How is the reliability/cost of maintenance of 370z's? Thinking of selling my e46 m3

AestheticCM1

I'm a former bimmer owner as well. The high points on 370z issues have been mentioned already, so I'll simply say that in my experience, the 370z is considerably cheaper to maintain, and so far hasn't had any of the electrical gremlins that seemed to crop up every 7k in my bimmer. As far as dealership work goes, the prices are similar, but thankfully my Z hasn't required a single trip to the dealership outside of standard maintenance in 3 years. You will miss the exhaust note in your bimmer though, the Z's is comparatively unfulfilling.

Jhill

That's funny cause I like the z exhaust note while not really a fan of the e46 m3.

Magic Bus

Low budget exhaust!!

For $400 or less, you can have a really nice sounding Z.

In researching new M's, for better exhaust sound you're near $4k!

AestheticCM1

I know the Z's exhaust note can be upgraded, but in my opinion no Z's exhaust can match the heavenly notes produced by an inline six.

lexluther

OP, I'm in the same boat but my mind is set on getting rid of my weekend toy, a 2005 M3. I've had it for 3.5 years and during my ownership from 87K miles to 120K currently, I've had to do the following...

SMG pump failed--I could have spent $3K replacing the unit, or $4K converting it to a standard 6 speed, so I had it converted.

Control arms, Rear trailing arm bushings, Vanos rebuild, CPV valve, oil pan gasket, 3 ignition coils failed so I replaced all 6 and spark plugs, rear shock mounts broke (luckily the subframe has never had issues), so I replaced shocks and mounts in the rear. Power steering line leak, steering column collar replacement, Diff fluid replacement, thermostat and water pump overhaul. Blower motor resistor (also very common). I'm sure I've forgotten some stuff too..

Here I am 3.5 years later and have spent probably close to $8K in maintenance and repairs with me doing some of the labor. Now I'm struggling to get $11.5K for the car lol.

Also, I'm not a huge fan of the high pitch noise our exhausts produce, even with aftermarket exhausts. It just doesn't sound very aggressive. I get it's the inline 6, Formula 1 sounding tone--but meh, lol.

yeah, I'm selling this thing and never looking back. Fun car, but not worth the headache.

nis350

yeah.. the e46 m3 has a distinctive exhaust/engine sound at high rpm and it is better than the 370z, but I like the exhaust sound from the 350z or g37's more.

srbrubak

I have had my "Z" for 5 and half years. Have 29,000 miles on it. I had a MAF sensor go bad at about 1500 miles, it was fixed under warranty. Had the steering lock issue fixed under the factory recall. Was having issues with my MT, but Nissan replaced it last October under warranty. So far my "Z" has been a good reliable car.

BimmersFtw

Thanks for the replies and advice everyone! Good chance I'm going to sell my m3 pretty soon, excited to be in something different that won't swallow my wallet whole!

Jhill

Good luck and yea I think you will probably be a convert. Maybe not but if your tired of issues then probably. There are still those that are BMW for life even after going through all the issues (2 friends are that way and one was even a dealer tech). Me as a tech I don't mind working on others cars but I hate when mine has issues and as a previous mb, vw/Audi tech and vw owner I will never ever own one again. The oil leaks never stop! That said my mom is on two BMW and both have been good overall and the BMW's I have seen when at an independent were much better than vw/Audi but still a far cry from Japanese. You'll see after 40k mi and your doing an oil change and the engine is as clean and shiny aluminum as the day you bought it you'll be going how is this possible.

ChopsZ

Hence why I will never buy American and a bit hesitant about buying German. I made the mistake of buying Italian (2013 Fiat 500 Abarth), and will never do that again. The thing is designed in Italy, engineered in Detroit, and assembled in Mexico. Nope, never again.

Heck, I even had a Hyundai once, a 2002 Sonata 2.4L, 5-speed. Not a single issue with that car. I had a custom intake and full exhaust and hammered the crap out of that motor. Never an issue, and that's a Korean car!

I've had 3 Mazda's and now 3 Nissan's. Never ever an issue with any of them. The Z is my third Nissan. most likely won't be my last Nissan either.

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Jhill

Oh you don't need to tell me man. Like I said I had the benefit to work on all of them and it is shameful how others compare to Japanese. I started as a die hard German fan and German is the only way to go, left the German dealer for independent German when the economy tanked, then left for Japanese for more pay and dealer gets to see more new technologies so I missed that. It was a total eye opener of oh so this is how it should be made. I mean not only are they more reliable but they also are much more planned out on repairs (in general). It's not often the make bolts in accessible without dissembling the entire car just to get to the one bolt you need access to in order to remove whatever failed part you need to replace which the German are notorious for which is truly funny because they are the ones that break at over two times the rate of Japanese. Left Japanese because got bored of service work and brake jobs so I went to USA to do diag and drivability specialist with garanteed hourly pay and no flat rape BS and really enjoyed it until the dealer sold to new owner and they tanked it, put managers with 0 Chevy experience in charge and ex Acura managers thinking it worked for us this way at acura so it will work here too and we don't need an on site warranty clerk will use an outside clerk. Yea genius how much warranty work did you have at acura, not much I know cause I worked for them too. After 1 month and over 2000 still open warranty RO that they didn't know how to close to collect billing, then no follow up calls to customers so there went CSI score went from #1 dealer in the state and like in top 10 in nation to not even being on the list of top 100 and all downhill from there. USA isn't really good either most of them are mix of parts made from all over the world and then thrown together with poor qc and then put out stupid bulletins like this much coolant weep from water pump is acceptable weepage with pictures to illustrate (yea Chevy Cruz looking at you) since when is it ok for a cooling system to leak ever? Only to have to come up with a new pump after enough complaints and people not accepting that answer and making yourself look bad for trying to pass one over, just embarrassing. Now out of the field, too bad cause I do like cars and the work but way too much incompetence in the industry and a terrible pay structure for techs.

But it's funny when you work for German or US and the techs that have only experienced those cars just come to think that is how they all are and its acceptable and when you tell them no man go work in a Japanese dealer for just a year and see how few issues you will see and that the Japanese really did earn their stereotype they just don't break or have electrical issues (again in general).

Dreadnaught

From one tech to another, I can totally relate when you talk about German and USA manufacturers. I worked for two Mercedes dealers. I must say that the build quality is pretty good. The cars have too many electronics. And as for making things difficult to work on, you're definitely right. To do an alternator on a 222 the front bumper, radiator and a bunch of other crap have to come off. What a joke!

I'm now back at Ford doing Diesel and heavy line again. (I love it) Ford has it's parts made from Africa, Lithuania and everywhere in between. Warranty times are laughable. I seriously sometimes think out getting out of the industry. I do pig tails on these cars all the time since the connectors are garbage.

So yeah OP, buying a Z is definitely going to be wise when it comes to reliability. I had a 2006 g35 coupe and put 0ver 100K on it without any serious issues.

__________________
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ped

I would have thought so, too, but I got my wife a Fiat 500C (convertible) and three years it's still going strong. Plus they offered us (and we took it) an extended warranty on it. But, unlike most extended warranties, this is a lifetime warranty. The only catch is there's a $100 deductible for repairs outside the initial warranty period. So it's covered for any/everything as long as it remains titled in our names. They had to write something on the contract so they put 999,999 miles and 999 months.

Jhill

Is that warranty through fiat or through the dealer? Not sure about your area but around here dealers aren't lasting more than 4-5 years before they sell and the new owner don't honor previous contracts.

Darwins Child

I don't think most buyers fully understand that when you pay big bucks for a post-warranty-period Mercedes or BMW, that that money is just the "entry fee" and that the buyer is not buying reliability and low-maintenance. Ironically, most times it's the opposite and this is why owners like yourself are selling their "great" vehicles.

I can say all of this with some authority because my wife and I once bought a used, cosmetically perfect 1988 Mercedes 560SEL, so I speak from painful financial experience. OTOH, if you are a competent automotive DIYr, you can dramatically reduce the cost of maintaining such vehicles, but you'll be "paying" a significant amount of your precious spare time, especially early on in the learning curve, to lower that cost.

Knowing what will come, I will advise what follows only once and say no more. Get the trouble-free auto, especially if you won't go to the track much, or at all, but will commute in stop and go traffic. It's a great compromise for all conditions.

IMO, the OEM backup cam with curving guide lines as you rotate the steering wheel is an especially useful feature in the rear-visibility-limited Z.

Last, but certainly not least, the Z is one fantastically beautiful vehicle. I can't help but smile every time I look at it. I just wish I could stare at it from the outside as I drive it down the road!