Beginner with an M3

[m3f_englishtom1596q]

Bought my first M3 in college...bought second M3 in college lol they’re expensive to maintain but as long as you’re willing to keep on top of it you’ll be good. I also agree about getting too deep on “while you’re in there” stuff... that’s how my entire suspension was refreshed, scrubbed, painted etc... then the engine came out. It’s a deep rabbit hole lol

[Obioban]

I don't agree with not going buck wild on the "while you're in there".


E.g. I do all my bushings/bearings/ball joints every 100,000 miles (except RTABs, which I also do on 50,000 mile intervals). As a result, it always handles nicely, I'm not constantly chasing down handling issues, and I only have to deal with suspension stuff every 100,000 miles.


I'd much rather do everything in an area and not have to be in there again for a LONG time.


Coming up in a month or two, I'll be doing the 200,000 mile refresh on my wagon's S54. Rod bearings, cooling system, belts/idlers/tensioners, valve adjustment, valve guides/seals, injector rebuild, etc.


I don't expect to be in the engine again other than for valve adjustments till 300,000 miles.


And because I'm doing it all at once, I can justify pulling the engine. Adds an hour or two of work, but makes everything I'll be doing super easy.


For me, this is hugely better than... noisy component in the belt drive, hunt down and fix. Repeat 5000 miles later. 6000 miles after that running over cool, replace thermostat. 10,000 miles after that replace a fuel injector. Far better to have the car just be as reliable as new, and functioning 100% (as many of these things are degraded before they get bad enough that you notice/replace) for another 100,000 miles.


If you want to rely on an old German sports car for daily transport, I think it’s the only way to go. Less work, less annoyance, better functioning car, more car enjoyment

[m3f_englishtom1596q]

That’s nice and all and I have a similar mindset. For a college student with limited budget though, they’ll be saving for parts forever and have the car off the road for a long period of time. When I was in college I did what I could when I could and kept the car on the road. When it became a second car I took it off the road to do a full refresh. 2 years later it’s still sitting in my garage with brand spanking new suspension but the engine out ready to refresh.

[m3f_Bimmerman325i]

Ian, agreed-- that's how I approach the car now with a comfortable income.



When I was a college student working for rent money that would have bankrupted me, so that's the lens my advice was focused through. Sometimes it makes sense to do multiple items (eg replace tensioners+belts simultaneously), sometimes things can slide for a while.



I think too that while you're learning how to wrench in the first place, picking a single job to tackle is much more manageable than the spiraling major jobs.

[Obioban]

true

I have about 4 thousand left over for parts, and a decently paying part time job

though with his budget, he could do every bushings/bearing/ball joints/mounts and the cooling system with new stock (or OEM where available), as well as locking down the chassis weak points (if he's DIYing all the labor).


$4000 buys a lot of parts!

[m3f_englishtom1596q]

But does he want the car torn apart for weeks while he does it all?

[m3f_Bimma360]

I don't agree with not going buck wild on the "while you're in there".



E.g. I do all my bushings/bearings/ball joints every 100,000 miles (except RTABs, which I also do on 50,000 mile intervals). As a result, it always handles nicely, I'm not constantly chasing down handling issues, and I only have to deal with suspension stuff every 100,000 miles.



I'd much rather do everything in an area and not have to be in there again for a LONG time.



Coming up in a month or two, I'll be doing the 200,000 mile refresh on my wagon's S54. Rod bearings, cooling system, belts/idlers/tensioners, valve adjustment, valve guides/seals, injector rebuild, etc.



I don't expect to be in the engine again other than for valve adjustments till 300,000 miles.



And because I'm doing it all at once, I can justify pulling the engine. Adds an hour or two of work, but makes everything I'll be doing super easy.



For me, this is hugely better than... noisy component in the belt drive, hunt down and fix. Repeat 5000 miles later. 6000 miles after that running over cool, replace thermostat. 10,000 miles after that replace a fuel injector. Far better to have the car just be as reliable as new, and functioning 100% (as many of these things are degraded before they get bad enough that you notice/replace) for another 100,000 miles.



If you want to rely on an old German sports car for daily transport, I think it’s the only way to go. Less work, less annoyance, better functioning car, more car enjoyment

This is excellent advice. More or less that is how I've been tackling my M3 over the last 5 years. I bought it at 150K its now at 226k, and it has been very dependable as my daily driver. Another thing to add, is I almost always (unless I can rent) buy the specific tool needed to do the job the easy way the first time around. That, combined with the "while you are in there" mentality makes the best use of my time. These days I value my time more than a few hundred bucks saved per "project." Especially since you are already saving a lot by doing the work yourself.

[m3f_Geoby0]

Bought my first M3 in college...bought second M3 in college lol they’re expensive to maintain but as long as you’re willing to keep on top of it you’ll be good. I also agree about getting too deep on “while you’re in there” stuff... that’s how my entire suspension was refreshed, scrubbed, painted etc... then the engine came out. It’s a deep rabbit hole lol

Yeah i'm planning on staying on top of everything but we'll see how that goes. And actually, I was kinda looking to go down a relatively shallow rabbit hole when working on the car as reliability is my #1 concern at the moment-but ill definitely try my best to make smart and worth it purchases.

I don't agree with not going buck wild on the "while you're in there".



E.g. I do all my bushings/bearings/ball joints every 100,000 miles (except RTABs, which I also do on 50,000 mile intervals). As a result, it always handles nicely, I'm not constantly chasing down handling issues, and I only have to deal with suspension stuff every 100,000 miles.



I'd much rather do everything in an area and not have to be in there again for a LONG time.



Coming up in a month or two, I'll be doing the 200,000 mile refresh on my wagon's S54. Rod bearings, cooling system, belts/idlers/tensioners, valve adjustment, valve guides/seals, injector rebuild, etc.



I don't expect to be in the engine again other than for valve adjustments till 300,000 miles.



And because I'm doing it all at once, I can justify pulling the engine. Adds an hour or two of work, but makes everything I'll be doing super easy.



For me, this is hugely better than... noisy component in the belt drive, hunt down and fix. Repeat 5000 miles later. 6000 miles after that running over cool, replace thermostat. 10,000 miles after that replace a fuel injector. Far better to have the car just be as reliable as new, and functioning 100% (as many of these things are degraded before they get bad enough that you notice/replace) for another 100,000 miles.



If you want to rely on an old German sports car for daily transport, I think it’s the only way to go. Less work, less annoyance, better functioning car, more car enjoyment

Yeah this is roughly what I was thinking. I want to do as much work on as many areas of the car as possible before I go off to college since I wont have much time to over there. Concerning while your in there jobs I just thought that since I do the job earlier, the car will both perform better and not need the job done again any later down the line, but I have to gauge as to what my budget allows.

That’s nice and all and I have a similar mindset. For a college student with limited budget though, they’ll be saving for parts forever and have the car off the road for a long period of time. When I was in college I did what I could when I could and kept the car on the road. When it became a second car I took it off the road to do a full refresh. 2 years later it’s still sitting in my garage with brand spanking new suspension but the engine out ready to refresh.

Yeah I relate to the "do what I can to keep it on the road" mentality. By no means am I trying to do a big restore on the car or even do too much extra too it, but I do want to do everything right the first time around with good parts so I wont have to waste money redoing it at a later, less convenient time. I just want to drive it and be comfortable knowing its going to be- for the most part- reliable. And in the next 3-4 months I'll try to get as many jobs done as possible to last me at least the majority of the next year, because, save a couple jobs here and there, I don't think i'll have time to work on the car too much in college. And I do have a decent amount of money for parts and a spare car- which is why I'm trying to get opinions on which jobs other than the ones I listed to do, and even feedback on the ones I did list- just thoughts on the car. Do you have any suggestions for any jobs that'd probably help me in keeping this car going? And ill def. watch myself and make sure I'm not too far deep! haha

Ian, agreed-- that's how I approach the car now with a comfortable income.



When I was a college student working for rent money that would have bankrupted me, so that's the lens my advice was focused through. Sometimes it makes sense to do multiple items (eg replace tensioners+belts simultaneously), sometimes things can slide for a while.



I think too that while you're learning how to wrench in the first place, picking a single job to tackle is much more manageable than the spiraling major jobs.

Yeah, Ill probably be doing a mix of both, first doing the smaller jobs and working my way up, and also somewhat be adopting the lens you look through when im in college- but always making sure a purchase makes sense before buying. As for the jobs you would do at once, do you know of any that are associated with the issues I have, as I want to address as many that are viable to me as I can. I get what you mean though, and I'm not looking to spend all my money this summer so ill be selective in my buying. When you were first starting off what were some good parts that you bought?

true



though with his budget, he could do every bushings/bearing/ball joints/mounts and the cooling system with new stock (or OEM where available), as well as locking down the chassis weak points (if he's DIYing all the labor).



$4000 buys a lot of parts!

Yeah, I was looking to do a handful of the bushings and cooling system components and was planning on doing as much as i can myself. And I was I was wondering I should do my wheel bearings or not but idk. But which jobs are you referencing when you say "every bushings/bearing/ball joints/mounts and the cooling system, as well as locking down the chassis weak points"; i'd like to know. I was also contemplating new reinforcements but most were weld- in and i don't know how to weld just yet and don't know if ill have time to pick it up-but I still am gonna try to fix the car up to the best of my ability.

But does he want the car torn apart for weeks while he does it all?

Not really, but it'd prefer that over it being out of commission when I dont have a spare car around.

This is excellent advice. More or less that is how I've been tackling my M3 over the last 5 years. I bought it at 150K its now at 226k, and it has been very dependable as my daily driver. Another thing to add, is I almost always (unless I can rent) buy the specific tool needed to do the job the easy way the first time around. That, combined with the "while you are in there" mentality makes the best use of my time. These days I value my time more than a few hundred bucks saved per "project." Especially since you are already saving a lot by doing the work yourself.

That's awesome, I hope mine goes as long as yours has so far and I'll remember that! Im trying to make the most of my money and realized I should look at a lot of these tools and parts as investments since I'll b e utilizing it and that takes a little mental load off of the process. Any such good investments you'd suggest me make? Thanks for your input!





Any feedback is greatly appreciated, and thanks to all who've responded and helped me so far!



If anybody has anymore suggestions on tools to buy when starting off- don't hesitate to educate me! Other than that, I'm going to start buying some and wrenching soon!