Has owning an 11 year old BMW M3 E92 ruined me? My 1 year of ownership review | Road & Race S04E14 

I've had 5 M3's, and this is my favorite. The throttle response, linear power and sound are WAY better than the M4, but you're right about the crappy fuel mileage. It's hysterical that the fuel light comes on at 1/4 tank!

I just purchased a 14 year-old E46 M3 with 144K miles on it. It took about $8K to get it back to its original glory. That's when I realized that almost anyone can afford to buy one of these now, but not everyone can afford to drive and maintain it.

6000 miles in a year? I’ve done that in 3 months, I think I have a problem

Owned an 08 for 4 years. Loved it, didn't spend a penny on repairs, just oil changes. I will be getting one again for sure.

I loled hard at the fuel light sound and icon... I feel you on that...

The E92 M3 is a legend. I would personally take it over any new car even with that heavy fuel consumption.

Just like you! I own an E93 M3 and I look back at her everytime after I've parked her. ..plus her sound, this car is pure magic!

the voice recognition is funny as hell. I totally get it. Another 2 items fail will be idle control valve and fuel breather valve. They don’t fail as frequent but they are known issues.

Thanks for assisting the rest of us newer owners or 'might be owners'. Hope to see updates. (2011 E92 with 48k miles, I'm 2nd owner since early 2018)

Great to see your channel growing so quickly Neil

Greatest bmw ever after the E39 m5. I'm on my second e92 m3. Such awesome and we'll rounded cars

YOU should do “preventive maintenance “. Specially with internal failures knows on this motor

I have a 2008 E90 M3 with 83K miles on it and the biggest, expensive failures I've paid for or done myself in the last 7 years: 1) Replace throttle valve actuators, ~$1000 each at budget shop, ~$2000 each at dealer; 2) Replace leaking valve cover gaskets (my DIY cost ~$350; dealer cost ~$1100) 3) Replace leaking oil filter housing gasket ~$600 at budget shop). Tire and fuel costs about the same you mentioned... but in the US, I'm only getting 14 city mpg and 20 highway mpg, usually combined around 15 mpg so it does guzzle gas. Upgrades I recommend and have done: $150 for AFE high flow intake; $1700 for Borla exhaust - sounds amazing and combined estimated 50 hp increase... highly recommend this car if you can stomach the expensive failures, which once fixed, won't happen again for another ~70K miles. Oil changes, even DIY, are expensive as the oil is ~$12 per liter and it takes ~9 liters and filter is ~$20

I took my 12-year-old 1993 E36 M3 up to over 200,000 miles and it never missed a beat - no matter what I threw at it. The original clutch lasted 130,000 miles before it gave up, but that was the only thing that ever went on it - the engine was totally untouched in all that time . Like yourself, I carried out regular oil changes (every 5000 Miles) and that really does make a difference to longevity.

It's 12k average yearly miles in the States. Being driven conservatively gentle. M3 fan use to dream about owning a canary yellow previous generation. 😎

Glad to hear you’re having a good time with the car and you’ve kept the running costs down. Doing any repair yourself will help a ton as well.

Bahahahaha Drives daily ?? Done 6k miles in a year ?? Gearbox it STILL good?? Use PAGID (cheapest)brakes in m3 ?? Coolant from pc world. Subscribed

Funny how to me an 11 year old car seams new😂 my mx5 is 23 years old, with 50k on the clock so is still in great shape, with next to no body/ chassis rust👍🏻

Loved your telephone example 😂.

I got my E90 M3 a year ago and all I’ve replaced was the fuel pump ($1,100). Over all, this car is fantastic.

I love my M3 E92 and will never sell it.

Tyre thread or tread? 😏

Off the back of this video, I just totalled up the cost of my E46 M3 on maintenance and repairs in 2017 alone. Total: £2,798.98 - not including some of the work I’ve done myself. Christ almighty, should be getting something newer 😭

"Would you like to be connected to terry" - Yesss. Hahahaha dunno why i found this so funny.

Interesting to hear what one man seems to suggest as expensive running costs like TAX, Tyres and fuel but remember a £60k car will still have £60k running costs 10 years on regardless of what you paid for it. Personally I thought the running costs ridiculously cheap for what it is.

Was looking forward to more M3 vids, thanks Neil. The voice recognition stint was hilarious! I am shocked how much road tax and tyres are though!

Your videos are very organized. I like your style man, keep up the good work

I just bought a 2016 328i for that price After seeing this video, I wish I could come back in time haha M3 is such a legend The design looks awesome even for today’s standards

I have a 2008 M3 and I love it...only 38k miles but I plan on really driving it more over this spring/summer; since its CONVERTIBLE.

I heard those MPG figures and jumped in joy! Here in the USA its about 3 dollars a gallon. My Bronco gets about 7 mpg city

Calling Terry had me in stitches 🤣🤣

Nankang actually make some exceptional quality tires, especially for track use

Even though this vid was made in car it was my favourite so far. The sharp focus on you and blurred fore/background is easy to watch, nice touch.

Really enjoy your videos,always look forward to them. These cars are fantastic last of the real drivers cars.n/a motor that sings you just cannot beat it! Look forward to the next video 👍🏻

Mines at 110k, no rod bearings replaced yet, Molly oil every 10k, no tick or problems yet... trying to save up for rod bearing replacement but so far so good.

Came to your channel because of the Clio videos and now have already watched every single one of you. I really enjoy this channel, it is great information and for my sense of humor really funny. Keep going and greetings from Bavaria, Germany

Great video. I just found you as I'm seriously considering buying one very soon. I've previously had and E36 & E46 M3 and I loved both but, the E46 was perfect at the time. Now that I'm in the market again, I'm trying to talk myself out of another E46 and into an E92. Thank you. Still unsure, but armed with more perspective.

I had 3 M3s and I loved the E36. The e90 was the best at everything when it was working only... now I have an E36 m3 again and I'm in love plus is not the most reliable like my maserati coupe manual.

The 08 and the 09 models have the copper rod bearings, whereas the 10-13 models have aluminum. So there’s no way to really test the oil if your model is 10 and up. I would do the bearings regardless just piece of mind. Cheers

Two seats in back because of prop shaft running through centre of seats. Not enough room for it to be a worthwhile seat.

Great video, just subscribed.

Just bought my first M3 vert, these videos are great, defo really helpful 👍🏻

Great review... glad to hear you have plenty of "thread" left on your tyres.

The voice recognition made my day- I just laughed so much!!

If you're lookin to buy one of these, find one with the actuators replaced and you should be golden for years to come.

Great review, thanks for letting us know your experience!

One year with my 2011 E92 ZCP has ruined me with performance, sound and luxury. One shop oil change at $199(usd), at home oil change $129 (usd from FCP Euro), four new tires, $700 and a replacement headlight, moisture $500, off eBay, replaced battery and alternator at home $400 from Autozone and battery reset $75 at local shop. don’t count fuel consumption, as that’s under our own control. Planning rod bearing and respected local shop does it for $2499. Under $5000 in a year, seems pricey for the average driver, but M3 owners aren’t your average driver. I tried the auto off at stop feature and find it confusing. Turns off to save fuel but we know start up takes more fuel than driving.

😂😂high car tax 500pounds a year! In Ireland this car 2007 is 1809euro and 2008 onwards 2350 a year! Great review - love the e92 M3

Been using my e92 as a daily driver for 7 years. Love it. 77k miles. Watch out for the throttle actuators going between 55-75k. Get them done by Rebuild (recommended on M3 Cutters) better quality and a fraction of the dealer price. Get the pilot sport tyres , don’t mess with others if you genuinely care about the mix of road noise, grip in wet, longevity. No other major failures in 7 years other than a faulty sensor. Tv is not standard in U.K. nor is cold start or proximity opening. M button is programmable, if you don’t set it for “fun” you won’t get “fun” (I have!)

I know this is an old video, but recent viewers should know that using oil analysis to track rod bearing wear is not reliable (unless you do it from the beginning of new bearings). Their have been engine failures (from rod bearings) shortly after oil analysis had been done showing all clear! For some evidence showing that, check out my thread called "S65 Oil reports collation - does oil analysis work for tracking bearing wear?" at the M3 post or M3 cutters forum.

Do not take those oil tests as law!!! I also did the same test and all was well. By the time those tests pick anything up in the oil, your crank is already gone. your test showed a tiny bit more copper than normal. To me that is a bad sign. Do the rob bearing asap.

I have a F32 430d it comes with Potenza run flats fitted which are expensive , did a lot of research online and the reviews on the new Falkens came out well,so I went for them. My local tyre shop quoted me cheaper than My Tyres and Black Circle , I am very pleased saved 30% over the Potenza,s . I have done 6000 miles on them grip, ride and wear seem just as good.

a true wonderful car! Very usable and a great allrounder.

Oil analysis doesn't mean shit, if you get a used one, replaced the bearings. Unless the person before you has been doing the oil testing every oil change you are not gonna be able to detect the bearings going out. Not having previous data to compare your data with is a big issue. This is really bad advice, the first thing you should do when getting an e92 m3 is the bearings so you don't need to rebuild the engine.

The voice commands LOL!! Great review man!

Great video 👍🏼 always good to hear about the actual costs

Very nice video. Love the voice recognition feature demo bit in particular.

The average cost for maintenance is about $100 per month if maintained correctly. That's still not that bad.

Very useful as I am considering a purchase of one of these later this year. Thanks!

This is a great looking car!

I think 16mpg to 26mpg is very good for a 400+ hp 8 cylinder engine...I have a E46 M3 6 cylinder with 333 hp and that is the mileage I get...In any case very nice car ....Cheers 🥂

Very very good review. My experiences are the same. Gonna keep this car for a long time. Cheers!

Make sure you do the conrod bearings before 70,000 mate. They really need to be done. My friend owns a BMW specialist workshop and he takes badly burnt bearings out of motors that seemingly run perfectly.

most beautiful 3er ever

Always appreciate the thoughtful and detailed approach you take to your videos. Just posted my first video yesterday (quick runs at a local auto-x event) inspired by your channel to get out there and share in the trials and tribulations of a love affair with cars! Keep up the great work. I hope to create content you'd follow in the coming weeks and months. D

@9:27 best part of a great video..... yessss

Ive out in about 4k miles in my E90 M3 and I love it it's surprisingly practice biggest complaint would obviously be the gas I fill up around 3 times a week (roughly $150 a week on gas) only repairs I've had to make is a new alternator and rod bearings which was upon buying the car but other than that it's been a very reliable daily and holds its own with carrying groceries

I got my 2009 e90 m3 10 month ago and I’ve put about 18,000 miles. Best car I’ve owned and live in Colorado so we get all kinds of weather

Dude I got the famous throttle actuator failure on my 2011 M3 E92. At the dealership they quote 5830€/5200£ for the labour which is totally crazy! I've replaced them by myself with a DIY guide on RU-vid and that costed me 600€/550£ total with a rebuild of my own actuators! That is a serious cost if you cannot do the job by yourself tough.

330i e92 2008 here. First.6 months: - wipers, side mirrors, all coils, all spark plugs, all injectors, nox sensor, all tyres, front wheel bearings, and I still have to sort out leak. We re looking on or around 3.5K now. Bought for 6k. Yeah bargain. Now Im during claim case against dealer which stated condition is "mint". Imagine this guy is a race driver and maybe not really famous but active. Damn

Great review, much better than a lot of the rubbish you see on youtube these days!

Hello from Ireland. I pay around £600 a year tax on an e46 320d. Your M3 would have an annual road tax of £2061 here. That's not a typo! Hope that makes you feel slightly better. Great channel BTW 👍

Haha 550 pounds for tax a year? Try Holland mate. I drive a 320d and I pay a whopping 1350 pounds a year and about 1100 pounds for insurance a year. I have to admit that the tax for a diesel car is about higher than a petrol car. For a M3 you'll pay about 830 quid, but you the insurance also is a lot more. This is the most awful country to live in if you're a catfanatic haha, and I haven't even told you about the prices of cars. The government even makes you pay tax for importing a car. They also put a different kind of tax on all new cars. Its like tax on tax in a kind of way. Just writing about it makes me want to cry 😣

My 57 plate e92 m3 has cost me £3600 in last 18 months or so(major abs replacement,new battery &brake shoes,you might have this still to come pal😉),when I'm not in it,it's definitely going, when I'm in it, I'm definitely keeping it!(oh nearly forgot, putting Michelin pilot sport 4s on(£1k)after my winter tyres(£1k)come off,so trust me, NOTHING is cheap with this car!👍😉

8:21, this is wierd, I was watching that episode of Columbo yesterday and haven't watched Columbo in about 30 years.

Great video, the E92’s are very underrated, one of if not the best M3’s to date. I myself owned a gremlin filled E46. And yes the maintenance will kill ya. But, I was looking at picking up an E92, it’s like RU-vid read my mind. Thanks for the information.

Many Thanks, Peace from London. 👍👍

MY E46 M3 HAS 365 000KM. STILL TRACK IT. IT'S MY DAILY DRIVER THROUGH COLD CANADIAN WINTER AND HOT SUMMERS.

I hate traction control period. My buddy has convinced me not to buy an M car, for parts & inevitable service cost without doing the job yourself you just end up paying way more. Luckily you found a well loved car. Going to go for a single twin scrolled turbocharged N55 335i coupe and mod it. Less replacement parts minus previous years cost of twin turbo. Downside slightly less power but more reliable and less than 65k miles at an average of $17k depending on RWD AWD Correct me if Im wrong?

I’m really considering upgrading my e46 325ci to an m3 and this video has helped big time. It’s really eye opening to how much the running cost of this incredible machine. But like you said you get what you pay for. Thanks bud.

Great review, glad to hear you have had a great ownership experience!

I bought my competition pack car back in October, so not had any decent temps to enjoy it, just put the dct in auto the thing drives itself virtually, I am very careful to warm it up properly though so as not to put too much strain on the rod bearings from cold. Only 1570 competition pack cars made and mine is in interlagos blue only 313 rhd cars made in that colour and a fraction of those in comp pack form.

Really informative review, you explained everything that even a layman could understand

Yo man, this is such a good review of this car seeing as I hope and pray to own one of these one day! You have a lovely colour there and as a I said, a fantastic car

Before committing to the Michilens, give Continental Extreme Contacts a try. I run those on my car, and it's nearly as good as the PS but cost must less.

"I didn't understand you... please repeat" I died.

beautiful should be getting a 05 one by the end of the month such a beautiful car

Yep used mine as a daily and cost a fortune in fuel alone.

Four months into my ownership of a 2011 E92 ZCP(comp package). Fillups average $35usd, Nitto tires are $540 a set but will last four years. First oil service $100 at a BMW shop(not dealer), nothing more. My water bill has gone up as I wash it all the time. All this is moot as the fun of driving is overwhelming.

Brilliant video, look forward to seeing more

Great video as always Neil. I'd like to see you sell it purely for selfish reasons as it's great to get your in-depth insight on cars you've owned. Tough car to replace tho.

Nice one, glad you are enjoying your m3! It does look mint and of course I have no doubt it is a riot to drive. Cheers, Pedro.

Nice video. Thx for sharing. I’ve had good luck with my 08 e93 ,great cars!

I wish the road tax would be £535 a year in Belgium. Here it is easy x4 or x5, still a car on my bucketlist to own.

Nankangs aren't that bad. Unless you're a racer you probably won't really notice it too much

Good video! Have watched all your previous M3 vids - popped out and bought an E92 M3 myself so these are all very helpful! Is that just the stock exhaust?

Hey great video, glad you're enjoying the car. I think I may have bought my 2011 M3 just after you got yours. I bought mine with an extended warranty for an extra $5k. Got her in June of 2017. Since then I've done my own oil change, I changed the spark plugs, cabin air filters, and wiper blades. I also put on a set if Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4s for the winter. I bought a set of cheap wheels for them so I can change them out myself, when I feel like it. I've flushed and filled the coolant, I'm using Brembo pads which cost less than the BMW pads. I changed the sensor wires at the same time too. Unfortunately I have had some issues. There was a recall on the battery cable that supplies power to all electronics on the car, my car was affected. In fact, I found out about the recall after I experienced the problem. Luckily, my extended warranty covers roadside assistance and BMW Canada paid for the recall service. This was a major failure, nothing on the car worked, you couldn't even start it. The DSC module on the car failed, again... luckily my extended warranty covered the cost of the part and labour which was over $5k, so that extended warranty has paid for itself in less than a year. Other than that she has been great. I bought her with 87,000 KM and I've put on 9,000 km. Sounds like music and goes like a beast! Track days are fun, daily drives are a little frustrating, as she wants to rev but I rarely have space to let her sing in traffic. Thanks for the vid.

Very informative and well produced review! We have been thinking about an E36 M3... Do you feel the E93 is worth the added expense? Thanks! f

Thanks for the review especially concerning cost of ownership. I'm shopping for one right now. Great looking car except, I guess you know, they put your steering wheel on the wrong side :)

The E92 was great you could thrash it about all day every day without worry, the M4 is different...........it just wants to kill you if it is slightly cold, damp or the name of the day has a letter Y in it.