Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynxis
I'd probably have ended up in an E46 M3. I found a nice 2004 in Ottawa with just a hair over 150000 kms for $15k that I was debating getting at the same time I was looking at a twin but the banks wouldn't lend me enough to buy it so the decision was made for me and I got the BRZ instead.
I've done some reading and I realize that I may have dodged a bullet since I understand M3s with that many KMs either need or will soon need very expensive services which is why they have depreciated so much. Still, that car didn't have a speck of rust on it, was in perfect condition body wise and seemed to run fine when I saw it. I was going to get it if anyone was willing to lend me the money but at the time, getting a loan for 15k for a 10 year old used car just wasn't going to happen.
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Well,
when you consider what the car does, with its weight, and the engine it has... the level of service is really understandable. Remember, this was the basic coupe that could take on a Ferrari 360...and win. The CSL was not that much faster than the normal one we got in North America.
Now, if you get one, its as simple as a rod bearing refresh, a vanos rebuild, valve adjustment, repair the pump disk, swap out the exhaust hub (in the vanos unit) for one that has been cryogenically treated. Yes this is expensive, but again, when you find a car that is the same age, weight, and offers as much performance as an M3 coupe...let me know! Nothing else on the market comes close to the way the M3 goes about its business. I never understood it myself until I took my E46 on the track... it is easy. Far too easy to be healthy.
For comparison sake, the only other car that is more rewarding to drive on the track has been my FR-S, but at half the price(new) and with a far lower level of day-in day-out user comfort. People who do not understand the M3 will always knock on it. People who do understand it become hopelessly hooked. From the M3 the only other options are P-Cars. Those are NOT cheap - and you can not sit 4 adults in one.