M3: 1st-Year problems, the delay, BMW wake up! (archive)

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Someone please enlighten me on why people continue to mention car/mechanical problems that plague 1st year owners when it comes to the E46 M3?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 95% of the M3 has basically been out for 1-2 years. It's called the E46 323/328. All the things that plague first year cars (rattles, use of a material that aged unexpectedly, little problems with small mechanical parts doing things they weren't expected to do, etc etc) would all have been found and eliminated via the current E46 3-series.

The M3 ain't a new car. It's a tuner version of an existing car. Slap some new seats, M3 logo's, a few new buttons and some leather into an existing E46 interior and you have an M3 interior. External modifications are few, mostly subtle, and "bolt on" (differential, aluminum suspension components, etc). The engine is basically the Euro E36 M3 engine with some tweaks, and the tranny is basically a carry over.

I'm not a long-time BMW enthusiast so perhaps I could be slightly off in one of the examples I just mentioned, but overall I think the point stands that the M3 is a tuner version of an existing car.

So, why the delays? How BMW could screw up production on a TUNER car and not an all-new car after all this time is beyond me. I have been losing faith in BMW from the day we heard it was a 3.2 liter engine instead of a 3.4 (yeah, the torque the 3.4 could have offered could have mattered, considering the competition) or that the rim/tire combo would be more narrow than initially reported. They seem to be resting on their laurels and going conservative. So why the delays?..

My hope is the same (I think) as Bob's - maybe they've seen the competition and are taking the time to give us a better car. Somehow I doubt it though. Not with just a 2-3 month delay. It's not like they're likely to drop the M5 V8 in there with those 3 extra months :). If anything BMW seems even less sure of itself and its engine. In the recent M3 brochure BMW printed (my dealer just sent me one), the cover says "320+ horsepower". They couldn't even say 330hp on the cover??

[BMW: READ] I think the most troubling thing though is that BMW is not making any kind of press release regarding the delay. This is poor business. If a corporation is going to be off on its earnings, or a product launch is to be delayed, the wise corporation identifies that problem immediately and communicates it, along with the reason why. People freak when they are caught by surprise info, and their minds will assume the worst if an explanation isn't given. If BMW announced the M3 would be delayed to increase performance, I think we'd all be re-assured and no one would be too concerned. We'd say "aww, shucks, a few extra months.. But we'll have a better car because of it, and with the number of years we plan on owning it, a few months is nothing". Instead we're left to ponder how BMW has screwed things up.

In the mean time, one of these days Audi just might wake up and realize they have some fantastic engines and drivetrains, that's all they need to do is drop it into an aggressive looking car instead of a Camry (er, A4) and they will have a combo that could sell tons of units here. I'm sure the supercharged Mercedes E32 with the way-more-powerful-than-the-new-M3 engine will steal some sales too.

FYI - I have a contract/top spot at one of the biggest dealers, so I'm likely to get my M3 faster than most. I'm making these comments as an M3 enthusiast/owner-to-be. But enthusiasm for the M3 won't blind us to poor Public Relations and overly conservative moves (read: engine) in the face of competition on BMW's part.

Bob, I agree with you that the M3 will be due for an engine change not long after release. I wonder how BMW will handle the backlash from people who bought the first-year car?.. I guess I'd have to either sell my 1st-year and buy the new one (depending on engine difference), or put the $$ into modifying my 1st year car, whichever makes more sense. But if the engine difference is major and it happens just 1-2 years after initial release, I'll be ticked off like everyone else who shelled out the $$ for the 1st year car.

More fuel for the "new engine" fire: In the Aug 14 edition of Autoweek they show a spy shot of the BMW X7, and mention 2 new BMW engines. A 450hp 6.0 liter V12, and a 300HP 4.4 liter V8. Maybe a modified version of the latter engine makes it into a future M3. I don't know the specs on the M5 engine, but if it's aluminum/light weight, there's no reason they couldn't have dropped it in the current/consumer M3, the *inline* 6 probably weighs close to the same.

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