I bought an E46 M3 on the condition that I would learn to do the majority of the work, solely based on the fact that there was so much knowledge in the forums.

I bought an E46 M3 on the condition that I would learn to do the majority of the work, solely based on the fact that there was so much knowledge in the forums. I had very little experience working on cars, and no access to friends / family that had experience. The forum went down earlier this year due to poor ownership – but luckily the core members revived it on a new site, and the old DIYs and knowledge are being slowly rebuilt. That forum plays no small part in making the difference in owning one of these cars a constant nightmare vs. cars that need strict maintenance on schedules that the owners have figured out over the years, combined with do-it-once part replacements that address issues in the factory design.