Still amazing after all these years!

[JaredU]

I bought a new 2002 coupe and sold it for I can’t even remember what now. Only thing that failed on it out of the blue while I had it were coil packs, which if I remember correctly, were under recall, and battery

I immediately regretted it. Bought a 2005 vert brand new, it has about 130,000 km on it now, and all that has failed has been coolant level sensor o-ring and one coil pack, and the battery. Everything else has just been routine maintenance. I inspected the vanos and hub bolts doing a valve adjustment and everything was in order. I’ve had multiple shops look at the subframe and nothing. I was going to do the rod bearings this year, but where I am we are still locked down so it’s barely being driven. Maybe next year. I’ve had about 20 bmw’s at different points, and have had my issues, but when it comes to the M3, its been headache free.

[jet_dogg]

I think a lot of current owners feel the car is less reliable than it actually is, because they picked up someone else's car that was behind on maintenance or sold because it had issues. Once you lock down the 2 scary failure modes, it's really pretty easy to own/run. Replace cooling system/bushings/sensors/rod bearings every 100,000 miles. For the average person, that's 8 years of daily driving. Better still, with FCP existing, that's free after the first round. If you wait for things to fail, sure, you're going to have a bad time. If you proactively replace things that are going to fail at pretty predictable (and not particularly short) intervals, and don't use junk parts, you can have a pretty smooth and easy ownership experience.

The reason is that people wait for failures of the various sorts to occur and by doing so there is a seemingly unending string of repairs required that come in waves as opposed to preventatively just replacing parts at logical intervals. When issues are remedied in advance the perception of the m3 can be that of a very reliable car. Most threads on forums for the past two decades are troubleshooting problems that have arisen because the owner has not diligently maintained the vehicle and because they don't understand that is simply how this game is played.

Some get lucky, some don't but all those coils and sensors will go bad at some point because they have a limited lifespan. It just so happens that they happen more frequently on bmws than other makes one can argue.

[Nate047]

I see a couple people talking about coil packs, I had that too. Got stranded and had to flat bed towed due to those, another time from a fuel pump, and another time for the alternator. Alternator died with very little warning. I made it a couple miles rom Hollywood to about the 405 and that was it. Not much you can do about that expect I guess replace it preemptively, and I take it some people do that.

Fuel pump gave me a shot across the bow by "dying" once, I fixed it by banging my fist on the bottom of the gas tank and it actually worked. Then it died for real the following day right in rush hour in front of the Santa Monica pier.

[Obioban]

Later cars have a better alternator failure detection scheme, so you get more advanced warning.

I’ve broken down once in 16 years— fuel pump, no warning. I’ve since added it to my 100,000 mile replacement list.

[Toby22]

11yrs here. It’s in better condition than when I bought it after all the refresh I’ve done. Drives perfect and still turns heads w/ tasteful mods I’ve added. Love this car!

[Syfon]

Almost 7 years, a badly cracked (and fixed!) racp, spun bearing & diy built motor and many other niggles, and I hate the car. Yet I love it like no other.

Wouldn't sell or change it for the world. Driving is a thrill each and every time. Parking and looking back reminds me how so many manufacturers (including bmw) have lost their way with classic curves, elegance, sportiness and style. Not to mention cars just keep getting longer, wider, taller & fatter.

Turns heads absolutely everywhere. And not just because it's low and loud lol

[D-O]

Four years and I have put just over 24k on it. Every time I walk up to the car I think......it's perfect. Perfect size, perfect shape, perfect proportions. Perfect mixture old school driving experience with just enough modern technology. I can't imagine parting with it.

That said - it could use 100 more horsepower....

D-O

[nuc1]

2002 M3. 17 years and counting. 126k miles. Purchased used in 2004 with 34k on it. Daily driver for 8 years. Only failure during that time was the driver's side door lock (fixed under goodwill warranty claim @ 51k miles by Sterling BMW). Became a garage queen in 2012 for about 6 months.Then a 50% track car/50% street car for a few years. Then back to garage queen once I picked up an e36 for track days. E36 is gone and so are most of my track days (kinda lost interest).

Went from nitrous to supercharged to complete NA build. All original paint on metal panels. Bumpers and lower side skirts repainted due to rock chips.

Things that have failed:
2 alternators (first replacement failed within a week)
1 battery (always on a tender)
1 DSC controller (about 3 months ago)

Things reinforced/replaced/rebuilt (major stuff only)
RACP plates epoxied / OE foam done 2012 (no cracks or broken spot welds noted since)
VANOS - complete Beisan upgrade
Entire cooling system
Transmission input seal
Engine rebuilds (yes it's plural - see below)

Things that I've broken:
Cylinder 4 (nitrous is fun until it isn't) rebuild #1
Water pump bolts (15 inch/pounds not 30, dumbass)
Driver's side door speaker grill (new one in a box here.....somewhere)
So many f'n plastic push pin connectors - hate those things.
Rear diff seal - just couldn't get it to seat correctly during replacement. Had to have local shop do it. 15 minutes for them and lots of frustration for me.

Things others have broken:
Cylinders 1 & 2 (thanks for the shit tune, lies and general sketchiness Active Autowerke! Can't say fuck you to the owner and his brother enough times or loud enough. Except Scrappy - he's a standup guy.) rebuild #2
OEM CSL trunk - deep scratch while rebuild #2 in progress....which led AA to claim ignorance (fuck you again Active Autowerke)
Passenger side door trim - deep scratch while rebuild #2 in progress....which led AA to claim ignorance yet again (fuck you one more time Active Autowerke)

The car is fun to drive and fun to work on. Not the fastest thing out there but nothing beats 8k rpm with a CF airbox and (mostly) full SS exhaust.

Mike

[jcreme]

Later cars have a better alternator failure detection scheme, so you get more advanced warning.

I’ve broken down once in 16 years— fuel pump, no warning. I’ve since added it to my 100,000 mile replacement list.

same same. The one and only time I had to put the car on a truck was the fuel pump. I bought mine 18 years (& 200,000 miles) ago this week. 🤘😆🤘 The clutch was so tight when it was new that I stalled it twice leaving the dealers lot 😂

[Andrew 06M3Cab]

I definitely have a love-hate relationship with my car. 90% of the time I truly love it. After 14 years of ownership there is nothing that I would rather drive. But the other 10% of the time I hate it - and that 10% is inevitably associated with parts and mechanic's bills. However, the last time my SMG pump failed I had to make a choice - sell it at a substantially lower value (since it was undriveable), or pay for the swap and keep it forever. I chose the latter. Since then I have done racp reinforcement, rod bearings, power steering components, vanos and all suspension suspension and bushings including an Ohlins R/T. I was about to do the cooling system, which I thought would probably be last of the big ticket items, but not I am looking at swapping the timing chain. After that 5 grand, I will refresh the interior. At which point I will have a substantially brand new car.

But without fail, each time I get annoyed about the cost, I just get in the car and take it to the country backroad twisties and I fall in love with it again. Absent something catastrophic I will never sell it.

[jet_dogg]

Don't do the chain bro.

[eXpensiveGears]

Just turned 8 years and 92k miles on my ZCP. I absolutely love the car and will never sell it even though I've gone back and forth on that 10s of times. There really is nothing else like it. Could sell for a profit, but then what would you buy? I honestly can't find anything remotely interesting under $50K, let alone $100K (sans cayman and other used cars I know I know....) I was livid when my SMG Pump went out and had to fork over the $$ to fix, but still it's been such an amazing all-around sports car I can never let it go.

Now all I can think about is the day I want to drop $20-25K and do a complete refresh and weight-reduction build on it.

[Andrew 06M3Cab]

Don't do the chain bro.

I may not have a choice, but assuming I do, why not (aside from the cost of course)? Would be an opportunity to refresh all of the gaskets, clean the head etc.

[jet_dogg]

First and foremost there is nothing wrong with yours you just need guides and tensioners.

Secondly, there are some vids discussing this very issue a buddy sent me of them talking about double timing chains on amgs (which are likely made by the same chain manufacturer) where even after 500k there is no stretch. I think the key takeaway is the double row chain among other things.

[Obioban]

The chain is short enough that stretch just isn’t really a concern we have to worry about.