Production lines suck...

[Glowrider]

Damn it. I broke the differential on my M3 today while using launch control. I'm tired of this car. So much shit has gone wrong with it. The engine blew in the first 500 miles. I have SRS warning lights coming on ALL the time. The firmware "upgrade" for SMG-II, not only made it shift slower, but now it makes strange noises. Keep in mind this car only has 40,000 miles on it. Complete bullshit. To much money to be shelling out for a car for this crap to be happening. I can honestly say I will NEVER buy another BMW again. I'm getting rid of my car as soon as the new differential is in. A hard lesson learned with the first mass produced M-Car. Oh well.

Now on to better things. I'm seriously considering picking up a 2002 Porsche 911 Turbo in Seal Grey. w00t. Untill then I'm driving a loaner 5-series.

Stay away from E46 M3's, it's for your own good!

[RiceCake]

Ouch sorry to hear that about the M3...

But damn a 911 Turbo that's a damn step up.

[nismodrifter]

THat really sucks....spend so much money on a car and then have so many problems with it

[Fluidic]

You've dished a ton of dough into your car -- sad to see it let you down. Keep us informed -- maybe with new pics before you sell it?!?!

Peter

[redx2nv]

hah ill trade jooo!! my car is reliable!

[Altezza]

Ouch, sorry to hear...a guy I know had an E46 M3 for 4 months before he got of it. He said it wasn't what he expected. I have no idea what he's driving now.

[Mckenzie]

That sux man....

You are not the first person I have heard of who has had major problems with the new beemers. I have heard the new I-Drive system on the 7 series is riddled with bugs (MS Windows....of course it is) and the engineers are scrambling for a new operating system.

Here is the M3 Engine Failure Archive. ( I am sure you have seen it Glowrider)

http://members.roadfly.com/jason/m3engines.htm

For everyone else, take a look at that site..... you will see some pretty brutal videos and pics of BRAND new M3s blowing engines. Its not pretty....

[98type_r]

you'll be much happier with the 911

[Glowrider]

Originally posted by Mckenzie
That sux man....

You are not the first person I have heard of who has had major problems with the new beemers. I have heard the new I-Drive system on the 7 series is riddled with bugs (MS Windows....of course it is) and the engineers are scrambling for a new operating system.

Here is the M3 Engine Failure Archive. ( I am sure you have seen it Glowrider)

http://members.roadfly.com/jason/m3engines.htm

For everyone else, take a look at that site..... you will see some pretty brutal videos and pics of BRAND new M3s blowing engines. Its not pretty....

Yeah. I've seen the charts many times. BMW has really gone down the shitter. Oh well. They'll figure it out sooner or later.

[Fluidic]

Is there a chance that BMW might try and blame these "problems" on all of your modifications? I know VW try's that on me all the time -- I just not sure how BMW handles all of this.

Peter

[Mckenzie]

If you go to that link in my previous post you will see how the BMW dealerships have tried to blame the owners for over-revving their cars (with regards to the blown engine problems). I guess the engine computers are saying that the cars have been over-revved for minutes on end... quite ridiculous actually.

[monkeyja]

Yeah BMW is the worst and suck car I ever had too. Dam BMW same situation here except mine is 5 series and engine blew down on 4500 km and so many probelms after fixed and BMW never say it's their wrong. I already sold that shit and I keep sending email to whereever and keep complaining to BMW and even Geremany. Dam suck car. Never buy again.

[C4S]

Well .. from oct 2001 to feb 2002 .. some M3 enginees have problem .. however, that is the supplier issue, not related to the design of the S54 enginee, BMW now offer 6 yrs warranty on all M3 enginees anyway, and puting 40000 miles on a 1 yr old car ?? that is 64,000 kms in Canada yeah ! ^0^
anyway . M3 s are good car ..and they have proved that they are the most reliable super sport car with the lowest up-keeping cost, after owning five BMW M 3, I never have any issue like you, so I think you just out of luck, bought one of the few lemon from BMW, however, I can tell you Porsche will be only worse then BMW ! ( that is why I switch from 911 to M3 )
again .. sometimes depend you luck too !

of course . I will take the 2002 911 twin instead ! that is the best sports car I ever drive ! (and fastest) feel even nicer then a Ferrari 360 ! but 3 times more money then M3 ! ^_^ good luck !

[Glowrider]

I'm aware of the warranty. I'm also aware of BMW going with an out-of-house supplier for the engine. That isn't an excuse, though. Regardless of where the engine comes from, it's in a BMW, and it has BMW badging on it. I expect the quality normally associated with BMW. I demand satisfaction. I don't believe in paying for a luxury sports car, only to have it sit in the shop as much as it is.

My mother has a 996 Carrera. We haven't had one problem with it, to date. Maybe I did just get a lemon, but that doesn't make these problems any less annoying. Either way, as soon as it's out of the shop, the BMW is gone. Thanks for the input, though.

[rage2]

Actually, BMW only goes to an outside supplier for certain parts. They still assemble the S54 engines. The problem deals with tight tolerances with the rod bearings. The problematic months all got recalled (or as BMW calls it, Service Action) because the rod bearings made the motor fail even quicker. There ARE still a small number of failures, and this is probably due to poor engineering to begin with (the S54 motors were blowing up pre-production... a nice history here)

Of course it wasn't the first BMW "engine oops"... they had serious reliability problems with their V8's in the 5 series a few years ago, requiring block replacements. Then there's the head gasket failures on a crop of 6 cylinder motors from the late 80's early 90's. But truthfully, most bmws are very reliable. My 733i "bimmer o' love" has nearly 500,000km on the bitch.

As for Porsche, you're right, it's all about luck. My friend's C4 Cab blew it's motor several weeks into ownership. Apparantly it happens quite often, but because Porsche promptly replaced these motors no questions asked, it doesn't show up on the forums or internet much.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by Glowrider
Stay away from E46 M3's, it's for your own good!

Does the Lemon Law apply in your state? Maybe BMW will buy it back with all the issues it has had.

[Zephyr]

i'll trade u man! oh wait, mines a 5 series bmw argh. yea mine had a shitload of problems when i first got it, then after the warranty, the car just fell apart piece by piece. i replaced the ECU around 2 times now or so, the engine almost over heated once cuz of a faulty part, my radiator leaked bad, water line broke, and now it has a leak even the mechanics cant figure out and i took it to a BMW dealer to get it checked out. gah BMW is good during the warranty only, the price to fix GAH!

[Altezza]

Someone at the office has a brand spankin new '03 M5...he was shocked to hear when I told him about the problems in the e46 M3. He started to wonder about the M's reliability, but I doubt he really cares. Hopefully his machine survives - I haven't heard of many problems in the M5, but then again, I don't know of too many people with them.

[rage2]

M5's were notorious for killing clutches. Heavy + big HP, nothing you can do.

[Glowrider]

I haven't heard of many problems in the M5, but then again, I don't know of too many people with them.

I heard that a lot of M5's had "bitchy" ECU's. No major problems. They just liked to throw engine check lights for no reason a lot.