Losing faith in BMW

[AlpinweissM3]

Oh trust me these are all very well documented problems among the E46 crowd. I wouldn't be complaining about them, because like I said they are well documented, but most don't run into any of these until they have at least twice the miles I do. I neglected to also mention the failing alternators at and sagging window trim too.

[tdc]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the M3. As a fellow owner, I know how much the car can mean to a person and that it's frustrating to have things go wrong with it.

I've been lucky and haven't had any serious issues with mine. Only 'problem' I had was a screeching sound which I thought were bad belts and/or pulleys but turned out to be a faulty alternator.

I hope things make a turn for the better in terms of the reliability of your M3.

[CraigMakDaddy]

Since I just got my current car paid off I am pretty much in the market for an e46 M3. This story got me really curious so I went on some forums to figure out what kind of reliablility issues it has. The just of what i read was that the e46 M3 actually has abnormal amounts of problems in the first 20,000 miles and then gets more reliable thereafter. That doesn't make much sense to me at all, not sure how its possible. It also said the M3 is only slightly less reliable than the normal e46 3 series. In the long run, meaning about 3 years an e46 including an M3 will have less maintenance and problems than its German peers. Meaning after 3 years an e46 will have fewer trips to the shop than a VW, Audi, Mercedes or Porsche of the same year and vehicle type. As far as German cars go, BMW is #1 in reliability, Audi #2, Porsche #3, Mercedes #4 and VW #5. When compared to the entire world market BMWs fall as merely average and the rest of german cars fall in the below average to poor brackets. The M3 itself falls as slightly less than average in reliability compared to all other cars. This shows you how far behind Germany is to the rest of the world when thier #1 most reliable marquee is only merely average on the world market. Mercedes and VW are actually considered POOR, Audi and Porsche Below average and BMW Average. The top of the pack is of course populated by toyota and honda. But i would say that being merely slightly below average is pretty good for such a highly tuned beast as the e46 M3. Compared to other cars of its nature, it excells in reliability. Obliterating the reliablity of most other 330+ horse power cars. So, thats the info I was able to get. Not sure if it's correct but it sounds about right to me. Although I have actually heard that BMWs have a knack for living forever when maintained. That may not be the same as being reliable though, since living forever doesn't mean theres low levels of maintenance done.

[metro123]

actually, according to the last consumer report i saw... bmw was #3 in reliability. after honda and subaru. well, actually toyota, bmw and some other company all tied. though the reliability reports arent accurate IMO because, for instance, bmw and mercedes... they both have a large number of electronic failure due to... a much higher number of electrical systems. the reliabilty reports dont indicate which of these failures are actually related with the drivetrain/mechanical problems. thus why 7s are generally "poor" in reliabilty... much more electronics in them compared to say.. a 3 series

[fairweatherpunk]

I 2nd that for metro123.

[ballin_e36m3]

i say you should trade it in on the new m3. v8 power, who could complain with that

[CraigMakDaddy]

I am pretty sure that most BMW enthusiasts find the e46 M3 to be a better driver's car than the e92 M3. BMW seems to have lost its way with this new line up of e90 vehicles. All larger, more bloated with more power, more luxury and less driver focus. Considering a very nice e46 M3 can be had for under $30,000, I would take an e46 over an e92 any day of the week.

[e36mmm]

now im scared of buying a 10 year old 328i vert lol. we all know how good bmws are. we just get unlucky sometimes i guess. im getting rid of my 21 year old 325e which ive had for more than 2 years. and guess what guys not even 1 single problem. hopefully ill be lucky enough to see the same efficiency from the 328i vert sorry to hear about the car alpinweissm3. i hope you can put down some good kms without any problems next time

[AlpinweissM3]

I don't want to get into the whole debate of consumer reports because you can find ones to back any argument you want to make good or bad. It is what it is. Some cars are gems while others are a little rough. As tdc said its very frustrating when things go wrong with the car you care about. Its bad enough my buddy just let me drive me his fully prepped STU E36 M3 with the new AST 4200's. My god I need those coilovers now.

[overeasy]

Originally Posted by CraigMakDaddy

I think if you are looking at forums, people are more likely to post about problems with thier cars than they are to say that thier car never has problems. So if there are 20 people out of 10,000 on a forum with car problems you are going to see those 20 people posting about thier problems. You are not going to see the 9,980 other people with no problems because they have nothing to post about.

finally it makes sense