2002 BMW M3: Coming Apart At The Seams

Aha - missed that one, Jay. Edit made. And good one about the chainsaws.

I think it has gotten considerably worse since your post (not surprisingly)...even in September I could still grab the handle without pulling 2/3 of it off in the process.

-Sadlier

Talk about being rough on your cars! I didn't know you guys (and girls) tear your cars to bits! Cars are MADE to fall apart. Then you would be forced to go out and buy a NEW one. How dare you go against the auto industry and try to wring out more life out of an old car!

At least these problems don't affect your 0-60 times.

Not great, but they don't look like parts that are too hard to replace. If it were me (though I realize that no any one person at Edmunds owns this car) I would bite the bullet and have them replaced. My VW had the latch break on the fold down arm rest. The new plastic part was 12 bucks, 10 minutes to replace....good as new. Honestly,I think it's strange that a lot of people have things break in their cars, and don't ever think to buy the replacement parts. Cars are a big investment, if a few hundred bucks here and there keep it looking new, sounds like a good deal in my book.

2002 is 9 years old...kinda getting up there

elfjon,

Are you using elf years?

Elfjon, how are you counting that? Even if you say that the 02 M3 was built in 01, it is still just seven years.

Well, not "just," but you get my point.

This part is a known failure spot on the E46 cars. I try not to be too rough with mine, but I know it was fall off in my hand one of these days.

Many different people driving a single car means accelerated wear. You'll get stains, holes, things falling off and whatnot because different people treat cars differently. Check out any rental for verification of that.

I had a '02 M3 and the exact same thing happened to my trunklid grip. Poor design. Started flexing and squeaking and I knew something was up and then "POW" - it simply came off in my hand one day (like yours, on the drivers side). Cost a couple hundred to fix since, according to BMW, it's sold as one unit with light and electronic trunk release. Also, have fun with the E46 inner door frame/window trim (felted) - those will go soon!

Wow, people are so easy on foreign cars. If my car was a 2002 and this was happening I would not put up with it at all. In my house we count a 2002 vehicle as not being old, but we drive "piece of crap" gm cars so even though nothing is falling off our cars and popping off like this bmw they are still unreliable and garbage. Even though every gm vehicle we have owned we get to atleast 200,000 miles. The Jetta we had we were lucky to get to 100,000 miles. Our 1998 S10 with 250,00 miles thats never seen an inside of a garage, been through harsh midwest snow belt winters its whole life has never had any trim pieces come off or had any problems.

If that bmw was a chevrolet or a saturn there would have been 50 posts on here of how bad the car is.

well it is almost 09', 02' car was builded in 01'. 09'-01' is 8 years. So elfjon is still 1 year off.

2002 is not old. My wife's 2002 330ci is 105K miles old and nothing like this has ever happened.

I think it should also be noted that this was not a cheap car when new. A six year old Civic or Cobalt should hold up better than this.

September 2001 to today is 7 years (2 months if one wants to count that), but not 8 or 9.

"car was builded in 01'"

Well, there's the problem, avoid cars that were builded. That should show up on a carfax report.

2002 is not old. I have a 93 toyota and its held up better than this. And I've been a big fan of the e46. This is kinda disappointing.

At least it still drives like a dream :)

I have a 94 maxima, no falling roof, no trim peices falling off. my cloth seats are a little dirty but not worn.

This kind of stuff is disappointing as it's annoying and the parts are usually tough to get and expensive.

Ah, the pinnacle of German automotive engineering......

And why do people pay extra for these? Oh, I forgot, they pay for the badge.

"I think it should also be noted that this was not a cheap car when new. A six year old Civic or Cobalt should hold up better than this."

A Civic- yes, a Corolla- sure. A Cobalt- no. Those things are cheap from the factory. The exterior might hold up for a year but it will fall to pieces, although not as fast as the already crap interior.

Like I said, this is a known failure point on the E46 BMW 3 Series. Same as the rain gutters.
I don't disparage anyone else's experiences here, but really, on the big scale of things, this is relatively minor. The car still drives like it should, right? I'll bet Sadlier remembers that every time he matches revs on a downshift or applies the power after apexing a curve. My E46 BMW has a few points I don't like (those stupid rain gutters, for instance), but there is nothing that dilutes the car's performance and how it feels. I have had American and Japanese cars for a long time. I can state with certainty that while the Japanese and German cars have universally been very reliable and the Americans not so much, none of them have left me stranded. In fact, the only problem I've had with my 325i is those stupid rain gutters. The car is not cheap or cheaply built -- BMW just didn't put its resources to getting the trim right. The driving dynamics, motor, tranny, suspension -- no question of the quality there.

No, people pay extra for the DRIVE.

I had the same exact issue on my grill earlier this year, but my E46 is 3 years older. I've never heard of the trunk lid issue before. My engine has been solid even at 155K miles. I'd rather deal with a trim problem than get stuck and have to get towed.

Honestly just horrible.

This seems like the result of a poor design decision, not poor build quality. Any clipped-on piece that gets heavy use is going to fail eventually, it's just a matter of when.

Drive an M3. Then go back to driving your Camrys/Accords/Sentras etc etc.
Then you'll see how little this strip matters.

Man, I don't know WHAT you guys do to your cars. I have an '01 3 series with 133000 miles on it, and the only thing that's worn or broken is the wear on the driver seat bolster. I have the sport seats like you, and I'm a big dude, so I'm not surprised about it. Everything else has just been maintenance items, except a water pump at 99,900 miles covered under warranty.

I've never owned a car that's more than 3-4 years old so I have no idea what "should" and "shouldn't" break, but I do know the grille is about a $40 piece (I'd replace both so one doesn't look more aged than the other).

That decklid grip is just poor design. I've heard about that part failing on other E46's - a high stress item like that should really be able to take the abuse of opening and closing the decklid for the life of the vehicle.

The E90 now has a MUCH better design - no separate grip anymore, there's an integrated lip now that has a hidden key hole, trunk button, and license plate lamps.

This M3 cost what, about $60k when new?

One wonders why it is not possible to build a car for, say, $60k with the following attributes:

Build quality, ease of maintenance, and long-term reliability of a Corolla - Cost $18k

Performance levels of a 335i Sport Package - Cost $42k

Oh, and maybe it could look cool, too.

My '02 Z06 is the same age, and cost the same when new. No issues with trim pieces breaking, falling off, or wearing out, inside or out. The only annoyances I've encountered are 1) there is a bit of wear on the leather of the driver's side seat back edge, and 2) the trunk lid doesn't pop open enough when you press the release button to get your fingers under it to lift it (close the door with the windows up, and the air pushes it open though). The latter one is common in these cars and the convertible which had the same trunk lid as the Z06.

Say what you will about the cheap look of older GM interiors, but they definitely hold up well over time. Same goes for my '99 Suburban with 175k miles. Nothing has broken, fallen off, cracked, warped, peeled, faded, or otherwise, inside or out.

stingray:

cant be. If the plastics arent soft enough the car HAS to be a piece of crap that wont last past the warranty period without parts falling off. As VW has proven perceived interior quality has nothing to do with durability. Perhaps one day the automotive media will acknowledge this fact.

A 99 Honda Civic we own has had absolutely no problems with trim pieces falling off. Why then, should a car costing several times as much (about 3 times as much when both were new) can't be as well put together? I don't care if it is far better to drive, and far more powerful, I'd expect a car from a so called "premium" brand to offer both performance and quality.

If I was in the market for a very fast car with trim pieces that will fall out, I'd spend on a kit car, at least I know I can get parts cheap.