E9X M3 vs. Aston Martin Vantage V8

Anyone here driven a Vantage (w/ manual trans)? Let me tell you, they are pretty sweet cars. And the noise they make when the exhaust valve fuse is pulled is insane. Curious what others think of them.

Good friend of mine picked one up for a crazy good deal (sold his e92 for it). He let me rip it on a backroad for a bit, then we handed our keys over to his friend for a comparison video.

Short background: A friend of a friend makes car review videos on youtube. I let him borrow my e90 to see how it compares to a similar generation Aston Martin.

i saw a silver one driving next to me, and i couldn't take my eyes off it lol it was a V12 too

I’m a Bimmerhead through and through but… I’d love to have a hot torrid affair with an Aston.

The counter-clockwise tachometer and lack of clear redline markings in the Aston drives me nuts ( ...in Gran-turismo 7).

I’ve been wanting a V8 Vantage since 2007ish. Maybe some day. One “stripper girlfriend” is enough for now.

I was curious about them when shopping for my E92 M3, but the lack of track part support swayed me to go with BMW for an easier time. The Vantage can be tracked and Essex makes a BBK for them, but it's still an uphill battle with that gen.

Rented one for my wedding V8 vantage 6MT, loved it!

I’d be curious about maintenance costs and reliability vs the M3. Reliability (when properly maintained) was a reasonable part of my decision to get an e90 m3.

He's had it less than a year so nothing so far. My understanding is they're decently reliable, just not as many parts available. We will see.

Thumbie Thanks to you and your friend for making that Zygrene video happen! I really enjoyed watching the Vantage and M3 go head to head!

Thanks, it was fun to see my car be compared to something way more expensive and fancy and have it hold its own.

A big takeaway is the factory muffler is too quiet lol

Thumbie wrote

Thanks, it was fun to see my car be compared to something way more expensive and fancy and have it hold its own.

A big takeaway is the factory muffler is too quiet lol

my ex-boss let me drive his aston martin DB9 for a week, manual, if i had one complaint, it def was the exhaust.. i didn't care for it being slow AF... i have an M3 it just as slow

I just traded my e92 (and a small pile of $$) last fall for a 08 Vantage couldn't be happier.

chatcher wrote

I just traded my e92 (and a small pile of $$) last fall for a 08 Vantage couldn't be happier.

Wow! The E92 is a beautiful, timeless car, but the the Vantage is one of the best looking cars ever made!

Not a manual, but wife has a V8 S.

tdott wrote

Not a manual, but wife has a V8 S.

How is the maintenence on these?
Are parts easily available?
Enough info available online for DIY common repairs?

Here is another video filmed with the same cars on the same day, by a different guy

tdott wrote

Not a manual, but wife has a V8 S.

Florida or California?

BimmerMan33 wrote

How is the maintenance on these?
Are parts easily available?
Enough info available online for DIY common repairs?

Only been 2 years so far.

I've done the following:
- Oil Changes
- New Battery
- Trans lines (SMG/Auto)
- Replacement tail light.

Depends on the type of part, spark plug, oil filter there are shared across other brands, but obviously body parts and specific items are AM only and harder to get. For example the high pressure lines on the transmission which are like SS brake lines with unique fittings on the end were super expensive, 4 lines, 3 about 12" each and 1 longer like 24" was $1500 from UK. I'm sure I might have been able to get a set custom made by someone who makes brake lines, but didn't want to deal with that at the time.

Headlights and Taillights are known to condensate and short out, those aren't cheap.

Also they don't like not being driven or letting the battery drain, kinda like our cars but worse, it will freak everything out when voltage is low.

Lucky1 wrote

Florida or California?

South FL

tdott wrote

Not a manual, but wife has a V8 S.

I'm sure a red AM is not super common. That's a very striking combo of cars you got there!

I'm personally really interested in the Rapides. They're crazy good value, but like most, I've been spoiled by how easy it is to get parts and maintain BMW's.

If anyone is interested, the Aston in the video (which belongs to a close friend) is up for sale. He is selling it to buy a p car. I told him he is stupid and should go back to e92. OH WELL.

I have personally driven the car multiple times. It is absolutely dialed. You would never know it hit a deer at one point since the repair was much less than originally thought.

Here is the ad. Please don't message him asking if it is still available hahaha.

Thumbie wrote

If anyone is interested, the Aston in the video (which belongs to a close friend) is up for sale. He is selling it to buy a p car. I told him he is stupid and should go back to e92. OH WELL.

I have personally driven the car multiple times. It is absolutely dialed. You would never know it hit a deer at one point since the repair was much less than originally thought.

Here is the ad. Please don't message him asking if it is still available hahaha.

Shame the car was totaled for that. Such is the life of expensive replacement parts. Curious how insurance would work on that. Regardless, hell of a value for something like this!!

spazzyfry123 wrote

Shame the car was totaled for that. Such is the life of expensive replacement parts. Curious how insurance would work on that. Regardless, hell of a value for something like this!!

I know right? Shame for the car, but makes for a hell of a deal.