e90 M3 purchase advice

[-BEASTMW-]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

The OP is young and has no responsibilities. I think it is OK to enjoy life a little.

I don't think you must save and get married and pay for kids and mortgages and educations first.

Unless you want to wait until you are old and worn out before you are allowed to buy a used M3.

We're not saying to wait until you're 60 to get the car he wants. We're saying spending $30-40k+ (plus hefty running/maintenance costs) at age 22 on such a luxury is maybe not a very smart choice. Especially when you can have 90% as much fun in a E9x 335i or E46 M3 with a few choice mods for half the price. And most of the ladies (at least the non-gold-digger types) will still think it's a pretty nice car.

Moderation is key. As you establish yourself and your career, you can responsibly open up your car budget over time. I don't think anyone here is suggesting driving a Prius until he retires, but a used M3 is still not a cheap car by any means, and he'd be spending 1/2 to 3/4 of his gross salary (basically a whole year's take-home pay) to get one, much less maintain it and feed it gas/oil...

[duvinclunk]

Originally Posted by burtonsbs5114

brake rotors approx $1,000/axel

Good Lord, where are you getting your rotors from? $1k per axel? May want to find a new place to get those taken care of...

[pbonsalb]

Definity a bunch of accountants planning their lives in this thread. Boredom.

[RoshDawg]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Definity a bunch of accountants planning their lives in this thread. Boredom.

This type of thread happens on every car forum I've been on. But hey it beats rod bearing talk.

[-BEASTMW-]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Definity a bunch of accountants planning their lives in this thread. Boredom.

Right...

I have goals in life. Own a nice house. Provide for a couple of kids. Buy a Ferrari. Buying a $30-40k maintenance-intensive car at age 22 would have put me quite a bit farther from all of those goals, which is why I suggested OP not getting an M3 just yet. But I do believe in moderation, and you can have PLENTY of fun cars for half the price or less.

In other threads people are talking about how much they loved their S2000s, for some people even more so than M3s, Porsches, etc. You can get a good one under $10k and it will cost next to nothing to maintain, and will be worth about the same price when you sell. Arguably a better track car than an E9x M3, if he's interested in that, and costs a fraction in consumables. That is just one example of having a ton of fun without spending a year's worth of take-home pay the instant he gets out of college.

I've owned, modified, and tracked/raced fun cars while putting myself through grad school (why did no one mention this? It ain't cheap) and now at 31 and married, I can spend even more on fun cars because I didn't spend a ton of money on them straight out of college. Just saying what has worked for me.

[nah dude]

Lot of projecting going on in this thread

[johnnydee]

I always thought the most important item when buying a new car was the colour!

LOL