Are M3's Reliable?

[Randy Johnson]

I found this statement when searching the internet and wondered how true it was in the real world.

https://repairpal.com/reliability/bm...ership%20costs.

BMW M3 Reliability Rating Breakdown. The BMW M3 Reliability Rating is 2.0 out of 5.0, which ranks it 29th out of 31 for luxury midsize cars. The average annual repair cost is $1,161 which means it has poor ownership costs.

Now most of my previous cars have been asian: honda, acura, infiniti, mazda and they have been very easy on maintenance. Now I've got a 435i and it is definitely more expensive to keep running. A few unexpected issues that I think should not be a concern at under 60k miles. I'm wondering how much more the maintenance cost of a 2018-2016 M3 would be. Lets say it has under 50k miles and has had all dealer maintenance performed and not raced every weekend. What I'm really asking is do these cars break down alot? I know they have a potential crank hub issue that is not cheap to fix.

[rmanm4]

LOL.

Looks like algorithmic calculations and not real world.

If you are worried about the cost of repair, then its not the car for you. F80/F82 can cost a lot of money if shit hits the fan! Get one with extended warranty if you worried!

[TractionControlDelete]

Originally Posted by Randy Johnson

I found this statement when searching the internet and wondered how true it was in the real world.

https://repairpal.com/reliability/bm...ership%20costs.

BMW M3 Reliability Rating Breakdown. The BMW M3 Reliability Rating is 2.0 out of 5.0, which ranks it 29th out of 31 for luxury midsize cars. The average annual repair cost is $1,161 which means it has poor ownership costs.

Now most of my previous cars have been asian: honda, acura, infiniti, mazda and they have been very easy on maintenance. Now I've got a 435i and it is definitely more expensive to keep running. A few unexpected issues that I think should not be a concern at under 60k miles. I'm wondering how much more the maintenance cost of a 2018-2016 M3 would be. Lets say it has under 50k miles and has had all dealer maintenance performed and not raced every weekend. What I'm really asking is do these cars break down alot? I know they have a potential crank hub issue that is not cheap to fix.

You definitely have to pay to play and the extended warranty will give you piece of mind.

With that aside, this is one of the worst comparison tests I've seen in a while. The comparison is between Midsize Luxury Sedans which isn't really what the M3 is. The F80 is a vehicle made for harder driving, light track work, regular runs to 7600 rpm, heavy braking, accelerated oil usage, and prolonged triple digit speeds. The above are the types of things that necessarily cause components to wear faster. And yet, the reliability of the F80 is compared to cars that, frankly, won't see any of those uses by 99.9% of the drivers who buy them. Even a M3 that never sees the track will still be driven harder that any Lincoln MKZ. But here we are comparing a car with a 12.5 second 0-100-0 to these cars (and for good measure I've included cars with similar 0-100-0 which would be more appropriate reliability comparisons):

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by Randy Johnson

I found this statement when searching the internet and wondered how true it was in the real world.

https://repairpal.com/reliability/bm...ership%20costs.

BMW M3 Reliability Rating Breakdown. The BMW M3 Reliability Rating is 2.0 out of 5.0, which ranks it 29th out of 31 for luxury midsize cars. The average annual repair cost is $1,161 which means it has poor ownership costs.

Now most of my previous cars have been asian: honda, acura, infiniti, mazda and they have been very easy on maintenance. Now I've got a 435i and it is definitely more expensive to keep running. A few unexpected issues that I think should not be a concern at under 60k miles. I'm wondering how much more the maintenance cost of a 2018-2016 M3 would be. Lets say it has under 50k miles and has had all dealer maintenance performed and not raced every weekend. What I'm really asking is do these cars break down alot? I know they have a potential crank hub issue that is not cheap to fix.

I don't think there is "more" maintenance for an M3 to a 435i. Only thing that differs from BMW to most asian cars is the more frequent spark plug changes and more rear tire changes due to torque and RWD.

I think BMW has longer oil change intervals than a toyota/lexus. It's 1 year or 10K miles vs 6months or 5K miles.

Other than that, everything is roughly the same.
Brake Fluid is still ever 2 years.
Coolant... Most Asian cars are like 10 years or something now. BMW is "lifetime" if you trust it.
Brakes are...YMMV depending on how you drive. You can still eat up brakes on a non-BMW fairly quickly.

No more Power Steering fluid changes.... I mean that's about it. There isn't really much difference from an M3 to like a Toyota Camry.

Every car has some sort of "issue" Toyota/Lexus transmission has some weird issue with their 8 speed with gear hunting, Honda has oil dilution problem with their turbo engines (not sure if this was resolved yet) that can lead to catestrophic failure. A new engine isn't cheap, labor is expensive.

[Taco_Bueno]

This thread should put your worries to rest, skip to the end and go through the pages backwards.

https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1043508

TLDR; Yes, very reliable

[Suds]

OP, don’t stretch your budget to buy an F8x. They are not cheap cars and maintenance costs dollars. If you can drop $1k-$2k every couple years for maintenance this car will work for you.

[zamboni]

All I can say the final version of F80 is pretty solid if you can get one FY18.

[Jason60051]

These cars are very solid. I would venture to say one of the most reliable cars bmw has ever produced.

[icegrill]

Yes! vs an n5x Very problem free.

[deeldoo]

It aint that hard, put 3k away every year just incase.

If you can't do this don't buy any car let alone and M car.

It's just security, these cars are super durable over all, they are made to be beat on.

For their price point they are the most abusable car

[BloomRunsDubs]

I’ve personally had more issues with my F82 than I had with my previous E92 and E93

Makes a clunk from the rear diff area no one can figure out. (Had the dealer pay for new mounts) didn’t do anything..

Vanos, drivetrain malfunctions, had to replace $1800 lithium battery (My error) some other small stuff.. etc

Overall I think it’s a pretty reliable car I might have just got a previously beat on car even though everything appears to be mint on the vehicle

Next time would probably pay the couple grand for a extended warranty

With all that being said the F80 platform is on an entirely different level than all of the similarly priced Japanese cars

[sna66]

No. It's not why you buy an m car… Toyotas are reliable

[Ropes]

After 67k miles I have had the intercooler replaced under warranty and the idrive flashed to a newer version due to a glitch. I would say reliable. The expensive part is the maintenance if you take it to the dealership. Oil changes and spark plugs changes are not difficult not expensive if doing it yourself. An Indy should land about in the middle between you and the dealership in costs.

[speedmaster20d]

I'd call these articles BS. From my ownership experience at least , the BMW M3 (multiple generations) and the Audi RS (put 100K miles on that car) were both more reliable than a Honda Accord (major engine problem at 97K) and a Jeep that's supposed to be bullet proof (cylinder head lost compression and the car went to junkyard at 110K). So may problem with the latter two.


from what I have seen the unreliable myth is spread by 2 group of people

1. non-owners of the car, i.e. never sat inside a BMW
2. Folks who can't really afford these cars, but buy a used ultra high mileage , salvage, accident, neglected vehicle then take it to a cheap crap shop at the corner of the street for maintenance, and then complain about reliability.

If you take care of your car it will last you a long time, but you need to pay for taking care of it....

[NYG]

If you keep it stock, it's extremely reliable. Tracked mine twice a month in cold, heavy heat, rain, etc..

I took care of the car and did oil/diff/trans fluid very often because of track use.

BUT.... like all BMWs after a certain amount of time goes by - they will start to fail.

[_E90S65_]

2011.5 E90
2018 F80

As long as you look after them like the Bavarian beasts they are,
yes, they are very reliable.

[Atarekvw]

Think of it as a Lexus RCF or ISF/Honda Civic type R/Nissan GTR in terms of reliability, maintenance & running costs, they are different that your typical Japanese commuter car.

[Vegetable]

As another poster mentioned maintenance on my 2019 M4 isn't much more than my old 2014 435i, however my M4 has been much more reliable. My 435i needed a new MT transmission at 80,000 miles (synchro issues), a new engine at 130,000 miles and other minor fixes, while my M4 has only needed a new gas pedal in all of its 111,000 miles. In the 435's defense the need for a new engine was due to an engine fault where I was not able to pull over so it's likely that it could have been saved if I could have pulled over in time. My M4 (obviously essentially the same as the M3) has been so freakin reliable. The only car that has ever served me as well, reliability speaking, has been my 2005 Toyota Corolla.