'03 M3 blues

[jcsmfever]

Hey Yo,

I mortgaged my soul in June for a new '03 M3. Although I am still ecstatic with my ride (it is the silver grey with 19 inch rims) it has a few glitches. The most annoying is something called "slop in the drive train" which causes the car to lurch and clunk especially when it is in reverse. When I took it into BMW twice they assured me that this was normal and said that it was necessary to have "leeway" in the drive train. The problem is very pronounced when it is in sport mode. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Now it seems that something is awry with the electrical system. The left headlight goes out intermittedly and both vanity mirrors are out. [???1]

One speaker is already blown, a piece fell off underneath the steering wheel and it leaks oil (a mechanic friend of mine put it up on a lift and said the entire underbody was covered with oil).

Last but not least, the exhaust sounds like loose pieces of metal rattling around in a tin can. A friend looked at it and said that several of the bolts weren't even welded.

I am taking it in next week so I will give you an update. I hope I didn't get a lemon.

Peace,

jcsmfever's girlfriend.

 

[Tom]

Sorry to hear, that sounds terrible. Keep us posted on what happens.

The clunk noise that you hear is pretty normal, I've experienced the same in mine from first to second gear. After the first maintenance, the noise has gotten quieter and now I barely even notice it.

 

[j2azz]

I noticed my exhaust sounds tinny, especially after a cold startup for the first few minutes. Had the clunking checked out to by BMW. The clunking is normal for the engagement of the clutch (I have paperwork stating that), and the exhaust sound is some clutch part filling with oil that sounds tinny and hollow before it warms up. Supposedly normal (also have paperwork on this).

Sucks about the speaker and oil. Had the same issue with my left headlight (xenon), they tightened some connections and its been perfect since..

 

[6884ret]

Not that you're at this point yet, but should you continue to experience an inordinate amount of problems/failures, you should take a look at your state's Lemon Laws. Hard to imagine a new M3 having such multiple problems, and perhaps it's just an abberation and the fixes are easy, but every manufacturer can produce a lemon now and then. What have you found regarding the source of the oil leak?

 

[jcsmfever]

Actually the oil on the bottom is some sort of protective coat and is not anything leaking. It looks bad but is totally dry. Once I brought it to the BMW mechanic, he said that was ok.

Brought if to the dealer to address the other problems that my own BMW mechanic agreed with, the dealer fixed the vanity lights, something with the fuse socket connecter. The headlight was working when the dealer got it so, it was up to "BMW specs", the speaker passed the speaker test so it was "up to specs". I said it doesn't matter if the speaker passes some test, if your Harmon Kardon right rear speaker rattles, THERE IS A PROBLEM! But then again as the mechanic commented that club music we listen to is too much for the speakers. If the headlight shows in red on the dash and doesn't emit any light then it is BROKEN!! I can understand somewhat that the light is hard to diagnose if it works when we brought it in. BUT, if the warranty was up the dealer would have replaced the entire headlight and speaker with no problem. The transmission and the muffler, which are my main concerns, were, of course, "up to specs" which is BS.

We raised such hell that they let us drive a 2004 M3 with 14 miles on it to compare, it did not have the "tinny" (great way to describe it) sound. BMWs answer, "The 2004 has a different exhaust". I think that BS. But it sounds broken, not just different. And the 2004 did have a significantly tighter transmission. But since ours was up to BMW specs they couldnt do anything. Eventually the BMW lead mechanic did have to admit, "well if I were you guys I would complain." I could tell the lead mechanic agreed with us but it seemed as if he had been trained not to help customers with these problems under the warranty. Or at least to put up a fight to cut costs.

We have a BMW rep coming in December 27. What service on one of their top of the line cars!

Will the rep say its up to spec and screw us?

Also the Lemon Law in NC states that if you bring in a vehicle for the same problem 3 times under warranty you are due a new vehicle. But this would not happen without lawyers and a lot of pain and hassle.

Thanks guys, I keep you updated!!