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

I currently own a 2004 bmw m3 and i'm thinking of selling it and getting a brand new 370z. The cost of maintenance and owning my m3 is getting a bit ridiculous and it's always needing some type of work done on it. I'm somewhat handy with working on my car, I can do brakes, cooling system work, some suspension work and things like that on my own.

Basically what i'm trying to ask is how reliable are these cars and what are the weak points that have to be taken care of? How is the cost of maintenance once warranty is done? Is it a car that you can spend a weekend on wrenching on it yourself? I've already test driven one and I had a lot of fun driving it!

370z are quite reliable,but best stay in stock form.....

Reliable motor, tranny, and electricals. Lots of reasonably priced parts. If you will be modding get one that hasn't been modded. CSC is a common issue. Never run low on gas and do a fast right. Steering lock issue on pre '12 models.

isn't that fixed by a different fuel pump?

A friend..
 

A friend told me she'd read somewhere that the 370 is most the most reliable vehicle in Nissan's lineup. It'll be in a whole different league than your Beemer for sure.
There's a tech on this site that I hope pops into this thread.


104

No comparison....

That M3 has so many big dollar problems - subframe, smg, cam bolts, rcab/fcab, rod bearings, alternator, ps hose leak, rear differential leaks, cpv leaks, timing chain tensioners, starter etc...

Not sure the mileage and condition of your M3, but I personally wouldn't own any with more than 60k miles even with excellent maint records. Unfortunately, most of these M3's are driven very hard.

Performance wise, z and e46 m3 is very close, but the z is much easier on our pocket. the m3 inline 6 is a wonderful motor and it is a wonderful car if it wasn't for all those problems.

Get a sport or Nismo. You're picking a great car. Very few problems. The main problems have already been mentioned.

The CJM solution.:tup:

I was a tech and started in the German field then went to Asian and last before leaving the field last year was USA. Never was a BMW or Nissan tech but in general the stereotype of Japanese cars is 100% true. I would never ever own German, BMW seems to be the better of the bunch but still, conn rod bearing issues, vanos issues, power steering line issues just more and more and more followed up with pricing that would make you think the parts should last right? But oh no we just jack the price because our techy clientele that need that status symbol will continue to pay. USA isn't better but their pricing is more in line.

Did a lot of research before buying my z and father had three vq35de cars with no issues on any of them and he travels a lot (western regional rep) so puts some time on the cars. Sound electronics too and no issues in that area either.

The thing you will see with Japanese is they aren't actually the first to market with crazy advanced electronics (which is why I like working on German because I like that stuff) but they rely on proven simple systems and will continue to test the new tech and refine it before they go to market. A simple example would be the door switch on the z is still a simple door switch (I believe I didn't look in the manual to verify) it isn't using one integrated into the latch that is also tied into the CAN system and is actually another module like you would see on a MB all the way back to early 2000's. The US is somewhere in between but then they cheap out on the connectors and have tons of connection issues over time.

That's my opinion so yes I would recommend the z. My friend has a track spec e46 m3 and he is quick and his has been reliable aside from the power steering hose and he hasn't hit that magic number to start having vanos issues but on an overall % the z will be more reliable im sure.

:iagree: Also the maintains parts is more money. I will never buy another German car ever again.

Oh as for this cars weak points the only glaring one I have come to see is oil cooling. So pick yourself up a good 34 row cooler and problem solved. And the csc of manual but again there are aftermarket permanent fixes for both.

A month owning the Z and so far thrown 3k miles as a DD.. Only issue is that for me, it likes to run hot even at night driving. Im sure an oil cooler should solve some of it. I dislike the huge blindspots- even when trying to back out. Other than that.. Not enough selection for mods on the engine (for me).

For me, Nissan's reliability is just normal and acceptable. I've done my best for all maintenances at dealership only following its manual, but I'd had to change some parts when broken. (I still love my Z though)

If you want more superior reliability, then you'd better select one from Toyota or Honda.

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Nissan reliability is very good. I've got 60k miles on a DD with no problems. Paint on the other hand, is too soft so I'd suggest a 3M plastic front bra (can't remember the trade name.) I've got a BMW too and the paint on it is far superior to that of the Z.

My Z has been my daily driver since day one, tracked it a few times, high spirited driving, 5 1/2yrs later still running strong. Just stay on top of oil

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.

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.

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

http://www.the370z.com/intake-exhaus...exhaust-4.html

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!

Wow, you guys really hit the nail on the head about the e46 m3 problems haha. Mine has 165,000 miles on it so you can only imagine the things i've gone through with that car...

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!

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.

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!

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.

Reliability is generally good on these cars given you maintain them. I drive mine HARD on the weekends and it's still going strong. I'm also meticulous about maintenance.

As mentioned, if you go 6MT, the CSC is the weak point on these trans, but there are solid aftermarket solutions to rectify the issue. Good luck with your decision!

BTW, any pics of the E46? That's my favorite M3. My brother in law just picked up an '05 last night, ironically enough.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Pretty funny reading all these newb posts like they've owned the car for 7 yrs or something.

Now I'm hitting 130K miles around..

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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.

Yea dude do yourself the favor and get out. Industry is a joke now. No pay, tool prices jumping through the roof, times getting cut, benefits packages disappearing (can't even get spouses medical), and working like a dog in hot and cold weather. I make 35k more a year now on paper and work 3/4 as hard, 100% paid benefits too, it's just not interesting work and I feel my brain turning to mush so I am now active on forums to try and "remote diag" to stay somewhat smart. Loved MB electronics and not being sarcastic I truly like that stuff but I think I'm sick.

I traded in my 2003 Z4 2.5i for a 2017 370z just because of the maintenance cost. The bimmer has way too many sensors that can fail, and this can be annoying. I think buying later model of the Z is more reliable as problems from previous year should be fixed / addressed. At least you have 5 years of worry free powertrain warranty if you buy brand new

I'm pretty sure that even newborn babies out of the womb know Japanese cars are reliable.

It's still interesting to hear all the stories from you techs. Thanks for making us all feel good about our purchases. :tiphat:

The Japanese is very good at making existing technology reliable and pushing its performance to the limit. Years ago I read a small SUV comparison by C&D, the previous generation Toyota Rav4 with the 2.5L port-injected NA with the 4-speed auto outperformed the Ford Escape with the then new of 1.6L EcoBoost with a 6-speed auto in both acceleration and real world fuel economy by a slim margin.

2013 Ford Escape vs., 2012 Honda CR-V, 2012 Hyundai Tucson, 2012 Kia Sportage, 2013 Mazda CX-5, 2012 Toyota RAV4 - Comparison Test - Car and Driver

For the Zs, Nissan not offering DI, Turbo or DCT sure turns off some buyers, but that definitely makes the Z relatively reliable and cheap to maintain.

Building off of what has already been previously mentioned. The only real expense that you will encounter with your Z should be tires! Be prepared to shell out $1200 if you want the best performing tires but then again my Z has all bolt ons and a tune and has been nothing but reliable. No issues yet, whether or not you use the more expensive Nissan Ester oil or not is up to you. Many forum members swear by redline. I will say best advise I can give you is to flush the trans and diff fluid within the first 3k miles and replace with High Performance fluid such as Motul. Will ensure your parts last far longer, especially if you have a lead foot like me. Best of luck and welcome to the Z club.

Here's my testament to Nissan/Infiniti reliability -they've been the only cars I've owned for the last 22 years and here's their history:

1994 Nissan Altima (bought new, kept for 12 years- handed down to wife in 2000)

2000 Nissan Maxima (bought new, drove for 7 years until it got hit by someone at a light and totaled)

2004 Infiniti G35S (bought used in 2007 after Maxima totaled)

2008 Infiniti G37S (bought used in 2010 as an upgrade to G35S)

2013 Nissan 370Z touring with sports pkg and all options (bought new in 2013, still own it)

I've never had any issues with any of those cars. I've simply changed the oil filters and consumables like belts, batteries, brake pads.

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. :icon17:

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.