From digest.v7.n167 Mon Aug 25 14:44:07 1997
From: Chris Campbell <cjc_at_pmsmart.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 09:17:39 -0700
Subject: "Tinkling" E36 M3 exhaust

Hello there -

To everyone who replied to my posts about my "tinkling" '97 M3 exhaust system, it's now fixed. Some of you wanted to hear the cause & solution.

If you recall, off-idle it made annoying sounds similar to shaking a paper clip in an aluminum can...kind of a tinkle/rattle noise. It was particularly annoying while driving with the windows down.

Supposedly there was some kind of heat-shield or screen in one of the catalytic converters (it's a dual unit, right???) where a weld had partly broken, allowing the part to jingle around.

Of course, when the mechanics were messing with it, they broke the piece completely off. I subsequently spent nearly two weeks driving around with a highly annoying "rasberry" sound in the exhaust while waiting for the new cats to arrive by slow boat from Germany, or some other far-off place.

With the new cats in place the car is once again its smooth, powerful, and quiet (factory exhaust) self.

To make a short story long, I really love my M3 but I am suspicious of its build quality and longevity at this point. It's my first BMW so I don't have the long-term experiences of you all; however, the darn thing has been in the shop something like 13 days out of its first 6 weeks. Other cars go 150,000 miles with less shop time than my M3's first 1,500 miles.

A lot of this was due to two different delays getting parts. First, the ECU (computer) needed replacing, which took 5+ days to get. The M3 was completely dead, so I was thankful that I had kept my old car. Then, there were the catalytic converters which took nearly two weeks. Is this normal -- doesn't BMW USA stock M3 parts somewhere in the States? Major warranty repairs like this should not have to wait 5+ days for parts, especially on a $45K car!

        Chris Campbell
        '97 M3
        cjc_at_pmsmart.com