I have bought 2 cars off Glen..... The first was a lemon as documented on this site, the second my current car is perfect.

I dont have any bad words for them. I think all car dealers are the same..... I never buy a car judged on the dealer. Just check the car out. I he wont or cant find any history or previous owner then walk away.

Mick

Acutally my sisters 525i came from Glen also. No problems there too.  (2 out of 3 aint bad)

Mick

Dude

Considering the nature of the car, if I was buying an M3 now, I would hang on for the right low mileage one.  That car doesn't even have full leather seats which I am sure is affecting the price.

As Phil says, hang on and spend a bit more for a better specced car with low mileage.

Mick

Decent 02's are going for around €45k now, youd get one for €40k if you shop around.  They come down a lot in price, Id say if you wait a bit longer youll get a nice 03 for early 40's.

AHEALY wrote: yeah I had problems with an impreza I bought from them, ie radiator blew after a week and found, rad weld had been used to seal it, which got into the whole cooling system. Luckily enough pump wasn't affected up to the time I sold it. They just didn't want to know once they got my money. Gave me some crap about the car being a trade car, but I didn't buy it as a trade car and they certainly didn't mention it at the time I purchased it. My understanding was that there was 3 months warranty with it. I've learnt the hard way. Unless you buy from them with the cars full documented history, and get your warranty in writing, i'd stay clear of them too.

To be honest Im not that suprised. As I said check the car not the dealer. But it looks too cheap to be true.

Any one asked them whats the story. They might tell the truth.

Mick

lukeduke wrote: now thats in a dealer aswell... astonishing!!!!

Not just any dealer, Des Cullen, a fairly reliable name in high end tackle.

Dave, if your interested, a friend of mine is selling a mint 2004 M3, carbon black, 35,000 miles, all extras, 19's etc...........and like new, he keeps it mint.

He's looking for €50,000, but would take €45k if offered.  Thats a fair price i think.

Cheers.

Dave

As an owner of an E46 M3 for 1.5 years now, I can categorically state it is not the type of car to get impatient about buying.  Unless you are buying from a BMW dealer or a quality independent that you can trust, you HAVE to get the car properly checked out.  Make sure it has had ALL regular services and has had all necessary recalls done (eg the rod end bearing recall, the diff problems, if its past inspection 1 make sure the tappets were adjusted etc etc).  If these have not been done you will be looking at major bills in the future.

Not meaning to scare you off or anything and a lot of the above advice goes really for any car purchase, but the costs of getting it wrong with an M-car are so much more.

Mick

Daveco wrote: ...and have approached a company called carsource about helping me look over in the U.K. for suitable cars also. They seem to know their stuff and have been very helpful thus far.

I know Paul at Carsource and they do know their cars, he used to own a E39 M5 and actually bought his a week after mine. Paul actually tried to buy my car but I got there first.

Dave

Of the cars mentioned on the thread, I reckon Phil's sounds the best value.  2004 vs 2001 with less mileage for a few k extra?

Plus the 2004 engines werent subject to the rod end bearing problem and didnt need the engine rebuild.

Mick

[/QUOTE]

hey luke well done on the new motor ,

isnt this your car ? was up there today looking at the 03 M3 they have , he told me he sold yours? yesterday to a guy in cork , said he bought it in the trade from autoquest !! note its advertised as 50k on the clock now !!

cheers

///M3Mick wrote: Dave As an owner of an E46 M3 for 1.5 years now, I can categorically state it is not the type of car to get impatient about buying.  Unless you are buying from a BMW dealer or a quality independent that you can trust, you HAVE to get the car properly checked out.  Make sure it has had ALL regular services and has had all necessary recalls done (eg the rod end bearing recall, the diff problems, if its past inspection 1 make sure the tappets were adjusted etc etc).  If these have not been done you will be looking at major bills in the future. Not meaning to scare you off or anything and a lot of the above advice goes really for any car purchase, but the costs of getting it wrong with an M-car are so much more. Mick

Hi Mick,

My '02 M3 is still under warranty for the next 3 months with Maxwell's, is there anything specific i should ask them before the warranty expires? These recalls you mention, I have never herad of them, should the garage have done them before selling the car on or is it something I have to specifically ask about, buyer beware type of thing?

If it's the latter, buyer beware, I would appreciate if you could post any specific recalls or known issues that I should ask about, or anything at all you can think of for that matter as I'm dropping her in for an Oil inspection next week.

By the way do Maxwells still give a 10% discount on consumables? Does that apply to servicing consumables? 

Thanks for your advice.

P.S that's a savage new car you got yourself Lukeduke!

Garbo

This site details all the issues

http://m3.madrussian.net/faq.shtml#28 - http://m3.madrussian.net/faq.shtml#28

Main one is the engine bearing recall.  This applied to all cars up to and including late 2003.  My car was registered in OCtober 2003 and it had to have it.  Its major work, and I can't imagine you have a warrantied/fbmwsh car that wouldnt have had it done.  Its worth checking though just to be sure.

The other item that fails regularly on the cars is the diff.  You would have noticed this by now as a groaning/rumbling noise from the rear of the car on slow tight turns and parking manoevres.

Aside from this there is nothing else major thats a particular failing of the car that I can think of.

Mick

Thanks Mick, I really appreciate all that Info, with regards to the Diff, would the groaning/rumbling noise be permanent or occasional?

I have heard a clunking noise during slow parking manouvres, when i switch from 1st the reverse or vice versa as the car begins to move, have heard it a fair few times, could this be an indicator the the diff is going, or do they just 'go'?

Thanks again for your help.

Garbo

Its not a "clunking" as such.......its like a groaning rubbing sound (LOL I'm waiting for all the finbar saunders types to chime in here) that you here when turning.

Clunking when moving from gear to gear is pretty normal.....the M3's gearbox does that a lot. 

Chances are you would have heard this if its a problem for your car.

mick

kdevitt wrote: That car doesn't have its original engine either from what I've been told. A friend in the car business told me to avoid that crowd like the plague...

A customer of mine bought a Lovely Steel Grey 3 series coupe of Glenn Walker last August, he swore he would touch up the paint and a few other jobs also, he has called and called this guy, he spoke to Glenn himself and they have done nothing for him at all, they have been blanking him for 8 months now, I would avoid this crowd like the plauge, I must get him to call them again as we were only talking about Glenn Walker today, I was giving him Alan Carroll's details as he wanted a good Indy BMW specialist to do the jobs Glenn Walker is blanking him on.