buzzdsm

I believe it was C&D that had to put a quart of oil in the M3 every 2-3K miles. German engineering at it best! Do you know how pissed I would be if I had just spent 50K on a car and it was burning through oil like a Pinto.

g35or350z

I thought they had to add 1 quart per 1k miles. The M3 manual states that burning 1 quart of oil per 600 miles is within normal limits.

ares

iTrader: (2)

I didnt realize the new M3 used the old wankel engine.

*so how long before the board is spammed by the beemer guys?*

Jason Bourne

This is not true. I've seen several E46 M3s blow engines at the track and subsequently be covered under warranty. One guy even started getting the dreaded knocking sound (indication that the engine is about to go boom) at Watkins Glen, he called his service advisor (BMW dealer) who told to keep tracking it until it blew. It did later that day and he got a new motor free of charge.

Just to bring a little bit more fodder to the discussion: the engine failures occured equally frequently on manual and SMG cars but tended to be cars produced around November 2001. The factory instituted a number of running production changes and seems to have now fixed the problem. And even though BMW at first tried to point the finger at the driver when engines blew, they later came through and admitted there was a problem and substantially extended the engine warranty for all affected users. The company eventually did very much the right thing.

I am a current BMW owner and was all set to get the E46 M3 when I decided that I didn't really need the extra seats and started looking at used Porsche 996s instead. Eventually I figured that I could save some more money with a 350z and have a new car that is almost as fast (on the track - which is where it matters for me). So now I'm about to become a BMWCCA instructor with a Nissan...

But I wouldn't knock the E46 M3, that motor is a real jewel and at the base price of the car ($46K) it is actually a very good deal. Problem is most people order all the options and end up with a 3600lb, $55K fast luxury car that ends up being less than appropriate for the track.

Jason

Rob Nance

If it's these guys from this thread/forum, it's only a matter of time. I don't know if they are allowed to leave their fortress of BMW elitism though, might be against the rules.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...threadid=72911

They are unbelievable. Are that many M3 owners really high school rich kids? Seriously, if you read around their board, almost everyone there is 16-18 years old and terrible brats. I am not saying every teenage kid who has a nice car is a brat, or shouldn't have it. I know we have some very responsible younger drivers on this board, and that's a good thing, but it only takes about 1-2 threads of reading over there to see they clearly don't fit into this category.

Zmoney

My buddy has a new M3. I drove it last weekend and took it up to 150mph with 5 people in the car. The car is amazing and pulled like crazy in every gear. I was very impressed but when I hop back in my Z I think I like the Z better. I cant really place why, I guess I just feel more comfortable and one with the Z.

The only complaint that I have about the M3 is the shifter. It felt kinda spongy to me. The M doesnt have that flick of the wrist feel like the Z has. I just dont see spending that much money on a car that could turn into a service night mare. My buddy has been though 2 tranny's already at 19k miles.

BigBadBuford

When I test drove an M3 it didn't feel all that impressive to me. When we drove to the dealer we were in my brother's '02 TA WS6 and although they are about the same in terms of acceleration it didn't feel very fast. I guess you could say the same thing about the Z though. It has decent top end power but the low rpm torque was lacking.

I was never too impressed with BMW shifters, they never felt super accurate to me, just a little too isolated. I like the Z's more direct feel.

My friend just bought a 330Ci and I think I might actually like that car a bit better, especially for the price. The engine feels a lot torquier and although it doesn't have the top end pull of the M3 it still pulls very well. You have to love the sound of the BMW's engines though, even my 533i sounds awesome at full bore, and they just seem to love revving to redline.

350zSpeedRacer

Hey guys, the reason the BMW shifter sucks is because of their cable shifting trannies. But it doesn't stop at BMW--Porshe (and obviously Volkswagon), and Mercedes have the exact same feel. Like it's not totally in gear or it still has a ton of play when you KNOW it's in gear? That's German engineering for ya.