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From: timmy_at_cybernex.net (Timmy Fogerson)
Subject: Re: 95 BMW M3
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Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1997 14:49:02 GMT
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"Billy Horlacher" <Horlacher_at_netmrc.com> spewed something like:

>I am looking into buying a 95 M3, I have test driven this car and fell in
>love with it at first sight.... How well mechanically is it put together
>and will it take everyday city driving? Thanks,
>Billy Horlacher
>
>94 525i 25k miles "still going to keep after I get M3"
>
>

Billy,

My '95 M3 gets along well in everyday city driving. If there's any ice or snow on the road, forget getting anywhere fast. The most feather footed person on earth can't get 'em to hook up on slick surfaces.

As far as the quality of the car, I've been very disappointed. I've had alot of problems with my car. I think that my experience with my M3 isn't typical, but other M3 owners I know have had some of the problems I've had. My car has a tad under 20K miles on it now. These are the problems that I've experience in the last year:

1. The dash above the center heating vent warped and separated. This is such a common BMW 3 series problem, dealers actually get kits to fix it.
2. The glove compartment door alignment was very bad. The dealer replaced the glove box to remedy the problem, but even the new one sucks.
3. The plastic covers over the upper seat belt mount consistently fall off ever time that someone gets in the back seat.
4. There is an annoying vibration/squeak/somethin' in the dash.
5. Heater and vent controls are painfully slow to respond.
6. The left rear side window leaked whenever I went through a car wash or sprayed the car. The new seal works, but it looks like crap.
7. The seals around the rear side windows warp and look like crap.
8. The base of the seats (standard M3 buckets) are cheesy and weak. Also, if the seat is moved forward past a certain point, the outside of the seat bottom side bolsters rub against this plastic support piece resulting in a squeak.
9. The clutch pedal sqeaks/creaks.
10. Shifting is inconsistant. Sometimes smooth, other times notchy. The clutch engage point seems to float around a bit too.
11. Shifter rattles a little bit.
12. The engine has a light miss at idle. The dealer keeps telling me that the scope says it's okay. There's alot of valve noise when it's cold too.
13. The right front fog lamp fell out once.
14. The HC emissions test always fails in New Jersey unless you run the piss out of it and skip to the head of the line.
15. I occasionally find a piece of trim that needs to be re-seated.
16. On occasion, when sitting at a stop sign, the thing has problem maintaining steady idle.
17. When you get out of the car with the parking brake set, there is a loud creak. All three series bimmers apparently do this.
18. There is a small paint bubble by the left rear tail light.
19. A large "pod" fell out from under the dash. I found where it belonged and clipped it back in.
20. The computer warns of a "Brake Light Circuit Failure" on occasion. Turning the car off and back on makes it go away. The fuses are fine and the brake lights work fine when the failure message comes on.
21. The speaker grill on the left rear speaker sometimes rattles.
22. The handling is getting a little loose (tail happy). I think that this is probably an alignment issue, though.
23. There's an annoying "tinny" noise when decelerating (like an exhaust vibration).

To date, only about half of these have been remedied by the dealer. Of course, my dealer sucks. But, there are some good BMW shops out there - I'm just not conveniently located to any of them.

On the up side, the car is a kick in the ass to drive. I wouldn't buy another one, though. And unless they dealer can get my problems cleaned up, I'll get rid of mine this summer. But then again, I'm anal when it comes to my automobiles and little sh*t drives me nuts. Especially when I drop $40K on the car...

Good luck.

Timmy
"Ticket Me Red" '69 RS Z/28 Camaro
"Arrest Me Red" '95 BMW M3