Civic Type-R Owners Club & Forum

BILLY DC5 wrote:Just read the whole thread and now I want an E46, goes off to check P.H lol

Money pits mate don't bother!!!

ShaunCTR wrote:Right got all my finances in place and was going to view one tomorrow in Aldershot..

However I joined M3cutters yesterday and started to have a really good in depth look in to the E46 M3. For me personally it has come to light that the M3 is not for me. It appears they are a bit of a money pit!

There's guys on there that have spent over 4k in only 2-3 years of ownership! I've probably spent around £300 on the CTR in 9 years that's on things I have HAD to sort not including residuals.

I'm just sooooo use to the bullet proof reliability of the 'H' badge, I can't be @rsed with crazy repair bills for..

VANOS issues
Gearbox issues (SMG)
Subframe issues
Diff issues
Rust issues

Looks like I'll be keeping my little baby for a while longer

Still want an E46 M3 though :roflmao:

much more complex bit of kit - you have to expect to spend money when you own a vehicle like this

mjhamilton wrote:

ShaunCTR wrote:Right got all my finances in place and was going to view one tomorrow in Aldershot..

However I joined M3cutters yesterday and started to have a really good in depth look in to the E46 M3. For me personally it has come to light that the M3 is not for me. It appears they are a bit of a money pit!

There's guys on there that have spent over 4k in only 2-3 years of ownership! I've probably spent around £300 on the CTR in 9 years that's on things I have HAD to sort not including residuals.

I'm just sooooo use to the bullet proof reliability of the 'H' badge, I can't be @rsed with crazy repair bills for..

VANOS issues
Gearbox issues (SMG)
Subframe issues
Diff issues
Rust issues

Looks like I'll be keeping my little baby for a while longer

Still want an E46 M3 though :roflmao:

much more complex bit of kit - you have to expect to spend money when you own a vehicle like this

You are 100% right and I do appreciate that however these things are in excess of 40k when new and spec'd up. German engineering and being an 'M' car I would expect greater reliability to be honest bud!

Buy a 3MPS [smilie=karls_thumb.gif]

ShaunCTR wrote:

BILLY DC5 wrote:Just read the whole thread and now I want an E46, goes off to check P.H lol

Money pits mate don't bother!!!

It's all relative.

They're 10 year old, £50k when new, cars so when it goes wrong it has the potential to be expensive.

Touches wood... Mine has been well looked after and as a result, never let me down or given me shock bills.

Buy an e92.

Remember mattgt3000 or whateve his name was...? His maintenance bills on his m3 we're disgusting. You pay the M tax sadly...

Shappers wrote:Remember mattgt3000 or whateve his name was...? His maintenance bills on his m3 we're disgusting. You pay the M tax sadly...

I think he spent more on his new missus

guy across the road from me has a lovely m3 convertible in black, if I was going to buy one it would be his but he will be getting buried with the keys, kid you not he is out there everyday washing the thing, everyday, saw him vacuuming out the engine bay yesterday, caught him with his microfibre cloth rubbing his handprints of the handles a few times

It looks like it just rolled out the showroom

ShaunCTR wrote:

mjhamilton wrote:

ShaunCTR wrote:Right got all my finances in place and was going to view one tomorrow in Aldershot..

However I joined M3cutters yesterday and started to have a really good in depth look in to the E46 M3. For me personally it has come to light that the M3 is not for me. It appears they are a bit of a money pit!

There's guys on there that have spent over 4k in only 2-3 years of ownership! I've probably spent around £300 on the CTR in 9 years that's on things I have HAD to sort not including residuals.

I'm just sooooo use to the bullet proof reliability of the 'H' badge, I can't be @rsed with crazy repair bills for..

VANOS issues
Gearbox issues (SMG)
Subframe issues
Diff issues
Rust issues

Looks like I'll be keeping my little baby for a while longer

Still want an E46 M3 though :roflmao:

much more complex bit of kit - you have to expect to spend money when you own a vehicle like this

You are 100% right and I do appreciate that however these things are in excess of 40k when new and spec'd up. German engineering and being an 'M' car I would expect greater reliability to be honest bud!

thats what warranties are for when they are new and why they are worth nothing after about 6-8 years

I bought my current car knowing that I may need a £2k chain job doing at anytime (no way to tell 100%)

This was my M3 which I sold not so long ago.



The actually maintenance costs are not that much more than an Ep3. Its when you getting the modding bug it starts to get expensive.

Decent cat back will set you back £1500+
A carbon csl airbox can set you back £4000
BBK will set you back £2000+ (for the fronts)

The main problem is the rear subframe issue which develops cracks, most have been sorted or strengthened but if your unlucky enough to find one with cracks that's at least £1500 out your pocket.

Don't consider budget tyres either, a good set of rears are £200 a corner.

Only fit birds can pull off the convertible look. :salut:

Really look quite dated now.

Maintenance costs are nowhere near as bad as they are made out unless you buy an absolute shed of an uncared for M3.

Plus, the majority of them are now at that age where the major catastrophic failures have either been a) repaired or b) had preventative action taken to ensure it doesn't occur.

Shaun, for you having a good looked after EP3, there are 5 that aren't looked after and have had major money spent on maintenance. The M3's are no different.

Dated? Not at all. Not with the right things fitted to the car.

One quick pic of mine - and for the record as standard car it's far superior to any EP3. FN2, can't say as haven't driven one. Hence why it's a £50k car new, not £20k.

Still looks dated

Clean... But dated.

It will go past dated into classic soon enough. :cooldude:

It would be fun to get a cheap E46 m3 and run a weight loss exercise, fitting fixed buckets etc

if you could get one down to 1350kg it would bring the performance up to date.

Obviously a man who owns an E92 M3 is going to sit on his perch and procalim the E46 dated.

Same with FN2 owners v EP3, and any other newer model owner, when comparing his car to the older model. Standard.

TimEP3 wrote:Obviously a man who owns an E92 M3 is going to sit on his perch and procalim the E46 dated.

Same with FN2 owners v EP3, and any other newer model owner, when comparing his car to the older model. Standard.

E46 is dated

Josh1921 wrote:

TimEP3 wrote: E46 is dated

So is your mum.