Everyone knows that the M3 is a great handling sports car. But how about a detailed description of the common problems with the car? I purchased a new 1999 Titanium Silver M3 in May of 1999. I use my car primarily as a commuter (70 miles a day all freeway). I don't race my car on the track or drag on the streets with other cars. Now that I have given you an idea of what type of driver I am, I will clue you in on the maintenance of such a high performance sports car. At the end of the Epinion, I will also talk about some of the things I didn't like about the M3 that were outside of maintenance.


MAITENANCE RECORDS for first 28,000 miles:


I really pampered my car for the first 1200 miles. No problems at all.

At 1000 miles, I took my car in for the standard service. Change all the fluids, including the engine oil. Everything looks great. I am using regular oil and not synthetic yet. I want to break-in the engine before running synthetic oil. Service was free.

At 4300 miles, I began hearing a clunking sound every time I stepped on the clutch when slowing down. This clunking sound is very apparent at around 1500 rpm when you step on the clutch. The sound was coming from the rear of my car. I called the dealership, and they told me that this was a common problem in all M3s. I needed an oil change so I took the car to the dealership and had them check it out. Again, dealership said it was no big deal. To this day, I still live with the clunking sound. Service was free.

At 5500 miles, my clutch begins to squeak every time I press on the clutch. I notice that it only squeaks when it's very hot outside. In the mornings, the mysterious clutch squeaking disappears. I take the car into the dealership to have them look at it. They lubricated the clutch boot and told me that the squeak is gone. Squeak is gone. Service was free.

At 7500 miles, my clutch squeaking comes back. I hate the squeaking because it makes the M3 sound so cheap. Passengers can hear the it too. I take my car in for an oil change and have them relubricate the boot.

At 8000 miles, I have problems opening the passenger door from inside and outside. When I pull the door handle, it doesn't seem to be pulling the latch. I decide to wait until my next oil change before I take my car in. Clutch squeaks on hot days still.

At 10,000 miles, I can no longer open the passenger door. The driver's door is beginning to show the same symptoms. So I called the dealership and made an appointment for an oil change and to have both doors fixed. Service was free.

At 10,500 miles, I take my car in for my first major service. They change my oil and fix my doors. They told me that I just need to lubricate the latch on the door and clean them. Apparently, they get jammed when it gets dirty. I am now running my car with BMW synthetic oil. Service was free.

At 15,000 miles, I blow out my right rear tire on the freeway. I put on a full size spare from the trunk. M3s have wider tires in the rear than in the front. The spare was designed to fit the front. BMW says that it's perfectly safe to drive with the spare on. The dealership wanted to charge me 270 dollars for a replacement. That was not an option b/c my left rear tire had 30 percent of the tread left. So I bought two new tires from Tire Rack for 350 dollars shipped. I bought Yokahoma AVS instead of the Michellin (original equipment) because they are just as good but a lot cheaper.

At 15,500 miles, I go to the dealership for an oil change(synthetic) and to mount my new tires. Everything feels great except for the squeaking from the clutch. Cost 32 dollars for mounting.

At 16,000 miles, I notice my car's alignment is off. Car likes to go to the right on the freeways. I take my car to the dealership for an alignment. It is very expensive at 165 dollars! Problem is corrected.

At 20,100 miles, I took the car in for servicing. No problems. Oil service was performed. Service was free.

I have 28,000 miles on my car now. I did another oil change at 25500 miles.


Small things that annoyed me about my car:

1) Leather seats wear very easily. Left side of front seat has developed cracks from sitting on it. I keep my car garaged all the time so I know it's not damage from the sun. I use Zymol leather conditioner now to keep the leather nice and moist.

2) Stereo sucks. I have the regular factory stereo. Most Japanese cars have better stock radios than the M3. I upgraded everything in my car. New speakers, deck, amplifier, and added a disc changer.

3) Cleaning the wheels are a pain. The brakes generate so much brake dust. Wheels look almost black after 3 days of driving it.

4) The stick shift throws are a little long.


I know that I wrote a lot of negatives about the car, however this car is truly the best handling car I have ever driven. It's so easy to drive that when you make mistakes, the car seems to literally hide them. Whenever I buy a car, I always look for general problems with the car. The problems that I have mentioned are probably the most common complaints with the M3. I highly recommend buying this car. It's simply the most fun car to drive.