New E93 2012 owner checking in with questions

[m3moser]

Hi- I am a longtime M car owner all the way back to the '88 M6 up through my about to be old car, an E46 M3. I am hopefully finishing up the deal and taking ownership in a few days at a local (only) Vermont BMW dealer.
Its a lease return with 19K miles, so its just a baby. It was leased and serviced by the same dealer that I am purchasing from, so I will be able to see (hopefully) all the service invoice records. The sales person gave me a car fax report but I want copies of the actual service records- which leads me to my questions:
I am pretty sure the 2012 M3 came with cross drilled brake rotors, yes?
The car I am buying has solid rotor discs. Car Fax did not reveal any service other than appropriate oil and mileage checkups, so how does it wind up with these rotors? Hmmm- brake work not recorded in Car Fax makes me want to see the actual service dept records. Why brake service at such low mileage? I am curious. Why not stock BMW parts?http://www.m3post.com/forums/images/smilies/iono.gif

Next item: Car has Pro Nav system and probably the original 2012 GPS disk installed. Is there a trusted source available here on this site for a 2015 GPS disk update? I am sure for around $200+ the dealer will sell me one but that is a lot of dough for data. Options?

I will post some pics once I take ownership. Not sure how I am going to like run flat tires, never had them before and once they are worn (the car has all new rubber) I will go non run flat most likely. I will also probably go with some after-market wheels and commission the 19" wheels on the car to snow tire duty. Winter is long up here.

[4130]

Someone changed the rotors if they are solid. Also, the car comes standard with non-runflat summer tires. If there are runflat tires mounted they are not the norm. You can get the Nav maps and codes from some folks on here for a lot less. Look around and you'll find a few different folks with threads offering this.

[digitalpersona]

Run flats are terrible for the M models. That's why they don't come standard. Stealerships don't know any better and probably put the wrong tires on. Surprised they put non drilled rotors.
My suggestion...never go back to that dealer for service

[EJT86]

I've got a cheap snow tire setup I'm trying to get rid of in MA let me know if interested

[fbm3cab]

Check if the brakes are aftermarket kit. (Brembo, StopTech)

Possible bonus?

[Helmsman]

Yep, check map updates under the code etc section. Did mine with Draco recently, work like a charm at the fragment of BMWs cost.

Edit: Also the E93 have an airpump in the trunk for the non runflat tires yeah?

[mjposner]

The service records are at the dealership, car has free maintenance for 4 years. New rubber at 19k means hard driving. Also why would anyone do a brake mod on a lease car. I suspect poor or extra hard braking (track) that cooked the rotors and the po used solid rotors on the cheap. Buy the 32gb nav stick for $50 and pay $50 for the code to unlock.

[RoshDawg]

They would have free service at the dealership with a lease no? I think this dealership doesn't know what m cars are and keeps putting on non m parts (rotors and tires). Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if they put in the wrong oil too. I would be too suspicious of that car, or have them change the rotors to the m spec drilled ones.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by mjposner

The service records are at the dealership, car has free maintenance for 4 years. New rubber at 19k means hard driving. Also why would anyone do a brake mod on a lease car. I suspect poor or extra hard braking (track) that cooked the rotors and the po used solid rotors on the cheap. Buy the 32gb nav stick for $50 and pay $50 for the code to unlock.

Recently changed to 3rd set rear rubber at 21k miles without driving hard so wouldn't agree 2nd round at 19k is strange. Specially not with the M3 that at least I find consume a bit more rubber even with fairly careful pedal use.

[burtonsbs5114]

This definitely looks like a suspect M3. I would probably steer clear. As mentioned, if they cant get the rotors and tires correct, what else did they screw up???

[swartzentruber]

Originally Posted by m3moser

I will also probably go with some after-market wheels and commission the 19" wheels on the car to snow tire duty. Winter is long up here.

Good advice on some of your other questions, only thing I'd add is that the 19" rims are likely to be a pretty poor choice for snow tire duty. Selection of winter tires in that size are limited and more costly than 18" tires, you'll probably want more sidewall for winter road ruts, and typically you'll also want a narrower tire than what the standard 19" rim takes to cut through snow. Most people go with something between a 225/40/18 to 245/40/18. You'd probably be better off buying someone's used winter setup or one of tirerack's winter setups, and selling the stock 19s if you want to go aftermarket for summer.

I'm also rather curious how the dealer would be selling a lease return with non-standard rotors. Typically they are pretty picky about stuff like that, and would typically charge the leasee to return anything to stock that isn't, particularly if it's being sold as a CPO (not sure if this one is or not).

[m3moser]

Thanks for all the replies. I now must confess that it was my error in the brake rotors. They are the correct M# cross drilled rotors. I must have confused my observation with some of the other cars I drove prior to making this choice. I called the dealership before final paper signings and they sent out a "tech" to look and double check- correct rotors. So I am the Dingleberry.
Car is now mine. Drives very nicely. I thought my E46 M3 had a lot of power but this engine is incredible. My last car had the SMG transmission so I am getting back into shifting the good old fashioned way.
Thanks again for all the replies. I need to mount the old V1 remotely in this car like I did in the E46 as a first order of business. Too easy to get going fast.

[Alpha///M]

What did you pay for the car if you don't mind me asking? Any pics!?