Specifically with the S54. That came in the 00-01s, right?

How are they for maintenance? Things hold up? Things to look out for? I am not even familiar with what the various options were.

If anybody follows the market, I'd love to find a clean lower mile model on the west coast. If the early S54s were temperamental (I believe 01-02 M3s had rod bearing issues), then we could consider the 240hp variant. It's for my dad as a fun weekender, but I might borrow it for a while. It seems to be this or an S2000. But I've already had two of those.

All advice appreciated. Thanks -

 

You are not James Bond.

 

Wyatt,

I have 3 friends and between them, they've had 7 M Coupes (one of them had 3 at one time), so I've been around them. It's one of those cult cars you either love or hate. I think it looks like a cock and balls, but it is a pretty fun car to drive. Very claustrophobic inside for me, and I think you're an inch or two taller so keep that in mind. The S54 is zippier, but because of the 5-speed transmission, you really need to rev it to keep the car in the powerband. The handling is great, they love to rotate and you can throw the back-end out at will. One bizarre feature is the sunroof, which is huge for such a small car, but can only tilt or be manually removed. It doesn't slide back.

 

Thanks Amir !!

How were there times with the cars? I imagine reliability overall is much like the E36 M cars .. Which is okay.

My problem will be finding a clean one for sale at a reasonable price. A Z4M isn't much more at times ..

 

Just FYI, s54 cars are 01+. I had a '00 M Roadster, and it was probably as reliable as our e36 M3.

 

I've never heard any complaints. My friend Pat has 2 right now, a weekend driver/autoX S54 and an S52 racecar. Both have been rock solid for him mechanically. The only major thing was with my other friend Afshin's car (a Laguna Seca Blue on Laguna Seca Blue S54, which is super rare apparently), his started to tear the sheetmetal out in the rear trunk floor. Apparently this is common with these cars and not a big issue to set right. He was going to get it fixed, but got plowed by a drunk construction worker in an F150 and that was that.

There are some clean ones around if you're patient. Finding a low miles one is going to be tough, because people love to drive them. I'd definitely get a PPI with compression and leakdown to make sure the motor isn't ragged out.

If your dad likes the look and driving position, they're very cool cars though and a modern classic.

 

I've owned by S52 Z3 M Coupe for 10 years now, and I simply love it.. Never had any major problems with it, just the usual wear and tear.. of course mine is a bit of a garage queen now, but I've used it daily for a while, tracked it for a while, etc.. never had any problems..

Your main challenge is finding one which was well maintained.. good luck!

 

I've got a 02 S54 and I love it. I can't comment too much on reliability as I haven't driven mine much to be honest. I think it has 15,000 miles at the moment.

The seat rail bushings were a design fault in these cars and gave them a bit of play when stopping or accelerating. It's a relatively cheap and simple fix.

Most of the other faults such as the rod bearings and rear floor plate have been mentioned.

I think it has unique look and was ahead of it's time. It hasn't aged nearly as bad as other BMW's from the same year.

 

Get it and keep it as long as you live, it's a very unique car. My favourite BMW's are the Z3M, Z8 and the 507.

 

most in the states are completely ragged out, PPI x2