vinconist

iTrader: (9)

The m3 hands done, although the interior does suck, if u get one with a nav, it's actually pretty nice.
Also reliability solely is based on how the car was driven and treated with these used cars, u can have the most reliable car in the world and it could break down cuz the perious owner didnt do oil changes on time. Also as for the engine, it's bullet proof it it's maintained correctly. As for the clutch, get a manual, the smg is pretty bad on reliability cuz it was new at the time, once the pump goes, the transmission is gone.
My advise is to get the car inspected and have the records checked. And never buy a modded car thats the golden rule. I went from a is350 to a e30 with 160k on it and been pretty happy with it.

kumquatism

iTrader: (10)

My dad owns an e46. Granted, it's still in the 20k miles range, but maintenance has yet to be expensive (knock on wood). I love the way the car looks. It's very fast and handles like a dream. The interior is an orange leather interior, which IMO looks great. Navi looks dated, but that's a given seeing how old the car is. It's an SMG, however, which I absolutely detest.

If it was a stick shift, I would pick it hands down vs. an IS250, and probably IS350 also. Seeing that you came from an STI/Evo, I'd go with the M3. But, the IS350 would get the best of both worlds: speed and reliability. Aside from the lack of stick shift, it would be a good pick for you too.

TwiBlueG35

I would recommend you to keep your IS250 until you find something new that fits both your performance requirement and budget. Going back to an older car is not a reasonable move in my opinion, no matter how wonderful that car is. E46 M3 costs about $20k to $30k right now, that should cancel out the trade in price of your IS, give or take a few thousand dollars. The problem is it is very difficult to tell if the previous owner babied the car or abused it. It runs fine in your test drive doesn't mean you wouldn't uncover some potential problems later on. E46 M3 doesn't really look that good in my eyes, at least not as good as 2IS or E9X M3.

dackp143

iTrader: (3)

M3 is a total POS. Unless you don't mind spending tons of money on maintenance then don't bother. I had a 2005 E46 M3. Road like ****, suspension was ****, and as time passed the engine sounded like crap. I took care of it like crazy to and the problem's faced were out of my control like the VANOS going out, secondary air pump, fuel pump, CLUTCH, etc. All within the first 60k which is utter crap. After that I bought an IS300 with a manual and didn't have a problem with it until I hit 172k when I replaced the clutch and CATS. My girls E60 550i she bought has CLEAN records and AutoCheck BUT when she had it delivered it had pending codes and we had to fix the secondary air pump, carbon build up in the exhaust manifold, mild engine sludge, hydraulic leak oil leak, leaking valve cover gasket, timing chain cover gasket, airbag light, and passenger side seat pressure system. My sisters 2002 BMW 745i she had for 8 years we sold at Manhiem Auto Auction for $8k with 160k miles on it (I work at a dealership). It needed a new valve cover gasket, two new CATS, and secondary air pump. In the end, her car depreciated almost $10k a YEAR.. that's HORRIBLE. I mean, you can still find 2004 IS300's for $17-18k on Autotrader.

You want value in a couple years? You want the least amount of loss in the end once you sale? I would definitely stay away from German cars and stay Japanese. I personally find BMW's to be a money pit and I personally don't accept the fact that my girl bought her car last month and still can't get it registered because of carbon build up in the exhaust. Guess how much to fix her car? $8-10k!!!!!!! On JUST the engine. Talk about f***ed in the ***.

BMW = Brutal Money Wasted

This is just my 2¢

My old M3


My old M3 and old IS300

HALLELUJAH

Theres always a 335i. Those go for about the same as the e46 M3 with better styling and a powerful twin turbo.

Slash300zx

I agree on getting the IS350 instead of the two options. The E46 is, IMO, already looking old (well I never really liked that model that much anyways, the new model looks bad *** though) and I also hear from plenty of people about BMW being a constant headache with maintenance and repairs. I also think the interior of the ISx50 is 10x nicer than the BMW.

BamaIS

iTrader: (3)

When I bought my 06 IS250 Manual with 100,000 miles , for the same price I could have gotten a 335i with a manual tranny and 88,000 miles. After spending some time on the Bimmer Forum and talking to some friends that had them, I chose the IS250. Main reason being that I wanted something that I could put a lot of miles on and not have to spend a bunch of money on maintenance.

dackp143

iTrader: (3)

PERFECTLY said!

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

It all very there some on the forum that are complaining about all the recalls and tsb on the IS. When I owned my m3 all that was done were battery,alternator and basic tune up. People my hate bimmer but I rock a bimmer again but I don't like the new body style.

LDNN

Do yourself a favor and go on to Bimmerfest and check out the maintenance section for the E46, millions of problems. I should have done that before buying my 2004 325Ci Convertible. I was coming back from overseas and wanted to get a fun car, so debating between the IS and the 325Ci. I went for the cool factor and eight months and $4K of repair later (yes, $4K and it only has 43,000 miles) I sold it and got the IS three weeks ago. My wife didn't let me forget that she told me to get the IS in the beginning. I recently told my wife the maintenance section in CL is so boring..because nobody complains or asks about how to fix ********t like they do on the Bimmerfest. My car has the typical problems like the rest of the E46...bad engine oil leak, Camshaft position sensors (replaced 3 in 8 months) A/C evaporator, all CVV hoses had to be replaced, check engine light that couldn't be isolated etc.

laobo979

iTrader: (5)

Like i said it verys . I owned my 02 till 08 when i traded it in for the IS. Out of warrnty only thing that went wrong for me was my alternator that only cost me $200. Beside that never had any issues with fuel pump or anything else. On that note i guess i got one of the good M3 cause the only time i went to the dealer was for the oil change since it was only $30 more to have them do on top of what the oil and filter cost me.

shizblam

iTrader: (1)

e46 m3's aren't all that powerful honestly... 330hp at the crank is nothing in todays cars honestly...

Unless you're planning on boosting it to give it some real power... I think you'd be horribly underwhelmed, especially considering the sti's and evo that you've owned were quicker out of the box than the M3.

LDNN

Yep, for those of us that never owned a Bimmer before we were led to believe the old "ultimate driving machine" marketing campaign. My old 325Ci only has 184 HP compared to the 204 of my IS 250 AND the MPG difference is huge. I regularly get 32+ MPG Hwy in the IS, the best I ever got with the 325 was 28 MPG. Bottom line, do your research really well before making the decision on the BMW.

ImportISF

iTrader: (9)

Yeah & don't forget about the HPFP (High Pressure Fuel Pump) that goes out every 10k miles or so

ImportISF

iTrader: (9)

Interior is subjective, but the cinnamon interior on the E46 M's were pretty nice. But um..since when did how reliable a car was, based from if the owner did its oil changes in time?! With these E46 M3's, you can do all the preventative maintenance in the world cross your fingers & still have it crap out on you some how. Of course there are also a majority that didn't take care of there ///M's to that extent & were still reliable, those are the lucky ones. Also the S54 engine is not bulletproof, the VANOS system tends to fail a lot but you can purchase a VANOS kit from Dr. Vanos for just a little over $1000 . & no, once the SMG pump goes, then the SMG pump goes, the transmission does not go out along with it. But the SMG transmission failing on you as a whole does happen too & then you're looking at a $5000 rebuild or buying a used one & hoping that won't fail on you anytime soon. Lastly the E46 M's don't compare to your E30 as far as reliability goes, even the E36 M3 was way more reliable than the E46 was. Sorry if I came off as an @sshole, just that every sentence I read made me go .



OP, I say get the M3 if you're one of those die hard ///M fans that loved the E46 M3 when it first came out & you HAVE to have it. Otherwise I def go with the IS350. Some common known problems with the E46 M3's are

-Rod bearing recall on earlier models
-Subframe failure on ALL E46's
-Cooling system failures (All E46s will require a complete cooling overhaul @ around 90k miles or so. Water pump, expansion tank, radiator, fan, etc)
-Electrical issues
-Window regulators going out
-VANOS failures
-SMG issues (pump/transmission/clutch)

Thats off the top of my head, there may be more. The Inspection intervals are pretty costly as well. My old E46 often had christmas lights appearing randomly on my dash & left me limping home a few times. I sold that car with the quickness after it left me stranded for 2 weeks out of the 5 weeks I've owned it . My buddy's E46 M was also a electrical nightmare & ALL sorts of sensors failed time & time again. We tend to joke around now how the E46 M's are a $18k used car with $5000+ worth of repairs

Of course, you can ignore all the problems & go right ahead to owning one, it is still one of my favorite M's of all time & I am a HUGE ///M fan. Just know the risk involved & BE SURE to have at least $5k put aside for repairs & such alone. I have drooled all over this car since it first came out new in '01 for around $50k