Anyone here own/owned a BMW M3?
- Thread starter John84GN
- Start date
- Joined
- May 24, 2001
With most M3's in 2002 and early 2003 there was a big recall on main bearings for the engine. If the car falls under that recall it will have a 6 year 100,000 mile warranty on the engine. The M3's are great cars....20-24MPG on the highway plus plenty of power!
Are you looking at the SMG or 6-Speed?
Are you looking at the SMG or 6-Speed?
hey Herb...good to here from ya
6-speed is more toward what I'm leaning to...no offence, but I'm dying to drive a clutch...I've wanted an M3 FOREVER, and I can finally afford one "kinda". I've been reading and doing some homework on some of the BMW forums, but honestly...I haven't ever really driven one
go figure?!?
6-speed is more toward what I'm leaning to...no offence, but I'm dying to drive a clutch...I've wanted an M3 FOREVER, and I can finally afford one "kinda". I've been reading and doing some homework on some of the BMW forums, but honestly...I haven't ever really driven one
go figure?!?
chopped39
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2004
Make sure suspension front and rear are all good to. My friend took his in for a 60k service and they gave him an estimate for for $4000.00 . i never saw the estimate because he traded the car for an M5 . that car is sweet. 6 speed. to many bell and whistles for me. you know what bmw stands for. "bring money with" and that was said to my friend by the service manager at the dealer. good luck
. i never saw the estimate because he traded the car for an M5 . that car is sweet. 6 speed. to many bell and whistles for me. you know what bmw stands for. "bring money with" and that was said to my friend by the service manager at the dealer. good luck- Joined
- May 24, 2001
John.....DRIVE ONE!
The cars have a very raspy exhaust note at WOT and they also have a 'SPORT' button in the center console that does make a difference in the cars performance.
The cars have a very raspy exhaust note at WOT and they also have a 'SPORT' button in the center console that does make a difference in the cars performance.
I owned a 2002 with SMG. I am a F1 fan and waited 1 year to get it. It shifts like Michael Schumacher or Juan Pablo Montoya(at the time for BMW) with 11 different modes 6 manual modes where you have to use the gear lever or paddles on the steering wheel and 5 modes that are automatic. In auto, it still feels like a stick shift without having to do anything. It can get annoying in traffic as sometimes it hunts for gears. The higher the number the faster the shift. It also had a launch control sequence where you could hold the lever, floor it, car wouldn't move, release and it would go slipping the clutch. Overall it is very cool and I would get again.
If you are getting a manual, you can disregard everything above. Yes, there is a rasp at a certain RPM. I didn't find it annoying and considered it apart of the driving experience. I do recall an exhaust mod that eliminated the rasp as well.
Yes, there was a bearing issue. When I bought my car, BMW had pinpointed to models built 11/01. However since then, I thought most if not all 01-03/04 were recalled with a bearing fix. All of these cars come with the 6 year/100K warranty. Don't quote on the above but I am pretty confident. It has been 3 years since I owned it. I have kids which required a different car.
Back in 02/03 there were not a lot you can do to make it faster. Exhaust was about it. I have seen superchargers/intakes and chips but not sure about reliability and how much power you really pick up.
I ran it at the track once at near freezing temperatures so no traction and ran a 13.7, don't recall MPH(I think 103). I tracked the car a bunch of times. Only problem was warped rotors which were fixed under warranty.
Not sure whatelse I can answer, PM me and we can talk on the phone if you would like.
Good luck,
Jay
If you are getting a manual, you can disregard everything above. Yes, there is a rasp at a certain RPM. I didn't find it annoying and considered it apart of the driving experience. I do recall an exhaust mod that eliminated the rasp as well.
Yes, there was a bearing issue. When I bought my car, BMW had pinpointed to models built 11/01. However since then, I thought most if not all 01-03/04 were recalled with a bearing fix. All of these cars come with the 6 year/100K warranty. Don't quote on the above but I am pretty confident. It has been 3 years since I owned it. I have kids which required a different car.
Back in 02/03 there were not a lot you can do to make it faster. Exhaust was about it. I have seen superchargers/intakes and chips but not sure about reliability and how much power you really pick up.
I ran it at the track once at near freezing temperatures so no traction and ran a 13.7, don't recall MPH(I think 103). I tracked the car a bunch of times. Only problem was warped rotors which were fixed under warranty.
Not sure whatelse I can answer, PM me and we can talk on the phone if you would like.
Good luck,
Jay
I sold my 2002 M3 a couple of months ago. It was a great car, but there were some problems with the early ones. If you're looking to buy an 01-02 research the sequence on the VIN since BMW used that to determine whether it was a bearing failure candidate. Engine warranty's were expanded to 100k cause of that issue. In addition the rear ends can be clunky. Mine was from day one and I was told "that's the way it is". After the warranty expired BMWNA told me it needed a ring and pinion for 4000$. I left it and it never did break.
As for mods I did the Dinan computer which got rid of the speed governor and raised the rev limiter. It would scream all the way to 170 MPH:biggrin: .
As for mods I did the Dinan computer which got rid of the speed governor and raised the rev limiter. It would scream all the way to 170 MPH:biggrin: .
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