Yes i have friends with the same car but they all just recently purchased theirs. So there is no point in asking them. Ive heard many things about the e46, they run great and won't give you much trouble or will run like crap and give you headaches.

 

That's because they go to the bimmer forums lol. (not telling you to do that though.)

 

Dont let people scare you. I had an E46 M3 for 3 years. I know we talked some. Yea the maint is higher, yea parts are more expensive... Its an M3! You'll love the car. Just make sure you buy one that was properly maintained and has records.
Sometimes you have to pay to play

 

Me and you both lol

 

M3 is a great car to drive. I have personally never owned one, but have seen the issues with my brothers. I like the look to. I myself will probably never buy a bmw because of the tendency to have issues. I would however lease one for a couple years

I say no on buying an M3 at this point in your life. Unless you and your parents are rich. Then buy a bran new one.

 

To be honest, I've had 3 BMWs so far, never ventured into M3s due to insurance costs.

1. E46 325i
2. E46 330ci
3. E85 Z4 3.0i

Each of them have been relatively reliable, as the only things you have to account for once out of warranty are rubber items (due to deterioration - from window moldings, control arm bushings to coolant hoses), plastics (coolant expansion tanks come to mind), and the various quirks in the engines/suspension. The cars needed very consistent maintenance, and once you stick to that schedule, it runs like any Lexus out there. The parts are actually about the same price, and so are the mechanic rates (as both are luxury cars).

 

I'm not sure this is true. What you're experiencing is due to the fact that you're posting on a Lexus forum. So if you're posting on CL, the talk about the problems with an M are indeed, in the majority of cases, coming from people who have never owned one. But if you go to the BMW forums, you will definitely find owners talking about the problems. However, as you'd expect it will be a different perspective. Here it's "The M3 is so expensive to maintain and repair, so I went with the IS350". On the BMW forums it will be "The M3 is so expensive to maintain and repair, but that's just the way it is with a luxury car". They rationalize it by saying "you have to pay to play" essentially.

You're right that I haven't owned an M. But my last car was a 2003 E55 AMG. I knew I was taking a risk with a German luxury car in terms of maintenance and reliability, so I tried to choose a used one that had the highest likelihood of NOT being a repair nightmare. Found a 2003 with only 60k miles, one adult owner, bought and serviced at the same Mercedes dealership regularly, no accidents.

Well, within 6 months of ownership it had racked up $15,000 of repair costs (it only cost $26k). I knew I had to ditch the car, so I started looking into M3s, M5s, and RS6's. I quickly found each was worse than the next in terms of number of issues, reliability, and repair costs. The number of TSBs on each was just pages and pages long.

I ultimately traded the E55 in for my IS350. I was obviously sick and tired of paying $1000 each week for a new repair, but more importantly I hated the fact that I never got to enjoy the car. Each time I sat down in it I was worried what new light would pop up on the dash. Over 6 months of ownership, it probably functioned at 100% for a total of a week's time. The rest of the time something was wrong and it was either on its way into or at the dealership.

 

Hahaha +1

i left college with student loans equivalent to 2 luxury cars

 

BMW = :facepalm: stick with Lexus

 

Love BMW but not the repair cost. Brothers are die hard BMW drivers. One has the e46 m3 and loves it. And the other has the 5 series.

 

.....

 

+1 also not a big fan of verts! also havent heard very good things of BMW forums. Nothing like CL