New guy to this forum

[Bartledoo]

Originally Posted by m3jala

My climate is fairly moderate (DC area) but I sometimes drive mine in light snow with winter performance tires (sotozzero) and its fine. Obviously with more than 5 inches it becomes a snow plow. I use my wife's suv for anything ugly.

I used to drive mine in the snow on sottozero serie II's as well, and on packed snow backroads it was super fun to slide (as long as there were snowbanks to make you feel like there would be minor damage if you dropped it)...they were also pretty good in the snow if you don't want to slide.

[m3jala]

Originally Posted by Bartledoo

I used to drive mine in the snow on sottozero serie II's as well, and on packed snow backroads it was super fun to slide (as long as there were snowbanks to make you feel like there would be minor damage if you dropped it)...they were also pretty good in the snow if you don't want to slide.

Yep. The sottozerros have their place. The Chicago and Canadian boys crucified me when I suggested it was a winter tire though once and I understand their point. At least we get to enjoy the winter without feeling like we are driving on a set of marshmallows :-)

[Kamen]

Originally Posted by Adziu16

In the ClubLexus forum thread I made, there was a former E92 M3 owner who switched up to the ISF and his response got me blown away. Had bought the M3 with 60K miles that was CPO and spent almost $10,000 in repairs within 3 years/45K miles on maintenance alone. Another guy had done the ISF ownership list of maintenance costs 7 years/85K miles and his was about $6,200. That seems more reasonable since its a longer period of time. God knows how long if the owner would’ve spent keeping it past 105K miles. So I think the final decision has came and hate to break it but I’m not gonna take the chances and it’s going to have to be the ISF. As much as I like the M3, I don’t want to deal with the nightmares and surprises it could throw at me. Also spoke to a friend who is in a warranty claims department and told me that he’s dealt with a lot of the E9X M3’s for repairs and most of them had the valve stems and seals replaced. The price for that job and everything that comes along with it to do is just insane. My jaw dropped. Only thing he said that would be best to do is get a warranty but downside of it is you can’t mod the car otherwise the claim will be denied. Thank you everyone who had commented and gave their inputs on this topic as hopefully it will give someone in the future a better idea of what they are looking to get into.

I'd probably stop asking the 'friend from the warranty department' for advice. If I am not mistaken, the valve stems and seals problem does not occur with the M3, and is only typical for certain BMW engines(4.4L).

[InnerBlueSkies]

Originally Posted by Adziu16

In the ClubLexus forum thread I made, there was a former E92 M3 owner who switched up to the ISF and his response got me blown away. Had bought the M3 with 60K miles that was CPO and spent almost $10,000 in repairs within 3 years/45K miles on maintenance alone. Another guy had done the ISF ownership list of maintenance costs 7 years/85K miles and his was about $6,200. That seems more reasonable since its a longer period of time. God knows how long if the owner would’ve spent keeping it past 105K miles. So I think the final decision has came and hate to break it but I’m not gonna take the chances and it’s going to have to be the ISF. As much as I like the M3, I don’t want to deal with the nightmares and surprises it could throw at me. Also spoke to a friend who is in a warranty claims department and told me that he’s dealt with a lot of the E9X M3’s for repairs and most of them had the valve stems and seals replaced. The price for that job and everything that comes along with it to do is just insane. My jaw dropped. Only thing he said that would be best to do is get a warranty but downside of it is you can’t mod the car otherwise the claim will be denied. Thank you everyone who had commented and gave their inputs on this topic as hopefully it will give someone in the future a better idea of what they are looking to get into.

My '08 with 65k on the odometer has had esentially ZERO costs in repairs. Washer fluid pump, brake pads/lines, differential fluid. Likely will see rod bearing service pending an oil analysis report.

I like to live life wild with my M. Proper warm-up, oil changes, and an occasional Novina to Masses, Rosary has been my approach.

Lexus is the right choice. Last thing you want to do is buy a car only to be forced to drive it scared.

[Scrippy]

I like the Lexus NA V8's and I like their sound. I'm totally biased towards the M3 but the Lexus ISF has a god platform. The main thing that would concern me is parts availability. I'm not so sure the Lexus has as many options as the BMW when it comes to mods but I could be way off.

[DanMpower]

Previous ISF owner here. Mine was a 2012 so it was the "LCI" version with the updated and much-improved suspension, real LSD, wider wheels, etc.

The 2UR-GSE was a great motor that sounded awesome but it didn't quite feel special. It felt like a big Toyota engine that was tweaked a bit, the S65 feels completely different and exotic. It feels like a race engine tamed for the streets and it FEELS special.

Steering on my 2012 IS F, while improved doesn't quite compare to the E9x. The IS F is still very fun to drive and in my 2 years of ownership was completely problem free. They are pretty much bulletproof and I don't recall anybody ever blowing up an IS F engine when I was on the forums during my time of ownership.

Transmission on the IS F feels like a ZF auto, lighting fast upshifts and downshifts when driven hard, kinda lazy when cruising around town. Very smooth when you want it to be.

When shopping back in the days I drove the C63, IS F and M3, the IS F is a great balance between the muscle car C63 and track weapon M3. The IS F will give you 8/10th the enjoyment of the E9x M3 while being completely trouble free, for some of us who wants the full 10/10 experience, we'll take our chances.