BMW M3 question

[speedminded]

If you get one make sure you find one thats been well maintained. Ones that need valve adjustments, tires, brakes etc. can get expensive. (I know cost on rotors are around 230 a piece). Also one's typically can be way down on power that need this loving valve adjustment. Early models had an oil pump (I believe) re-call and that needs to be addressed right away if it hasn't been (most all have been). Vert's are slower but that would be my E46 of choice..just like Geordie's. So sexy... The Coupe's are phenominal out of the box road racing cars. You can throw on a set of pads and slicks and run low 1:40's on road A or run low 13's in the 1/4 mile (some have gotten into high 12's..I believe bokix did 13.0@107 stock). The aftermarket is huge..somet things are expensive and some arn't. A good set of headers, a proper intake and underdrive pullies plus a tune should yield you a good bump in power 270whp to 300+whp and up to 108-109 trap speeds. After that there's F.I. I'm sure you've seen the HPF kits makes bolt on 630whp on an all stock motor reliably...that shows how stout and strong the motors are and how long they will last in stock form. I.M.O a boosted vert would be sex.

AutoFab got 320+ whp out of one recently with a euro catless exhaust, piggyback tune, on pump gas...100% stock they are normally like you said, 270-290+.

[OnURleft]

AutoFab got 320+ whp out of one recently with a euro catless exhaust, piggyback tune, on pump gas...100% stock they are normally like you said, 270-290+.

Yeah thats HiRide's car. Put down great numbers. I think Bokix is around 320whp tuned off spray..slightly less. He's headers/straight pipes only. I havn't had to many N/A E46 M3 number to look at other that ones at the track putting down 360-380 with cams. Most everyone advertising numbers is boosted but thats going to change as the years go by and companies like TRM get there hands on them for pure messing around with purposes.

[speedminded]

Yeah thats HiRide's car. Put down great numbers. I think Bokix is around 320whp tuned off spray..slightly less. He's headers/straight pipes only. I havn't had to many N/A E46 M3 number to look at other that ones at the track putting down 360-380 with cams.

I'm sure that's with race fuel too...with stock cams and tuned on 100+ octane I'm sure HiRide would be at 360+ whp.

[HiRide]

AutoFab got 320+ whp out of one recently with a euro catless exhaust, piggyback tune, on pump gas...100% stock they are normally like you said, 270-290+.

321 Jason!!! Get it right!! (and we have some interesting plans to make even more NA power soon before I find a way to make more money and custom build manifolds for a turbo. I should just save up and do it all at once but I do want to see what I can get out of this NA without nitrous.)

stock should be around 280 or so depending on dyno.

yes its making some great power and is still running smooth!

also, just a note. the recall was not for the head or valve train but for spinning bearings. some company that BMW outsourced a batch of bearings to, f'd up and got the spec wrong which lead to alot of pre 10K mile thrown rods.

but at this point they have all had recalls done (01-02, maybe a few early 03's) and then received an extended 100K/6 year warranty which will is either 100k miles total, or 6 years from original sale date.

with M3 prices lately I would say look for a late model 03 with the LED tails or newer if you can afford it. The 03 and 02 models will be selling like hotcakes soon as they are at the 5 year old mark. To be perfectly honest there are some really crazy deals on M3's which I am not going to pay carfax to check just out of curiousity but if these cars have clean titles and no accidents, the prices are amazing.

you just have to find the car thats right for you and be patient. It took me 6 months of constant searching to find my M3 and I actually widened my search to include different body and interior colors, but I found what I wanted and I paid for it.

My theory when it comes to buying used, either dealership/cpo or someone with tons of paperwork. when I bought my M it came with a notebook of all the services as well as aftermarket parts added AND removed. I felt safe buying this car and 2 years later and after driving the piss out of it, its doing great!

Good Luck with your search!