2002 BMW M3

First registered in September 2002 and sold through the BMW dealer in Sunderland, this BMW E46 M3 Convertible has now covered around 104,000 miles. After 4 or 5 years in the North East it moved down to East Anglia where it was sold to a buyer in Great Yarmouth who kept it for several years.

The M3 then spent a couple of years just down the road in Lowestoft before being bought in 2017 by the current owner from Brentwood who works for a commercial vehicle servicing and recovery business.

Having had a Nissan Juke breathed on by Nismo previously, she was looking for something with a bit more bite than a standard model, so when her car-dealer brother found this one, she thought she’d take it off his hands before he had a chance to sell it.

It’s been her commuter car and weekender combined for three years and now she fancies a change. She’s not sure what will come next but, having grown up in a petrolhead family, it won’t be anything ordinary that’s for sure.

The M3 is finished in Titan Silver Metallic and from the proverbial ten yards looks in a very presentable condition. Up closer, it’s still not too bad but there are a few things to note. Up front, the nose has a handful of stone chips and some light bubbling starting above the off side front wheel arch.

On the passenger side, there’s a couple of car park dings either side of the door and some small bubbles in front of the rear wheel arch. Round the back, on the near side corner, there’s a small impact dent which could probably be pulled out by someone who knows what they’re doing.

The black fabric hood is in a very good condition, fits well without leaks and works well under power, folding back and stowing neatly under the cover panel.

The car sits on 19-inch “Style 67” 10-spoke alloy wheels which are in very good condition having been refurbished just three months ago, although the centre badges are likely original and are now showing a bit of age. All four wheels are shod with matching Pirelli PZERO tyres with good tread.

As you probably know by now we think that premium brand matching tyres are a pretty infallible indicator of a mechanically sympathetic and discerning ownership. Given the invoices in the history file and the regular servicing to this car, it’s probably bang on in this case.

On a convertible, the interior is almost as important as the outside as it’s on show whenever the top is down. The contrasting black leather upholstery suits the silver exterior and is in a fair to good condition.

The seats themselves have a few light scuffs and scratches and, as you’d expect, a little more wear on the driver’s seat - especially on the side bolster - but have no obvious damage. There’s also some light scratching to some of the hard plastic surfaces and on the driver’s door handle, the plastic film is starting to peel away. However, the steering wheel looks very good as it was recently retrimmed in black leather and sewn up with BMW three-colour stitching.

The carpets and overmats are in good order and up above, the headlining in the hood is clean and taut.

Under the bonnet, the engine bay is everything you’d expect from a 21st Century German car that’s been well maintained; clean and tidy with no obvious signs of corrosion or decay. At the other end, inside the boot, all appears to be present and correct.

Aside from a staff discount on servicing, another benefit of working in the motor mechanic trade is access to a vehicle lift to be able to take plenty of photos from underneath the car. The undersides look fairly clean and tidy, with some surface rust on struts, braces and suspension parts. The exhaust looks in good order and has chromed tail pipe trims.

However good the photos, we would always recommend a personal inspection and the owner welcomes any potential bidders to use the ‘Contact Seller’ option to arrange a visit or, dependent on government travel advice, a video call to see the car in more detail.

The online MOT history for this drop-top M3 shows continuous annual testing with only a handful of failures for such things as needing new brake pipes, ball joints and having misaligned headlamps. This test history validates and documents the car’s mileage and is backed up by paper copies too. The current MOT certificate is valid until January 2021.

The history file contains lots of invoices and paperwork particularly from the last 10-12 years but also some going back to around 2006. The first handful of servicing was done at BMW main dealers. More recently the car has been looked after and serviced by the owner’s employer.

Service History:

Jul 2002 - PDI - Priory Cars BMW Sunderland

Nov 2002 - 1123 - Benham BMW Stockport

Jul 2004 - 9495 - Lister Park BMW Bradford

May 2005 - 20184 - Mill BMW Sunderland

Jul 2006 - 36493 - Fawdington BMW Newcastle

Jan 2007 - 47986 - Carrs BMW Bury St Edmunds

Jul 2008 - 60091 - Richard Palmer Great Yarmouth

May 2013 - 71079 - AAA Great Yarmouth

Jul 2015 - 81848 - Kwik Fit Lowestoft

May 2016 - 82606 - owner serviced

Feb 2018 - 89789 - D&G

Aug 2018 - interim - D&G

Mar 2019 - 95136 - D&G

Jul 2020 - 102866 - D&G

Other invoiced work and significant parts in current ownership:

Mar 2017 - new hood headlining kit

Jun 2017 - rear suspension refurb, air con, brakes, new tyre etc

Aug 2017 - yaw sensor

Apr 2018 - Pirelli PZERO tyre

May 2018 - passenger airbag

Nov 2019 - Pirelli PZERO tyre

Jul 2020 - new ABS sensors

Jul 2020 - alloy wheel refurb

Aug 2020 - steering wheel retrimmed

As you would expect from a well maintained M3, the car reportedly drives and handles really well. Although it’s been a daily-driver to and from work, the owner likes the fact that it’s not just a bog-standard Beemer but something a bit special and good fun to drive.

The E46 is considered by many to be the best-driving M3 but values have suffered previously on account of its styling. However, those neat, understated looks are aging beautifully, maturing in a way that we in the office admire, and so deservedly the E46 is beginning to be recognized for the utter legend that it is.

This new-found popularity is having an effect on asking prices with modest year-on-year gains. The very best examples were topping £40k a while ago but having recently come of age and celebrated its 18th birthday, we think this higher-mileage but very well-maintained M3 Convertible will fetch between £8,000 and £11,000.

In view of recent price rises, this represents amazing value. Typically, the reserve will be even lower, so a cheeky bid could see you behind the wheel of one of the best of BMW’s M-cars for a lot less than you thought possible. A little bit of cosmetic attention and this M3 will be an absolute belter.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located at the vendor’s workplace in Upminster; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

This vehicle is not with us at The Market’s HQ near Abingdon, which means we have had to rely on the owner’s description of it, in conjunction with the photographs you see here, to compile the listing.

With this in mind, we would encourage potential bidders to contact the owner themselves and arrange to view the car in person, or to arrange a dedicated video call in which they can view the car virtually and ask questions.