Phenomenal poise and agility in a rapid, driver-friendly package makes the M3 the perfect performance saloon – provided you choose your car carefully – Classic Sports Car
An almost unbeatable combination of rearwheel drive handling, balance and power, combined with BMW reliability, makes the E30 M3 appeal across the spectrum of enthusiastic drivers – from the near-penniless to multi-millionaires – that’s how good the chassis dynamics of this homologation special are.
Always left-hand drive and hideously expensive new in Britain, few could be found in the UK until specialists like Munich Legends started importing them – mostly from Germany and Italy – a few years ago. ‘Now even the Germans come here to buy them,’ laughs Tony Halse of Munich Legends. They say we’ve taken all the best ones. We’ve sold them all over the world, to Chile, Venezuela, New Zealand. People buy them for what’s possibly the greatest handling chassis ever, like a Caterham with a lid.
‘The engine is a gruff, four cylinder screamer, at its best between 4000 to 7000rpm, you have to row it along, so don’t buy one if you prefer to be lazy. The quick rack and great feel make it safe for mere mortals to drive quickly, it’s very forgiving. Lots of owners use them every day as well as for tracks day. They’re boringly reliable.’
Racing heritage gives extra kudos to owning an M3; so prolific was its success, it’s claimed to be the most successful competition car of all time. In DTM (German touring car) race-spec, a 2.5 litre M3 produced 350bhp at 10,000rpm, giving a top speed of 186mph and 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds.
Later M3s have not shared the motorsport heritage and have far less enthusiast appeal and do not retain their value as E30 M3s do. Convertible E30 M3s are misfits too; scuttle shake impairs the handling purity and though desirable and rare, they are not as good convertibles as the cheaper 325i Motorsport cabrios.
Care when buying is vital: don’t be blinded by the cars’ undoubted ability. Tony Halse has lost count of the number of times he’s heard the mantra: ‘Oh my God, I wished I’d bought a good one in the first place.’ Like most modern classics, the cost of getting a scruffy car into really good condition is far greater than buying a top car in the first place.
Body/Chassis
The M3 bodyshell was built for racing, and is stiff but light. It’s well able to take normal stresses but you need to check it carefully for damage from accidents, excessively hard use or rust that will weaken the structure.
Rust in external panelwork is unusual, except at the bottom of the windscreen frame where corrosion can begin around the bonded screen if the bonding fails or the screen is carelessly replaced: it then proceeds to rot out the panel below the windscreen. To replace costs anywhere between £3-400 as the windscreen is bonded in and has to be removed, although the panel itself only costs £34. Other rot often begins with store chips on door scrapes.
Look down each side of the car and across the roof for evidence of creases or ripples from accident damage, dents or differing paint textures. Wheelarches should have sharp swage lines, which are difficult to recreate once bent. Under the front, broken or missing undertray panels may just have fallen off, but it’s more likely they’ve been broken in a crash: look for signs of creasing in the front chassis legs and evidence that a new front panel has been welded on. Bonnet fit can also be a good indication and excessive wind noise on road test may be an indication that does fit has been compromised.
Check under the bonnet behind the suspension turrets for any rippling and also for cracks resulting from excessive track use, especially if harder suspension is fitted. Cracks can also appear in the front sub-frame around its mountings: check these from under the car. Barney Halse of Munich Legends says that this is a common failing and says it is better to repair and reinforce the sub-frame, eliminating the problem, than to replace it. These repairs cost around £__.
At the back, inspect the inside of the boot floor and inner wheelarches for buckling or crash repairs. Some cars have an extra long-distance fuel tank mounted inside the boot: take a look at the tool box in the nearside inner wing (which holds the jack and wheelbrace) and the one in the bootlid (screwdrivers and spanners). The bootlid is injection-moulded plastic, but condensation inside It suggests damp is getting in, damaged rear light lenses can lead to a wet boot, as can blocked sunroof drains, which run down the rear inner wheelarches.
Sills rarely rust unless they have been crudely replaced, but check from underneath where they step up to the floors. Look for areas of missing or different underseal across the floorpan and the chassis legs.
‘Fake’ Sport Evos are not unknown, so check chassis numbers when buying. Look out for a plaque on the centre console, engine code 25-45L VIN prefix WBSAK07 and serial numbers AC79000 to 79599.
Engine
The M3’s twin-overhead camshaft, 16-valve, fuel-injected power unit is an impressive piece of kit, producing close to the benchmark 300bhp per litre. Consequently, it’s not worth trying to extract more power; you’re likely to spend a lot of money with little effect other than to make it less flexible. Power outputs rose during production but the only really noticeable difference came with the increased torque, and therefore greater flexibility of the larger-capacity Sport Evo.
Regular maintenance should give the engine a long, trouble free life – but it’s essential that the timing chain and the crankshaft sprocket are replaced at 100,000 miles, a £2000 job when done professionally because the parts alone come to £780. If the owner claims it’s been done, demand to see the bill and make sure it’s big. With the tensioner and head gasket replaced at the same time – and ideally the valve-stem oil seals – the engine should be good for the next 100,000 miles.
Clattering noise when cold on tickover suggests timing chain problems – but it can be 2 side effect of using the wrong grade of oil. “Exotic synthetics are not ideal for the engine,” says Tony Halse. “We find Castrol Magnatec 10W 40 suits it best.” Oil leaks from sump and chain tensioner are common and will require attention if excessive.
Misfiring when hot is often caused by perished intake blocks adjacent to the cylinder head. These cost £53 each, plus around £120 labour. Also inspect the condition of the three breather hoses, at front, rear and centre of the plenum chamber at the top of the engine.
Genuine BMW exhaust systems are expensive, so check the manifold carefully from below for blowing or missing nuts and inspect each end of the silencers for corrosion. Munich Legends often fit Supersprint systems. A front box is £881 from BMW, with a complete system around £__65. Barney Haise advises avoiding stainless steel as the harsh engine leads to it cracking. Expect to pay £1300 for a Sport Evo system as there is no aftermarket at present, although Barney hopes to soon offer a pattern one for around £900.
If air conditioning is fitted, check its mounting brackets under the manifold for cracks. Check the radiator for leaks cooking the engine would be a costly mistake because a full rebuild costs more than £4000.
Transmission
‘If the M3 has an Achilles heel, it’s the gearbox,’ says Munich Legends’ BMW trained engineer Mick Hope. ‘The bearings get noisy and the synchros wear, especially if the is regularly abused on the track. Noisy differentials are also likely to be an indication of track abuse.’ Gearbox mountings and propshaft rubber drive couplings also take a pounding on the track. The mountings and coupling perish with age; once replaced they should last well. Costs involved are coupling £65, gearbox mounting £10 and labour £60.
USA/Canadian M3s use a different Getrag gearbox from the 325i, which isn’t as well suited to the M3.
Suspension
‘You can tell so much about an M3 on the road,’ says Hope. Any odd behaviour from steering or suspension – jerkiness, clanks, in fact any feeling of insecurity – suggests problems that require closer inspection. Not all of it is expensive to rectify. Be wary of aftermarket handling kits as the standard set-up was extensively tested and is rarely bettered. Over hard suspension rarely improves handling and may damage the car’s structural integrity.
When checking underneath, squeeze steering rack gaiters if they’re full of oil, the rack needs a rebuild. Check the lower steering column rubber coupling as failure of this is dangerous. Inspect all bushes – especially those at the rear of the front lower wishbones, which cause rapid tyre wear and tramlining when they fail – and the anti-roll bar links. At the back, inspect the rear subframe’s front mountings ahead of each rear wheel. If the subframe is resting down on its mounting plate, the bushes have failed. The third mounting in this triangle is above the differential – inspect it too. Broken springs and leaking shock absorbers are not uncommon, but not too expensive to rectify. Expect to pay £56 each for standard front springs, £160 for a rear pair. Boge front dampers are £___ each, the rears are £94 each.
Brakes and Wheels
Juddering brakes means discs are warped and, if the discs are fairly new, may be an indication of track abuse. Genuine BMW wheels are expensive, £322 new for the standard M3 7X15 in alloy and more for Evo wheels, though aftermarket Hartge wheels are cheaper. Make sure the correct spare is undamaged and present; standard M3 alloys can be found secondhand but Evos are rare.
‘M3s are very sensitive to tyre choice,’ says Barney Halse. ‘Michelin and Pirelli don’t suit them – Bridgestone SO3s and Goodyear Eagle F1s are good.’
Electrics
Through generally reliable, BMW electrics are complex and a thorough check to ensure everything works is vital: you can easily spend £500 just having the electric engine fan replaced. The dashboard incorporates service indicator lights. An orange service light will specify whether a full service or just 7000mile oil and filter change is required; a single amber light suggests that the service indicator is faulty. The warning panel should flash ‘check’ when you switch on, going out once you touch the brakes. Check all gauges two buffer batteries maintain the service indicator when the main battery is disconnected, but if these corrode they will damage the circuit boards and affect other instrumentation. Even instrument and switch illumination can be expensive to put right.
Central locking is the greatest weakness of the electrical system and it can be very expensive to rectify. Electrical maladies linked to the doors often result from damp penetrating the multi-plug at t A-post. Check locks with the key too, as they are easily damaged.
The ECU (electronic engine management system) can give trouble; £400 for a rebuild and £940 new. Modified control chips are effective but can cause more trouble than they’re worth. Some disconnect the rev limiter so, if the engine revs above 7000rpm (don’t blow it up trying to check!) you can be sure it’s been modified.
Interior Trim
Though not cheap, M3 seat trim can be bought piecemeal, making replacement of odd damaged panels relatively economical. Sport Evo trim, which includes a suede steering wheel and red ‘full harness’ Recaro race seats, is the most desirable but costs £7000 to replace in its entirely.
Make sure that the seats tilt, recline, are secure and are uniform in shape, because their frames can fracture and are difficult to repair. Inspect carpets in the corners behind the front seats for signs that a roll cage has been fitted in the past.
Exterior Trim
Sport Evos have bigger front wheelarches, and a large, adjustable rear spoiler: ‘They make a huge difference,’ says owner and BMW Car Club M-Power registrar Richard Baxter. “It’s amazing how quickly the rear tyres wear out if you keep the spoiler fully extended.” Genuine BMW trim parts are all available, but are expensive. Early M3 cabrios have electro-hydraulic hoods (look inside for rams) which are not as efficient or reliable as later electro-mechanical ones. Rear screens go opaque and cost £400 to replace. Hoods can wear thin where they touch the metal frame. Make sure windows open and shut properly with the hood up and always open and close the hood fully, forcing it, however, will strip motors and gearboxes costing £300 each to replace.
Conclusion
Damage repairs are relatively common on M3s but it takes very careful inspection to assess whether they have been done properly. Try to find a well-maintained car, ideally with low mileage, though that is far from essential. Buy the best you can afford, maintain it properly and it will reward you with trouble free fun commuting and unbeatable track day delights.
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October 27, 2008
2000 - 2008, Articles