[Nalod]

Lease on my 07' E60 530i MT is up in a few months and the buy out is 32k.

Great car, Montego Blue and formally garaged at work and at home. Moved and now the car is outdoors day and nite. New house is on a lake with a walk out basement giving me a ton more room for workshop and storage but no room for the car. Sold my 74' targa 911 to simplify life but miss driving her! The house is great so I am not crying too bad! Old cars can be a pain in the ass also!

So Im thinking I can can get a very nice M3, either 05 or 06' for the same or less with about the same miles (under 40k).

Also, moving I am now driving much less. While lease works for me very well I think buying a used car in this market makes more sense as lease rates are not very good anymore and Im thinking of keeping the next car longer.

The M3 for me would be a conservative color and bone stock. This car has so much capacity as it is and what ever ride comfort it has I want to maintain.

I have test driven a few and think its a compromise to for me to blend performance and comfort from my Porsche and 530i.

The question I ask is That I see so many garage queens which is good, but wonder why so many don't use them as daily drivers. I think I prefer the MT over SMG (my wife has to drive it on occasion) as nothing but personal preferance. The SMG is much better than I thought and is quite fun! Even With MT They are not "bullet" proof and I understand not "honda" like in repair and to maintain, but are these cars are made to be driven daily or not??

I am considering a e92 for european delivers in the 328i form. I do not want a turbo car under any circumstances! I think I actually prefer the e46 body and interior. The build quality on the M3 from an appearence perspective appears fantastic.

[McLuVan]

made to be driven daily

[Nalod]

BTW, the thing with the lakers cracks me up every time!

[soontobe]

Great topic, I am also very curious about this. I currently drive an Evo, but would love to have an E46 M3 sometime down the line. I have been told that the M3 is so expensive to maintain and not worth the hassle...

Anybody else have any input on this topic I know I would appreciate it and I'm sure the op would too.

I'm only 23 years old so if I ever get one it will be high mileage of course so that's my concern...

[Nalod]

Originally Posted by soontobe

Great topic, I am also very curious about this. I currently drive an Evo, but would love to have an E46 M3 sometime down the line. I have been told that the M3 is so expensive to maintain and not worth the hassle...

Anybody else have any input on this topic I know I would appreciate it and I'm sure the op would too.

I'm only 23 years old so if I ever get one it will be high mileage of course so that's my concern...

I'll chime in although can't give you a direct answer but its all kind of relative.

Mile for mile the porsche I had I got for a great price but I knew it has issues but naturally was expesive the first year I had it to resolve the issues. So the money I spent to get it up and running I got all back when I sold it. But Anytime it would not run and it was less than $1,000 was a good day!

I had a mercedes s class I bought used with only 33k on it but out of warranty and owned it for 7 years. With no payments it was well worth the price to keep up and running. I think if you Flip cars its expensive but once you own it outright the up keep is high, but the cars are good performers and hold value. If you need the latest and greatest (and a part of me does) then long term ownership is not a good idea.

My plan would be to put about 10g down, and pay off 20 on line of credit over 3-4 years. Having some warranty would be nice.

If I lease I am laying out 6 grand a year, so in a way once Im paid up on the car as long as I am under that amount for repairs and maintainence then I should be good. I think a car like this is more fun to own than a e92 328. I don't care about "being different" as many owners are and don't care to modify. In fact, I like the stock look and prefer a quiet color as not to draw attention.

Im in my 40's now and yeah things kind of change over time. Lots of dudes like to broadcast a message with their wheels as its the "american way" but I found I really enjoyed taking care of my older mercedes when I had not been distracted by shopping for new wheels every three years (it becomes a 12 month obscession and a part of me really likes it!!!).

So to me an M3 I doubt would break my bank once I have retired any note on it. It seems there are much after market electonics to keep it modern thru BSW and looking original.

Light Silver or grey with cinnimon interior would be great!

[MVF4Rrider]

Just bought a 2003 M3 Cabrio SMG today as a daily driver. I have a Z4 M Coupe 6MT so I didn't care which tranny the M3 had, but I'm actually enjoying the SMG fun factor. I think it'll make a very fun daily driver.