E-46 M3 oil consumption

[Peter Cain <cain@xxxxxx>]

> From: "Richard Bergen" <bergens@domain.elided>
> Subject: E46 M3
>
> I'm looking at a 2002 M3 with 3700 miles on it.  It is the car belonging to
> the dealer sales manager.  I checked it out today and everything looked
> fine - - except when I checked the oil level and found it was down to the
> lower mark on the dip stick - - 1.5 quarts low according to the owners
> manual.  Any of you E46 M3 owner out there - - is this noraml oil
> consumption - - 1.5 quarts approx every 3700 miles?
>
> Dick Bergen

Dick,
    I speak with no personal experience of owning an E-46 M3, unfortunately, but
any new high performance car that gets 2500 miles per quart of oil is doing pretty well, especially if it was driven
hard. I know of specs of various high performance street cars that say that even down to 800 miles per quart is
"normal". For example, Bruce Anderson keeps answering this question about Porsche 911s in Excellence and that's what he
says. Performance cars would not all necessarily be that low, but I would not worry about it. I would be concerned
about the exact nature of the warranty, however.
Peter Cain

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