Sad story of buying a used E46 M3 SMG
05-09-13, 05:18 AM
#1
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Sad story of buying a used E46 M3 SMG
from a poster on an Acura forum I frequent...
http://tsx.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=846030
The short story is that I traded my beloved TL-S in on a my dream car, a 2002 M3 SMG, steel gray with cinnamon. I got it from a recent trade at a local Honda dealer were it was traded by the original owner who had it as his 3rd car and never drove it...it only had 47000 miles on it. Needless to say the dream was to good to be true as 4 days after I bought it the transmission grenaded on me. To the tune of 8800 dollars. The dealer, being a stand up guy offered to buy the car back at what I paid or chip in to help fix it. So I gave it back up, walked across the street to Acura and found my longtime saleman who told me they had the V6 TSX coming in and he earmarked it for me. Got it right off the truck, literally.
Last edited by bagwell; 05-09-13 at 05:22 AM.
05-09-13, 06:35 AM
#4
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05-09-13, 06:45 AM
#5
I've heard of nothing but problems from any car with an SMG. It's just a transmission designed for racing, not every day driving. There's nothing to smooth the constant shock like a torque converter or clutch, and eventually it seems they all just self destruct.
05-09-13, 07:42 AM
#6
The thing about regular 3-Series cars versus the M3:
In general, the M3 will be driven harder and more enthusiastically. That means more wear and tear. That means more issues along the road.
Unless if the car was a garage queen, a warranty is surely necessary for such a purchase, even with low mileage.
This just doesn't apply to BMW alone. Any high performance model (IS-F, Benz's AMG, anything turbo'ed or "sport", etc.) should be purchased with an air of caution.
In general, the M3 will be driven harder and more enthusiastically. That means more wear and tear. That means more issues along the road.
Unless if the car was a garage queen, a warranty is surely necessary for such a purchase, even with low mileage.
This just doesn't apply to BMW alone. Any high performance model (IS-F, Benz's AMG, anything turbo'ed or "sport", etc.) should be purchased with an air of caution.
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05-09-13, 08:04 AM
#8
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05-09-13, 08:59 AM
#10
Glad I read this thread. My dad will be buying an 05-06 M3 and I had not heard of any reliability concerns with the SMG tranny. Obviosuly BMW is not the most reliable to begin with but this is interesting. His current 2002 330CI has bee pretty reliable thus far.
Should I avoid the SMG altogether?
Should I avoid the SMG altogether?
05-09-13, 09:14 AM
#11
No.
But surely get a warranty for it.
Take the cost of such warranty as part of his budget...
It's like buddies that want to buy a motorcycle. They say they have a $3000 budget. So I tell them, spend $1500 on the bike and $1500 on motorcycle safety gear.
But surely get a warranty for it.
Take the cost of such warranty as part of his budget...
It's like buddies that want to buy a motorcycle. They say they have a $3000 budget. So I tell them, spend $1500 on the bike and $1500 on motorcycle safety gear.
05-09-13, 09:37 AM
#12
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05-09-13, 10:07 AM
#13
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Nothing really sad about the story unless you consider getting a TSX instead of a M3 . More than anything the Honda dealership should be given kudos for taking the BMW back.Really awesome on their part.
That said the M3 SMG was one of the first dual clutches I believe and it was a 55k car so when new. Of course the tranny will be expensive, at the time it was state of the art for BMW. In comparison a TSX has a 5 speed automatic still, something a Lexus had in 1997.
I have a pulse so I would have kept the M3 and told them to fix it. Completely apples to oranges in regards to cars here, the E46 M3 is one of the all time greats and the 2nd gen TSX is a nice reliable uninspired car about to get discontinued.
You can't really complain about a 11 year old BMW M3 if it breaks down, especially one not sold at a BMW dealership.
. More than anything the Honda dealership should be given kudos for taking the BMW back.Really awesome on their part.That said the M3 SMG was one of the first dual clutches I believe and it was a 55k car so when new. Of course the tranny will be expensive, at the time it was state of the art for BMW. In comparison a TSX has a 5 speed automatic still, something a Lexus had in 1997.
I have a pulse so I would have kept the M3 and told them to fix it. Completely apples to oranges in regards to cars here, the E46 M3 is one of the all time greats and the 2nd gen TSX is a nice reliable uninspired car about to get discontinued.
You can't really complain about a 11 year old BMW M3 if it breaks down, especially one not sold at a BMW dealership.
05-09-13, 10:49 AM
#14
Lexus Champion
Thread Starter
Nothing really sad about the story unless you consider getting a TSX instead of a M3 . More than anything the Honda dealership should be given kudos for taking the BMW back.Really awesome on their part.
That said the M3 SMG was one of the first dual clutches I believe and it was a 55k car so when new. Of course the tranny will be expensive, at the time it was state of the art for BMW. In comparison a TSX has a 5 speed automatic still, something a Lexus had in 1997.
I have a pulse so I would have kept the M3 and told them to fix it. Completely apples to oranges in regards to cars here, the E46 M3 is one of the all time greats and the 2nd gen TSX is a nice reliable uninspired car about to get discontinued.
You can't really complain about a 11 year old BMW M3 if it breaks down, especially one not sold at a BMW dealership.
. More than anything the Honda dealership should be given kudos for taking the BMW back.Really awesome on their part.That said the M3 SMG was one of the first dual clutches I believe and it was a 55k car so when new. Of course the tranny will be expensive, at the time it was state of the art for BMW. In comparison a TSX has a 5 speed automatic still, something a Lexus had in 1997.
I have a pulse so I would have kept the M3 and told them to fix it. Completely apples to oranges in regards to cars here, the E46 M3 is one of the all time greats and the 2nd gen TSX is a nice reliable uninspired car about to get discontinued.
You can't really complain about a 11 year old BMW M3 if it breaks down, especially one not sold at a BMW dealership.
05-09-13, 10:52 AM
#15
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do your research and dont buy a pre-04 E46 M3 with SMG
the guy really lucked out having bought it from a good dealership