As mentioned in my Kraut Wagon thread I've given up on a direct replacement for the Legacy, or anything imaginative in fact, and decided on a van and an E46 M3 instead.

It's not going to be a toy as such, it will be my everyday car and could do up to 20k a year. I see most of the mileage being put on getting me to work, wherever that may be.

It will also be used for the odd track day, probably when I want to learn a circuit without dragging the E30 half way round the country.

I'm after something with <40k miles, definitely Sat Nav and as many other toys as possible.

I'm intrigued by SMG (and have already had some useful info about it, cheers Rob) which is useful because it seems to be a very popular option on the later cars.

I'd love a CSL but given the usage I'm not sure it would be a good idea. Convenient, because they're expensive

The CS looks interesting too but the only ones I've seen are CSL money anyway.

Colour, I'd prefer black but anything except "piss yellow" will do. It'll be Silver then

The impatient child in me wants to march straight into my local dealers and p/x the Subaru for one right NOW but whilst they seem to have some cars that look perfect, the prices are cheeky to say the least.

What's the score with warranty on these things? They're getting on a bit now and I understand BMW don't like to renew it after a certain age.

I'm happy to take on some risk with this sort of car but not if I don't have to.

Any tips, advice, warnings, don't do its?

Chilled, very keen to hear an update from you as I know yours is no garage queen...

 

zzzzzzzzz

M cars

Good idea about using it to learn tracks - never thought of that excuse to keep the current cars

The warranty can only be continued if there is a current BMW one in place and the car is bought from a BMW dealer.

 

Make sure you get on with the 'normal' gearbox before parting with your money .... they are not the smoothest in the world

Notchy, obstructive, slow .... are all words that spring to mind ! The engine, however, makes up for any pain from the gearbox

 

This is where they're going to get me.

Those thieving bastards with their shiny showrooms

 

Noted

 

The trouble with the extended warranty from BMW is I understand it gets very expensive after a certain millage and would require full main dealer history.

One think I understand is important to check is that it's had the 1500mile running in service as without this you will not get a BMW warranty or any good will gesture should you need it.

 

Like our cars

Clutch Delay Valve removal and a nice countersunk knob apparently makes a world of difference, both on my priority list when I get a bit of time!

 

Quite a large portion of SMG cars will need a new pump fitted between 40 and 60k miles, £1200 for the parts I believe. Fine if you buy a dealer car and the used warranty is fantastic (had several thousand pounds worth of warranty work on my previous cars all paid for without question) though you pay a premium for the privilege. I like the manual myself though it can be a bit balky for the first few miles till it warms up. The smaller wheels 18 are much nicer to drive on with the roads in their current state though the CS wheels are nicer. If you are looking for a dealer car keep an eye on the coming soon part of the BMW site where you can see what cars are likely to be arriving, most nice ones are sold before they arrive so never get to photoed for the main site. If I was you I would increase your mileage to 45k or so and have the dealer do the expensive inspection 2 service. Plenty sold before that is needed as it tends to cost around £2k by the time any extras are added.

 

cant be as bad as mine surely.


a walkinshaw ripshifter is on the top of my list.

 

Thanks, useful info.

I'd much prefer to buy a dealer car TBH but £20k for 2004 car seems to be the going rate. Often with low mileage and all the toys though...

How often do the inspection 2s come around?

It's likely that with my mileage I'll hit one anyway so I may be just changing the point at which it happens.

18s would be my preference but quite rare it seems.