Im looking at buying soon and after doing lots of research and driving all the cars I am still torn between: 135. 335. e46 m3. Your looking at close to $30k to get a 135 or 335 with a nice 100,000 mile warranty. Or closer to $20-22k on a e46 m3 with no warranty. The E46 M3 is an iconic sports car, but it does suffer multiple issues. One of them is the M3 camshaft gear bolt failure. The cam gear bolts are known to break which is why it is recommended to replace the bolt at a 30,000-mile interval. 329 hp. Torque. 332 lb-ft. Fuel. Gasoline. Noteworthy Applications. BMW E60 545i, BMW E63 645Ci. BMW would put a healthy engine common annoyance among N62-powered BMW owners excess carbon build-up This video goes over the common issues of the E46 M3. I talk about the VANOS system, subframe cracks, throttle position sensors, valve adjustments, rod beari 7 posts · Joined 2017. #1 · Mar 26, 2017. I recently bought a e46 m3 convertible the problem i was having was it is not able to shift manually and auto shift kinda worked with a selection of only 2nd 5th and 6th gear or reverse I had the computer reset and smg codes read only code that came up was 2 internal faults. 1 We Wouldn't Buy One: Subframe And Floor Issues. BMW Blog. Another common issue that will make us shy away from purchasing this car is the rear sub-frame and floor issue. This has been an issue since the E36, which was also carried over to the E46. Via BMWBlog. Oil filter housing gasket/leak. Rough idling and slow start-up. These are the most common engine problems, outside of these problems the car is very reliable and problem free. However, I will mention one other common, non-engine-related issue is the window regulators. The E46 M3’s most common problem is also one of the scariest, and it is the subframe cracks. The subframe is mounted employing four points of contact underneath the car between the rear wheels. Had almost identical behavior with one of my '03 M3 SMG cars. Turned out to be my Gear Selection Sensor going bad, I wasn't getting an SMG sensor code though, autologic was giving errors "failed shift" or something similiar. The Gear Position Sensor is located near the back of the transmission above the drive shaft. PN: 23412229792. Nonetheless, the 3 most common BMW S54 engine problems include: VANOS System. Water Pump. Rod Bearings. Let’s jump in and discuss these three most common problems in-depth. Afterwards, we’ll touch on a few age related failures and standard maintenance items briefly. 7Vcpu.