My priorities are changing and the money it takes to keep up going to the track with my own vehicles isn't worth it.
I'd like to ditch the BRZ for something nicer, faster, and more comfortable.
Common issues? Do these engines have the same rod bearing issues of the S54 engine (I thought I read that somewhere one time).
I've driven a few and love the engine and how it sounds uncorked with a quality exhaust.
Teach me!
Could you afford the car when it was brand new? If no, you can't afford it now. If yes, enjoy your sexy new ride.
I currently have a customer who learned that lesson the hard way. He was mentioning that he loved the e60 M5 when they came out but couldn't afford the $90K. Bought one when they dropped to $45K. Came in with Vanos faults and running rough at 114,000 miles. Diagnostics show it had a bad high pressure oil pump and/or line. 16 (labor)hours later he found out he needed the $3500 pump and possibly the $7500 in Vanos solenoids too. Once the sump was dropped we also found a large pile of sparkly bits. Rod bearings trashed. Now total repair is around $15K! Guy spent $3K just for me to tear it apart, give him the bad news, and then put it back to together unfixed.
Seriously, if you couldn't afford it new, you can't afford it now. YMMV
Bearings still apply and its a much more expensive motor so keep a good eye on them by sending the oil out for analysis at every oil change.
I've had a PDK and my brother currently has a manual.
I dont believe that if you could not own one new, you cant own one used. Ignore and go for it if its what you like.
Only things I can tell you:
I remember you mentioning the expense of oil changes on the Mustang GT. Expect the same, 9 qts of oil at $12 each plus filter. Dont follow the factory interval, I changed it every 5-7k miles.
They are heavy, so they go through consumables at a higher rate, than an e46 M3 lets say, on track.
I loved the DCT. The manual is not bad, just like the e30 you had ...
Best intake noise you will hear for the money. Period.
Sold mine at 50k miles and my brother's has ~70k miles, neither has had problems.
Also, warm it up and dont beat on the engine until you reach 190 or so deg.
2010 and on has a better HVAC system, but its not a deal breaker.
Slippery wrote: Sold mine at 50k miles and my brother's has ~70k miles, neither has had problems.
Exactly. Your anecdotal evidence is thin. Pretty sure any e90 M3 is going to have more miles than the one you sold with "no issues" or your brothers. First owner has it great, full warranty and service contract. Second owner can probably keep up with maintenance and repairs. Third owner (which most are by now) get a worn out, beat to E36 M3 pile.
In all my years I've only seen 3 BMW motors with rod knock, all of them M cars.
Maybe you have very few issues, maybe it's a money suck. I'll leave that gamble to the OP.
But hey you've owned (1) and I have only been a BMW specialist for 20+ years and belong to multiple professional diagnostic forums that specialize in Euro cars. Please ignore my advice, Slippery knows way more than me.
Thanks for the info so far. I don't agree with the "couldn't afford it new, can't afford it now" your customer had some bad luck.
Good point about the consumables as well, although I wouldn't be doing HPDEs or even AutoX with it. Just a fun, nice DD.
I don't like the idea of the bearings being a wear item that need replaced at some time while I own the car. That's not a job I could tackle and I'd shudder to think what it would cost to pay a shop to do it.
I may have to stick to my other idea of buying a cheap commuter car, then dropping cash on something fun for the weekends/trips/occasional nice weather commute on Fridays.
I really, REALLY want an M2 with the DCT. But that's a payment that's hard to justify even with my low living expenses.
I love me some old BMWs, but I don't think I could bring myself to deal with the newer ones longer than a test drive or track session in someone else's.
^Same here, but I refuse to drop $10k+ to get an E30 in the same condition as the 318is I had 5-6 years ago.
I forgot some people have also had problems with the throttle body actuators. Search and you will find details as I never had to replace them.
The Hoff wrote: In reply to z31maniac: M3 rod bearings M5 rod bearings Yep, just the one guy with bad luck...
Not sure what your point is. I mentioned they were wear items.
In reply to Slippery: It was a reply to Z31's comment that "your customer had some bad luck".
I'm sorry I screwed up this thread with my experience and expertise in BMWs. It should have been titled "I want an e90 M3 so please tell me only positive things about them and I'll ignore any real advice"
In reply to The Hoff:
Lol dont be sorry.
I never said I knew more than you, even though I might. What you stated was based on a 10 cylinder M5 and had nothing to do with the car the PO was asking about.
Read my posts and dont come up to stupid conclusions. We are all grown up and I hope will at the end of the day make our own decisions.
if you go through life being afraid of a $1200 bill to change the bearings on an M3 or however much it cost to do the IMS/chain guides on a 996 or the valve guides on a Z06 you will never enjoy any cool cars.
I leave you guys alone. Z31 if you have any specific questions that I might b able to answer email me, I bought your Miata coilover/brakes.
The Hoff wrote: In reply to Slippery: It was a reply to Z31's comment that "your customer had some bad luck". I'm sorry I screwed up this thread with my experience and expertise in BMWs. It should have been titled "I want an e90 M3 so please tell me only positive things about them and I'll ignore any real advice"
Dude, you have some good points to make, but you're making them badly. Chill out on the "woe is me my experience is being disrespected" attitude.
The Hoff wrote: In reply to Slippery: It was a reply to Z31's comment that "your customer had some bad luck". I'm sorry I screwed up this thread with my experience and expertise in BMWs. It should have been titled "I want an e90 M3 so please tell me only positive things about them and I'll ignore any real advice"
How's the air up there? Why don't you layoff with being a shiny happy person. I'm well aware modern BMWs are expensive to maintain, hence the question. My point with that statement is that surely not EVERY SINGLE MODERN BMW experiences catastrophic engine failure.
Slippery wrote: In reply to The Hoff: Lol dont be sorry. I never said I knew more than you, even though I might. What you stated was based on a 10 cylinder M5 and had nothing to do with the car the PO was asking about. Read my posts and dont come up to stupid conclusions. We are all grown up and I hope will at the end of the day make our own decisions. if you go through life being afraid of a $1200 bill to change the bearings on an M3 or however much it cost to do the IMS/chain guides on a 996 or the valve guides on a Z06 you will never enjoy any cool cars. I leave you guys alone. Z31 if you have any specific questions that I might b able to answer email me, I bought your Miata coilover/brakes.
Oh now, $1200 for the bearings isn't bad. I was thinking it'd be more like $3-4k for that. Not exactly a small service!
I'm assuming they have the normal window regulator/full cooling system at 90-100k miles as other modern BMWs. Any other common issues. I don't mind tackling stuff like that. But the rod bearings is definitely not something I would feel comfortable trying to attempt.
It's offensive when the OP is literally told to ignore my advice. You can say you've had a good experience with your car without E36 M3ting on my opinion. I've been told a couple of times on here that my opinion doesn't count because "you only see broken ones". Would you use the same logic with your doctor? Disregard all his education and experience because he is obviously biased? I just don't understand the logic.
Yes my current scenario was with an M5, but major failures and high repair costs apply to ALL late model M cars. This isn't my opinion, it's well documented across the internet if you research. Yet my opinion is somehow invalid because 1 guy owned 1 M3 with low miles and didn't have a problem.
My experience counts not only because I work on these cars every day and see the same E36 M3 constantly, but also because I regularly have customers crying to daddy, the bank, or credit cards trying to get the money to fix the car they thought they could afford because buy-in is cheap. There is a reason why these things depreciate like rotting fruit. If you could DIY a majority of repairs, obviously that'll save some serious coin. Most of my customers pay $2-$4K per year to maintain their car. Add that to the monthly payment they are already making and you are in the realm of a new car payment. Will you go a year with only $1k in repairs? Sure. But are you ready for the $4K year?
The M5 guy paid $45K for his car a few years ago he thought he could afford. But when the big failure, that is VERY common, hit him at $15K he had to tow his $45K brick out of here.
Take my advice. Tell me to berkeley off. Your call.
Then how about be helpful?
What are the other common issues? What do you charge to do the bearings on the S65? Etc, instead of just being offended about someones comment.
E36 M3, where's that Michael Jackson eating popcorn .gif when you need it..
Ready? Fight! 
Oh yeah, buy an E36 M3. They're the best!
In reply to The Hoff:
Have you heard the phrase "you're not wrong, you're just an a-hole?" I think you need to cool off for a bit or something. Maybe you had a bad day.
It's also possible that someone else has valuable input that doesn't agree with your experience, isn't it?
Some more dude advice:
In reply to dculberson:
Wow. Calling somebody an shiny happy person and telling them to calm down is the BEST way to de-escalate a situation.
Thanks for your valuable input.
Sorry being such a prick. Good day sir!
You can lead a horse to water...
dculberson wrote: You can lead a horse to water...
No joke. All he did was confirm what I already knew, then provided no extra information other than acting like a millenial with trigger warnings and microaggressions.
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