

yeah, i was gonna get one instead of getting my brand new '04 6mt coupe. however, the reliability issues compared to the import steered me away from it. plus, i'd use it as a daily whip.

Yes, actually several recalls for the same problem: catastrophic engine failure caused by main crank bearing failure, which they thought was caused by oil starvation from a batch of bad oil pumps, but now appears to be something more than that. I've been reading about these engine failures for some time now (I had an '02 M3 on order for 8 months before changing my mind and going with the Z06 instead). IMO, its caused by a design flaw in the engine: the stroke is far too long for the RPM's that engine is rated at, and the reciprocating parts (rods, crank, bearings, etc.) just aren't strong enough for the forces involved with a long stroke and a 7k+ RPM redline.

my last car was an e36 M3, so when i was looking to purchase a new car I only looked at tow cars. A 02-03 M3 or a 05 g35, the m3 is so nice in alpine white with stock 19's but i could't justify buying an e46 m3 when the e90 bodystyle is to come out this year. I'm a proud owner of g35 coupe, but once you have gone with an M car it's hard to accept anything else.

I have a G35C with 400 miles on it. Traded an E46 M3 against it. M3, performance-wise is in the stratosphere - almost untouchable unless taking the brute force approach (C6). But I had too many problems to be comfortable keeping it. I can tell you this though - I very much regret buying a car like that used. I care for my cars very, very well and stupidly assumed that others dropping 50K did the same ....lesson learned.

I looked at them.
but my cousin has a 02 BMW M3 SMGII.
He's at the dealer every week.. if his engine isn't blown, his transmission is.
if its not mechanical, its something electrical like his car locking and refusing to unlock. or refusing to start, or the navigation going crazy.

I learned used BMWs are something to stay away from.