Specifically state for just the oil change and it'll be about $65. Just have to be very specific

 

M3 if it's a CPO

 

To drive 250 miles a day on highway, I would go M3, it will make you enjoy the ride and be excited to drive home/to work.

However, I caution that used BMW's can be headaches, so only do so if you have CPO!

 

Lexus is shady with their services. They straight up lied to me about what had been done to my car. I was told they rotated my tires on my old IS350 on my 10k mile service. They were also going to measure the brake pads and "change the fluids?" That last one was good. As if they did a coolant flush or something. At least my BMW has the service items hidden in the cost of the car.

 

Your dealer/experience...not Lexus

 

e46 ftw. Make sure its under warranty.

 

So reliablity seems to be an issue everyone is bringing up with the M. Anyone have any experience with a used M? Care to elaborate?

I'm shooting for an M3 with less than 60k on it.

 

Lets revisit this topic. IS350 is out, as I've decided I still want to drive a manual car.

New cars in the mix.....

E60 545 6spd
E39 M5

E46 M3 is still in the run. Out of those three, which would you choose?

 

most likely the e46 m3 will be newer with fewer miles, otherwise, that e39 is extremely appealing

my vote is still the e46 m3

yes, the time attack is lame, but it sure looks nice

 

E46 M3 is sexy. Hope you get a very immaculate condition one that has no problems though.

 

Dont come to a Lexus board and ask about BMW reliability... haha That's like going to a BMW board and asking about Lexus handling/feel there is little chance of getting a useful reply.

With that said, I've been looking for an E46 M3 for a long time, even posted a thread here about it a while back. Like you, I want to get into something fun with a manual transmission. My GF owns an IS350 so I drive it fairly regularly and have driven a few M3 and the IS is really a bore IMO (sorry); the E46 is much much much more engaging and fun.

Rod bearing recall affected mostly '02s with a build date starting 10/01 (find the MadRussian site for info); the extended warranties started from the "in service" date and therefore will have very little, if any, warranty left. Other big issues with the car seem to be subframe tearing/cracking, and Vanos failure (seem to affect more late models though; though I cant 100% confirm that).

I also started to consider a 6MT E60 545i but havent found any in my area. Also, if you read the E60 boards, while the cars seem to be fairly reliable, most owners say they would NOT own the car without a warranty. If you choose to go this route and can find what you're looking for, try to buy CPO; I know I would.

Since my search for the "right" E46 M3 has been frustrating I've also started to consider the E90 330i 6MT, though not nearly as fast as either car mentioned, it just has that BMW feel. This would also be a good choice IMO since you can find CPO ones with low mileage.

Anyway, this helps a little...

Oh, BTW I voted for the E46 M3

 

E46 M3 > IS350 Nuff Said....


And I would actually take the E39 M5 over the E46 M3

 

Go to the Edmunds blog, they have a '02 M3 as part of their long term fleet of cars. Great info and experiences to read about there.

 

i dunno, if it was a 2004 or newer then i would have no worries. 2003 or older and itll have to be CPO or no go.

 

Love my IS350, but would def get M3, but it has to be 06 or newer also. IS has way too many tech stuff over BMW