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Having a mechanic inspect a prospective purchase before you buy is cheap insurance. Cars that have been heavily tracked or otherwise abused suffer from connecting-rod-bearing wear, front subframe cracks, and body cracks or dimples. “Engine life depends on how the car has been driven,” he says, “but well-treated ones should see 150,000 to 200,000 miles with no problem.”Ĭheck to see that regular valve adjustments have been performed (the factory specs a 30,000-mile interval), that engine and gearbox mounts are healthy (high cornering loads and a tall, buzzy engine increase wear), and that timing-chain noise isn’t excessive. The 2.3-liter four is often derided as a finicky, temperamental powerplant, but Thongsai says this reputation is undeserved. Watch Out For: The E30 is widely considered to be the most durable and long-lived 3-series, and the M3 is no exception.
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Enthusiast forums and the BMW Car Club of America’s classifieds are usually the best places to look. Just over 19,000 E30 M3s were built, and 5300 of those came to our shores starting in 1987 as 1988 models. Most marque specialists believe a healthy M3 is easier to source than a period 325i in similar condition.
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Good-condition E30 M3s are relatively easy to locate in the U.S. (A close-ratio, dogleg five-speed gearbox was standard in the rest of the world.) Model-year updates and options in this country were all but nonexistent, which means your choices effectively come down to exterior color (red, white, silver, dark gray) and whether or not you want a driver-side airbag (1989–91).
E46 m3 subframe issue production years manual#
The Baron von Asskicken styling and the peaky 7200-rpm four are just icing on the cake.Ĭhoosing Which One: Although European buyers could opt for a host of special-edition and “evolution” M3s (they had more power), as well as a convertible, M3s sold in America came only as coupes, and only with a standard-pattern, wide-ratio manual transmission. The car’s strengths lie in its astounding balance, impossibly forgiving suspension, and rock-solid reliability. In reality, though, the E30 M3 isn’t so much a sports car as a livable sedan with a trunk and back seat-one that happened to know its way around the Nürburgring long before it was de rigueur. It was a motorsport weapon first and a sales exercise second. Why You Want an E30: The first-generation M3 was famously created to satisfy a homologation requirement for European touring-car racing.
E46 m3 subframe issue production years driver#
Low-mileage garage queens regularly bring $20,000, but $13,000 to $17,000 should snag a healthy driver with good cosmetics. Market Value: Auction data are not available, and market observation indicates that most cars change hands privately. Thongsai co-founded the BMW Car Club of America’s E30 M3 Special Interest Group and is widely regarded as one of the country’s foremost authorities on BMW and M-car history. In addition to numerous other independent and factory-authorized mechanics, key assistance in assembling this guide came from BMW technician Ben Thongsai of B&D Automotive in Westchester, Illinois. We’ll stay away from problems inherent to the various generations of the 3-series as a whole-almost all suffer from short-lived control-arm bushings, window regulators, and rear shock mounts, for example-and focus on M3-specific issues. What follows is a primer for the used-M3 buyer in America. But which one to buy? The rough-and-ready first-generation model, the current V-8–powered luxo rocket, or something in between? Deciding can be tough, but don’t get your lederhosen in a twist we’re here to help. If you’re like any of our editors who didn’t get to go-so, any of us not named Robinson-reading about the exhilarating experience will have you scheming to cash in your bar mitzvah treasury bonds to park some version of the ultimate sports sedan in your garage. We recently had the opportunity to track-test all four generations of BMW’s legendary M3.