M3: E36 or E46? Issues, problems, reliability?

[air-cool-me]

A note on rear shock mounts...


on my e30... i blew them out with stiff shocks hiting a pothole...
so i replaced them with stock e30's
the blew out again...
so i replaced them with e46 cabs
blew out again...


finaly i bought myself some nice aftermarket beefy ones.. problem solved!

[audi2.7t]

o.k, I can't hold off any longer, so here's a list of problems I had with my E46 in no particular order.
A/C emptied into cabin 4 times before being fixed.
Engine overheated 5 times before being fixed requiring tows each time.
Rear shock mounts broke.
Engine would sometimes stall at idle.= Vanos replace
Intermitent loss of power.=Vanos(with above)
Doors sometimes wouldn't unlock, requiring Dukes of hazard exit thru windows!.
Transmission would sometimes jump out of first or second.
Trans would stick in 5th.
Problematic sunroof switch.
Propshaft vibration.
Windows would sometimes stay "dropped" when door was closed.
Noisy interior.
You could bend the rims just by kicking them.
I'm sure I forgot some stuff...I bought this car new and some things I just learnt to live with, some got fixed just to re-appear. I actually started "lemon law" proceedings at one point but the dealer and BMW N.A. paid me to keep it. Customer service was great but when I got rid of it I decided to give BMW a miss for a few years.

[jtkkz]

kobaltblau

I actually did not want to buy it from my friend and told him to simply place a AD and he can easily get high $20's for his car.

The KBB blue book at the time he wanted me to buy the car was $26K for that low mileage car.

The car was never driven in rain and was only driven once a week.
He works at home that is why.

He kept insisting for me to buy the car from him as he did not want the car to go to anyone he did not know.

I was the only friend who was somewhat interested, it took him 8 months of convincing me to buy it off him, he then lowered his price really low, I could not refuse the offer.

I bought it and very happy with the purchase, the car is immaculate.

It now has 22K miles.

[KobaltBlau]

thank you for the story, jtkkz. now I understand how it "went down"

Do you own a SyCip or are you part of SyCip? I am familiar with their work, but I own a Gunnar fixed gear.

Cheers,

[yelcab1]

Originally posted by audi2.7t
o.k, I can't hold off any longer, so here's a list of problems I had with my E46 in no particular order.
A/C emptied into cabin 4 times before being fixed.
Engine overheated 5 times before being fixed requiring tows each time.
Rear shock mounts broke.
Engine would sometimes stall at idle.= Vanos replace
Intermitent loss of power.=Vanos(with above)
Doors sometimes wouldn't unlock, requiring Dukes of hazard exit thru windows!.
Transmission would sometimes jump out of first or second.
Trans would stick in 5th.
Problematic sunroof switch.
Propshaft vibration.
Windows would sometimes stay "dropped" when door was closed.
Noisy interior.
You could bend the rims just by kicking them.
I'm sure I forgot some stuff...I bought this car new and some things I just learnt to live with, some got fixed just to re-appear. I actually started "lemon law" proceedings at one point but the dealer and BMW N.A. paid me to keep it. Customer service was great but when I got rid of it I decided to give BMW a miss for a few years.

Should have bought an E36.

[kaisen]

so then you bought an 'audi2.7t'....... glutton for punishment!

[jtkkz]

kobaltblau

Iam one of the Sycip brothers, but Both my younger brothers are the ones behind the sycip bikes / powder coating company.

www.sycipdesigns.com

[KobaltBlau]

jtkkz, your brothers are craftsmen, they make beautiful things.

[audi2.7t]

Originally posted by kaisen
so then you bought an 'audi2.7t'....... glutton for punishment!

Wasn't my first choice, I had an E320 lined up but we test drove the Audi on a whim and it fit the bill better for a heavy footed wife (and husband) who both loved the luxury, performance and handling but also have two kids. Besides, it has a 100k factory warranty and only gets driven 70miles per week. Besides all the problems I had I do miss my Beemer and will probably get another in the future (540i). In retrospect to the Audi I probably should have bought a Lexus but overall I love the car, the only much needed upgrade I did was put 18" rims with decent tires on to let the Quattro really shine. I know my problems with BMW were not typical, more a case of "if it's going to happen, it'll happen to me" and I would never say no to owning an M3 of either vintage.

[N11Porsche]

At least this post has automotive content.

The "show us your home" post didn't get moved and I don't have even a remote idea, what that had to do with Porsches? Well, actually the post was called something about Capitalism.

[jtkkz]

kobaltblau,

Aside form bikes and other metal fabircations stuff , we also started making a few porsche parts (early 911's).

Thru the horn grille brackets
RShields for webers and PMO's

We did a couple of triple outlets mufflers, that are being tested right now by fellow rgruppe members.

[KobaltBlau]

Cool!