INTRODUCTION

I purchased this vehicle in August of 2003 and have owned it for 1 year and 7 months now with around 13K miles on it. I held off on getting one because of the engine problems BMW was having on the M3s. Then BMW claimed to have fixed the problem, and offered extended 100K warranties on the drivetrain so I went for it (August 2003 was the last month that M3s still came with the 100K extended warranty). Have had zero problems with the engine so far.

OTHER CARS OWNED

I absolutely love this car. I also own a '94 Toyota Supra turbo, and in comparison the M3 does just about everything better. It doesn't have the brutal power of my modified Supra, but it's far more responsive, handles better, way more comfortable, has incredible technology, and a great interior. The Supra may slightly out accelerate it at highway speeds, but from a stop the M3 is faster because of the Supra's turbo lag, and on a track I think it would be even faster.

THE EXTERIOR

I don't think anyone needs convincing that the M3 is a fabulous looking car. It has a bold, muscular look, and an agressive stance. But it's still refined and understated, more mature. Mine is Titanium Silver, my cars are all silver. There is an option BMW offers where you can get titanium colored trim pieces for the insides of the headlights to replace the standard black trim, I highly recommend it.

THE ENGINE

This BMW engine is quite a gem. I said it was responsive, and boy is it. Especially in the lower gears, every little push on the throttle gives you an immediate equivalent response, I absolutely love it. Switch to "sport" mode at the press of a button and the throttle becomes SUPER responsive, may be too much so for some people, but I love it. You better have good, progressive foot control though, or you may induce what many M3 owners call "The Bucking Bronco" where the car bucks furiously due to drive induced oscillation. Basically what happens is that the throttle is so sensitive in 1st & 2nd that when you press it, it lunges forward, the pushes you back in your seat and causes your foot to come off the gas, lifting off the gas in 1st causes a very strong deceleration, pushing you back forward and your foot back on the gas, repeat, repeat, you get the idea. To avoid it, be smooth on the throttle, brace you foot against the footwell. The redline is 8,000 RPM, and it's quite something. Redline on the Supra was 6,500 or so. I had to relearn a bit because I'm not used to revving so high, felt like I was going to damage the engine, but worry not, it's what it's built for. Torque is definitely less on this higher revving engine, but keeping it in the powerband is so easy, it's not a concern. Ripping thru and redlining all the gears is an absolutely eye opening event. The stock engine note develops what many have named the "rasp" at high RPMs, it's a bit of a tinny, ball bearings rattling around in a metal can sound. Some love it, I don't. I switched to a Borla exhaust and love it. The engine is not that gas friendly though. I get about 19-20 mpg with mixed city & highway driving. Even all highway I don't get more than 24 mpg.

SMG TRANSMISSION

The debate on this issue could go on forever, and I'm sure it will. But the final point is, just get what you like, who cares what others think or want. Purists don't like the loss of interaction and control with SMG, and I can see that side. I personally love SMG, I like not having to deal with the clutch, I like the versatility of being able to shift when I want, at different shift agressiveness settings, or switching to full auto when needed. I do not miss having to work the clutch, and in LA traffic I miss it even LESS. The shifts are fast when you want, smooth when you want, direct, and responsive, beautiful rev matched downshifts with double declutching thrown in. You can choose from 5 shift agressiveness programs on the auto mode, and 6 on the manual mode. S6 on manual mode is the most agressive and fastest, it requires you to disable traction control to even use it, shifts are completed in as little as .08 seconds, faster than Ferrari's .150 second shifts. The "smooth" shift modes are indeed much smoother, the clutch uptake is much slower and progressive, but it makes the car feel sloppy and doesn't fit will with the M3, but it's nice to have when grandma's riding with you. The "auto" mode on SMG is not very smooth at all, but it's nice to have the option in case you need to use your cell phone or something. But don't think the auto mode makes it smooth like an automatic transmission car, it does NOT. Auto mode is there for convenience, but please don't use it as the default, you're totally missing out. Learning to be smooth with the SMG does take a little time. Just like a normal manual, you need to ease off the throttle and ease back on to be smooth. You will learn this, and learn to anticipate when the clutch will really bite in. But if you throw smoothness to the wind, and want the fastest shifting and acceleration, just keep your foot planted on the throttle and shift away. You get some fast, neck snapping shifts, but that's the point, it's fast, not smooth. The real advantages to SMG show up when you track a car. SMG driver focuses on turning and braking/acceleration and minimally on shifting. Manual drivers have to divide their focus a lot more between turning, braking/acceleration, clutch, toe-heeling, rev matching, etc. I highly recommend SMG, it was one of the main factors I wanted to get the M3 (big F1 fan).

RIDE QUALITY

I also imported 19" wheels from the M3 CSL from BMW Germany, took 6 months to get it and it was very exclusive. But now you can get those wheels as an option on 2005 M3s on the competition package, oh well there goes my exclusivity. I had stock 18s, and the step up to 19s did not seem to make the car ride any harsher to me. On stock 18s the ride is firm, but not harsh. But I'm coming from a Supra with aftermarket hard suspension so, I may be kinda biased. But suffice it to say, if you can't handle a firmer ride or have any such concerns, don't get a sports car. Sports car need to have firm suspension. I replaced the stock suspension with Tein SS coilovers with EDFC controller that lets me adjust the stiffness from inside the car. Very cool setup, and I highly recommend the kit. Now I can set the suspension to be softer on rough roads, and firm when I want better handling etc.

HANDLING

Upon driving the M3, I immediately could feel how much stiffer and more responsive the chassis was compared to the Supra. Turn in response is excellent as is the weight of the steering effort. Transitional response is good, if not a bit compromised by the stock suspension which was too soft for my tastes, excessive body roll into turns and such, but no slouch by any means. After installing coilovers, I like the handling more, it's sharper and I can take corners more confidently. The speed that I can carry into corners is amazing, I had to recalibrate my mental benchmarks. I am very happy with the handling performance of this car.

INTERIOR & SEATS

I opted for the Nappa leather seats with adjustable width option. There are air bladders in the side bolsters of the seats that can inflate or deflate to help you fit more snuggly in the seats and stay put under cornering. I really like the leather, it's very high quality and quite soft. It has a matte, very slightly suede-like finish which I much prefer over a glossy look. The rest of the materials in the cabin are quite decent, but nothing to write home about. The dash and side panel material is a soft touch rubber like element. But the sides have a very fine sand like texture to them, which easily scuffs just by rubbing your skin up against it, a small gripe. A bigger gripe however I do have with rattles and squeaks in the cabin. Specifically speaker rattling. I took the car in twice for this, and the excuse was often, "can not replicate" until I replicated it for them and found a service bulletin specifically about replacing some bolts or washers with softer ones that wouldn't rattle. That helped for a while, but now I have now creaks, I just don't care enough to go through the trouble anymore.

OPTIONS/STEREO/XENONS/NO SUNROOF

I got the upgraded Harman Kardon sound system, basically a bit stronger amp, better speakers and subwoofers. Can't say it makes a big diff, better off spending $700 yourself and do aftermarket upgrades. Now the xenons, they ARE worth it. They light up the road so much better, and their output is excellent. Did you know the xenon high beams are not a separate bulb? The normal xenon light output is actually being restricted, there is a little plate covering about half the bulb, restricting the amount of light coming out. When you do the xenon high beams, the plates lower and the full output is released. I also chose to not have a sunroof, saved me several hundred dollars for something I don't use much, increased headroom, decreased weight and one less thing to break.

PROBLEMS/SERVICE

Other than the creaks & rattles, the other problem I had with this car was some electronic glitch that caused the climate control to still be on after I turned the car off. I'd come to a dead battery the next morning. Once again I had to find the service bulletin for BMW and they did a software fix and all's been good on that front. Oh yes, I also had to take it in when the passenger side door handle stopped working as did the locks and passenger side window. Apparently mechanical failures, fixed with no more problems. Scheduled maintenance is included for 4 years, I've had the initial 1500mi oil change and 2nd oil change (around 12K miles) done. I also change the oil myself in between as I find the BMW recommended intervals too long. Will cost you about $65 for the oil and filter. I use a top side oil extractor to do it all without having to get under the car as the oil filter is at the top.

BUYING EXPERIENCE

At the time I bought my M3, it was in very high demand, and you had to get on a waiting list of a few months or so. As a result most dealers in Southern California were marking up the price by several thousand. Rusnak being one of the biggest offenders with a $10,000 markup! I was lucky to find Mr. Rich Patrei at Long Beach BMW who sold me the vehicle at MSRP. He was great to work with, and as a result my parents also bought their latest 2005 325i through Rich as well, he gave them an incredible deal!
Amount Paid (US$): 58000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: SMG, Xenons, HK Upgrade, No Sunroof