THSCC Forums

i'll bet all of this is making Dustin feel like a champ right about now.

don't worry man, they are fun to drive and really not that bad to work on. i'm convinced that the reason people think bmw's are high maintenance is that bmw owners are just pickier than everyone else so we fix everything we can find. everyone else just leaves their crap broken.

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05 MCS

^i think you're right.

I've had 3 BMWs now and i did a shit ton of work on all of them... but when i think back... nothing actually ever broke...

It's partially true.

Early S2000s in particular are famous for being a bit of a handful. But, the ways to "fix" this, if you deem it necessary, are well documented. My S2000 is very stable. Unless Scott Johnson is driving it, but he has spun every car of mine he's ever driven, multiple times per run, so that's no great surprise.

The real reason you don't see a lot of S2000s at track events is the rollover protection issue. There simply is no way to put in a proper roll bar without doing one or more of the following:

- Cutting up the interior
- Losing fore/aft seat travel
- Replacing the seats
- Losing the folding soft top
- Spending lots and lots of money

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Good call I'll probably own one eventually. If it had a top, more torque, and if Honda had made 10x as many of them, I might ebe driving one today...

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

screw'em all, damn imports. just go buy a Z06 Phil. ask Les. hammanah, hammanah that's a fast car.

and i think Bret's offer is way too low. $650 and i will come get it today.

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BenchWarmer Motorsports

another one of those damn LeMons heads

just another Chump

we are an Autocross Club Dammit............

I've had pretty good luck then with the E39 M5 I guess. It only has 46k miles on it now, and has been out of factory warranty coverage for 2.5 years with nothing very significant happening. It seemed like the world's opinion was "don't even think about not buying extended warranty coverage before your warranty runs out" -- that would have been a complete waste of a couple of thousand dollars or more and would have also expired by now. The only out of warranty repair so far was a cam position sensor which was about $220 including labor. However, I do hear some squeaking coming from the heat/AC fan at times (when hitting the throttle hard ), so that is probably coming up at some point soon.

Not sure how long term reliability will be, but the E90 we bought in Feb 2006 has been incredibly reliable. The most reliable car I've had in 30+ years of driving. The car has 33k miles on it now.

The E46 has been a bit more trouble (had it for three years now, bought used with 14k miles on it), and its factory warranty ran out last March, but it has "BMW CPO" coverage which means of course that anything that is likely to fail isn't covered. It currently has 47k miles, and it could use some fresh thrust bushings up front and probably some fresh RTAB out back too (which I'm sure has of course nothing to do with the fine pavement at L'burg coupled with R-comp loadings).

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

Matt,

If you're thinking seriously about an E46 M3, just stay on the lookout for a decent deal and pounce on it if it comes along. When I found the ZHP about three years ago, the deal was so good I couldn't buy it fast enough. I bought it for a price I would have sold it for up to 1.5 years later.

The early ones are entering the high teens, and they are dreamers out there asking high 20's for 2002 models and such, but...
Here's a potential similar deal, and this guy would probably come down even more...he's at $36,000 right now: http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=193975.
He has all the stock parts, so they can be put on and the aftermarket intake and exhaust sold to lower to final cost even more. It's pretty amazing that a 2006 M3 ZCP is just sitting on the market at $36k with little interest (of course Leith has a non-ZCP 06 M3 on their lot for $49,900 if that is of more interest ). This car at 36k could probably be bought, driven for 1.5 years and sold for not too big of a hit.

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

Yes, and then you could have a waxer garage queen that never sees track or autocross and is just perfect for driving around with your gold chains while you use your BMW for "performance" driving.

Yeah I saw that one last month. Those Comp packages look distinctly awesome with the CSL wheels and alcantara steering wheel.

I was considering staying around $30, picking up an 03.5 or newer (post bearing recall) in Carbon Black. I'm torn on the whole warranty thing but being my daily driver and gravel driveway, it's probably a must.

Chris mentioned that the Bmw guys are more meticulous, and that other leave their stuff broken.

Well, my list consists of:
-broken window switch (gotta mash it hard)
-two last motor mounts to replace (the expensive two)
-heating control backlight out
-dead pedal halfway ripped out of floor
-shift knob coming unthreaded (baseball stitching)
-rear LCA's need replacing (sounds like I'm hitting cones when I'm not!)
-stock shocks, age ten...

I guess these are easy things, but I'll just do them in the spring.

Hey, I spent $500 on mine before breakfast on Monday. But that was in the budget for the car to freshen it to factory new standards, NOT becuase stuff was broken. Never before have I even considered doing this level of "service", but hey, this IS a BMW, and I know what I'll be doing to it....



With some exceptions, I think there's some truth here. Strength of the suspension mount points may be one exception to this that could potentially have been done better, but can be minimized with appropriate STU/BSP legal modifications.

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Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --

There, I changed the title since some folks sound as if I called their mother names. I guess that's what I get for ranting online with little sleep. Oh well, at least some of this is funny.

When I think about it, I think the ITR has it's issues as well, just like any car that gets pushed. The ITR has front bearing issues (as Whipple) and some have issues burning oil around 100k.

I'll have to keep in mind that even though I haven't tracked the M3, it has been tracked. I suspect that after fixing some of the issues I've had that it will be years before they need attention again.

Calm down people, it's a car.

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Phil... Now I miss the ITR and the M3!!!
1990 Honda Civic SI

ahh ahh ahh there Miata Boy. CMP 03-11-08.

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BenchWarmer Motorsports

another one of those damn LeMons heads

just another Chump

we are an Autocross Club Dammit............

Is that the event your bringing out the vette?????

actually the Corvette has been to VIR two years ago at a Car Guys event. so this will be the second track endeavor for the Queen. i figure CMP will have low concentration of traffic and plenty of passing oppurtunity (for everyone else). if i become a roadblock i will just pit in.

besides the BMW is broken. doooooowh! damn plastic radiators.

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BenchWarmer Motorsports

another one of those damn LeMons heads

just another Chump

we are an Autocross Club Dammit............

IT'S NOT JUST A CAR! I wouldn't be half the douche i am today without my BMW!