Buying advice required E92 M3

S

Sapiense-demens

Member
Hello everyone

I am looking for a E92 M3 and I thouhg I would share my current shortlist for you guys to help make a decision.

Also, please let me know if you know of any on the market that might be better than these one.

1. https://www.autotrader.co.za/car-fo...731?vf=8&db=1&s360=0&so=0&pl=0&pq=0&pr=5&po=1
2. https://web.facebook.com/marketplac...wse_serp:fc9ecc72-ac66-4a74-b314-859136640262
3. https://web.facebook.com/marketplac...wse_serp:fc9ecc72-ac66-4a74-b314-859136640262
4. https://www.autotrader.co.za/car-fo...290?vf=8&db=0&s360=0&so=0&pl=0&pq=0&pr=5&po=1
5. https://www.autotrader.co.za/car-fo...018?vf=8&db=0&s360=0&so=0&pl=0&pq=0&pr=5&po=1
6. https://www.autotrader.co.za/car-fo...641?vf=8&db=1&s360=0&so=0&pl=0&pq=0&pr=5&po=1
 
NB92325

NB92325

Well-known member
I would probably at least have a look at the one that was maintained at BMW all it's life and had bearings done last year.

Should be simple to confirm with the relevant dealership and then you can decide further.

This is certainly not the type of car I would consider without meticulous proven ownership history.

Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk
 
NB92325

NB92325

Well-known member
Sapiense-demens said:
And why that?
Click to expand...
I would take a lot on this forum with a pinch of salt. E92 M3s are the most prominent to feature in videos of people acting like idiots and those same people likely don't prioritize maintenance over just adding more HP to the car.

But as I said, if you can get one that has been taken care of properly and there is providence to back it up, and you can afford to keep it going in that state, why the hell not.

This is my dream car and if I had the money to buy and maintain it, it's a no-brainer to me if you can get the right one.

Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk
 
TBP88

TBP88

Well-known member
Sapiense-demens said:
And why that?
Click to expand...
1) They're largely run by hooligans and most are in a horrendous state
2) Running costs are absurd given the level of performance on offer - You can access tons more power in the newer gen cars for slightly more, or get a better looking and similarly fast car for less money in the older gen cars.
3) The engines are catastrophically unreliable. Beyond the known issues with vanos and rod bearings the main bearings are also now a failure point (just google). Sure, this might only affect 5-10% of cars, but it's a "my car is now a paperweight" level of failure point (A crate S65, assuming it's not NLA, is likely well clear of R350k ex anything!).
 
TBP88

TBP88

Well-known member
As a pure aside, at the prices bandied about for an E92, I'd say R500k is the absolute baseline, with the foreknowledge that you're gonna have to sink >100k on basic maintainence on day 1, you're at 600k already, with a 5% chance your car elects to detonate a nuke in the engine bay costing you R0.5m to fix.

Isn't it just better to save longer and spend R700-900k which gets you into decent F8X M3/4 or even an older 997 era 911 (at 900k you're getting a great 997 and have cash to sort the IMS there as well).

@OP, I do get the V8 roar and all that being very appealing, but I can't see how a regular human runs the V8/10 M3/5/6 cars without the fear of god of something going wrong.

When the E92M3 was like high 300k for a decent one you could at least justify (and this wasn't that long ago, 2/3 yrs back even). Now at R500k and up for decent ones I'd be hunting elsewhere.
 
C

cRed001

Active member
TBP88 said:
1) They're largely run by hooligans and most are in a horrendous state
2) Running costs are absurd given the level of performance on offer - You can access tons more power in the newer gen cars for slightly more, or get a better looking and similarly fast car for less money in the older gen cars.
3) The engines are catastrophically unreliable. Beyond the known issues with vanos and rod bearings the main bearings are also now a failure point (just google). Sure, this might only affect 5-10% of cars, but it's a "my car is now a paperweight" level of failure point (A crate S65, assuming it's not NLA, is likely well clear of R350k ex anything!).
Click to expand...
4. Most of them are way overpriced at the moment
 
Katanator

Katanator

Active member
Also saw that, seats still look very neat though and dekra is semi decent. Someone mustve opened a shaken cooldrink can or something in there.
 
TurboLlew

TurboLlew

Honorary ///Member
Majority of E92s are being kept meticulously and pickled by their owners who will never sell them (and likely have owned them for a long time). Unfortunately these never come up for sale. Guys who want one now will have to spend top dollar (the ship has sailed) and then still spend 100K for various items (even if not attended to immediately).

Same as with E39s - we are at peak hype for some of these cars driven by youtubers and the market. Whether the E92 is a good car or desirable or not is not in question. Maintenance etc is absolutely critical. I wouldn't say there is no reason to buy them since they are also still cheap relative to exotics which also require huge amounts of money to keep them going (an order of magnitude more, even with rod bearing and main bearing issues taken into consideration). It is awfully close now to 911 levels from a TCO perspective and maintenance outlook.

A person who has owned these cars for 10 years and knows the history of the car and how it was treated is going to be a lot more confident and have a very different ownership experience to people who own them later. I am sure people read my F10 thread (and threads from other posters about M3s and 340is etc) and think they are going to have the same kind of experience when they have gotten the car 10 years down the line and after long periods of unknown history/treatment. There are even extremely rough F90s and G80s around - we forget how old these E-series cars actually are sometimes.

Also S85 crate motor is north of R450K and is ALOT more 'special' (in the expensive way) and highly engineered than the turbo motors that came after it. Would be nice if the accountants didn't win out over the engineers in some areas (for all cars - general statement)
 
gavsadler

gavsadler

///Member
All the standard stuff to consider when looking for any car:
> Service History
> Overall condition, accidents, repairs etc.

Skipping past all of this, and with blinkers on: if you're considering an E9x M3:

  • Speed: you are probably aware that the non-M turbo models of the era are cheaper and arguably as fast, or can be made much faster with a few mods.
  • Fuel consumption: you won't get under 10l/100kms ever. I would say 10-12 on the open road, and 18-24 in town, also depending on driving style. If you are planning to do big mileage / daily the car, you need to keep this in mind.
  • Maintenance: must-do items include rod bearings and throttle body actuators. This is probably 50-70k at today's prices. Also there is M-Tax on parts pricing, so bear that in mind. You can't really hop across to Midas to get bits and pieces.
Other than that, it's a good car. If you can find a nice one, with lots of maintenance items done, it will serve you well. As others have pointed out, they seem to be quite popular for Jackass stunts and social media videos these days, so you need to do thorough research and background checks.

As a side note: Japan Auto Trading was our neighbouring stand at Festival of Motoring this year, and they had a S65 on display. Approx. 60000kms, and they want R250k for the motor. A lower mileage one was available, but that was R350k.

Fixer upper purchases are hugely risky these days, because of the eye-watering prices of parts. Even used parts are not cheap / affordable (as seen above).

Don't be in a rush, don't be impulsive, look at as many as you can to gauge overall condition etc. That always helps.
 
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