New m45 guy

[pwregan]

Helllo,
I just recently stumbled onto these sleek looking cars and am shopping for a 2003-2004 m45.
What should I be looking for?
Some for sale say sport model and some do not- is there a way to tell what I am looking at when shopping?
What are the common issues to look for?
What do you wish you had on yours that was available and you didn't know of ??
thanks for any help!

Regards,
Patrick

[Ilya]

Welcome to the forum!

We have a few knowledgable Y34 owners who I'm sure will chime in.

[2004M45Tampa]

I can't help much - other than to tell you I just got an '04 M45 and I am sooo happy. I just looked for a clean one, luckily found it locally here in Clearwater with only 59,500 miles. I get her back Sunday - just had my local mechanic change all the fluids, rear shocks, plugs (he said were a little dirty and was my choice to get changed so I did.) My process was this - get the car checked out by a mechanic if possible (was not able to), called the dealer it was originally purchased from (mine said had both recalls performed and the 15k service done) get as many receipts as possible if available (mine had back to 2012 - mostly consistent oil changes), check a carfax and hopefully no accidents (mine had no accidents reported.) Good luck with the search.

[pwregan]

thanks Tampa.
did you get a sport or base model?
is there a difference??

[LIBRILZ]

I don't think the 03-04 M45 had a sport model, I could be wrong but yeah

[pwregan]

Going to look at a 2004 this week- low miles, and decent price.
hope its in good shape. does not seem to be a lot of these on the market for sale were production numbers low for 2003 and 2004??

[Gene Ln]

Going to look at a 2004 this week- low miles, and decent price.
hope its in good shape. does not seem to be a lot of these on the market for sale were production numbers low for 2003 and 2004??

I would look for a few things, They never had a sport model, they all are "base" models but some had navigation, usually with the ability to talk to it, some have sat radio, I don't know if its xm, or sirius. Some have what I have heard is called adaptive cruise control, which means there are radar sensors in the front bumper and when your cruise control is active if someone in front of you is slowing/slower your car will slow down.
If I had it to do over again I would look for a 2004, my 2003 has the 6 disc cd changer in the glove box and 3 of them stopped working on me and I have only had the car since 2016, the in dash 6 disc changer of the 2004 might be better.

Oh and yeah this body style is maybe 8067 units from what I can find.

[crimson45]

2006 M45 Sport owner here. Will have had it 4 years this coming December. As long as I've had it, there hasn't been any repairs that were too major. Most expensive repairs where a new radiator and hoses and then front lower control arm and ball joint on the front end. To be expected though since it is kind of high mileage. Other than that I've completely enjoyed this car. You're not buying it for the MPG thats for sure but I've owned V8s my whole adult life so it's something I'm accustomed to.

As for what i wish i knew? The lack of an AUX port and music streaming ability. Unless you wanna spend several G's on a complete rehaul of your dash and stereo unit, you're not going to get great sound from any aftermarket bluetooth adapters. Made a post on that. Also it seems that the clear coat doesn't last too long. At least in my case. I've seen M45s older than mine in better condition paint wise. Currently my hood and roof are peeling like a bad sunburn. Unless the previous owner had something to do with that.

But ya, otherwise great car! Highly recommend getting an exhaust if you have the means. Have a meagan one on mine to add a little extra to it. That and some nice rims and I'm a happy camper. My headlights came smoked but I'm not sure if that's a feature on the sport models or if it was done by the previous owner.

[LIBRILZ]

Crimson, which aftermarket bluetooth adapters have you tried?

[crimson45]

Crimson, which aftermarket bluetooth adapters have you tried?

I bought the GROM bluetooth unit here: https://gromaudio.com/store/usb_adapter ... rface.html

you gotta buy the bluetooth adaptor SEPARATELY. They don't come together. Like I said in another post, it's not great and it could be problematic sometimes. But it's better than nothing. U gotta turn the up the volume on your phone and head unit 95% of the way up to get good sound. 7/10