M3 goes up for sale!!!!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/215227.htm

is there any more to say , Im gutted , what a car ..............

2004 / 04 BMW E46 M3 manual
Silver Grey / Full Black Nappa Leather
2004 July build Facelift Model so has the LED rear lights and wider rear boot handle.

Car has a FULL and up to date Main Dealer BMW Service History.
28/06/2004 : Originally supplied by Henry Bros , Glasgow.
08/09/2004 : Running in service at 1304 miles by Henry Bros, Glasgow.
01/02/2006 : Oil Service at 10163 miles by Henry Bros , Glasgow.
14/08/2006 : Inspection I at 24809 miles by Henry Bros , Glasgow.
21/06/2007 : Oil Service at 38486 miles by Williams , Manchester.

Car currently shows 41500 miles
11750 miles indicated to next service by dash, which will be an Inspection II at approx 53000 miles

I bought car in March 2006 from Henry Bros , Glasgow with 10200 miles on clock.
The car has then covered mostly motorway miles to the current mileage of 41500 miles.
So a total of 2 owners from new.
Fully documented history and HPI Clear.
All original BMW books, folders and receipts and service book history, inc all receipts for all work.

Taxed until 31/01/2008
MOT until 28/06/2008
BMW Warranty until 27/06/2008 (transferable to new owner )

Work done at various points in my ownership

Xenon LHS bulb replaced under warranty (flickering)
New rear springs replaced under warranty (common M3 fault)
New tyres at approx 27,000 miles
New OE Rear Discs/Pads at approx 41,000 miles

Door shuts around mechanism resprayed under warranty (common M3 fault)
at the same time as this I also decided to have the front end done to remove all stone chips.
(in anticipation of keeping the car for longer!)
This was done by Williams Manchester BMW bodyshop , and I have to say the work is faultless and I cannot tell.
Don't take my word for it just come and see the car , it is now immaculate without a single mark on it.
(receipt included for £1800)

Only ever filled with BP Ultimate or Shell Optimax
Uses no oil (although I do carry a litre in the boot and check regularly just in case)
Car is always allowed to warm to 75degrees on oil gauge (not water temp!) before any load is placed on engine.

All 3 keys supplied
Aside from the usual massive M3 standard spec i.e.

Bi-Xenon Lights
Electric / Memory Sport Seats
Climate Control
Auto dim mirror
Auto-lights on/off
Steering Wheel Controls (cruise, telephone & stereo)
Cruise Control
DSC Stability Control
Sport Mode
LED rear lights
Electric & heating mirrors
Full fuel computer with range, MPG, average speed etc
Through load system (folding rear seats)
Tyre Pressure Warning System
Rear park distance control

The car comes complete with :

19" Original Diamond Cut BMW Alloy Wheels fitted with Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 tyres (235F,265R) roughly 7mm tread left all round.
Parrot Bluetooth (hidden in glove box)(manual supplied)
Kenwood KVT-627 DVD Flip up touch screen DVD + iPod interface (cable connector between seats) (all manuals,receipts (£1000)+ remote supplied)
both professionally fitted by Newministuff(Formby Car Electrical Services) on 18/03/2006
both work via OE steering wheel controls and phone functions mute stereo in use.
[this unit includes disabled sat nav function , that only requires an additional unit(DVD or hard drive(Kenwood KNA-G520)) to get working]
Original single CD business player supplied as well , should you wish to refit it.
TRACKER unit installed and still on an active subscription
BMW Leather Centre Armrest

Car is located in Warrington (1/2 way between Manchester and Liverpool).

Downsides
Wheels have some scuffs (previous owner!) and a couple of places of water under the lacquer(3mm diam max)
(maybe enough to get dealer to replace but I have never got around to it)
Stone chip on windscreen , out of drivers line of sight , passed MOT so OK.


I have a wedding ahead and I'm moving house so it's time to move on to a Golf which arrives soon.
A genuine car that's been well looked after. Lots of trouble free motoring ahead.
Trust me you will not be disappointed these cars really are as good as the reviewers say.
This car has been my pride and joy , but sadly it's time to move on.

I have nothing to hide and the full history of the car has been blogged by me on
http://johnoldfield.blogspot.com
I have also posted sometimes on the excellent www.bm3w.co.uk , which as an M3 owner you can't do without.
I will ONLY consider test drives if you are insured. Otherwise I'm afraid it will be just me driving.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the car, or would like to come see it.
Looking at the current market I am asking for £23,995 , which I feel reflects its condition.

Golf GTI Edition 30

Er , well not one to hang about its time to move on again.
M3 is a truly astonishing car I may never experience the like of again , but the rolling year to year costs are now prohibitive.
So it will be up for sale soon.

What to replace it with? Low running costs and practical/reliable but with a 'fun' element to (partially) replace the M3 fun.

So I considered
Golf GTI
Ford Focus ST
Seat Leon
Renault Megane R26
and started a discussion on www.bm3w.co.uk.....

Then I went around each dealer to have a look at the cars.
Decided on a second hand Golf GTI eventually , trawled classifieds and dealers for the 'right' car , then eventually left a dealer last sunday having ordered the last Edition30 available ;-) , so much for the budget.

Anyway car ordered , in metallic black, manual , 3dr, with a few choice extras.
Highline computer + MFSW , Xenons , Lux pack , parking sensors :-)
My first 'new' car, due to arrive in 3 months time!

Heres a sample pic of exactly how it will look..


Whats the graph I hear you ask?
Well supposedly the S3 engine detuned to 230 bhp , but they all seem to put out more , and the tuning potential is just crazy...
lol modified it before its even run in.

A superchips bluefin can do the following

Vehicle
VW Golf GTI Edition 30

Original Max 244 BHP @ 6088 Rpm
Superchipped Max 307 BHP @ 6571 Rpm

Original Max 317 Nm @ 4752 Rpm
Superchipped Max 391 Nm @ 3140 Rpm

Power 61 BHP increase @ 6484 Rpm
Torque 82 Nm increase @ 3762 Rpm

thats serious numbers, which apparently it can handle!!!!
In my day 220bhp was considered the limit for FWD, so much for that.


I can hardly wait. Just need to sell the M3 now.

Enjoy

RUST ! 41k miles .....

Well what can I say!!! poor BMW build quality or what?
I was drying the door sills and noticed a hint of a rust bubble around the door plate.
Pulled back the black plastic cover to reveal the true horror.
Car has never had any paint , and given that its on both sides it appears to be a bmw weakness . A quick BM3W forum check reveals others have seen the same problem.
Luckily BMW have agreed to fix it , as they should on a car thats only 3 years old!

So , I think its almost time to put the car in and get the door dent / lower sill / and front end blow over.
Slightly concerned about having paint done at all , matching,quality etc but it needs done.

On a lighter note , the 3rd pic is the 41k milestone

Seriously considering a downgrade to save money but M3 values have dropped so much its painful :-(

Cars I have considered which would all be 05 or newer

Ford Focus ST
Renault Megane R26
Golf GTI

All around 15k , with Golf above that if you want DSG etc , 2 others are MUCH cheaper , but of course lower quality.

, whats also nice is a Mk4 Golf R32 03 plate , 15k too for a 3dr black 30kmiles ish mmmm nice.

currently getting around 24.5 MPG general commuting !

enjoy

M3 Warranty renewed

Yes , sadly its been an expensive time.
The car was 3yrs old on 26th June 2007 (remember MOT etc) , which also means the manufacturers warranty runs out.

3 choices

1. Pay BMW for a years cover
2. Pay a third party warranty company
3. Stick cash in a savings account and pray it never happens :-)

Well weighing up the options and especially the fact I will probably sell the car in the next year , I have renewed with BMW for the not insignificant sum of £1000 bend over and cough did I hear u say !
I reckoned it may be an advantage for my car, esp as it doesnt have sat-nav and hk.


Only things left to do are

1. Get the door and lower sill painted (+ maybe the front end to remove stone chips)
2. Front brakes (although to be honest they are currently fine)

Im already working out in my head how much year 2 is currently costing....
Its a supreme car , but to treat it correctly costs lots.

oh and did I mention suzuki are doing 0% finance and £139 insurance on the GSXR750 now :-).........heres the darker blue (and no white) special anniversary TT edition


Enjoy

40k miles / MOT passed / new rear brakes / some classic cars

First two pics are ex police Pord Capri 2.8 and Talbot Sunbeam(Alpine?) recently seen outside the GMEX in Manchester for a police conference , I was just out for my lunch :-)

Second is the 40,000 miles milestone !!!!


And just after that it had to go in to Williams BMW because it was fast approaching the cars 3rd birthday.
Decided it was time to get the rear discs/pads/shoes replaced, lazy? me? yeah probably. I will attempt to replace the fronts later on myself though honest!


Third pic are my new rear discs :-) Yum , only job is to have the wheels back off and paint the bits that will just get rusty.

Just for you folks , the bill is below ......





another 'quick' £500 :-(

Once again top marks to Williams BMW , polite , courteous , effective , this is my second visit and so far I'm very impressed , they even put my plastic sill back on properly :-) that I had recently damaged. Phoned me about replacing the rear shoes for the handbrake , and of course the car came back with no extra marks.

On top of that I went to the bodyshop part of Williams to get a quote for chips/damage etc, and they were top notch too. Car will probably get put back to 'perfection' in the next month which would leave only the wheels as not up to 'john' spec :-)

On a personal note its a good week, my lovely nieces birthday this weekend , and a former work colleague gave birth to a lovely baby girl this week :-)


o and my car passed its MOT lol

take care
J

39k miles / stupid mistake .....

There you go , 39500 miles on the beast......

Oh and the small matter of 'stupid' here managing to hit a large boulder on the drive!!!! At first I didnt think much of it ....... until I got out........
Oh well these things happen and it just means i will be getting the door fixed quicker than I realised.
[perhaps even get stonechips on bonnet/wings blown over if it isnt too costly]

Sill panel itself looks easy enough to respray.

TODO =

1. Extend BMW Warranty for this year
2. MOT for car
3. Replace rear discs and pads (I hope to leave fronts for time being)
4. Get door dent and sill repaired
5. Get wheels refinished by Pristine Wheels