Couple of questions on E46 M3s
#43
03-01-2009, 12:43 AM
I was open to color combos, but wanted an '03.5 with the LED tails that had the rod bearing recall done. I found my car on eBay, talked to the owner who lived in Texas, got a really good feeling from him, had the VIN checked by BMWNA. Before I flew out there, I asked the owner to take some really detailed shots of the car. He was really easy to work with and sent me some great photos. I felt comfortable flying out there sight unseen and buying the car.
Any other big changes up through the years that would be worth paying a little bit more for?
#44
03-01-2009, 01:00 AM
I'm also looking at these cars now and was thinking of looking at the '03+'s so you didn't have to worry about the engine recalls. How do you know if the car is an '03 vs. an '03.5?
Any other big changes up through the years that would be worth paying a little bit more for?
Any other big changes up through the years that would be worth paying a little bit more for?
#45
03-01-2009, 01:06 AM
AC Controls are different in the 03.5s and it has DVD Nav instead of the normal CD NAV, When you open the rear driver side compartment in the boot and if the NAV computer has DVD written on it then its most probably a 03.5 and up. Best thing do is go to RealOEM.com Online BMW Parts Catalog and put the last 7 characters from the chassis number and it'll give u the info 
Good luck.
Good luck. 
#47
03-01-2009, 02:32 AM
#50
03-01-2009, 12:15 PM
Good info on the RealOEM.com serial numbers! I've been running numbers on cars and it looks like early '03's had strut braces... and some 03.7+'s are listed as '04's on cars.com, autotrader, etc.
To be sure to get an 03.5 it would need to be the 6th month and up right? Or is the 6th month of '03 still the old model, and the 7th month would be the actual 03.5?
To be sure to get an 03.5 it would need to be the 6th month and up right? Or is the 6th month of '03 still the old model, and the 7th month would be the actual 03.5?