thinking of buying an 02 M3...need advice

[ToddPhilly]

I'm very new to BMW's. I've been an MB customer for the last couple of years, but I'm coming to BMW in hopes of better quality. In any event, I have the option to purchase a 2002 M3 with 12,000 miles on it. The car is in great condition and it has the SMG transmission. Are there any things I should be looking for when test driving? How have the M3's been with respect to reliability...are they in the shop alot? I'd like everyones impression of the car as well. More importantly, it's going to be a daily driver for me so I'd really like to hear from people who have to drive the car on a daily basis. Anyway, I appreciate your help.

Thanks in advance,
Todd

 

[Tom]

Hi Todd and welcome to the forum.

Any idea when the M3 was produced? There have been some engine related issues among the M3s with late '01 production dates. A good sign to check whether the M3 was well-maintained is by looking at the records and engine compartment. Most M3 owners like myself keep all of our records as well as clean our engine on a daily basis. Importantly check to see if the car was serviced at around 1200 miles.

For the past 6 months I've been driving my M3 on a daily basis. Other than paying a little more for gas its been a great commuter car.

 

[ToddPhilly]

the car...

The car was previously driven by the owner of Algar Ferrari in philadelphia. He said the car was well take care of. The engine compartment is spotless. It drove great, but I didn't actually see the service records. I also don't know exactly when the car was produced. These are things I'll make sure to find out tomorrow morning.

 

[mikev]

When my dad bought his E34 M5 the thing that showed us the engine was well cared for (More than bils and recipts can) was the original (looking) wax on the engine. But cars owned by guys in the business are on the whole supurbly cared for and can be amoung the best examples. Because they know how to look after a car and do it.