E46 M3 Convertible

My cousin is thinking of looking at a couple of E46 M3 Convertibles. He has had many BMW's over the years and is in the trade having had his own garage for a number of years. Is there anything in particular he should look for? I spoke to him about the sub frame issues but was not sure the ages of car this relates to. He is looking at a 2004(04) and a 2006(56), both have around 60,000 miles. Cheers. He fitted inner anti roll bar bushes for me today for free so I said I'd ask you guys if there was anything he should know about. Any pointers would be appreciated.

1) the exhaust flanges are cast iron & rot where back box fits onto main exhaust ( check out "M3 Cutters" web site & use search find "Corroded exhaust flange thread" )
2) S.M.G gear box is fun ....but so many things that can go wrong with it & can be expensive to fix .
3) mine is a vert ...again if the hood go's A.W.O.L ...can be expensive to fix .
4) The well documented "Subframe " stuff
Obviously if the car has been "Hashed" ....but the fellow being a mechanic he will know his "Onions" on that one .
Last but not least.... for us Vert owners there is ......."The Hairdresser" issue .....he will need thick skin!!!
But on the up side I get to have the hood down & drive with some "Gusto"
with my "Shades" on !!!!

Edited by shorty - 09-August-2014 at 11:02

Watch out for clunking noises from the diff
On higher millage or older ones watch out for pinking/ ticking noise from the engine as this could be head gasket failure.
Broken rear springs
Rust starting or rear and front arches, boot lock, bellow the boot at the rear bumper.
Rear floorpan cracking.

A part from that they're great

bluebro wrote: Heaps of sh*te, stay well away!

should I tell him to think about a Volante instead?