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Mine's still feels pretty epic. As echoed above it's the type of car that thrives on good regular maintenance. I'm 93K in and took a fellow petrol head for a spin on Friday and he was "I've got to get one!"

If you're going to track it I'd imagine you'll have to look at the consumables. 1st thing you need to do is look at the brakes even if it's hoses and EBC pads (someone will pipe in with the correct ones in a bit. Yellow?) Stock brakes are frankly, pants.

Mines is now on a 6 months oil change cycle and she purrs and roars as she should

T1b

Not a roadster, but I bought mine on 107k with FSH, got all the big jobs and preventative maintenance out of the way immediately, and have driven it daily ever since. It still feels special, it's now about to hit 120k, I get it serviced 3 times a year, and its been completely faultless so far, although I'm often on my way to a Shell to top up on V-Power, it does like to drink!
I'm using oem brake discs and Blue Stuff NDX race pads, on the recommendation of Fishy Dave who uses them on track in his AP calipers, fantastic pad for the money and take so much abuse, can't recommend them enough for a budget performance pad.

great advice

thanks all for posts and input

I am slightly put off the M by running costs and my desire to take it on the track once in a while

Anyway I can think of more troublesome predicaments to find yourself in ... lol ... I will continue to search AT/pistonheads and ponder some more...

thanks again all

It depends on your perspective. Apart from the tax and all round discs and pads which need doing every 35-40k I thought the running costs were pretty reasonable for the type of car you get for the money.

Inspections can be expensive but with the age of the car even BMW do the old car program. Had my inspection 2 done for around £690ish at grange BMW I seem to remember and that was a good 3-4 years ago.

They are great cars. Just do the things it needs at the age. Engine mounts are rubber so will be ready for new, engine bolts makes sense and get the bearings swapped about £1500 in all and really as long as vanos behaves it should be decent £ motoring.

tomscott wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2018 6:01 pm
They are great cars. Just do the things it needs at the age. Engine mounts are rubber so will be ready for new, engine bolts makes sense and get the bearings swapped about £1500 in all and really as long as vanos behaves it should be decent £ motoring.

great advice. thank you

this is the bit that worries me a little however ... vanos behaviour and 1500 maintenance is not something i am too keen on esp when a sorted 3.0 will cost me 5k

If you are wanting a low use weekend / track toy that comes with less financial risk & commitment yet offers decent handling & performance i would seriously consider a 3.0Si roady or coupe for half the investment they offer decent bang for buck

mr wilks wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2018 6:44 pmIf you are wanting a low use weekend / track toy that comes with less financial risk & commitment yet offers decent handling & performance i would seriously consider a 3.0Si roady or coupe for half the investment they offer decent bang for buck

good advice buddy cheers will have a gander

Milage IS the killer - or.. not really, it’s the stupid engine construction.
However well maintained, it WILL eat thru the rod bearings. Better change before 150000km’s.

Very easy car to live with. Change rod bearings at 100k kms, and the vanos/chain guide at 150k, besian kit. Easy peasy. Punches way above its weight at cars twice the price. A few easy /cheap mods and you'll get hooked on track days.

Beware, modding does cause financial strife.

I had wanted a Zed 4 for a while and felt that if I didn't get an ///M I would always wonder what the ///M would be like. Nearly 4 years on I have never regretted it. I reckon it's still worth what I paid and it always feels special. Even more so now it is just for weekends.

Mine has117k miles on the clock. Will get the bearing shells done this year, just for peace of mind.

If you head over to M3cutters forum you can speak to plenty of members with S54's at 150k+ miles on original shells / rod bearings / vanos. They tend to have been fairly meticulous with the servicing mind.

Theivz wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2018 6:16 pm

tomscott wrote: ↑Fri Jan 26, 2018 6:01 pm
They are great cars. Just do the things it needs at the age. Engine mounts are rubber so will be ready for new, engine bolts makes sense and get the bearings swapped about £1500 in all and really as long as vanos behaves it should be decent £ motoring.

great advice. thank you

this is the bit that worries me a little however ... vanos behaviour and 1500 maintenance is not something i am too keen on esp when a sorted 3.0 will cost me 5k

I had the rod bearings done for under £1k all in from a well known and highly recommended Indy, (CPC) you won't do it again in your ownership and it's cheaper than an engine rebuild if the worst were to happen!

While your there you might as well get the rest done as its all in the same place, otherwise it will be more labour to sort down the line and tbh the consumables will need doing at the age of these cars.

The benefit of buying a higher mileage car from an enthusiast is that they may have already been done. Im sure the car feels pretty awful on perished engine mounts...

A 5K SI may have its own problems that may cost similar. The benefit is once its done its done and its nothing to worry about as the wear of say the bearing will be down to how you drive it and you will know which is nice. Its doubtful it will fail in the lifetime you own the car.

If the primary reason is to track the car I would have it done as the car takes a different kind of hammer and may bring out gremlins that would take much longer if it were on the road.

Some very sound advice from Tom.