How many M3s are in your town?

[flagger]

Having coffee with fellow M3 owners at local Starbucks this morning, we came to realize there might be something a little unique about our gathering.

We live in a relatively small town, (6.2K people), in the southern mountains of West Virginia. Closest BMW dealer is 100 miles away. We have 5 M3s in the community, one E30, three E46s and one E92. There are also scattered 5 series BMWs in the area. This works out to one M3 per 1,260 people (that includes children). I seriously doubt another community can come close to that density for such a unique car, especially a community so isolated. As an example, Newport Beach, CA has a population of approximately 86K. To get to the density above, there would need to be almost 70 M3s registered in the city.

Any idea of how many are in your area?

Just to make it interesting, population needs to be at least 1000 people and there needs to be a minimum of 2 owners. This is to keep the one owner, town population of 10, (town named after the family), out of the equation (We have those in West Virginia and other parts of the South).

As an aside, the median annual income in this area is $25K; however, knowing the other owners, none of us are making $25K. And the Starbucks is alongside an Interstate.

[VikH]

Not sure how many are in the area, but if I used the same ratio that would roughly work out to about 7,800 M3s in the Chicagoland area. Sounds about right.

[E. Honda]

So. California - Countless

[mot]

I saw 1 other e92 in San Luis Obispo.

[evm3]

It feels like a dozen a day.
No big deal

[theriz]

every time i turn the corner. at least 3 a day

[J BONE]

Originally Posted by evm3

It feels like a dozen a day.
No big deal

Really? Man, in the burbs, I never see any M's rolling around. I have only seen 1 M3 in my area. Very rare where I live and love it

[Sedan_Clan]

I'm in SoCal as well, so I tend to see a wide range of cars daily (..Lambo's, Ferrari's, Porsches, M3's, etc.) when I go into the city. In my town specifically (..Rancho Cucamonga), I've seen maybe four E9X M3's, and a few M5's and E46 M3's.

[TX]

Originally Posted by J BONE

Really? Man, in the burbs, I never see any M's rolling around. I have only seen 1 M3 in my area. Very rare where I live and love it

My dealer couldn't even locate another m3 to compare the 6MT shifting on my car with another one.
However, I have seen in the last couple months maybe 3 or 4 in my area. I think it's the same 3 or 4 though.

[richardg]

range rovers, escalades, and e class rule the Michigan area when it comes to nicer cars. You see plenty of other stuff but not many Ms. Outside my circle of bmw friends I only see 1 or 2 a month on average. Its all about nice trucks around here with the crap weather. That and with the big 3 around here everyone seems to have an escalade. Very easy to lease one around here for 600 a month.

[flipmeraz]

Tons in the bay area but I haven't seen any when I go to Paso Robles

[e1000]

Originally Posted by flagger

As an example, Newport Beach, CA has a population of approximately 86K. To get to the density above, there would need to be almost 70 M3s registered in the city.

Lol, Newport Beach has one of the highest per-capita incomes in the country. I'd bet that there are well over 70 registered M3's in Newport Beach.

Exotic cars are everywhere in SoCal. Even seeing a lambo has somewhat lost it's uniqueness here.

[1sikbmr]

enough for it to still be rare... I know everyone with one in my neighborhood...

[mdosu]

M3s of all generations? or just E9X M3s? E9Xs are more rare.

btw i know what you're saying, I use to work in WV for 2 years...M3s, Evos, etc are all really rare there. But it's really a function of the median income of the area that will determine how many high priced cars there are.

I was from Columbus, Oh, through out my 18 years of living there, I saw a total of 4 Ferraris and 2 Lambos, here in the DC area where I live, in the summer, I see one average 1 a day.

[geneatals]

Originally Posted by E. Honda

So. California - Countless

yup, but most are e92/3's..I don't see too many e90 m3's, if any

[Abe_Froman]

I have never seen one in my COUNTY made after the late 90's or so. I'm almost positive there isn't another in my hometown of 20,000+. We have lots of Germans here, but they are very conservative... I was amazed how many were in LA when I went out there (like Mustangs here). But I guess a $70k car here is like a $150k car there.

[kaykay]

A few but not as many as people would think here in Beverly Hills / Santa Monica etc.

I see a ton more Bentley's and AMG's than M cars, that's for sure. I actually see more Lambo's and Ferrari's than M cars. No joke.

[buddyguypal]

OP I live in Blacksburg, there is only one here.

[Rshane]

I´ve seen two other ones ın my town. Here ın Germany the M3 costs around 100,000 euros (around 140,000 dollars), so not too many people buy them.

[crackberry]

Originally Posted by E. Honda

So. California - Countless

i went to college at uc irvine. i saw one daily

[Pillzilla]

Originally Posted by J BONE

Really? Man, in the burbs, I never see any M's rolling around. I have only seen 1 M3 in my area. Very rare where I live and love it

Agreed. I can go 2-3 months without seeing another M3 in far northwest burbs.

[Sean Alexander]

Originally Posted by e1000

Lol, Newport Beach has one of the highest per-capita incomes in the country. I'd bet that there are well over 70 registered M3's in Newport Beach.

Yep, I've sat at a 4-lane light (two left-turn, two straight) and had four complete strangers in E9X series M3s next to me, making an unplanned all M3 front row.